Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Breakfast: Zucchini Bread

Lunch: Baked Lemon Pasta

Snack: Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Dinner: Chicken Cordon Blue

Dessert: Vanilla Ice Cream

With the summer warming up fast, making your own ice cream is definitely a trick to know.  You know exactly what is going in your ice-cream and you can customize it from the beginning:

Ingredients

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2 cups half-and-half cream
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, combine the heavy cream and the half and half.
2. Gradually whisk in the sugar until blended.
3. Whisk in the vanilla.
4. Refrigerate, covered, until very cold, at least 3 hours or as long as 3 days.
5. Whisk the mixture to blend and pour into the canister of an ice cream maker.

Enjoy!

Breakfast: Strawberry Melon Salad

Lunch: Cuban Lentil Soup

Snack: Baked Sweet Potato Chips

Dinner: Buttermilk Ranch Chicken Breast

Dessert: Peanut Butter Cookies

Happy Wednesday my fellow food lovers!  Today’s feature recipe is soup!  I love soup and I enjoy soup all year round.  Here is a yummy Cuban Lentil Soup for your enjoyment!

Cuban Lentil Soup, also known as sopa de lentejas, is delicious!  One thing I really love is having a few spoonfuls and then adding lime to the soup.  It completely changes the flavor.  Being from the Caribbean, I’m used to it being hot all the time, so soup is something we enjoy year round.  I hope you like it as much as I do.

Preparation

1. Over low heat, pour the water and add the lentils in a large sauce pan.
2. Bring to a boil
3. Reduce heat to low
4. Cover and simmer for 15 mins.
5. Add vinegar, onion, garlic, beef bouillon, celery, tomatoes, potato, bay leaf, cumin, basil and oregano.
6. Stir ingredients well
7. Bring to a boil
8. Reduce the heat to medium
9. Cover and simmer for 45 mins.
10. Remove the bay leaf and discard.
11. Add salt and pepper and wine and stir well.
12. Cook an additional 5 mins.
13. The soup should be somewhat thick and not very watery, and the potatoes tender.
14. To thicken, let stand for several mins.
15. Serve on soup bowls and enjoy!

I typically enjoy the soup with a side of rice, but it’s hearty enough to enjoy by itself!

Happy Monday!  My apologies for the late post, it seems that our website disappeared over the weekend!  But, we are back and ready for business!  Today’s recipe is a slow cooker recipe.  It’s a great investment if you have errands throughout the day and will be in and out of the house.

Breakfast: Boiled Egg and Toast

Lunch: Rigatoni Filetto

Snack: Caramelized Onion and Apple Mini-Tarts

Dinner: Maple Flavored Barbecue Chicken

Dessert: Cheesecake with Lime-Poached Pears

One thing I love you about slow cookers is the fact that you can start something in the morning or early afternoon, run your errands and have a delicious dinner ready for you when you return!  Happy cooking.

Maple Flavored Chicken

Ingredients

1 c. ketchup
1/2 c. maple flavored syrup
2 tbsp. prepared mustard
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
4 boneless, skinned chicken breasts

Preparation

1. Place all ingredients in slow cooker/Crock Pot and cook on low for about 7 to 8 hours or until chicken is done.
2. Remove meat, shred and return to sauce.
3. Place on buns for sandwiches or serve over hot rice. Serves 4 to 6.

Enjoy your meal!

Happy Saturday, everyone.  It’s Sabroso Saturday so today we have a delicious Sancocho recipe that is a favorite among many Hispanic families.  It’s always a treat for me and my family.  The preparation seems scary and long, but it’s just a lot of small steps, I promise!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Breakfast: Eggs and Homefries

Lunch: Garlic Broccoli

Snack: Trail Mix

Dinner: Dominican Snacocho

Dessert: Spiced Carrot Cake with Coconut Cream

Dominican Sancocho

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs beef with bones
• 1 lb of goat meat
• 1 lb. pork sausage (longaniza)
• 1 lb pork
• 1 1/2 lb chicken
• 2 lbs of pork ribs
• 1 lb of bones from a smoked ham
• 4 lemons cut in halves
• 1 tablespoon of mashed garlic
• 4 tablespoons of oil
• 1/2 lb of cassava cut into 1-inch thick pieces
• 1/2 lb of yam cut into 1-inch thick pieces
• 2 celery stalks
• 1/2 lb of malanga cut into 1-inch thick pieces
• 1/2 lb of potatoes cut into 1-inch thick pieces
• 3 unripe plantains, 2 cut into 1-inch thick pieces
• 2 cubes of beef stock (optional)
• 2 corn cobs cut into 2-inches long pieces (may be omitted)
• 1/2 teaspoon of powdered oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon of coriander/cilantro
• 2 teaspoons of vinegar
• 2 teaspoons of chili pepper sauce or agrio de naranja
• *10 Bollitos de harina (boiled flour rolls) (optional)

Preparation:

1. Place the beef in a pan and add the celery, coriander, oregano, garlic, vinegar, and salt.
2. Marinate for at least half an hour.
3. In an iron pot heat the oil, add the beef and stir (be careful with hot oil splattering).
4. Cover and and simmer for 10 minutes. Add a few spoons of water if the meat sticks to the pot.
5. Add the pork and let simmer for 15 minutes, adjust water when necessary.
6. Add the rest of the meat to the pot (except for the chicken) and simmer for another 15 minutes, adding tablespoons of water as needed to prevent it from burning.
7. Add the chicken and let simmer for another 10 minutes.
8. Add 1/4 gallon of water to the pot and bring to a boil.
9. Add the yam, malanga and the two plantains that you had previously cut.
10. Add the bollitos now.
11. Simmer for 15 minutes.
12. Add all remaining ingredients and adjust water when necessary.
13. Stir regularly to avoid excessive sticking.
14. Simmer until the last ingredients you added are tender.
15. Grate, or scrape with the knife the remaining plantain to make it into a pulp, add to the pot.
16. Simmer for another 10 minutes.
17. Adjust salt to taste.
18. Serve hot with white rice.

Dominican Sancocho

Hello everyone!  Here is a new thing we’re trying at KidsFunPlaza… It’s called Menu Monday!  Every Monday I will be joining hundreds of other blogs as I post the weekly dinner schedule here as well as on orgjunkie.com posting the dinner menu for the week so you can look ahead and see what you’ll be cooking.

Monday: Tuna Ceviche with Coconut Milk Coriander and Picked Red Onions

Tuesday:  Standing Rib Roast with Cognac Sauce

Wednesday: Tilapia with Scallions and Black Bean Sauce

Thursday: Apple Braised Turkey Thighs

Friday: Coriander Crusted Pork Tenderloin

Saturday: Baked Southwest Tilapia

Sunday: “La Bandera Dominican” The Dominican Flag

I hope you have a wonderful week and that you tune in daily to see what we’ll be cooking!

October ’10 – Week 2 – Friday Dinner/Entree

This recipe is my own, based off of a meal an old friend used to tell me about but never got around to cooking for me. My version is elegant, worthy of an anniversary dinner, and reminiscent of meals I ate during my summer in Germany. This meal is also very versatile. It could be rendered into a soup, the potatoes could be removed and mashed with the cream, butter and herbs in the pan, or it could be served exactly as it is, straight out of the oven.

Ingredients:

4 Salmon Fillets
1 lb Fingerling Potatoes
1 lb Asparagus Spears, trimmed
Fresh Dill
1 Pint Half & Half
1 Stick of Butter
Zest of 1 Lemon
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

In the bottom of a baking dish, arrange the asparagus spears into a mat for the salmon to sit on. Arrange salmon on top, and potatoes off to either side. Pour half and half into the bottom of the dish, and cut the butter into bits and scatter them throughout. Roughly chop the dill and sprinkle it over the top, along with the lemon zest, salt and pepper.

Tent with foil and bake for 60 minutes, or until fish is tender and flaky and potatoes are cooked through.

October ’10 – Week 2 – Thursday Dinner/Entree

I discovered the secret to a killer cheesy shepherd’s pie, and the answer might surprise you. Save time and calories by using boxed potatoes au gratin instead of using a layer of mashed potatoes. The cheesy sauce cooks down into the meat and veggies, completely changing your perceptions of what a shepherd’s pie is supposed to be.

Ingredients:

1 Package Potatoes Au Gratin
Water
Milk
Olive Oil
1 lb Ground Beef
1 Onion, diced
1 Clove Garlic, minced
Frozen Vegetables of choice (I usually use peas.)
Worchestershire Sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°.

Add a touch of olive oil to a med-large skillet and heat to med-high. Cook onions and garlic until translucent and tender. Remove from pan and set aside.

Cook beef in the same skillet until browned WELL. Drain off any fat before reincorporating the onion mixture and adding your veggies, worchestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

Add contents of the skillet to a casserole dish. Prepare “sauce” for potatoes au gratin (cheese packet, water and milk,) omitting the butter component. Arrange potato slices across the top of the beef mixture in the casserole dish, then pour the cheese sauce overtop. Sauce will thicken and potatoes will cook as the casserole bakes.

Bake for 60 minutes, or until the top has browned and potatoes are cooked through.

October ’10 – Week 2 – Tuesday Dinner/Dessert, Wednesday Breakfast

Few things go together better than peaches and ginger. Bring them together in harmony with plums and cherries in this crisp of stone fruits. It’s perfect warm from the oven in the winter months, or eaten cold in the summer with a huge scoop of ice cream. (*Orange text highlights easy steps that kids can do.)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C AP Flour
1 T Cornstarch
1 C Sugar & 1/4 C Sugar, kept separate
1/3 C Brown Sugar
1 T Ground Ginger
1/4 t Salt & 1/4 t Salt, kept separate
2/3 C Butter, cut into pieces
3 Peaches
3 Plums
2 C Cherries
1 t Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°. Pit and slice the cherries, plums and peaches.

In a large bowl, combine the first measurements of flour, sugar, and salt, plus the brown sugar. Using your fingers, work the butter into the dry mixture, until it forms crumbles the size of large peas.

In another bowl, combine fruits, ginger and vanilla. In a smaller bowl, combine the second measurements of sugar, salt, plus the cornstarch. Combine this with the fruit and toss.

Heap fruit mixture up high in a 9×13″ baking dish. Cover the fruit with the crumbly topping, being sure to fit it all around the top, and pinching with your fingers if necessary to seal in the edges.

Bake for an hour, or until fruit is tender, juices are bubbling, and the topping is golden brown. Tent with foil at any point through the baking process if you feel the topping is browning too darkly.

October ’10 – Week 1 – Tuesday Dinner

I have been known to spend a lot of money on Italian food, eating out at restaurants. Never again! Since I really learned how to cook, I’ve found it way easier to stay home and spend the same amount of money that I would have paid for my dinner alone, and make dinner enough for five people! These shells are no exception. You can feed an army with this pan of burgeoning, cheesy pasta. This recipe utilizes the leftover meatballs from last night’s dinner. (*Orange text highlights easy steps that kids can do.)

Ingredients:

1 Package Large Pasta Shells
2 Eggs, beaten
1 32 oz tub Ricotta cheese
1 lb Shredded Mozzarella
8 oz Grated Parmesan
1 lb Meatballs, crushed
1 t Dried Oregano
1 t Dried Basil
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 Jar Pasta Sauce of choice (our family’s favorite is Newman’s Own Organic in Traditional Herb.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add shells and cook until according to package directions, drain.

In a large bowl, mix eggs, ricotta, half the mozzarella, half the parmesan, crushed up meatballs, salt and pepper and herbs until well combined. Stuff cooked shells with ricotta mixture and line up in a 9×13 inch baking dish.

In a medium bowl, stir together pasta sauce and reserved mozzarella and Parmesan. Pour over stuffed shells, covering them evenly.

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until edges are bubbly and browned.

October ’10 – Week 1 – Monday Dinner/Dessert

It’s October. The kitchen is overflowing with apples. Oh my goodness, who could ask for more than this recipe? Apple crisp is the very best way to let fall flavors shine, and it’s immediately a comfort to have in your tummy. This is also another one of those recipes that “becomes” baby food so easily just by mashing it with the back of a fork or dumping a spoonful in to a food processor- crisp topping and all! My apple crisp always calls for vanilla, which most don’t. It’s my secret that adds just a hint of warmth and richness. (*Orange text highlights easy steps that kids can do.)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C AP Flour & 1 T AP Flour, kept separate
1 C Sugar & 1/4 C Sugar, kept separate
1/3 C Brown Sugar
1 t Cinnamon
1/8 t Nutmeg
1/4 t Salt & 1/4 t Salt, kept separate
2/3 C Butter, cut into pieces
8 C Peeled Apples (I prefer a combination of tart Granny Smith, and Honeycrisp, Fuji, Gala, or any other sweet pink apple) cut into slices or large chunks
2 T Lemon Juice
1 t Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, combine the first measurements of flour, sugar, and salt, plus the brown sugar and cinnamon. Using your fingers, work the butter into the dry mixture, until it forms crumbles the size of large peas.

In another bowl, combine apples, vanilla and lemon juice. In a smaller bowl, combine the second measurements of sugar, flour, salt, and also the nutmeg. Combine this with the apples and toss.

Heap apple mixture up high in a 9×13″ baking dish. They’ll collapse as they bake. Cover the apples with the crumbly topping, being sure to fit it all around the top, and pinching with your fingers if necessary to seal in the edges.

Bake for an hour, or until apples are tender, juices are bubbling, and the topping is golden brown. Tent with foil at any point through the baking process if you feel the topping is browning too darkly.

Serve with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, a drizzle of heavy cream, or just straight up.