Cooking in Chaos

Sometimes I need a little taste of Summer.

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Here in Wyoming we are still in the dead of winter. I know that the first day of spring is just around the corner, but I am not sure Mother Nature has gotten the memo.  I am one of the few who enjoys the continuous snow, the cold mornings, the frost on the car windows. I will stop now. It is getting close to calving and we need a little warm weather. So I will appreciate a little rise on the thermometer.

Every now and then, when the wind is howling and the snow is still blowing,  I get a craving for a little piece of summer. You know that dish that will remind you that warm weather is not so far away. Well last week I was browsing through my recipe program and came across an all time favorite. I couldn’t resist. I had to make it. My husband had been complaining that I we did not have any lettuce or fresh veggies. So the next time I  was in town I purchased all the ingredients to whip up this summer time salad.  It is so fun to put together and even prettier to look at. But the taste, is amazing. Everything just mixed together to make a fabulous dish.  Let me say that my husband and I devoured this salad.   So run to the store and whip this baby up. You won’t regret it.

You can almost feel summer when you bite into this salad.

Southern Layered Salad

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 cup salad dressing
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1 teaspoon dry mustard
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 head lettuce, chopped
  • 2 cups swiss cheese, shredded, 8 oz
  • 1 package frozen peas, thawed, 10 oz
  • 1 medium purple onion, diced
  • 6 hard cooked eggs, chopped
  • 1 ½ cups turkey, bacon, or ham, chopped or crumbled
  • 1 large cucumber, seeded and chopped

Mix together mayo, salad dressing, milk, dry mustard, salt and pepper. In a large bowl or 13×9 inch pan layer 1/2 lettuce, and 1/2 of the cheese, peas, eggs, turkey or bacon. Spread 1/2 of the mayo mixture. Repeat layers. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Enjoy!

Two of My Favorite Must Haves!!

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Around 2005 I was introduced to this amazing company. It is Thrive foods out of Utah. Let me just say it has changed my life. Well it changed my fridge and grocery bill. It also changed my cooking. I guess that does encompass my entire life.  I am not sure what else I do someday besides cook, clean, cook again, clean, and repeat.  Do you see a pattern? I think most wives experience this pattern. It’s awful, but it’s wonderful at the same time. I mean would I rather have my husband in the kitchen all the time? Ummm.  No, probably not. I enjoy cooking too much.

I am not a one of those disaster nuts and I think that some see these foods as disaster planning. However I do have quite the stock of Thrive foods and I keep replacing what I use. Does that make me a stock nut? Maybe? There is quite a bit I have downstairs in storage for emergency use. But others I use on an almost daily basis.

I was skeptical at first. However after the party. (There is a sales rep, and you can do a home party just like Pamered Chef, tupperware, Mary Kay, etc. ) I wanted some things for when the power was out and when I was in desperate need. My Rep. Susan Pillen out of Newcastle, Wyoming, showed us so many recipes and ways to use the items. I was amazed at how good.  Plus here is the BIG WINNER – NO PRESERVATIVES.   If it says carrots, it is just carrots.  DING DING Winner!! I love this. LOVE it!!!! Basically they freeze dry the 

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foods and they are amazing. It is so easy to throw them in recipes to plump back up and cook or you can put them in a little water and they plump back up to use as you wish! What is better than that? I’m not really sure. 

 

Once my shipment arrived I began to use a few more items more than others. However I have used about everything. My kids love the yogurt in their lunches. Little dried yogurt bites.  Why didn’t I know of this stuff when they were little. Ugh. It would have been my best friend. What am I saying, it still is my best friend.

My husband has always been a stickler for using the fresh veggies in our fridge. Let me say I was one that always bought carrots. Constanlty for use in soups and stews, etc. Other than that I didn’t really use them very much and guess what? Yep, they rot. I wish they didn’t, but they would.  That is money thrown away. It was depressing because I like them in things and need occasionally. Now, with the thrive carrots. I use them when I need them. I rarely buy carrots unless I need whole baby carrots, which is maybe 1-2 times a year.  These carrots are perfectly cut little pieces perfect for soups, stews, casseroles, pasta, etc. The list goes on.  I don’t have to chop anything. I just throw them in.

My other is finely diced onions. What a life saver. My son hates onions and these are chopped so finely that you don’t notice them, but the flavor is outstanding.  When he is cooking, he can get a little handful and throw them in. I don’t have to worry about him cutting onions or not putting them in because he doesn’t like them. He just opens the lid and Wham there they are perfect every time.

Check out their website! Host a party, do what you must, but Buy some of their food. You will never be the same. You don’t have to thank me. You will want to, but you don’t have to. Well you can. Just send me an email or better yet send me the recipe that becomes your favorite after you start using these products.

Check it out: http://www.thrivelife.com

It’s Not a Krystal’s Burger, but It’ll do!

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Where I grew up we have the best little fast food place, it’s called Krystals. I know it is just fast food, but when you move away and can no longer consume grease covered fries and small fist sized burgers, you get a craving. It’s crazy but true. When I go home to Tennessee there are a few musts on my list that I make sure to cross off every time.

1. Eat at Krystals
2. Eat at Chick-fi-la
3. Go to Grandmother’s
4. Eat at the Great Wall
5. Well eat anywhere else

Do you see a theme? Yes, eating is number one. You see in my small little town in Wyoming. We have Arby’s, McDonalds, Taco John’s, and Pizza Hut.  We don’t eat out very much, but then again you see our choices. So when I cross the Mississippi River I get down to business. There used to be Sonic and Cracker Barrel but those have moved west and I can enjoy them when I go to the big towns.

Back to the Krystals burgers. Well I found a recipe that is very similar to the taste of those little burgers. They are so good, that I think they are better. Well they are better because I can have them whenever I want. HAHA

Now there is a weird ingredient in this recipe. I was skeptical at first, but do it, just throw it in there. You won’t even know it exists. Trust me. I make these all the time in large batches. Then I wrap them in foil and throw them in the freezer. They are awesome to heat up in the oven. It is a great little thing to have on hand because you never know when someone will stop by and you need lunch or a snack for them. These work wonders. Plus I can throw them in the freezer at the cabin or wherever I am going for an emergency dinner if needed.

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Little Krystal Knockoff Burgers

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

1.5-2 lbs. ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 pkg Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 tablespoon Peanut Butter
½ cup milk
1 pkg slider burger buns or small rolls sliced in half
1 pkg American Cheese Slices,thick sliced

1. In a large bowl mix burger, soup mix, peanut butter, and milk. Spread the meat mixture on a cookie sheet with lip. Use a cup or rolling pin to roll over the meat to smooth it out. Put it in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. The meat will shrink. Take it out of the oven and put the diced onions all around the edges to flavor the meat. Place back into the oven for about 15 minutes.

2. Take it out of the oven. Spread out the onions and add the cheese slices. Put it back in the oven for several minutes or until the cheese is melted. Add the tops of the rolls and place back into the oven. for a few minutes to steam and warm the buns.

3. Take it out of the oven. Slice the meat with a pizza cutter and pick up the sliders and place back on the corresponding bottom or the roll.

4. Let cool and what you do not consume immediately, wrap in aluminum foil and freeze. Serve with pickles, ketchup, and mustard. Yummm.

Enjoy!

Don’t tell me I like Wassail!

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In the South during the holidays there is a certain smell that lingers in stores and homes almost everywhere. It is detested by children but loved by adults. It brings the holiday atmosphere to peak performance. There is just something about Wassail that says, “Home.”  It has a very distinctive aroma that can be singled out in a room full of goodies.

As most children will say Wassail is the most disgusting drink ever dreamed up by mean adults. It is worse than apple cider. I was one of these small children and even young adults who kept good and clear of this potion. When we would visit our local Civil War Mansion called Glenmore, I would hate the smells from the brewing pots of apple cider and Wassail. It just tasted like adults and the weird drinks that they are always fussing over. Oh, it tastes so good.  Blah, Blah, Blah.

Then I became one of the adults. It was on a trip to Biltmore Estates with my Mother, my Aunt Jo, and my cousin Julie when I decided this is the best drink in the world. My mother is constantly buying Wassail mixes. She will then bring you a glass and say “Oh, try this it is so good,” and then she starts the MMMM, MMMM, MMMM. As her child, I must try what she brings me. So I do. Well at Biltmore they had some made and I tried it. I don’t know why, I have always hated this nasty stuff.  How was today going to be any different from the countless other times she asked me to try this drink.

I let the warm liquid slide down my throat and I waited for the Yuck factor to begin. I waited, I waited. It was delightful. It was good. Well that it, I have officially crossed over. I am old, I am a true adult. I am one of the ones that makes the food at holidays. I am no longer the younger generation. So it is only befitting that the enjoyment of Wassail has begun.

Oh dear, what next! How in all my 35 years have I let this drink go to the wayside. Why did I not enjoy it. Well, I’m not sure, but it is delicious. I have made it countless times since that trip. It reminds me of my mom, of holidays past. I reminds me of loved ones who are gone and it brings the holidays into my home no matter what time of year.  The smell alone can make me curl up on the couch with my mug, and close my eyes to feel those memories.

Now I have taken to making my children try it. Let me say, they hate it. Of course they would, it is something you must grow into. But the smell, will be engrained in their minds. Then that one day when they are older, with their own children sitting around the fire, they will make Wassail and cherish the taste and memories it brings.

Please give this a try. It is such a part of the South and a part of the holidays. It is a drink to share with friends, family, and for children to grimace at. Look at that pot. It makes me want to make some right now, and I can’t. I don’t have any of the ingredients and I am 33 miles from the nearest store.  I am in the worst dilemma. Someone make this for me, and bring it to me!!!

Southern Wassail

  • Servings: 12-15
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

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  • 2 quarts Apple Cider
  • 2 cups Orange Juice
  • 1 can (46 oz) pineapple juice
  • 3-4 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 tbsp whole cloves
  • 1/3 cup Honey

In a large pot combine all the ingredients.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.  Transfer to a crockpot or beverage warmer to serve.  Serve warm.

Enjoy!!

The Quest for Lasagna

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I started cooking for our hunters in 2012, before this we had hired a cook because I was teaching school.  Cooking for eight to ten people can make a person a little nervous.  I am definitely a perfectionist when it comes to cooking. I want everything just right.  I know it’s silly. My husband is always telling me that the guys won’t care because they are just happy to eat after sitting in a blind all day. Phew! Everyone enjoys a good meal and not just a mediocre one.

Let me just say I had to cook this meal of lasagna and cheesecake for some guys from New Jersey. I was really nervous about the cheesecake because they can get amazing cheesecakes there. But then one of the guys came through the kitchen and said his wife was from Italy. OH NO!! Would this be up to par. It was! I received rave reviews and have every time I have made this.

This cooking OCD I have, inspired me to find the best lasagna I could. I can not tell you the number of recipes I looked at, read reviews on, printed out, and searched for. Let me just say there are hundreds, no thousands of recipes for lasagna. I think everyone has their own recipe that they have been handed down, found, claimed, revamped, whatever.  I however did not have one. I am more of a fried chicken type girl. Italian food is a little out of my genre.

Well as I was looking it became pretty clear that for good lasagna you have to have a good sauce. Am I right? And good sauce is homemade. Am I right again? So therefore I decided upon a recipe that looked pretty easy and I was going to give it a try.  It turned out pretty darn good. Then with some revamping of my own. It has become my staple.

This recipe gives the most amazing sauce I have ever eaten. Yes, we eat it out of the pot as it is cooking. If you walk by the kitchen when this is simmering. You will not be able to keep your self from getting a spoon, and trying a little sample.

I will say it is a little bit of work, but the benefits are so worth it. I have also found that you MUST use diced tomatoes. I pour a little into my hand over the pot and smash around. Then pour another handful and repeat until it is all smashed.   I tried whole tomatoes and crushed tomatoes. They just don’t work. For some reason, it just makes the correct mixture to crush by hand.

This makes a ton of sauce. I mean you will need a large pot for this.  I usually double it, so that I can make two lasagna pans. One for that meal, and another to freeze. I am really into freezing for future meals. Makes life so easy sometimes.  You can also freeze the sauce to use in spaghetti and other pastas.

Werner Hunting House Lasagna

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Difficulty: Moderate
  • Print

  • 1 pd sweet italian sausage
  • 1 pd ground beef
  • ½ cup onion, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes, crush by hand
  • 2 (6.5 oz) cans tomato paste
  • 1-1 ½ cups water
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons dried basil
  • ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 4 tablespoons parsley, divided
  • 12 lasagna noodles or 2 pkgs lasagna sheets
  • 16 ounces ricotta cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 1 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
  • 1 cup parmesan cheeses, grated
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  1. In a large saucepan cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basic, fennel seeds, italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
  2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8-10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley and 1/2 tsp salt.
  3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
  4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Tope with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Cover with foil to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make are the foil does not touch the cheese.
  5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Dawna’s Taco Salad

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You know sometimes when you are getting hungry, you yearn for something from home. Or maybe it is when you yearn for home you get a little hungry.  Either way memories and food seem to go hand in hand.

I’ve noticed for myself that when I am especially homesick for Tennessee that is when I crave my mom’s cooking the most. I want those smells to linger in my house. I want to taste the food and savor that memory of the last time I had this in my mom’s kitchen.  I bet we all have those certain recipes that just take us home. No matter where we are in the world, or where we are in life, we can smell that aroma or taste that food and we are back with in our childhood homes enjoying home.

Well that is what I believe this recipe is for my husband and his sisters.  For several years we would celebrate Thanksgiving down in gorgeous Craig, Colorado. Erica, my husband’s middle sister, lived in spectacular cabin placed on the hillside. Just being there over the holiday made you feel like you were in a movie. The crisp air, the cabin atmosphere, and the food. Oh my the food.

After Thanksgiving, my husband’s younger sister would whip up their mom’s taco salad. This recipe makes a ton. The girls would go shopping early in the morning and come home to this for lunch.  It will fill you up and hit the spot. Let me just say I have never settled for just one bowl. I always seem to over stuff my self again on Friday, rather than giving my gullet a break.

Today my husband asked me to make this recipe for our day tomorrow gathering cows on the mountain.  It is a long day and this salad will be a great meal.  (Although my son, who is the pickiest eater in the free world, will have none and a PBJ will be calling his name.) This was a meal from my understanding their mom would make up for large crowds and for cow work.

So Enjoy!

Dawna's Taco Salad

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 2 lbs of hamburger
  • 1 head of lettuce, chopped
  • 1 lrg onion, diced
  • 2 cups cheddar cheese
  • 1 lrg can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 cups mayo
  • 1 pkg taco seasoning
  • 1 family size back of Nacho Cheese Doritos

Cook the hamburger meat and drain. Add salt and pepper.  Remove from pan and allow to cool.  Mix together mayo and taco seasoning. Once the meat is cool add the mayo mixture and mix well.  Add the beans, lettuce, onion, cheese, to the meat mixture. Stir to combine.

Crush up the Doritos and add to the salad just before serving.

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This is my 2nd bowl. I was trying to downsize and only have a 1/2 cup of mix before I added my chips. That makes a second bowl better right?

Notes:  I have used pepper jack cheese and it was great. Also I don’t add the chips because it makes soggy leftovers. Instead I place the crushed chips in a large serving bowl and let guests add them to their bowls.  There is always leftovers and it keeps it crunchy. I like it better, it’s a texture thing for me I think.

Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup

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As I promised here is the recipe for this wonderful soup.  Trust me that hits home on a cold night. I made it in the morning for lunch. I was all alone and it was fantastic.  My husband and children really don’t care for this very much, so I was so happy to make it just for myself.  They are not real fans of gnocchi.

I left one container in the fridge,which I enjoyed for lunch today. The rest I put in containers and froze for another time. I am an avid freezer of everything. I hate for stuff to go to waste, so if I can freeze it I do.

Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: Moderate
  • Print

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  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
  • 1 small onion, finely diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 tbsp flour
  • 4 cups half/half
  • 2 (14oz) cans of chicken broth
  • 1 cup carrots, finely diced or shredded
  • 2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
  • 1 pkg gnocchi
  • 1 box frozen chopped spinach
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp parsley

In a large pot, combine oil and butter. When melted add onion, celery, and garlic. Cook until the onions are translucent.  Add the flour and cook for 1 minute, then add the half/half.

In another pot cook gnocchi according to pkg directions.

 

Add carrots and chicken to the soup mixture.  Once the mixture thickens add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and turn to a simmer.

 

Once it thickens again add the gnocchi, spinach, and seasonings.  Simmer until heated thro

 

ughly. Before serving season to taste.

 

This is the basic recipe. I will tell you that I deviate from this every time.  I seldom cook the gnocchi in another pot. I know there is a good reason, but to me why dirty another pot, when I can throw it in with the soup and leT it cook there. So when I add the chicken and carrots, I also add the gnocchi.  I guess it is just one of my pet peeves. If it turns out okay, why mess with more dishes to clean later.

 

I also have used heavy cream instead of half and half and it turned out just fine. My reasoning was that it was in my fridge and I didn’t have that much milk to thin it out.  I guess it was just a much creamier and a much higher calorie count then the above recipe. Also it was oh, so good!

Enjoy!