Category Archives: Main Dishes

Main Dishes, Recipe

Super Easy Kid-Friendly Macaroni

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Kid Friendly Mac

I feel a little silly posting this. I’ve been going through my 2014 pictures and I took this picture 1 year ago. My little boys eat this at least once a week… cause it’s super easy for me. Lately, I’ve been minimizing the time I spend cooking so I can maximize the time I get to do my hobbies and teach my boys new things.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Cook and drain macaroni according to package then put macaroni back into pot. Turn heat down to medium-low
  2. Put the butter on top of the macaroni in the pot. Stir until melted.
  3. Stir and sprinkle Italian bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese until desired coverage (~1/4 cup each)
  4. Enjoy! Or….
  5. FOR OVER ACHIEVERS: Put macaroni on a baking sheet and broil until a little crispy on the edges (~2 minutes)
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Main Dishes, Recipe

One Pot Chili Mac and Cheese

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This recipe is awesome. It’s cheap. It’s easy. You can feed a big family or have left overs for the whole week! It’s really toddler friendly too. Micah loved it. This is definitely a recipe I’ll use again.

Chili Mac and Cheese

Serving Size

  • 8 people

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbs olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 onion diced
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbs brown sugar
  • 1 pepper diced
  • 1-2 celery stick diced
  • 4 Tbs flour
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1 can crushed tomatoes
  • 2 beef bullion cubes
  • 4 cups water
  • 3 cups macaroni
  • 2 cups frozen corn (or 1 can corn)
  • 1 can red kidney beans
  • 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Instructions

  1. Put 1 Tbs olive oil in a pot that is at least 4 quarts big. Turn heat to medium.
  2. Add onion and garlic cloves. Cook until onion is caramelized.
  3. Add 1 lb ground beef and cook till brown.
  4. Add 1/2 tsp salt and 2 Tbs brown sugar to pot. Mix well.
  5. Add diced pepper and celery to pot.
  6. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
  7. Add flour to meat mixture and stir well. Cook for another minute.
  8. Add 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 can crush tomatoes, 2 beef bullion cubes,  4 cups water, and 3 cups macaroni. Stir well.
  9. Turn heat to high. Wait until simmer. Stir frequently to make sure noodles don’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
  10. Once simmering turn heat down to medium low.
  11. Add corn and red kidney beans to pot.
  12. Put lid on pot and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
  13. Turn heat off and add grated cheese to pot. Stir until cheese is melted in.

Enjoy it while it’s hot!

Main Dishes, Recipe

Making Menus… Yikes!

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Sorry for the absence. We’ve been traveling on the weekends and we were a little “under the weather” for a week or so.

I never thought I’d do it but I’ve started making weekly menus. With the high food prices in Ireland and not having a car… I need to make menus. I’ve actually kinda liked it. It’s really hard for me to sit down every Monday to figure out the entire week’s menu but it’s worth the time.  It’s nice to have the rest of the week planned and not have to think about what to make or running to the store for last minute ingredients.

Old Tactic: Run to the store, buy stuff that’s on sale/clearance, stock our fridge… then make up recipes with the food I bought. This worked fine. I’m pretty good at making stuff up on the spot. I only bought the essentials so I didn’t spend that much money. It worked well in Utah because I could buy stuff in bulk. That doesn’t work here! Sometimes buying bulk here means it’s more expensive… crazy huh?

New Tactic: Make a weekly menu on Monday, figure out what I don’t have, make a shopping list, go to the store twice a week (I can only carry little amounts home), and then make recipes on my menu.

It’s been really fun. It’s saves us money and we don’t waste so much food. We’ve been eating healthy. I think I’ll stick with it even when I get back to Utah.

So here’s what has been cooking in Mother Hubbard’s kitchen:

California Rolls

california rolls

Lamb Stew

Lamb Stew

Veggie Burgers

Veggie Burger

Teriyaki Salmon

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Chicken Pot Pie

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World’s Best Lasagna 

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Main Dishes, Recipe

Best Easy Veggie Burgers EVER!

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Veggie Burger

I’ve been always afraid to make veggie burgers because I don’t know how they would turn out. I thought it’d be hard and that it wouldn’t taste very good. Well today I succeeded in making a veggie burgers that both my husband and my toddler loved! This recipe is SUPER EASY and it taste super good! It’s not vegan because it contains eggs and cheese but it’s 100% meat free. However, we commented at dinner on how it smells like meat and even kinda taste like meat too.

Serving Size

  • 9 patties

Ingredients

  • 1 can of cannellini beans, drained
  • 1 can of butter beans, drained
  • 1 can of red kidney beans, drained
  • 1 cup of fresh bread crumbs (That’s all they sell in Ireland… they don’t have the dry stuff. I bet the dry stuff work too or take some white bread and shred it up yourself.)
  • 4 green onion, chopped into scallions
  • 1 tbsp freshly chopped cilantro
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp pepper
  • 1/4 tsp oregano
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 3/4 cup shredded cheese (I used mozzarella. I’m sure the more cheese you add the better it taste or you can cut back on the cheese if you’re trying to be healthy.)
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
  • Burger buns
  • Burger condiments: lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, ketchup, mayo, ect.

Instructions

  1. Put the beans in a strainer and rinse throughly. Make sure they are very dry after rising by using a paper towel.
  2. Mash the beans in a large mixing bowl using a potato masher until the beans are like mash potatoes. Some texture was fine. I couldn’t get all of the beans to mash.
  3. Add breadcrumbs, green onions, cilantro, egg, salt, pepper and oregano. Mix well.
  4. Pre-heat a frying pan to medium heat. Add the olive oil into the frying pan.
  5. Divide bean mixture into 9 portions. Using clean hands, shape and press each portion into a chunky burger.
  6. Fry each burgers ~5 minutes on each side or until light golden brown. Cook it until the burger is cooked all the way through and piping hot.
  7. Put the hot burgers in a bun and add your favorite condiments!
Main Dishes, Recipe

Best Greek Recipe!

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To get to the point of the story… Dallin’s friend took us to a Greek restaurant in SLC a month ago. It was good but we ended up spending like $40 on very little food! I got to admit though… it was good food because the taste was something different than what we always eat. I couldn’t help it…. I had to make Greek food and I finally found time to do it! These are some of the best recipes… and it worked the first time! You REALLY have to try them.

It took me about 1.5 hours of prep time but you should start prepping 3-4 hours before dinner. The recipes are really easy though. Trust me it’s worth a try!

Greek Yogurt Cucumber Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 small cucumber – peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
  • 1 green onion
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Stir together the yogurt, sour cream, vinegar, lemon juice, cucumber, green onion, garlic, feta cheese, oregano, lemon zest, salt, and pepper in a bowl; cover and chill 3 hours or overnight before serving.

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Greek Pita Bread

8 Servings (Feed 4 people)

Ingredients

  • 1 1/8 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour (I used wheat)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions

  1. Place all ingredients in bread pan of your bread machine, select Dough setting and start. When dough has risen long enough, machine will beep.
  2. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll and stretch dough into a 12 inch rope. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each into a smooth ball. With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a 6 to 7 inch circle. Set aside on a lightly floured counter top. cover with a towel. Let pitas rise about 30 minutes until slightly puffy.
  3. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Place 2 or 3 pitas on a wire cake rack. Place cake rack directly on oven rack. Bake pitas 4 to 5 minutes until puffed (see picture) and tops begin to brown. Remove from oven and immediately place pitas in a sealed brown paper bag or cover them with a damp kitchen towel until soft. Once pitas a softened, either cut in half or split top edge for half or whole pitas. They can be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for 1 or 2 months.

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Not all of mine puffed but it was super exciting when they did!
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Greek Seasoned Meat
Feed 4 People

Ingredients

  • 1 lb of any kind of meet (Chicken, Pork, Lamb, Steak..) sliced in strips
  • 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1 Small Onion Chopped

Combined everything. Cook the meet any way you want: grilled, pan fried with oil, baked covered with foil so the meat won’t dry out.

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Greek Gyros

Ingredients

  • Greek Cucumber Yogurt Recipe
  • Greek Pita Bread Recipe
  • Greek Seasoned Meat Recipe
  • Chopped Romain Lettuce
  • Diced Tomatoes

Directions

Use Pita Bread and top with Meat, Lettuce, Tomatoes, and a big heaping of Cucumber Yogurt Sauce! YUM!!!

Main Dishes

Chinese Steamed Eggs

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We had the best dinner today… I’m stuffed. We had beans, rice, and steamed eggs. It was so yummy! It sounds like a weird combination but it was our Brazilian mixed with Chinese dinner. It was great. Steamed eggs was something I ate all the time growing up.

Serving Size

  • 3 people

Ingredients

  • 10 – 12 small chunks of chicken (Size of a quarter)
  • 4 Eggs
  • 3/4 cup Water
  • 1 teaspoon Soy Sauce
  • 1 Chicken Bullion Cube
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 Green Onion Chopped
  • Other Optionals: corn, green peas, frozen carrots

Instructions

  1. In a heat safe bowl (glass, stoneware, or porcelain), whisk eggs, water, salt, green onion, and soy sauce together.
  2. Add chicken chunks.
  3. Steam bowl in steamer for 40-45 minutes over medium high heat or until egg is cooked in the middle.
  4. Serve with rice.
Main Dishes, Recipe

Edo Copy Cat Stir Fry

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Have you ever been to Edo at the mall? You know that place that makes Japanese food. This is kinda like their stir fry. Yummy! You can serve this with brown or white rice on the side. If you want this to have more terriyaki taste… Just add another tablespoon of sugar.

Serving Size

  • 2 people

Ingrediants

  • 1/2 pound of chicken thighs, remove bone, chopped into small pieces
  • 2 sticks of celery chopped in little slices
  • 1/4 of an onion chopped in strips
  • 1/2 green pepper chopped in strips
  • 1/4 of a cabbage chopped in about 2 inch strips
  • 1 cup of brocoli
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 2 Tablespoon soy sauce
  • Garlic Salt
  • Lemon Pepper

Instructions

  1. Cook the chicken on medium heat on the stove in a frying pan add garlic.
  2. Sprinkle chicken with lemon pepper and a little bit of garlic salt.
  3. Once the chicken is almost done turn the heat down  1-2 notches add the onions, celery, and green peppers. Stir and cook for about 3 minutes.
  4. Then add the broccoli and cook for another 2 minutes.
  5. Then add the cabbage strips.
  6. Now let the cabbage cook for 5 minutes on low heat.
  7. Sprinkle lemon  pepper and garlic salt.
  8. Then add the soy sauce and sprinkle on the sugar.
  9. Stir and make sure everything is mixed in well.
  10. Serve stir fry with a side of white or brown rice.