Fresh Paint for the Lloyd home

I know I have been posting a lot of recipes lately - that's because I have been busy painting!  We have lived in our house four years and it's long overdue a fresh coat of good, quality paint.  Thanks to a great sale last month at Sherwin Williams we purchased enough paint to do our kitchen and our family room / front hall.  Here are the colors we are painting.

Independent Gold for the Kitchen

Outerbanks for the Family Room and front hall.  

Of course the colors look a bit different on our walls than on this blog.  I like them...A LOT!

Pumpkin Granola

Today I was inspired to whip up a batch of PUMPKIN GRANOLA.

I am really impressed with how it turned out since it's my first attempt at ever making homemade granola.

Ingredients:
6 cups of whole rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 cup sweetened coconut
1/2 cup slivered almonds
2 T brown sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2/3 cup honey
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (canned not pumpkin pie filling)
2 T. water
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Combine oats, coconut, almonds and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl - toss well.

Combine honey, canola oil, pumpkin and water then add to dry ingredients and toss well - mixture will be moist.

Place oats on a large baking sheet, bake in oven for 20 minutes - remove and gently toss and bake another 20 minutes.  Remove from oven, toss and bake for another 20 minutes or until brown and crisp.  Mixture will still be a little soft but will crisp up more as it cools off.  

Remove from oven and stir in cranberries and raisins.  Let cool completely and then store in sealed container or plastic bag.  Use within two weeks to enjoy best flavor.  

This is really a taste of AUTUMN!

Chicken Tortilla Soup - Slow Cooker

This is a great recipe that I've made twice now after finding it on the Larson Lingo blog.  It's WONDERFUL and now a regular at our dinner table.

Ingredients:
2 pounds chicken breast, cooked and diced
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 can red Enchilada Sauce
1- 4oz can chopped green chiles - mild
1- 28 oz can chopped tomatoes
1- 32 oz container chicken broth
1- 10 oz package frozen corn
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper
Avocado, shredded cheddar, sour cream and tortilla chips for garnish

Directions:

Cook chicken breasts and dice - set aside or store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Add onion, garlic, tomatoes in juice, enchilada sauce, green chiles, corn, chicken broth and spices in slow cooker.  Let simmer on low for 3-4 hours then add chicken about 15 minutes before serving. This keeps chicken from shredding while in crock pot (unless of course you like it that way.)

Ladle soup into bowls to serve and garnish with diced avocado, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips. Serves 6.  ENJOY!

Pizza Rolls

This dish is a real hit with kids and it's so easy - I have had kids tell me it's the best thing they've ever tasted.  Now, I don't know about that but I see why they like it...plus you get to dip the pizza rolls and we all love things we can dip!

Ingredients:
Frozen Bread Dough - 2 loaves (my grocery sells this in a pack of 5) - THAWED
Italian style cheese
Parmesan cheese
Pepperoni - I used turkey pepperoni
any favorite pizza toppings
1 jar of pizza sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
On a floured surface, stretch and roll each dough to a good size rectangle, about 12"x18" - this will take some work as the dough is very stretchy and will need to be worked with - trust me it will eventually roll out.

 Now sprinkle some cheese over the entire surface and top with pepperoni or whatever pizza toppings you choose.

Now sprinkle more cheese (Italian and Parmesan) over the toppings.

Now fold each end over so when you roll it up the ends will be sealed. The roll up length wise jelly roll style.

Cut a few diagonal slits in each roll, transfer to a baking sheet - I put both rolls on the same cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for around 15-20 minutes or until bread is browned and cheese is bubbly. 

Slice pizza rolls and serve with pizza sauce on the side...YUMMY!

Spinach Tortellini Soup

This is an AMAZING recipe - we love this soup and it's amazingly easy to throw together.

Ingredients:
- 4 medium carrots - chopped
- 1 medium chopped onion
- 1 T. olive oil
- 2 cloves chopped garlic
- 1 t. Italian Seasoning
- 1 - 32 ounce carton chicken broth
- 2 packages uncooked cheese tortellini (9 oz packages)
- 2 cans of navy beans (drained and rinsed)
- 1/4 t. black pepper
- 4-5 cups fresh, clean baby spinach
- shredded or grated Parmesan Cheese for serving

Directions:  
Cook carrots, onion, Italian seasoning and garlic in olive oil in a stockpot until soft for 3-4 minutes. 
Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Let mixture boil for about 10-15 minutes or until carrots are soft.  Stir in beans, tortellini and pepper.  Gently boil for 7-9 more minutes until tortellini is done.  Right before serving stir in spinach and remove from heat; let it stand for 3 minutes.  Serve in bowls and garnish with Parmesan.  This is DELICIOUS!  Enjoy!

 

**On a side note here:  I personally only use whole carrots for our house - I do not like the 'baby' carrots - the taste between the two is vastly different.  I think the 'skin' you have to peel off a regular, whole carrot preserves the flavor...that's just my two cents. 

Banana Pudding Cupcakes

My little boy had been asking for cupcakes all day today.  For those of you who know him you know he can be pretty persistent about getting a C-U-P-C-A-K-E!  We were out running errands so I thought I would make him happy by picking up a cupcake at Starbucks...but much to my surprise they were out of those yummy things.  So we came home and I started looking for what I might have on hand (I refused to go to the grocery store one more time) to throw together a cupcake surprise for him.  Here's the end result - Banana Pudding Cupcakes! 

I only had half a cake mix, so this recipe will need to be doubled if you are using a whole cake mix! 

Ingredients:

Half a box of French Vanilla or Yellow cake mix
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sour cream
1 single serve container vanilla or banana pudding
1 egg and 1 egg white
Vanilla Wafers (9 for cupcakes and about 15 more for garnish)
1 banana sliced and tossed in a little lemon juice to keep from turning
Icing:
Whipped Topping (I used the kind in the can)
Crushed Vanilla wafers and wafers cut in half for garnish

Directions:
Mix cake mix with 1/4 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1 egg, 1 egg white and container of vanilla pudding until well blended.  Do not follow cake mix instructions on the box.  Line muffin pan with cupcake liners and lightly spray with Pam.  (This is a nice trick to keep cake from sticking - just don't spray too much!) Put a small amount of cake batter in each cupcake liner (about a spoon full) Then add one whole vanilla wafer and top with two slices of banana.

 

Now top each with enough batter to completely cover the bananas.  As you can see I fill mine pretty full.

Bake cupcakes at 350 degrees for about 18-20 minutes or until done in the center.

Remove cupcakes from oven and let cool completely.  

Do not top with whipped cream until you are ready to serve the cupcakes and only top with the cupcakes you are going to be eating at that particular time, using the whipped cream in the can allows you to make them really pretty.  After adding the whipped cream garnish with vanilla wafer crumbs and half a vanilla wafer.  They are gorgeous and really taste like Banana Pudding!

E-N-J-O-Y!

Greek Tacos...my kind of Food

Tonight we had Greek Tacos for dinner, the recipe was found on on the website of Food Network.  Let me start off by saying I LOVE Greek food...it's simply my favorite.  The nice thing about this meal was it was easily adaptable for my 12 year old who doesn't like all the ingredients and it was diet friendly for myself - even better!

Ingredients: 

Beef or Lamb mixture:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 pounds ground beef or lamb (I chose beef so I could purchase a leaner cut)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 red onion, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons dry red wine

Feta Tzatziki:

• 1 cucumber
• Salt
• 1 cup 2% Greek yogurt- I only use Fage brand
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
• fresh ground black pepper

Cucumber Tomato Relish:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 2 firm tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 cucumber, seeded and diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• Freshly ground black pepper 
• Salt

Directions:

For the beef or lamb: In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the beef or lamb, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook until the meat gets nice and golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the meant and reserve. Lower the heat to medium and saute the onions in the juices until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the oregano and garlic and cook until fragrant. Season. Add the tomato paste and cook until it caramelizes. Deglaze with the red wine and scrape any bits up that have adhered to the pan. Add the meat back in, stir and set aside. 

For the tzatziki: Grate the cucumber on the large holes of a box grater and place in a fine-meshed strainer or cheese cloth fitted over a bowl. Salt the cucumber and let sit 10 minutes. Then squeeze out any excess moisture. Add the strained cucumber into a bowl with the yogurt, feta, and garlic. Adjust the seasoning if necessary.

For the cucumber tomato relish: Toss the olive oil, vinegar, tomatoes, cucumbers and onions in a bowl and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Cover and let sit at least 1 hour to marry the flavors.

For the sandwich build: Smear the tzatziki on the pitas or flatbread, then the relish and meat on top...fold and you have a GREEK TACO!  Kids seem to prefer sour cream on the flatbread and then the meat mixture with some grated cheese you might have on hand.  

We served this meal with a Greek salad on the side and I made a small Ceasar Salad for my 12 year old. 

This is a delicious meal, one that the whole family will love!