My Ramblings

I've been wanting to expand my blog a little to accommodate the thoughts that come and go so quickly in my head, so I've created a new page called Ramblings. I hope you all enjoy it!

Summer Pesto Baguettes

Earlier this summer, I made pesto from the basil in my herb garden and I wasn't sure what to do with it. I remember my great-grandmother talking about something she had eaten once; pesto, tomato, and cheese on a baguette slice. It sounded wonderful to me, so I purchased two long, crunchy baguettes, took my fresh pesto from the fridge, picked a few red, ripe tomatoes from the garden, and set to work. It took me a few tries to perfect this little recipe, but I am quite pleased with it, and I hope you enjoy it too. This is more of "throw together" recipe, but I believe it can be replicated with great success.

 

 

Yields 10 servings 
Ingredients:
One long baguette
One or two large fresh tomatoes, cubed
1/2 C. Fresh pesto
1 C. Mozzarella cheese, cubed (use more or less cheese as desired)
Butter
Salt
Black Pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Slice your baguette into 3/4 in. slices and butter one side. Place the buttered side down on a parchment-covered pan. Lightly salt and pepper the top of the bread, and add a thin layer of pesto. Top the slice with three or four small tomato cubes; do the same with the mozzarella cheese cubes. Place the pan in the oven for about ten or fifteen minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Serve hot.

Spicy Cheese Pretzel Sauce

Have you ever been making pretzels at home and wanted a nice cheese sauce to dip your pretzels into? After all, you've gone to the all the work of making tasty pretzels, and you want to enjoy them to the fullest! This cheese sauce is very quick and easy to make, and is yummy as well; it will taste great with both homemade and store-bought pretzels, but I've only used it with homemade pretzels.
This sauce has a distinct cheese flavor, but the chili powder gives it a nice edge. The sauce also thickens pretty quickly as it cools, so make sure to use it right after making it.

Tear the cheese slices into quarters and put them into a pan with the milk, salt, and chili powder.

 Put the pot on the stovetop at medium high heat, stirring constantly to ensure nothing burns.

 

 After a minute or two the cheese will melt; combine all the ingredients thoroughly and serve hot.

Yields 7 servings
Ingredients:
8 slices of American Cheese
1/4 C. milk (I used skim because that's what I had on hand, but I recommend 2% milk)
1/4 t. salt
1 t. chili powder

 

Tear the cheese slices into quarters and put them into a pan with the milk, salt, and chili powder. Put the pot on the stovetop at medium high heat, stirring constantly to ensure nothing burns. After a minute or two the cheese will melt; combine all the ingredients thoroughly and serve hot.

Heart of Italy Spaghetti Sauce

My great grandmother was Italian, and she had the best spaghetti sauce recipe in the world! It is rather sweet and popping with flavor! My grandma also used that family recipe, my mom has been making it for as long as I can remember, and I enjoy making it as well. For a recipe to have traveled four generations and still be going strong is proof of a good recipe!
Just to clarify, this is not my creation, but I thought since my family enjoyed it so much, I'd write it down for the world to use. This does take longer than just opening a jar of sauce and heating on the stove, but it's easy and well worth the extra bit of work!

Place a pot on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add the hamburger meat to the pot and gently tear the meat into small pieces.

 Once all the meat is nice and loose, pour the garlic powder evenly over the hamburger. Stir the garlic powder in, and stir the meat often to keep it from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Once the meat is thoroughly browned and cooked, drain any fat from the meat and then put the meat into a crockpot.

Add in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, and parmesan cheese. Stir all the ingredients together until well combined.

 

 Turn the crockpot on high and let it cook for seven hours, stirring it every few hours.

Yields enough to fill a seven quart crockpot
Ingredients:
4 lbs. thawed hamburger
1/2 and 1/8 C. garlic powder
1 6 lb. 9 oz. can tomato sauce
2 6 oz. cans tomato paste
1 C. sugar
1 C. parmesan cheese

Place a pot on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add the hamburger meat to the pot and gently tear the meat into small pieces. (I use a large fork and/or a Pampered Chef hamburger chopper.) Once all the meat is nice and loose, pour the garlic powder evenly over the hamburger. Stir the garlic powder in, and stir the meat often to keep it from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Once the meat is thoroughly browned and cooked, drain any fat from the meat and then put the meat into a crockpot. (This recipe fills a seven quart crockpot, but I used an eight and a half quart crockpot.) Add in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, and parmesan cheese. Stir all the ingredients together until well combined. Turn the crockpot on high and let it cook for seven hours, stirring it every few hours.

This spaghetti sauce is now ready to be served! You can serve it right out of the crockpot, or freeze it and use it another day. While it tastes fabulous fresh, I find that it tastes even better the longer it sits; it's one of those things that improves with time.

Pink Sherbert Slushy

This is the perfect summer treat: colorful, cold, and sweet with little sourness. This super easy slushy, has only three ingredients: pink sherbert, instant pink lemonade, and ice cubes. Just pop this components into your food blender and you'll have a summer snack or dessert that children and adults alike will love!

Combine the lemonade, sherbert, and ice cubes in your food blender. Turn the blender on for about 30 seconds to a minute, or until the slushy is lump-free and well mixed. You may have to stop the blender once or twice and give the ingredients a stir yourself.

 

 Serve immediately for best tasting results.

 

 

Yields 3-5 servings
Ingredients:
1 1/8 C. instant pink lemonade, prepared
1 1/4 C. pink sherbert
25 ice cubes

Combine the lemonade, sherbert, and ice cubes in your food blender. Turn the blender on for about 30 seconds to a minute, or until the slushy is lump-free and well mixed. You may have to stop the blender once or twice and give the ingredients a stir yourself. Serve immediately for best tasting results.

 

Fruity Smoothie Summer Drink

What could be better than a cold and refreshing fruit drink on a hot summer day? This peach and strawberry drink is creamy and sweet, the strawberries giving it the perfect hint of tartness. Just toss the ingredients into a mixer and you have your drink waiting for you!
I've only made this recipe with fresh fruit, but I'm sure you could use frozen fruit if that's all that you have on hand.

 

Cube the peaches and half the strawberries; drop them into your food blender. (I used a Vita-Mix). Add the sugar, milk, and ice cubes. Turn on the blender for 30 seconds to a minute, or until everything is smoothly ground and mixed together.

 

Pour into cups and serve immediately.

 

Yields 3-5 servings
Ingredients:
2 whole peaches
15 strawberries
1/4 and 1/8 C. sugar
3/4 C. 2% milk
40 ice cubes

Cube the peaches and half the strawberries; drop them into your food blender. (I used a Vita-Mix). Add the sugar, milk, and ice cubes. Turn on the blender for 30 seconds to a minute, or until everything is smoothly ground and mixed together. Pour into cups and serve immediately.

Cheesy Garlic Bread In-A-Pan

Melted cheese, garlic, warm, toasty bread...sounds like something wonderful to me! This cheesy garlic casserole-type dish is prefect thing to serve with spaghetti, lasagna, or to eat all by itself with a side of pizza sauce. The crunchy, seasoned bread supplemented with soft mozzarella cheese is perfect in all ways.

I made this recipe up for lunch with some leftovers I had on hand. I used Wal-Mart sub buns for my bread, but feel free to substitute French bread or other white bread if you don't have these buns on hand.

 

I used nine Wal-Mart sub buns (approx. 4x2 each)

 

Butter your buns, and sprinkle them with garlic salt. 

 

Cut your buns into cubes; you should get about sixteen cubes out of each full bun by putting two halves together and cutting them in half and then into quarters.

 

Place the bread cubes in a large bowl and toss the cubes and the cheese together. Dump the bowl's contents into the pan and spread the cubes evenly.

 

Cover the pan with albumin foil and place the pan in the oven for ten minutes. Remove the foil and baking for another five minutes, or until the top is getting golden brown.

 

Serve hot with a dish of heated pizza sauce.

 

Yields 8 servings

Ingredients:

9 Wal-Mart sub buns (approx. 4x2 each)

Softened butter

Garlic Salt

3 1/2 C. grated mozzarella cheese

 

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and grease a 9x13 pan. Set aside.

 

Butter your buns, and sprinkle them with garlic salt. Cut your buns into cubes; you should get about sixteen cubes out of each full bun by putting two halves together and cutting them in half and then into quarters. Place the bread cubes in a large bowl and toss the cubes and the cheese together. Dump the bowl's contents into the pan and spread the cubes evenly.

 

Cover the pan with albumin foil and place the pan in the oven for ten minutes. Remove the foil and baking for another five minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Serve hot with a dish of heated pizza sauce.