Roasted Beets 'n' Sweets

If you like beets you should try this recipe. It is also very beautiful to look at.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 medium beets, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 medium sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a bowl, toss the beets with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil to coat. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet.
3. Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and sugar in a large resealable plastic bag. Place the sweet potatoes and onion in the bag. Seal bag, and shake to coat vegetables with the oil mixture.
4. Bake beets 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Mix sweet potato mixture with the beets on the baking sheet. Continue baking 45 minutes, stirring after 20 minutes, until all vegetables are tender.

Note: I used 4 beets and 2 sweet potatoes and it made at least enough for 5 people.

*Courtesy of www.allrecipes.com

-Sarah

Happy Birthday Priscilla!

Happy Birthday to foodie friend Priscilla, aka Pris!

Have a great day!

Love,

Your best friends

Strawberry Jam

2 lbs. fresh strawberries

4 cups sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

In a bowl, smash the strawberries in batches until you have 4 cups of mashed berry. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix together the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high, and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees F. Transfer to hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace, and seal. If the jam is going to be eaten right away, don't bother with processing, and just refrigerate.

Enjoy!

Lynn

*Courtesy of All Recipes

Trick or Treat?

This post is definitely a treat.

SO...there's a great chance that the Five Foodie Friends (and one of the friend's off-spring) are getting together over Halloween weekend! We desperately need this time together so we can re-charge our friendship spirits, and of course, cook...it's inevitable!

Since it will be the season for pumpkins when we next meet, I thought it'd be fun for us to try out some great pumpkin recipes.

I just found a Pumpkin Divine martini recipe that looks...well...divine. Simply beautiful and completely delightful!

Ingredients:

• 1 part Grey Goose La Poire vodka
• 1 part pumpkin butter
• ½ part triple sec
• ½ part simple syrup
• pinch each of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and ginger
• grated nutmeg and apple chip for garnish

Preparation:

1. Pour all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
2. Shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker is frosted and beaded with sweat.
3. Strain into a cocktail glass.
4. Garnish with nutmeg and an apple chip.

I think we might even accompany this martini with a pumpkin carving contest! Oh...this could be disastrous. :-)

I love this initial carving idea...

We might even carve some pumpkins that we can decorate our table with (full of pumpkin dishes I might add)...

Stay tuned for how the night of drinking recipe turns out...

What are your favorite pumpkin recipes?

-Priscilla

Spanikopita Orzo

Yum! This is soooo good!

Ingredients

1/2 pound orzo

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 to 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated

1/2 cup vegetable stock

3 cups spinach, divided

1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Preparation

1. Place a large pot of water over high heat to boil the orzo. Salt the boiling water and cook the pasta to al dente according to package directions. Drain the cooked pasta and reserve.

2. Meanwhile, place a large skillet over medium-high heat with olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and saute until tender.

3. While the veggies are cooking, add the vegetable stock and about 2 cups of spinach to the bowl of a food processor (I used a blender and it worked fine) and process until smooth. Add the puree to the pan with the onion and garlic to heat through, about 30 seconds. Remove pan from heat and stir in the reserved orzo, remaining whole leaves of spinach, feta, and some salt and pepper.

4. Make yummy food sounds while you eat :)

*Courtesy of www.rachaelrayshow.com

-Sarah

Spaghetti Squash

Well I've never had spaghetti squash before, but it definitely has the right name! It really does look like spaghetti. This dish is very tasty and very healthy. (The pictures are supposed to go in the opposite order, but I'm not very blog savvy!)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 3 tablespoons sliced black olives
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Place spaghetti squash cut sides down on the prepared baking sheet, and bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a sharp knife can be inserted with only a little resistance. Remove squash from oven, and set aside to cool enough to be easily handled.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion in oil until tender. Add garlic, and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, and cook only until tomatoes are warm.
4. Use a large spoon to scoop the stringy pulp from the squash, and place in a medium bowl. Toss with the sauteed vegetables, feta cheese, olives, and basil. Serve warm.

*Recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com

Enjoy!

-Sarah

Blueberry-Almond Granola

I know I already sent you all this recipe, but I like it so much I think it should be included in the blog.

Ingredients

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup sliced almonds

2 T vegetable oil (I use 3)

2 T honey (or agave) (I use 4)

1 cup dried blueberries (I prefer a mixture of dried berries)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss oats, coconut, and almonds. In a small bowl, stir together oil and honey. Pour over oat mixture and toss. Bake, tossing occasionally, until lightly toasted, 12-16 minutes.

2. Place mixture in a large bowl and stir in blueberries. (To store, keep in an airtight container, up to 1 month.)

*This recipe came from Everyday Food Issue 62.

-Sarah

Italian Meatloaf

Italian Meatloaf

1/2 red pepper, diced

1/2 onion, diced

3 cloves chopped garlic

1 lb ground beef or turkey

2 eggs

3/4 cup bread crumbs

1 cup grated parmesan

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 handful chopped fresh basil

1 handful chopped fresh parsley

salt

pepper

1 cup tomato sauce

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in saute pan and add peppers, onion and garlic. Saute until just soft, about 5 minutes. Cool in another plate.

Combine all of the ingredients together except for the tomato sauce. Pack the meat mixture into an oiled loaf pan, or shape the loaf into a loaf shape and put on an oiked baking dish/tray.Top with the tomato sauce and spread evenly over the top.

Bake for 50-60 minutes until cooked all the way through, or when a thermometer readers 160 F in the middle.

Enjoy!

Lynn

*This is moist and tasty! Key is to use fresh (not dry) herbs.

*Courtesy of the Food Network.

Chicken Torilla Casserole

This is a very easy and yummy recipe if you're in the mood for cheesy goodness.

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, sliced in wedges

2 small bell peppers (we used green), sliced and halved

olive oil

3 chicken breasts

2 cans Cream of Chicken and Mushroom soup (or 1 can cream of chicken and 1 can cream of mushroom)

4-6 torillas

1 bag of Mexican style shredded cheese

salt, pepper

Preparation

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and boil chicken breasts for approximately 10 minutes or until they are cooked. After they have cooled a bit, shred the chicken.

2. Meanwhile, saute garlic, onlions and peppers in some olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

3. Once the onions and peppers are cooked through, add the two cans of soup plus one can of water to the mixer and mix thoroughly.

4. In a greased casserole dish, pour half of the onion mixer, then a layer of tortillas, then a layer of cheese. Repeat the layers, finishing with cheese on top.

5. Bake at 350 for aobut 25 minutes.

*Jeffrey had some homemade salsa that he put on top of his serving and he said that it was really yummy. So if you have some salsa around you can add that as a garnish.

-Sarah

Yukon Gold Potato Gratin

I have another very yummy potato recipe to add. With these ingredients there's just no way this could not taste good!

SERVES 4

Ingredients

• 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 lb yukon gold potato
• 1 cup canadian sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, very finely minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup chicken broth or white wine
• 
  
• Directions

1. 1

   Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch round or oval baking dish.

2. 2

   Slice potatoes 1/8-inch thick and combine thoroughly in a mixing bowl with 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, the sour cream, olive oil, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper.

3. 3

   Arrange potatoes in a neat overlapping pattern in the baking dish. Pour chicken broth over potatoes.

4. 4

   Bake 35 minutes, until potatoes are nearly-tender and the cheese and potatoes are starting to brown. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake another 10-15 minutes.

We got this recipe from recipezaar.com.

-Sarah

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

We make this recipe fairly often because it's a delicious way to eat potatoes. And it's super easy. We used blue potatoes (they are actually purple on the inside!), but you can also use red or new potatoes.

Ingredients:

6-8 blue or red potatoes, chopped with skins on

one onion, chopped

one long sprig fresh rosemary, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

olive oil

kosher salt

pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Toss the potatoes, onions and garlic in olive oil. Add rosemary and salt and pepper to taste, tossing to mix. Put mixture in a baking dish. Bake 30-45 minutes until tender. Make sure to stir mixture around every so often while it's baking so that all parts can cook more evenly.

-Sarah

Teriyaki Flank Steak

For this blog's first entry, I thought it fitting to submit a hearty, simple recipe of Teriyaki Flank Steak. This recipe was given to me at my first bridal shower by a family friend, Eileen Arnamente. Enjoy!


Teriyaki Flank Steak

1 lb flank steak
1/4 cup light soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp Ketchup
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp oregano

On both sides of the steak, cut diagonal slashes 1/4'' deep. Place steak in a heavy plastic storage bag. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over the steak. Turn steak in the marindade to coat completely. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Over hot coals (or on a saute pan), grill the steak 5-6 minutes per side ot until cooked as desiered. Slice diagonally across the grain into slices.

Enjoy!

(Serves 6)

~Lynn