Friday, September 26, 2014

sour cream pasta

I'm back!   Sorry for not posting in so long, but this summer was just crazy busy.

The other night, I threw together a totally random recipe...and the kids both had two helpings!!!  Always a great sign.  I took a guess with adding sour cream to pasta, but it turned out great!

Ingredients:
- 3 small zucchini, cubed
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 pound pasta (I used linguine, but any would really do)
- 3 ladles of pasta water
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese


1. cook pasta.

2. add onion and zucchini into pan with olive oil, and cook until onion is translucent and zucchini is nicely browned.

3. add three ladles of pasta water into pan with onion and zucchini

4. add sour cream and Parmesan cheese into the pan of onion, zucchini, and water.  Mix until incorporated.  Let it cook down for about 5 minutes, or so.

5.  add pasta into the pan with the sour cream mixture
and mix together. Sprinkle pepper on top.




Smacznego!





Wednesday, February 26, 2014

mexican rice (or quinoa) casserole

I have created the most easy recipe...ever!

Simple instructions:
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. add all these ingredients

-2 cups rice (or 2 cups quinoa. I believe quinoa is more healthy than rice, but I didn't have any on hand.)
- 1/2 cup lentils (I had black lentils on hand, but you could use green or even red)
- packet of taco seasoning (although the more healthy option is basic spices like cumin, paprika)
- can of corn (again, can was all I had on hand...the more healthy option in the dead of winter is frozen corn)
- jar of salsa
- 2 cups of beans (I used chickpeas because that is all I had on had.  Black beans would be good, too)
- 2 1/2 cups water 

into this kind of dish




and stir around
that chuck are the frozen chickpeas




3. put into oven.



4. after 30 minutes stir



5. after 45 minutes to 1 hour, you have this.




I told you...totally easy!

It takes just a couple minutes to prepare, and as long as you have an hour to let it cook, this is an great dinner option.

Serve with sour cream and avocado.

Dinner done easy and healthy!




Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Tacos, the easy way

Wanna make dinner in a jiffy?  Here is a suggestion for tacos, the easy way...



Place taco shells in an upside down cupcake tin.




Empty a can of refried bean in a bowl, and stir up with seasoning.  The super easy way is to add 1/2 packet of taco seasoning.  Or, you could simply add cumin.




Add beans to the taco shells




Place tacos in the oven...350...for about 5 minutes  


Place salsa, sour cream, and shredded cheese on the table...to be added as desired by the hungry crew


And there you have it: tacos, the easy way



Of course you can add lettuce, avocado, ect.  This is what I had on on hand that night.  Easy peasy! 

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Cream of Mushroom Soup

I make soup weekly during the winter months, and this is one of my favorites!




Ingredients:
- container of mushrooms (any basic kind you find in the store in fine)
- potatoes (2-4, depending on your liking), cubed
- carrots ( 2-4, depending on your liking), sliced
- sour cream, 16 ounces
- chicken bouillon base
- salt
- pepper
- 6 cups water


1. cut mushrooms into small pieces, and add to soup pot with a little salt and olive oil.  Cook over medium high heat.
They first look like this:



and after a couple minutes (covered) they look like this:






2. add water, potatoes, and carrots




3. bring to a boil, then add a big spoonful of the chicken base






4. let simmer until the carrots are soft, which is about 20 minutes.  Now, it is time to temper in the sour cream.  Tempering makes it so that the sour cream doesn't curdle when you add it into the hot soup.

So, add your sour cream to a large bowl


Then, add a ladle of the soup to the sour cream, and stir.  



Keep repeating this step (ladle of soup, then stir) until you have the sour cream mixture good and hot




5.  Transfer the sour cream mixture back to the soup pot on the stove, then add pepper to taste.





6. Let simmer for another 10 minutes, or so, and the soup is ready!



The soup cream addition to soups is a Polish thing, and I always find this soup very comforting.  Reminds me of my mom.  This soup is earthy, hearty, and tangy all at the same time.


Smacznego!