Pru of Perfecting Pru has chosen Turkey Burgers for next week’s project. Thanks Pru!

Pru of Perfecting Pru has chosen Turkey Burgers for next week’s project. Thanks Pru!

Today’s project was chosen by Sara at Sassy Suppers – Herbed Flatbread from the June issue of Living. I’ve never made anything like this before. The dough was very simple – get 1/4 tsp yeast foamy in 1 cup of warm water, then add flour and oil and salt and knead till smooth. Let it rise for an hour and then divide into 16 pieces and roll them out to a 10×4 size. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt and herbs and bake. That’s it. Given that there is very little in them, they were surprisingly flavorful. Everyone enjoyed them. Dude Martha said they tasted like garlic bread sticks. I froze the rest and plan to use them again. Maybe I’ll sprinkle a little cheese on them before heating them up for something different.  I can see lots of different ways to use these. You could make little pizzas on them. They would be great with smoked salmon. Or they’re nice just plain with soup or a salad.

Today’s project was chosen by Sara at Sassy Suppers – Herbed Flatbread from the June issue of Living. I’ve never made anything like this before. The dough was very simple – get 1/4 tsp yeast foamy in 1 cup of warm water, then add flour and oil and salt and knead till smooth. Let it … Read more →

On p. 174 of June Living, Martha has a recipe for buttermilk chicken. It sounded simple (always a bonus!) and easy. I didn’t use the same amount of chicken (Martha said to use 3 whole chickens!). I used 3 boneless breasts. I marinated them in enough buttermilk to cover them mixed with 3 chopped cloves of garlic and 1 tsp of rosemary, plus salt and pepper. I grilled them and they stuck to the grill, shredding and making a giant mess. They tasted ok though. I know this recipe was meant for chicken with skin and that would have added to the flavor I think. I thought it was sort of plain though overall. It was nice and moist which I appreciated, but not a real winner in terms of flavor. Garlicky, yes, but just sort of plain. Not a winner.

On p. 174 of June Living, Martha has a recipe for buttermilk chicken. It sounded simple (always a bonus!) and easy. I didn’t use the same amount of chicken (Martha said to use 3 whole chickens!). I used 3 boneless breasts. I marinated them in enough buttermilk to cover them mixed with 3 chopped cloves … Read more →

Yesterday I posted about my easy potato casserole. It always makes leftovers, which is great. I decided to kick up my leftovers a bit. I used 3 cups of leftover casserole. I warmed it up so it was easy to stir. I added 2 tbsp sour cream, 1 chopped scallion, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, and 3 tbsp melted butter (I actually had some garlic butter leftover that I used, so this added more flavor). I foolishly first thought about frying these up as potato pancakes, but they have nothing to hold them together (egg, etc), so that was a bust. Instead, I put them in muffin tins and baked them at 350 for half an hour. My muffin tins are silicone, so I could just pop them out. If you’re using metal muffin tins, I think you might need to bake longer to get the outside firmer so they are easier to lift out.

Anyway, they were delicious. Teen Martha said they tasted like twice baked potatoes, which in a way they were.

Yesterday I posted about my easy potato casserole. It always makes leftovers, which is great. I decided to kick up my leftovers a bit. I used 3 cups of leftover casserole. I warmed it up so it was easy to stir. I added 2 tbsp sour cream, 1 chopped scallion, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, and … Read more →

I’ve been writing a lot lately about my quick dinners. One trick I keep up my sleeve is my Easy Potato Casserole. It’s easy because all you do is dump things in a bowl then bake. This is great for a family dinner, with leftovers, or to take to an event. The potatoes are soft, but it gets crunchy around the edges and nice and brown on top. I have lots of variations on this, which I’ll share after I give you the basics.

1 bag frozen hash brown potatoes

8-12 oz shredded cheddar cheese (depending on how cheesy you like things!)

1 tbsp dried minced onion

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 container light sour cream

1 can cream of potato soup

1 cup milk or cream

salt and pepper to taste

Cook in an 8×14 greased pan, covered with foil for 1  hour in a 375 degree oven. Then uncover and cook for half an hour more, until brown.

Now that you’ve got the basics, let’s talk about the variations. First of all, if I think of it in advance, I take the potatoes out of the freezer and stick them in the fridge. This cooks faster if they are unfrozen, although you can definitely make it from frozen. Sometimes I add chopped scallions instead of dried onion. I often vary the types of cheese. It’s really good with some smoked cheese mixed in. You could sprinkle cheese on the top if you like it that way. I  sometimes substitute plain yogurt for part of the sour cream. The last time I made this, I forgot to add the milk, so I just poured it on top before I put it in the oven and it worked perfectly. If you wanted to, you could add some chopped ham or bacon. Fresh herbs would certainly liven it up as well.  What I like about this is if I have a bag of potatoes and a can of soup, I can whip it up with whatever I have around for the other ingredients, so it’s very flexible.

I’ve been writing a lot lately about my quick dinners. One trick I keep up my sleeve is my Easy Potato Casserole. It’s easy because all you do is dump things in a bowl then bake. This is great for a family dinner, with leftovers, or to take to an event. The potatoes are soft, … Read more →

Thanks to Sara at Sassy Suppers for choosing our project for Monday 6/7: Herbed Flatbread from p. 172 of June Living.  I’ve never made crackers before, so this will be something new! As always, if you need the recipe, just let me know.

Thanks to Sara at Sassy Suppers for choosing our project for Monday 6/7: Herbed Flatbread from p. 172 of June Living.  I’ve never made crackers before, so this will be something new! As always, if you need the recipe, just let me know.

My friend Alisa commented on one of my recent posts saying she was interested in hearing the details of dinners I throw together. I do throw a lot of dinners together. In fact, if I’m not making a Martha recipe (or a recipe I picked up elsewhere), I usually am just throwing something together. I always think I should try to plan meals farther in advance, but generally find myself at 5 pm trying to figure something out. The fact of the matter is, I don’t know what I want until it’s close to dinner time!

Last night we returned from spending the weekend at my parents’ lake house and we were completely exhausted. I’ve been fighting a cold virus and not sleeping well. We did a lot of boating, kayaking, swimming, and outdoors activities over the weekend and were just bone tired. We got home and unpacked and Mr. MarthaAndMe went out to tackle mowing and trying to get the pool open. I flitted around the house putting things away, opening mail, getting things ready for the week, and trying to cool the place down. Soon I had to face the fact that dinner had to be made, even though I didn’t feel like cooking it. I thought for a minute about surrendering and going to the hot dog joint at the end of our street, but pushed through it.

I pulled out some Greek turkey burgers. I buy these in the meat dept of my grocery store and feel guilty every time I do because I could easily make them myself – and I have.  To make it yourself, mix ground turkey with some frozen spinach that’s been thawed and squeezed dry. Add in some feta cheese, Greek seasoning (or oregano), salt, pepper, and if you like, a few pieces of sun dried tomato. Mine were pre-made (for just such an emergency) so all I had to do was thaw them. They can be grilled or cooked in a pan. I served them on whole wheat rolls that had Miracle Whip, feta cheese and lettuce on them. Sometimes I buy bottled Greek dressing and put some of that on the roll too.

For a side dish, I thinly sliced half of a zucchini and chopped up about 1 tbsp of onion. I cooked the onion in olive oil, added the zucchini, salt, pepper and 1/4 tsp dried cilantro and cooked till done. I had an ear of corn that had been cooked and was left over from another dinner. I sliced the corn off and dumped it in the pan and cooked it a few minutes to heat it and brown it a little. That was it (this fed two of us – the kids did not want it and ended up finding some other alternatives). I also put a bowl of grapes on the table. Grapes, and other fruit like strawberries, cherries, watermelon, cantaloupe, or tangerines are another of my go-to items. No cooking necessary and I know everyone will eat them.

What do you make for your thrown together dinners?

My friend Alisa commented on one of my recent posts saying she was interested in hearing the details of dinners I throw together. I do throw a lot of dinners together. In fact, if I’m not making a Martha recipe (or a recipe I picked up elsewhere), I usually am just throwing something together. I … Read more →

Thanks to Megan at Megan’s Cookin’ for today’s pick – and Happy Memorial Day to all. I love caramelized onions and I also love dip. A match made in heaven for sure. This dip from June Living was not hard to make. You dice and then cook 3 lbs of onions. It takes about half an hour to 45 min to cook. until caramelized.  When they’re done, add 3 tbsp water and scrape up the brown bits. Cool it then add to 1 1/2 cups Greek plain yogurt (I cheated and used regular nonfat plain yogurt), 1/2 cup sour cream, and 2 tbsp lemon juice. A breeze. This was really, really good. You’re supposed to serve it with cut up veggies and it is yummy that way, but this would also be good with some pita triangles, crackers, or whatever you like to pair with your dip. You could even slice some potatoes and bake them until crispy and use those. Thumbs up on this one Martha!

Thanks to Megan at Megan’s Cookin’ for today’s pick – and Happy Memorial Day to all. I love caramelized onions and I also love dip. A match made in heaven for sure. This dip from June Living was not hard to make. You dice and then cook 3 lbs of onions. It takes about half … Read more →

I’ve been dying for ribs lately. In recent years I’ve hit upon what I consider to be the perfect rib recipe, which I’ve adapted from Trisha Yearwood’s first cookbook. I don’t actually have her cookbook – I saw her on The View and then borrowed it from the library. I liked the basic concept and tweaked it to suit my taste. The secret to these ribs is marinating them overnight, then cooking them in the oven covered with foil, then finally cooking then uncovered with BBQ sauce. I like my ribs to have some crunch but then to have tender meat inside, but none of that gross gloppy fat on it. This recipe achieves that perfect combination.

1 cup tamari or soy sauce

1 cup water

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 tsp salt

2 racks of baby back ribs

Mix first 4 ingredients together in a large glass measuring cup or glass bowl and microwave until sugar dissolves (1-2 minutes). Cut the racks of ribs in half (or quarters) so that they will fit in a ziploc bag. Pour the marinade over them and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 375. Place the ribs in a roasting pan and cover with foil. Bake for 2 hours.

Remove ribs. Combine 1  1/2 cups ketchup (I use only organic, which has a wonderful flavor), 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp garlic salt, 1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce, 1 tbsp yellow mustard. Brush on ribs and reserve what is left. Reduce heat in oven to 350 and bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes, until the ribs are a dark color. Serve with leftover sauce. You could also put these ribs on the grill for the last half hour if you prefer.

I’ve been dying for ribs lately. In recent years I’ve hit upon what I consider to be the perfect rib recipe, which I’ve adapted from Trisha Yearwood’s first cookbook. I don’t actually have her cookbook – I saw her on The View and then borrowed it from the library. I liked the basic concept and … Read more →

My family is big on Greek food. We always joke that Mr. MarthaAndMe must be Greek (his ancestry is a little cloudy – lots of Eastern European with little details). So of course I had to make the Lamb and Cucumber Kebabs with Feta Sauce from June Living (p.184).

I make something like this pretty often and I usually buy lamb tenderloin. This time I couldn’t find that at the store, so I ended up with boneless leg (which was what the recipe called for anyhow). I cut it into chunks and marinated it in the mix of oil, garlic, oregano and lemon juice. I mixed up the sauce – yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, and feta with a little oil. I added salt and pepper to that.

You grill the lamb on kebabs with cucumber. I would never have grilled the cucumber – seemed weird, but it was actually pretty good. The lamb, on the other hand, was tough and chewy – since I am used to tenderloins, the leg was tough by comparison.

I served this with some whole wheat tortillas and lettuce and we wrapped it up. It was quite good over all.

My family is big on Greek food. We always joke that Mr. MarthaAndMe must be Greek (his ancestry is a little cloudy – lots of Eastern European with little details). So of course I had to make the Lamb and Cucumber Kebabs with Feta Sauce from June Living (p.184). I make something like this pretty … Read more →