Cream Cheese Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Everybody who knows my family knows what we're eating on Sunday night. Roast. Potatoes. Gravy... In fact, I think I can count on one hand how many times we've had something other than that since Mike and I have been married! Don't get me wrong, it's good... but for somebody who barely eats meat at all, a roast every Sunday is a bit extreme. So for me, Sunday Dinner is ALL about the sides.  These mashed potatoes are delicious and I do love potatoes. Gravy is totally optional here as the potatoes themselves have plenty of flavor on their own.

Cream Cheese Garlic Mashed Potatoes

2 1/2 pounds red potatoes, washed and UNpeeled

1 tsp sea salt

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup milk

2 cloves minced garlic

1 Tbsp dry parsley

2 Tbsp chopped chives (you can use green onions if you don't have chives)

1 tsp black pepper

Chop potatoes into small chunks and add to a large pot. Fill pot with water just until potatoes are barely covered. Sprinkle salt into pot and cook on high until water is boiling. Reduce heat to maintain a low boil for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove potatoes from water and place in a large mixing bowl. (Save water for gravy if you are planning to make some.)

To potatoes add cream cheese, milk and seasonings. Mash potatoes with a potatoe masher or with an electric beater on low. Add more milk (by the tablespoon) if you like a thinner consistency. You can also add more salt at this point, but taste it first. I find that it usually doesn't need it with all the other yummy flavors!

Oven Pot Roast

Oven Pot Roast

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp oregano

ground black pepper to taste (I use about 1 tsp)

3 1/2 pounds rump, tip or crossrib roast

1/4 cup butter

1/2 envelope (2 Tbsp) dry onion soup mix (it's easy to make your own! click here for the recipe)

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup Marsala cooking wine

Optional:

You can also add carrots, onions, celery & potatoes. Even if we don't end up eating them with our roast, I like to throw them into the pot for some extra flavor. Later I use them along with the leftover roast to make a super quick stew. Here's what I used:

1 lb peeled carrots chopped into large chunks

10 pearl onions
1 lb new red potatoes (from the garden)
2 stalks celery washed and chopped into large chunks

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 285 degrees F
2.In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and seasonings. Add black pepper to taste. Dredge the rump roast in the flour and cover evenly. Shake off excess.

3.In a large pot over medium/high heat, melt the butter and brown the roast on all sides. Place in a 4 quart casserole dish with lid. I use a 5 qt. Dutch Oven- this way I can use the same pot for browning, roasting and later making the gravy.

4.In a small bowl, combine the soup mix, water and wine; pour over roast.

5.Cover and bake in preheated oven for 4 hours or until desired doneness. 

To make the gravy:

Brown Gravy

2 cups potato-cooking water (If you didn't boil potatoes, just use 2 cups salted water)

about 2 cups roast drippings; I like to use the same pot that I've cooked the roast in- that way I'm sure to get all the drippings for the best flavor! (You may also use 2 cups beef broth + 1-2 Tbsp Montreal Seasoning)

¼ cup cornstarch or ½ cup flour

½ cup water

Heat potato water and drippings to a gentle boil. Combine cornstarch and water to achieve a smooth paste. Slowly pour, while stirring, cornstarch mixture into boiling liquid until desired consistency. Don’t pour too much all at once or you’ll get lumps! Also, if gravy is satisfactorily thickened before you’ve poured all your cornstarch into it, then stop!

Chili Rellenos Casserole

 I've been harvesting the last of my garden peppers this week and the other day I brought in an entire grocery bag full of yummy chile peppers! Not wanting to can anymore, I've been dropping them into my Garden-Style Red Chili, into my Vita-mix tomato juice and into just about all my homemade sauces. I also turned more than a dozen into this:

Chili Rellenos Casserole

10 roasted large green chili peppers*

8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, sliced

8 ounces Cheddar/Jack cheese, shredded
3 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons flour (I used whole wheat)
1 cup milk
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 1/2 cup enchilada sauce


Directions:

Prep: To roast chili peppers, wash thoroughly and lay in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Broil on high for 8-10 minutes until skin is slightly browned and blistered. Turn peppers and broil an additional 8 minutes. Or you can roast peppers on an outdoor grill at about 400 F laying peppers in a single layer across grill and reducing time by 1-2 minutes per side. Allow to cool until skin pulls away from meat easily. Use rubber gloves to peel and remove seeds. Cut peppers along sides so peppers lay flat.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Lay half of the chilies evenly in bottom of baking dish.

Lay the sliced Jack cheese over the chilies, and cover with remaining chilies.
In a bowl, mix together the eggs, milk, flour, and seasonings and pour over the top of the chilies. Mixture will be runny- don't worry, it will firm as it cooks.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, pour enchilada sauce evenly over the top, sprinkle with remaining Jack and Cheddar cheeses, and continue baking another 15 minutes. Serve with Spanish rice and refried beans.

*I used Anaheim chilies from my garden. You can use any kind of chile you'd like. I even roasted one bell pepper for my girls and used that for their servings (they don't like ANY spice). You can also substitute whole canned chilies.

Enchilada Sauce

Whenever I go out for Mexican food I always order the same thing: Cheese Enchiladas. Sure, I like other things on the menu. But I love enchiladas so it's a safe bet that I won't be disappointed when my food arrives. But really what it comes down to is that I'm in love with red enchilada sauce. It's good on eggs, it's good on tortillas, it's good mixed with beans and rice. So it's only natural for me to have my own recipe for the good stuff at home, right? You can use canned/bottled tomato sauce for the following recipe to speed things up a bit, but I haven't used any canned tomatoes in my house for at least a month. It's been awesome! (Thank you garden!)

Enchilada Sauce

10 large tomatoes
1 red bell pepper
1/2 medium onion
1 green chili pepper
1 carrot (optional- it helps sweeten things up a bit without adding any sugar)
3 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp red chili powder
1/2 Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp sea salt

1.  Wash and remove stems from tomatoes and peppers. Peel onion. Place produce into the wet container of your Vita-mix in the following order: tomatoes, peppers, onions, carrot, garlic. Turn machine on Variable speed 2 and gradually increase speed until all the vegetables have been pulled into the blades. Use your tamping stick if necessary to push produce down. Turn speed up to high and process for 2-3 minutes. Pour into a 5-qt saucepan or Dutch oven.
2.  Cook on medium-high until boiling. Reduce heat to medium and maintain a low boil until mixture is thickened (about 20 minutes).
3.  Add spices, stir to combine. Continue to cook for an additional 5-10 minutes or until desired consistency. Makes 2-3 cups sauce.

*To make this sauce using canned tomato sauce, skip the first two steps. Use three 8oz. cans of tomato sauce.

**You can bottle this recipe if you'd like using a pressure canner. Process pints 35 minutes, at 15 pounds pressure in a steam-pressure canner. If you quadruple this recipe it will make about 6 pints sauce.

***As always, if you don't have a Vita-mix, just dice your vegetables (carrots, onion and peppers) and saute them in about 2 Tbsp olive oil until soft before adding to a traditional blender to puree.

Garden-Style Red Chili

Have I mentioned lately that I have a Vita-mix? Yeah I thought so. I guess I'm a little obsessed with it right now, but who can blame me? It makes dinners (and lunches... and breakfasts... and snacks) so easy. On Saturday I was working in the yard all day long. It wasn't a bad day, but it did get pretty chilly by the time I was done. When I finally made it back into the house all I could think about was a nice warm bowl of hearty chili. Only problem was that it was already almost dinner time and I usually simmer my traditional chili for hours to blend the flavors. But with the Vita-mix my problem was solved! I just pre-blended all my flavors in my tomato sauce. Also this is a great way to use some tomatoes that need to be used before they go bad (not to mention all you're other garden produce- just in case you're burnt out when it comes to canning!)

This really went together pretty quickly; especially since I keep pre-cooked meat mix in the freezer at all times.

Garden-Style Red Chili

8-10 large tomatoes
2 large carrots
4 red or green bell peppers
2 large Anaheim chilis
1 large onion, divided
4 cloves garlic
5 cups pre-cooked ground meat mix
1/2 Tbsp red chili powder
1/2 Tbsp ground cumin
1/2 Tbsp oregano
1/2 Tbsp black pepper
1 Tbsp sea salt
2 cans chili beans
2 cans kidney beans

1:Wash all your vegetables. Remove stems from tomatoes and peppers and remove seeds from half the peppers (2 bells, 2 chilis). Peel onion and cut into quarters.

2:  Cut tomatoes in half and fill Vita-mix wet container about halfway full. Fill the remainder of the container with 1 red bell pepper, 1 chili pepper (both with seeds if desired), 1 carrot, 2 cloves garlic and 1/4 of the onion. Turn machine on Variable speed 2 and gradually increase speed until all the vegetables have been pulled into the blades. Use your tamping stick if necessary to push produce down. Turn speed up to high and process for 2-3 minutes. Pour into a large stockpot or two 5-qt sauce pans.

 {When "sauce" comes out of Vita-mix, it will look a bit pink and frothy, but the air bubbles will dissipate as your sauce cooks, giving you a nice red color.}

3:  Repeat Step 2. You should have 1-2 tomatoes, 1/2 onion, and 2 bell peppers remaining.

4:  Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat until mixture is at a gentle boil or high simmer. Simmer, stirring occasionally for 20-30 minutes or until sauce reaches desired consistency.

5:  Dice remaining vegetables and add to tomato sauce base. Also add ground meat mix, beans and seasonings. Stir well. Continue to simmer for an additional 20 minutes.

6:  Serve with freshly grated cheese and saltine crackers. And for my Wyoming friends: This is GREAT with cinnamon rolls!

**To freeze: Prepare through step 5. Place 2-4 cups in quart-sized freezer bags. Allow to cool completely before putting into your freezer. Keeps at least three months in the freezer.

To serve from freezer: move to refrigerator the day before serving. Heat on stove-top; serve. OR run hot water over the bag of frozen chili to loosen. Break it up and add chunks to an appropriate sized slow-cooker (Remember, you want your ingredients to fill your slow-cooker at least halfway for best results). Cook on Low 6 hours or High 3 hours until heated through.

Birthday Cakes!

From September 21 until October 19 we have three birthdays in this house (and then mine is 2 weeks later, but who's counting...). I look forward to my oldest girl's birthday all year long because she always comes up with the most interesting requests for her birthday cake. It started off simple when she turned 3: I want a pink cake with chocolate frosting. Easy enough.. then it evolved into a blue Dora and Diego cake with purple frosting. And this year? She wanted a white cake with strawberry swirls, banana frosting and flowers that you can eat. And make it a My Little Pony cake, thanks. With these kind of requests, I don't think I could have bought the cake if I'd wanted to!

This cake was for my 2-year old. She has inherited her big sisters' love for princesses and loves anything pink and pretty. Last year we didn't get to have cake for her birthday because our entire family was fighting the stomach flu. It was very sad... Honestly, I don't think she knew the difference, but I really wanted her to have her very own FIRST birthday cake. So to make up for it this year, I made an extra satellite cake to her princess cake. The funny thing is... she wouldn't even taste it! She kept pushing it away saying, "Don't want it! I want cake!" ... She just wanted a slice of the big cake that everybody else was having! Sigh...

Let me just say... I am not a cake decorator. But I like to pretend! It's fun and I hope to be able to make prettier cakes in the years ahead for my family. In the meantime, my kids are young and think this sloppy mess looks "beautiful!".

Strawberry Swirl Cake

2 2/3 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1/2 cup shortening

1 tsp vanilla

4 egg whites

1 cup strawberry preserves

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl except the egg whites and strawberry preserves. Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping the bowl. Beat on high for 2 minutes until smooth. Add egg whites and beat on high for 2 additional minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. Pour into 1 greased and floured pan. Drop preserves by tablespoonfull all over the top of the unbaked cake. Swirl with the tip of a knife, first one way and then another to get a nice swirled effect. Bake at 350 F for 40-45 minutes. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely.

Banana Frosting

(Thanks to my friend for helping me solve the banana frosting dilemma- she gave me the great idea to use pudding for the flavor!)

1 small box banana pudding

1 cup powdered sugar

8 oz thawed cool whip

Mix the above ingredients on low with an electric beater until frosting is smooth. Spread over cooled cake or cupcakes.

For the princess cake, I used the cakes that I had in my freezer from my "teenage son helping me bake" fiasco. (I knew they'd come in handy eventually!) It was super simple and with the exception of my failed frosting recipe, it turned out great! The frosting by the way should have been a stiff buttercream frosting, but I'm really not a big fan of buttercream so I instead used my sour cream frosting recipe that is delicious! Only problem is that the frosting melted on the way to the in-laws for the little gal's party. Whoops!

Broiled Tuna-Noodle Casserole

Make one of these for dinner, and one for a friend or to put into your freezer for later. This is our go-to meal when the hubby's out of town. He's not a big fan of Tuna Casserole, but me and the kiddos LOVE it!

Broiled Tuna-Noodle Casserole
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pounds wide egg noodles or bowtie pasta
2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
5 cups skim milk
4 cans (6 ounces each) tuna in olive oil, drained
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1 lb broccoli, lightly steamed and chopped
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan


Preheat oven to 400 F. Lightly oil two 8-inch square (or other shallow 2-quart) baking dishes. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles until 2 minutes short of al dente; drain, and return to pot. Meanwhile, in a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium. Add bell peppers, broccoli and zucchini; season with salt and pepper. Cook until crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Gradually add milk, stirring until smooth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a simmer.Remove from heat; add mixture to noodles in pot, along with tuna, and green onions. Season with salt and pepper, and toss. Divide between prepared baking dishes, and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake until golden and bubbling, about 20 minutes or place under a HOT broiler for 5-7 minutes.


To freeze: Prepare above recipe with the exception of baking; cool to room temperature. Cover tightly with aluminum foil, and freeze up to three months.

To bake from frozen: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake, covered with foil, until center is warm, about 2 hours. Uncover, and bake until top is browned, about 20 minutes more.

To bake from thawed:Thaw overnight in refrigerator. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake, covered with foil, until center is warm, about 30 minutes. Uncover, and bake until top is browned, about 20 minutes more.
1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for baking dishes