DreamWorks Pictures' THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY - French Onion Soup Recipe

All these recipes that are coming out are making me want to get into a baking mood! I have never tried a French Onion Soup but the way they make this makes it look so different and yummy! I think its the French baguettes really that sell me on this! It's going to be hard to see this movie and not think of all the food they cook in there and how great it looks!

The Hundred-Foot Journey comes to theatres August 1st!

DreamWorks Pictures' THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY - Scalloped Potatoes Recipe

In anticipation of The Hundred-Foot Journey release on August 1st, Dreamworks Pictures has been releasing all kinds of different recipes. The next one they released is Scalloped Potatoes or Gratin dauphinois. Boy, do they look good! Whenever I make scalloped potatoes, it is usually from a box! This recipe really makes it seem simple enough and I'm sure it's better for you and tastes better too! I have a feeling next steak night I might be trying this new recipe!

DreamWorks Pictures' THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY - Omelette aux fines herbes Recipe

I have to say again, the best thing about this movie right now is all the recipes that are coming out!! This one, Omelette aux fines herbes, shows a great recipe of an omelette and much different then what I do whenever I try to make an omelette! I am getting so excited for this movie! 

The Hundred-Foot Journey hits theatres August 8th!

DreamWorks Pictures' THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY - Quiche Lorraine Recipe

If anything for this movie, they are releasing some very yummy looking recipes! One of the latest is Quiche Lorraine! Have you ever made a quiche? I never have but thinking I might now! The Hundred-Foot Journey will be in theaters everywhere August 8th! I can't wait!

DreamWorks Pictures' THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY - Madeleines Recipe

I don't know about you, but I am getting even more excited to see The Hundred Foot Journey! They keep releasing recipes to try and this one looks AMAZING! It shows something so simple that looks like it requires a lot of work. Madeleines are basically a small sponge cake that are baked in a special shell shaped pan. I looked on Amazon and found that they aren't too expensive with the average around $12! I have never tried to make them before because I always thought they would be 1) Hard to make and 2) ingredients I was allergic to and hard to made substitutions for. With this recipe below, it is neither of those things! I am hoping to buy a pan and try this recipe soon! I'm thinking they would be great dipped in some milk chocolate! What do you think? Have you ever made madeleines before?

Dreamworks The Hundred Foot Journey Recipe Released! Tandoori Chicken Wings

As if I needed another reason to see this movie, they have released a recipe! I am hoping I can make it soon! I know I don't have all the ingredients either so I'm sure I will substitute different things, like all great cooks do! Let me know if you take a stab at this recipe for Tandoori Chicken Wings!

"Fake" Orange Julius

Our family loves Orange Julius, I mean who doesn't?! But with a family of 5, that can get a bit expensive. Plus, with allergies it's hard to make sure there is no cross contamination. (I got a banana smoothie once when I asked for peach, it was NOT a good experience!) Well, I was looking on pinterest and found a few recipes. If you know me, you know I look at 3-4 different recipes and put together my own recipe. It drives my husband crazy as for him he has to have the exact measurements and do everything precise. I keep telling him that's how I keep him from losing interest in my cooking/baking endeavors! I decided to try this as we have tried one in the past and it was just gross. I made him try it without knowing exactly what it was and he thought I had gone and gotten Orange Julius! I find that an accomplishment! I went ahead and wrote out the recipe just in case that was the case and figure I will tweak it a bit more next time I make it just to see if it can be a bit sweeter. I figure that was because I had the top of the mix so it didn't mix as well? This also makes about 4-5 servings so maybe if I do half next time?

"Fake" Orange Julius

1 Cup Milk
1 Cup Water
5-6 Tablespoons Sugar
3-4 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
10-12 Ice Cubes
1 Can Orange Juice Concentrate

Add all to blender.
Mix on liquefy until completely blended.
Pour into 4 cups half full.
ENJOY!

Monday Freezer Meal Recipe - Awesome Beef Enchiladas

I usually double this recipe, make part for one meal then freeze the other for the next week or two. It helps to do that philosophy of cook once, eat twice! This recipe is pretty easy and you can take away or substitute to your liking. My enchiladas are hardly ever the same!

Awesome Beef Enchiladas

• 10 Flour Tortillas
• 1 lbs ground beef
• 1 bag Birds Eye Ready Peppers and Onions
• 1 Can Mild Enchilada Sauce
• 1 Can Refried Beans
• 1 - 2 Cup Bag of Mexican Style Cheese

Brown your beef. Add in the peppers and onions until they are cooked through/softened from their frozen state. Add in half of the enchilada sauce. Let it get to a simmer/boil. Then take your flour tortilla and smear some refried beans on it. Add the hamburger mixture. Roll up and place into your sprayed 9X12 pan (do not do glass as it may break!) Throw away or metal cake pan is best in this case! After you have rolled all the tortillas up, dump the rest of the enchilada sauce on top. If you still have some hamburger mixture left, then add that on top too. Then take some aluminum foil, label, and freeze. DO NOT PUT THE CHEESE ON YET!

To Cook: 

Take the enchiladas out and let them thaw overnight in your refrigerator *sometimes this might take 2 days*  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Take out of the refrigerator and remove the foil. *DO NOT THROW AWAY* Add your whole bag of cheese and spread it out. Replace the aluminum foil back on top of the pan and place into the oven for 30 mins or until completely reheated. Then ENJOY :D

And now for the fun part........ALL THE PICTURES! If you make this, let me know what you think! Also, any ideas of what you would like to see next? Let me know!

Monday Freezer Meal Recipe - Tater Tot Casserole

Our family loves Tater Tot Casserole. I didn't think anyone would other than my husband who eats everything! We had it one church night dinner and EVERYONE loved it! It's not too hard to put into a freezer recipe. The added double? You can use this for the crock pot! YUM! To me, that's a double added bonus! What got to me too was just how easy it was to make! The kids could even help me!


Tater Tot Casserole Recipe
32 oz Tater Tots (I substituted with hashbrowns I had gotten for cheap since we didn't have tots on hand)
1 lb Ground Beef, Browned
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
2 Cans Green Beans (I like french style best!)
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 Chopped Onion
1/4 Cup Milk
Cheese (Optional for sprinkling after baked)

Mix all together but cheese and tater tots. Put into a freezer bag, label, and put in freezer. Put tots next to it or label so your hungry husband will not try to use them for lunch!

To Cook:
Thaw bag overnight. Line the crockpot with tater tots and cover with the bag of ingredients. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hrs. Put onto your plate and sprinkle with cheese if desired.

This is just amazing! If you know me well, you know I don't eat things like this! I almost forgot to take a picture of it on my plate! I had to go and get seconds to take a picture! I give this recipe 5 stars it was that good! All of our family even ate it too which seems to never happen. I am hoping I can get tater tots on the shopping list and try it again with them to see how that would come out compared to the hash brown patties.

Flourless Monster Cookies Recipe

First off, I didn't know how these would come out....amazing!! Second, I have an allergy to all nuts including peanuts. So, instead of peanut butter I use Soy Butter. How they would turn out with peanut butter I would think would be the same but sometimes it seems the soy butter dries things out a bit more. It's not as sweet of a taste either but to me, that's better! I have accidentally had peanut butter last year by eating a Reese's egg at Easter time thinking it was a Hershey's one. To me, peanut butter is so sweet now from that little comparison between my panic attack/allergic reaction. So, just FYI all my recipes are nut free if you ever wondered! So on to the amazing Monster Cookies!!!


Flourless Monster Cookies Recipe

1 Stick Butter
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Teaspoon Corn Starch
3 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups Soy Butter (or your choice)
2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
4 1/2 Cups Quick Oats
1 Cup Chocolate Chips
1 Cup M&Ms

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugars. Add in vanilla and corn starch and mix well. Add one egg at a time until mixed. Add in Soy Butter (or peanut butter of choice) until incorporated. Add in baking soda. Then add oats until incorporated. Then add chocolate chips and M&Ms. (Add extra if you feel the need!) Drop onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 mins. Now this is where it might be different with peanut butter than soy butter. If you over cook them, they seem to dry out more and crumble. Leave them a bit doughy and they are perfect!!!

I have made these twice now in the last 4 days and both times I tried to measure out the same but they came out different. First batch was thicker and easier to get off the pan in one piece. My next ones I made today were flatter and gooey and would squish more and break because they were thinner. I left them on the pan about 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack and that seemed to help. Either way, they were gone by the end of the day! To me, that is a successful cookie!

Monday Freezer Meal Recipe - Cinnamon Toast Muffins

Our family has the staple of eating cereal for every breakfast. I really don't like cereal and after a while they all taste the same. I looked for recipes for muffins that could work in the freezer and came across these babies. To me, they are a mixture of a doughnut and a muffin. For the husband, they tasted like * Nom, Nom Nom* His words exactly! The great thing is after you bake them, you can freeze them and then that way you can have one for breakfast in the morning! I love the variety this will add to our breakfasts in the morning!


Cinnamon Toast Muffins
2/3 Cup (about 10 tablespoons) butter, melted
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 Cup Milk
3 Cups Flour
3 Tablespoons Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Ginger
1/4 Teaspoon Cloves
1/8 to 1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg (I swear if I put this in a recipe, I can really taste it so I go lighter on it)
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Mix together the sugar and butter. Stir in the eggs and milk.
In a separate bowl, combine all your dry ingredients.
Slowly stir them into your wet ingredients.
Put 20-24 cupcake liners into your cupcake pans. You can also spray them with non stick spray if you would like. You can also put them into a mini loaf pan if desired.
Bake 350 Degrees for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

To Freeze:
When you take them out of the oven, put them onto a cool cookie sheet and put them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes until they are cooled off. This helps to keep them from moisture escaping in the bag and them sticking if you put them in too soon. If you don't have room, you can always leave them an hour or two on the counter and then put them in the bag to freeze. Doing this though may result in your stash going down!

To Reheat them:
You can leave them out overnight to thaw or if you rather you can put one in the microwave for 30-45 mins to reheat. I believe this option makes them last a little bit more!


And now for picture overload!!! Enjoy! If you make them, let me know how they turn out for you! I think next time I might try adding a bit more cinnamon and cloves to get even more flavor dynamic!

Crock Pot Chili Recipe

It's another cold day today, so we decided chili was just the best thing to warm up! I find it tastes better the longer it cooks in the crock pot, too instead of the stove! It just seems to bring out the flavor more. Also it helps if I am making something for lunch anyways, then I can cook up the hamburger meat at the same time and voila! dinner! I also like to experiment so my chili is never really the same! This is the basics of it! It's nice to add whatever you feel will add better flavors that day.

Crock Pot Chili

1 lb Hamburger
1/2 Onion Chopped Up
Dash of Pepper
1-2 Tablespoon Chili Powder (Or use a seasoning packet)
1 Can Kidney Beans
1 Can Red Beans or Chili Beans
1 Can of Pinto Beans
1 6oz Can Tomato Paste
2 Cans of Water From the Tomato Paste Can
1 Can Diced Tomatoes

Brown the hamburger. Add in the onion so they will soak up the juices. Add in the seasonings to your liking at this time too.

While the hamburger is cooking, drain the cans of beans and add them to the crock pot. Add your hamburger mixture, then the diced tomatoes. Stir it up.

Add in your tomato paste. Add in a can of water at a time until you get the consistency you enjoy. Put the crock pot on low and let the smell engulf your house!

And of course, don't forget the cinnamon rolls!!!!

Monday Freezer Meal Recipe- Stuffed Shells

Last week I shared my spaghetti sauce recipe. This week, I will share Stuffed shells! I like making these together and usually double the recipe. In doubling, I can usually get 5 to 6 9X9 pans full of stuffed shells and 2 to 3 bags for spaghetti sauce.

Now for the wonderful pictures to make your mouth water, followed by the easy recipe!

Stuffed Shells
Adapted from Once A Month Cooking Family Favorites By Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg 

12 oz package jumbo shells (MANY to choose from, I like looking in the Italian section at Dillons as they seem to have less ingredients in them AND same price or even cheaper than the cheap ones!)
1 15-oz carton ricotta cheese (reason to double recipe is that usually cheaper to buy the 30oz)
1 16-oz carton small curds cottage cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbl chopped fresh parsley (can be omitted)
2 eggs
Spaghetti Sauce from Last Week's Post
2 to 4 9X9 foil pans
Aluminium Foil

To Make:
1) Cook the shells according to the package
2) Combine all the remaining ingredients in a big bowl
3) When the shells are done, rinse them and cool them off so that they are easier to hold
4) Fill the shells with the cheese mixture. Can be done 2 ways. 1- take spoonful and put into shell. 2- put the mixture into a plastic bag and cut a corner off then squeeze it into the shells. I find the bag harder if done alone but if you have someone else helping, then it will make it go a bit faster.
5) Place each shell into your pan until full.
6) Put the spaghetti sauce on top to your liking.
7) Write on your foil what it is and the date (just in case you may forget or make a lot of different recipes!)
8) Put into freezer and clean up!

To Serve:
1) Thaw a pan overnight in the fridge
2) Preheat oven to 350
3) Place pan covered in oven for 45 mins
4) Take the foil off and bake for an additional 15 mins.
5) Pull out and serve!

Monday Freezer Meal Recipe- Spaghetti Sauce

I have been trying to think of ways to get myself to keep getting posts up. One thought is to have a post scheduled for a certain day of the week and then hopefully I will keep up with it. I have decided that I am going to try and do Freezer Meal recipe on Monday! I like making freezer meals and I think it would help me to make one once a week so that way we would have food in the freezer so it would be less likely for me to make the excuse to go out to eat!

Hopefully I will be able to take the pictures and process all out for you too but it depends on 1) If I remember and 2) If I don't have complete help from all three of my kiddos! This week, I am going to share one that can be used and made very easily, Spaghetti Sauce! I love using it to make stuffed shells, which I will share next week!

First the wonderful pictures, THEN I'll tell you how to do it all :)

Spaghetti Sauce
Adapted from Once A Month Cooking Family Favorites By Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg

1 onion, chopped
1 lb mild Italian Sausage
1 6-oz can tomato paste, then fill half full with warm water, stir then dump it in
1 28-oz crushed tomato in puree
1 cup tomato sauce (if you don't have any or forget it, just add a bit extra water)
2 tsp chopped or minced garlic (add more if you like the flavor!)
2 bay leaves (I crush them up so that they are harder to find when eating if you don't take them out)
1 tbl sugar
2 tsp fennel seeds
1-3 tsp Italian seasoning
2 tbl fresh parsley, finely chopped (this can be omitted too if you don't have it or forget)
1 tsp salt
2-4 1-quart freezer bags

To Make:
1) Start by browning the sausage in a large pot.
2) While it's cooking, chop up the onion, then add it to the sausage
3) When done, drain then put back on stove
4) Add in all the other ingredients and stir.
5) Bring to a boil.
6) Lower the heat and simmer for 30 mins while partly covered.
7) Allow the sauce to cool.
8) LABEL your 1 quart freezer bags.
9) Fill the bags as full as you think you will need
10) Put into the freezer

To Thaw:
Put a 1 quart bag of spaghetti sauce in the fridge overnight.
Heat thoroughly and serve!

Any Interest In Freezer Meals Recipes/How Tos?

So, I have been doing Freezer Meals. I made about 20 meals this last time. They are so easy to do and then during the week I just have to make sure I put what I want in the fridge the night before, then pop it in the oven and about an hour later, we have a wonderful cooked meal. 

These are Stuffed Shells 

My question is, is there any interest from anyone for me to show you and tell you the recipes that I make? I am planning on another freezer meal day soon so I could take more detailed pictures and post recipes as I go along so that you would be able to make them yourself. If I get enough feedback, I will definitely make sure to document and share! Thanks!

Homemade Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches

So, my hubby and I tried this awesome Philly sandwich at a meeting and we both really liked it. Issue? It was in the frozen section and about $15! So, we decided instead that we would spend that money to make our own from scratch. Better for us as we know all the ingredients that went into it and knew they were fresh and just so good and so hard to not keep eating!

Ingredients You Need:

Arm Steak

Green Peppers

Onions

French Loaf

Butter

Pepperjack Cheese Slices

First, when you buy your Arm Steak, you can hand it to the meat/deli clerk and ask them to cut it as thin sliced as they can.

As it is cooking, the hubby cut and chopped it up even more. Of course, he had fun doing this!

Then he cut up the green peppers we got from the farmer's market.

Then I took the French Loaf bread.......

And I cut it in half. Then I buttered both sides....YUM!

At that time, the meat was about done..........

So the hubby put the meat in a bowl so that he could put the peppers and onions on the grill.

When they were grilled up to his liking, he toasted the bread, then put the HUGE sandwich together!

Let me tell you, it was AMAZING! We made a huge mess everywhere but it was worth it! Not something we will make to eat very often because it was a bit expensive, but for a splurge every once in a while, it is definitely worth it! We ate this for dinner and the next 2-3 lunches!