Portobella & Swiss Burger Melts

I'm on a roll! If you count two posts in two days a roll...

Our supper last night was just too yummy not to share. These melts are inspired by Steak 'n Shake's Portobella & Swiss burgers which the hubby and I both love. The secret ingredient??? Garlic Mayo...um, yes please. Seriously, it makes the burger, in this case, the melt. I used homemade whole wheat oatmeal bread for the toast, slathered (fun word) on some homemade garlic mayo, sliced aged swiss, sauteed onions & portobellas, my father-in-laws beef patties for a seriously awesome sandwich.

Multigrain baked onion rings, freezer corn & peaches rounded out the meal. Oh, and we had to make a last minute run to Main Street Mercantile for a scoop or two of ice cream to top off our meal! 

Ingredients:

8 oz box mini bella mushrooms, washed & sliced
1 small onion, sliced thin
olive oil
1 tbsp butter
2 burger patties
4 slices aged swiss
4 slices toast



Garlic Mayo
4 tbsp Mayo (not Miracle Whip...eww)
1/2 tsp crushed garlic paste
dash of lemon juice

Cook burgers as desired. We used our little panini grill. In a skillet, heat oil and add onions. Cook onions down on medium-low heat to caramelize them, which takes longer than you think...probably about 5-10 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until soft.

For the mayo, combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Taste and add more garlic or lemon depending on your taste...we like garlic in this house. :)

Assemble melts. Ours looked like this: bread, mayo, cheese slice, burger patty, another cheese slice, 1/2 mushroom/onion mixture, top off with bread slathered with more mayo.

Oh so good...
I want another one...
Now...
Bummer, we ate it all last night.
:)

Enjoy!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

We'll just say I went on sabbatical, ok? That sounds professionally acceptable for not having updated this blog of mine for over 7 months...

No, seriously I have a baby. That should explain it all right there! I'm sure some of you snickered at my last post in April that I would try to still blog with a baby, but hey, my intentions were good. :)

After posting a picture of this soup on Facebook, I got a  lot of requests for a recipe and decided to open the vault of Emmy's Eats! Baby is napping now, so we'll see if we can get this done in one go!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup
adapted from Cooking Light

2-1/2 lbs russet potatoes (about 4 large potatoes, 5-6 smaller ones)

2/3 cup white whole wheat flour (you can sub. white flour)
6 cups skim milk (sub. 4 cups chicken broth + 2 cups almond milk)
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (preferably fresh shredded), divided
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 small onion, minced 
1/2 lb bacon, cooked & diced
1 small broccoli crown, cut in small pieces
1 cup reduced fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt


Toppings:
shredded cheese
chives/green onion
more bacon :)

Bake potatoes, preferably in the oven at 400° for about an hour or until done. However, if you're like me and plan on making this soup, but don't decide to start making it until about, oh, and hour before you want to eat it, then you nuke 'em using the potato setting on your microwave...even if you hate cooking potatoes that way.

Moving on: place flour in to your soup pot and gradually whisk in milk or milk/broth combo. Cook over medium heat, whisking frequently, until mixture starts to thicken & it's bubbling (8-10min). Add cooked potatoes to the pot and mash with a potato masher or spoon. (Here is were my lovely hubby would step in and make some comment about blowing up the soup with the potato masher...don't worry if you don't get it, we're really nerdy around here-and that's a history lesson for another day). The more you mash, the less chunky your soup will be...we like chunky. :)

Add your cheese, broccoli, bacon, salt, pepper, onion powder and onion to the pot. Cook on low heat until the cheese melts. (if you like really well cooked broccoli, cook the fresh broccoli first before you add it to the soup). Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the sour cream/Greek yogurt. Return pot to low heat and cook for about 10 minutes (don't let it boil!) or until heated through. Top it with whatever garnishes you desire. I took the picture before I put chives on mine...fail-was pretty though! I did manage to save my fresh herbs from the cold and snow before it came, so Emmy for the win there!

Sorry if this post is obnoxious with my comments...I haven't done this in a while and am feeling a bit snarky today. :)

Enjoy!

                      Here's my little foodie in the making! Such a little ham!

 

Enter: The Baby Era

My absence from blogging should be pretty obvious from my last post and the title of this one. Our precious little boy made his appearance on Christmas Eve, 2 weeks early! He is a happy healthy 3-1/2 month old now and he is our joy! I could have never prepared myself fully to be a mother and he has already taught me so much about myself. We love our little guy and wouldn't change a thing!

 Josiah Eric-a few minutes new! :)

Cooking as taken a backseat to mothering these days. The meals our families and church family brought us for the first 6 weeks or so were a HUGE blessing. Recovering from a C-section and trying to figure out life with a newborn is challenging enough! I couldn't hardly even imagine then that I would ever be able to cook a meal for us again! But those days are (mostly) past and I've been able to cook a lot more, while knowing at any time I could be called away from preparations for supper from my new boss!

Quick, easy and healthy meals are now the goal most days. I have found it challenging at times to figure out what to have for dinner with my mind on baby, but pre-planning when he's napping is key! This being said, you made notice a bit of a shift in my blog posts. They will probably be even more sparse than they could be at times before and with more of an emphasis on quick, healthy & easy! I don't think you'll mind. :)

I hear my boss calling now...

Cheers!

Beef Lasagna-Eat One, Freeze One!

Now that I'm 36 weeks pregnant, no longer working outside the home & feeling the nesting instinct, I've begun stocking my freezer with pre-baby "to big & exhausted to cook" & post-baby meals. I've never really done much in the way of freezing meals, so it's been a learning experience for me. For example, I had no idea the controversy surrounding whether or not to bake lasagna before you freeze it! Oh the discussion boards I found online. In the end, I decided that baking it first would make the most sense for us, since quick and easy meals will be the way to go for a while with a new baby (it's also the recommended method by the USDA...not that it really matters that much to me).

Since I made these lasagnas over the weekend and we already had supper plans, I ended up freezing both lasagnas, but if you go to the trouble to make them, smell them & be tempted to snitch a bit of cheesy, bubbly, pasta goodness-just eat one and freeze the other. :)

Ingredients:

• 2 to 2-1/2lb ground beef (depending on how meaty you like your lasagna. I've also used ground turkey)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 cloves minced garlic, optional
• 2 jars spaghetti sauce (you're favorite, I use Prego Traditional)
• 3 cups water 
• 2-15 oz containers ricotta or small curd cottage cheese(I use part-skim ricotta)
• 4 cups (16 oz) shredded mozzarella or Italian cheese blend, divided
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 
• 4 eggs 
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning (I use Penzey's Pasta Sprinkle)
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper 
• 20 pieces lasagna noodles, uncooked (I use whole grain pasta noodles)

Non-food supplies:

• 2-9x13 aluminum foil pans (makes clean up easier...I'm all about that!)
• plastic wrap
• aluminum foil
• 2 gallon freezer bags
• permanent marker

 Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large skillet with tall sides, brown meat with onion and garlic over medium high heat. Drain any grease. Add spaghetti sauce and water and allow to simmer about 10 minutes while you make the cheese mixture. In a large bowl, mix together ricotta, 1/2 the mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, seasoning, salt and pepper.

Spray foil pans with cooking spray, then pour 1 cup sauce on bottom of each pan. Place 3 UNCOOKED noodles lengthwise over sauce; cover with 1 cup sauce. Spread half of cheese mixture over sauce (I found it easiest to mix it with a fork and use the fork to spread. Repeat layers of 3 noodles, sauce and cheese mixture. Top with 4 noodles and remaining sauce; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Cover with foil. Bake for about 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake additional 10 minutes or until hot and cheese is bubbly.

Let the lasagna you're going to eat sit for 10 minutes before cutting and eating. Leave the other out to cool while you eat dinner. I then put it in the fridge for about an hour. This helped make sure it was set up well enough for big pieces to be lifted out without falling apart on me!




Cut the lasagna in half, or leave it whole. Cutting it in half, or even in individual servings makes it easier to work with and then you can decide if you need the whole thing or just a bit when you pull it out of the freezer. We only eat half at a time anyway, so it works great. Gently lift out one half and place on a large piece of plastic wrap. Wrap it once then repeat with another layer of plastic wrap. Then finish with a layer of aluminum foil. Sources I read said this should keep it from freezer burn for up to 3 months. I added an extra precaution by sticking it into a freezer bag.












Don't forget to label with directions for reheating:

Remove all wrapping. Microwave until hot, or preheat oven to 350°F. In an oven-safe dish, cover with foil bake thawed lasagna 30-45 minutes until heated through, or 45 min-1hr if frozen.




 Enjoy!

Counting Down...

Yes, I realize it's been over a month since my last post. November turned into a pretty busy month with family activities and preparing for the arrival of our baby! Less than 5-1/2 weeks to go! I also have been experiencing some more fatigue, which seems to be on it's way out now. Gotta make room for nesting super energy! :)

I hope to have a few more posts before the baby comes, but I'm not sure how much holiday baking/cooking I'll be doing this year. I do have some good recipes to share that have made their way into our freezer for "pre-baby, my feet are too swollen & my back hurts" meals.

For now, I hope you all are enjoying the Holiday season and can take time to enjoy the small things-which do not include shopping, wrapping or untangling Christmas lights.

~Emmy

Honey Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread

I know I should probably break up my posts a bit more rather than having a stretch of baking/whole wheat recipes, but autumn just seems to be the time for both of these things. I promise I'll come up with some other recipes to share, but for now, here is my favorite (thus far) whole wheat bread.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (I use Gold Medal Organic Unbleached)
• 1 package quick-rise yeast
• 1 cup skim milk
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1-1/4 tsp salt
• 1-1/2 cup whole wheat flour 
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats, or quick oats
• 1/4 cup wheat germ

In a large bowl, combine the 2 cups all-purpose flour and yeast. In a medium saucepan, combine milk, water, honey, butter & salt. Heat over medium heat until the butter is almost melted. Temperature of the mixture should be between 120-130F (too hot or too cold will cause the yeast not the proof). Slowly add mixture to the flour/yeast mix in the large bowl. Beat with mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, then high speed for 3 minutes-scraping the sides of the bowl often. Add oats and wheat germ. In a medium bowl, combine white whole wheat and whole wheat flours. With a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the flour mixture as you can.

Use some of the remaining flour to flour your work surface. Turn out dough and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic (not sticky and will spring back when you poke it). This will take about 5-8 minutes. Shape into a ball in place in a lightly greased bowl and spray the top of dough will cooking spray. Cover top of bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place until double in size.

Lightly punch dough down after the first rising time. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Divide dough in half and shape into loaf shapes and placing in two greased baking pans. Cover with a light towel and allow to rise until dough comes up an inch over the pan.

Preheat oven to 375F. Bake loaves for 35-40 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool on wire rack. Best served fresh, warm and slathered with Kerrygold Irish Butter...in my humble opinion. :)

Whole Wheat Pancake & Waffle Mix

I love having homemade things in my cupboard. It's so satisfying to me to look into the cupboard and find jars of canned jam, applesauce, tomatoes, salsa, etc. However, I know canning is not for everyone, but you still can stock your shelves with simple, quick, & cheap homemade goods. I've already blogged about one of these quick homemade options-Whole Wheat Breadcrumbs. Another thing I love having already made up and waiting in my pantry is pancake mix. It is much cheaper to make your own pancake mix then to buy a pre-made one in the store and you can customize it to your family's tastes. Don't like whole wheat? You can use white whole wheat flour or regular white flour. Gluten free? Replace the wheat with your favorite gluten free alternative flour. Like something different? Try substituting 1/2 the flour with oat, buckwheat or other more adventurous flours.

I wouldn't suggest adding extras like nuts or chocolate chips to the mix, just to help it keep longer, but it might not last too long if you make a lot of pancakes. I just make one batch at a time, because this recipe makes just enough to fill my large snap-lid jar from IKEA (which I LOVE-I use these in all the sizes to store a lot of different dry goods in my pantry because they are very air tight). Feel free to double, triple, etc this recipe depending on your family size...or if you really like pancakes & waffles. :)

Ingredients
slightly adapted from Weelicious

• 6 cups whole wheat flour (or see above for substitutions)
• 1/3 cup sugar (I actually use packed brown sugar with the whole wheat)
• 2 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 Tbsp baking soda
• 2 tsp salt

In a large bowl whisk all the ingredients together until combined. Pour into an air-tight container and store in cool, dry place. THAT'S IT!

Now, to make the pancakes or waffles you'll need:

• 1 cup of your mix
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 cup buttermilk (I normally just use skim milk, but you can make your own buttermilk by adding 1 Tbsp vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk)
• 1 tsp vanilla

Whisk egg, milk & vanilla in a large bowl. Add 1 cup of pancake mix and whisk until just combined. This would be the time to put in any mix-ins like nuts, chocolate chips, fruit, etc. Pour on prepared waffle iron, or griddle for pancakes. I make big pancakes, but these works great to make silver dollar pancakes as well. 

I've made several of these mixes for wedding showers at our church where we do "grocery showers" for newly engaged couples. These would also make great Christmas gifts for family, neighbors & friends. I love homemade presents!

Enjoy!