Wonderful Beans and Big Plans

Big news!! I haven't been promoting this blog due to feeling a little self-conscious about my writing. A couple nights ago I shared the link to the pot roast blog on a Facebook group asking for honest opinions. The feedback was good, and I got some great suggestions. I am going to start working on a Facebook page Peggy's Adventures in Cooking to promote things and sending it out to close personal friends.

This recipe comes from a wonderful friend of mine, Melissa. I had these beans over at her house on a night of a get-together of a group of her friends. I came home and immediately text her for the recipe because they were some of the best beans that I had ever had. These do not compare to the ones in the can. Frankly, these beans are super low maintenance, inexpensive, and can be used in a bunch of dishes. They would also freeze well.  Looking back on the week, I realized that I hadn't cooked anything worthwhile all week. Between school and homework, quick and easy was the best option, is always scrambled eggs.

These beans will be used in a lot of different ways. I plan on adding them to eggs for more protein and fiber, making burritos, and eating them with salads.  I also did a little evaluation of the budget, realizing that I have been eating out a lot, which is costing more money than I would like. One way to curb this is by making a bunch of things that can be eaten on the go or quickly. This recipe is very straightforward and very easy.

You will need a heavy duty Dutch oven pan. My favorite one is a Red Lodge cast iron pan, that I purchased at the local superstore.  The beans will cook about two hours at 400 degrees until done. This recipe could be easily adapted to a crock pot allowing you to leave the house and go about your errands. But, because it is a lazy day  that I do not plan on leaving until later on in the day to go to a movie.

1 bag of beans (White, navy, pinto, or black) about 2 cups
Enough water to fill above beans (About 1 inch)
3 bay leaves
3 cloves of garlic
2 Tbsp of chicken broth concentrate (I bought my at Costco)

1) Pour your beans in the pot
2)Add your bay leaves and garlic
3) Add water to about 1 inch above the beans
4) Add the chicken broth concentrate, stir
5)Place in oven on 400 for about two hours checking halfway to make sure there is enough liquid.

Caramel Rolls

Caramel roll on my Grandma's china dish

A lot my recipes are designed out of cravings for things that I can not find anywhere, or they are not as good as the original. Been craving my grandma's caramel rolls. Now, these are huge in North Dakota and haven't seen them anywhere but the midwest. Can venture to say that any family run cafe, truck stop, or diner you walk into there will be a gooey selection of perfectly baked caramel rolls sitting there just calling your name.

The other day after looking through the cookbook, my mom created after I got my very first place when I was 18 and not finding the recipe I wanted for the rolls. Mom to the rescue, she was able to give me the recipe for the caramel. When I was a kid, it always seemed much more complicated when I helped Grandma. Now, I was told that my grandma always used frozen bread dough. But, because I forgot it at the store last night, homemade white bread dough was substituted.

Gooey caramel sauce

Caramel Sauce
3 cups of brown sugar
1 stick butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Put all the ingredients for the caramel sauce in a sauce pot. Turn your burner on to medium heat, cooking until it is combined. Place the sauce into two cake pans, diving evenly.

Before (l) After (r) rise

White Bread Dough
6 cups unbleached white flour
4 1/2 tsp Yeast
4 Tbsp sugar
2 cups water (around 110 degrees Fahrenheit)
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 stick of melted butter

Place the water, yeast, and sugar in a dish allowing the yeast and sugar to dissolve. Allow it to foam and sit on the counter for about 10 minutes.  In the mixer with your dough hook, place the flour, salt, and vegetable oil. Once your yeast mixture has sat for the specified time, add that to your mixer. Once the dough is combined into a ball, place in a greased bowl covered with a towel until it has doubled in size. Punch the dough down and pull out of the bowl onto a floured counter top.












Once the dough is on the counter, drag out the rolling pin. Roll it out until it is one large sheet of dough. Spread on the melted butter evenly on the dough. Then cover the sheet of dough with brown sugar and cinnamon to you liking.  Once, all of the dough is coated, roll into a log. Divide the roll into 16 evenly cut pieces.  Place the rolls into the two cake pans evenly space. Cover the rolls with a towel allowing them to rise and double in size. Stick in the oven at 350 until golden brown and not doughy anymore.

Before the rise, after the rise, after the oven

After the oven take a cookie sheet larger than the pan, you baked your caramel rolls in. Place the cookie sheet on top of the pan and carefully flip it over. I do mean carefully because there is a chance you could get scalding caramel onto the skin causing a painful burn. After they release, scrape the pan to get out all the sauce.  Enjoy them with butter and a big glass of milk.

No Boil Lasagna

Life has been super busy lately. I got married June 7, 2014. To kick off wedding week, we had  his parents, my mom, both of his grandmothers, and my brother over for supper. The easiest thing that I could think of was lasagna. This recipe is super straightforward, can be made ahead of time and baked at a later date. Would be perfect to take to new parents as a freezer meal, to a family member who had surgery, or to a grieving family as a meal.

I really do need to get better at taking pictures of the entire process. But, I did get a picture of the final product. I think I picked the warmest day of the last two weeks to have the oven run for 3 hours between lasagna, dessert, and garlic bread.  This lasagna has been made by my mom for years and has been passed down to me.

No Boil Lasagna
2 lbs ground beef
Salt & Pepper
1/4 green bell pepper
1/2 onion
2 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 15 oz can of stewed or diced tomatoes
2 cups water
12 lasagna noodles
1 large container of cottage cheese
6 cups of mozzarella cheese
2 tsp garlic salt
1 1/2 tsp oregano

In a large pot place the hamburger, onion, bell pepper, salt and pepper in a pan. Brown and drain any excess grease off the meat.

Turn down the heat; add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, water, garlic salt, and oregano

In a 9x13 cake pan spread a thin layer of the sauce mixture

Lay down 3 noodles across and 1 on the bottom. Spread more sauce on the noodles. Put 1/3 of the cottage cheese and mozz cheese.   (Repeat this step two more times)

Bake at 350 for 75 minutes or until noodles are done, cheese is browned.


Now, I am off to spend some quality time with the husband...

Bruschetta Chicken

A couple weeks ago I was craving Italian food and didn't want to go out to the restaurant to get it. So, I used my noggin and came up with bruschetta chicken. 

1 container of Grape tomatoes

1/4 onion

2 cloves of garlic

Olive Oil

4 skinless chicken breast

Smoked provolone cheese

red wine

salt 

pepper

balsamic vinegar 

10 basil leaves

Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken breasts, set aside.

In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm olive oil. Add chicken, cover pan, and cook for about 10 minutes. Flip chicken breasts and continue cooking until the chicken is cooked thoroughly 

While chicken is cooking, in a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute,\. Add tomatoes, red wine and continue sautéing until tomatoes skin starts to soften/wrinkle, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the basil. 

Once the chicken is done, top the tops of each chicken breast with 1 slices of smoked provolone cheese. Pour tomato mixture on top. Cover pan with lid once more and let the mozzarella melt. 

Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes and Blueberry Sauce

Downside to living in Alaska is not getting quality, tasty, and  fresh fruit. This summer I discovered a company that only comes to Alaska from California with a truckload of fruit every three weeks. The first order I got was a case of blueberries, blackberries, 1/2 case of peaches and 1/2 case of plums.  The peaches were the size of softballs and were extremely juicy.  With that fruit that I received I have eaten a bunch of it and canned some plums, made blackberry jam, peach bbq sauce, and plum sauce.  I have recipes for them to follow in future blogs. 

It has been very rainy and cloudy here, perfect for a great breakfast. I found a couple recipes and used them for inspiration. 

Blueberry Sauce

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

1 C Orange Juice

1/4 cup of warm water

3/4 c sugar

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

Dash of Vanilla

1/4c extra cold water

2.5 T cornstarch

Juice of 1 Lemon

Put the blueberries, OJ, water, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon in a pot. Bring to boil and simmer for a couple minutes. While it is simmering, combine the cornstarch and water. Once that is combined, pour in while stirring, and simmer until thick. Take off the heat and put the juice of one lemon in it. 

Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes

2 C buttermilk
2 large eggs

2 T butter, melted

3.5 lemons zested

1/3 cup poppy seeds

Juice of one lemon

2 C flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt

In a large bowl pour the buttermilk, eggs, butter, poppy seeds, zest of lemons, and juice of one lemon. Whisk them all together. Then add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt into the bowl. Combine all of them.  Heat the griddle or pan. Makes about 15 pancakes with a 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake.