BIZZY BAKES

Continuing the theme of using what I have on hand, I made this dish because I had a package of chicken cutlets, in the freezer and mushrooms in the refrigerator.  I bought the mushrooms without a plan, knowing I would adjust my cooking to use them.  Chicken cutlets are usually in the freezer.  I buy a family pack and break it down into several smaller packages with two - three cutlets in each. We used to eat chickens cut into quarters and suddenly our taste changed and we only like the cutlets.  I am not even sure how it happened.  Both ways provide versatility.  I guess the major difference is that the chicken pieces take longer to cook. I have made many changes in what I cook and what we eat since I began blogging.  I use fresh herbs when possible. I try new foods such as kale, leeks and purple sweet potatoes. We cut back on beef. We eat tons more vegetables. I became more aware of how much hubby does not like spice in recipes and d...

Another week has come along and I am getting used to, once again, filling in my plans for the week.  I am posting them with tons of other bloggers on Menu Plan Monday .  If you want ideas and recipes for the coming weeks, that is the place to check out. This is the line-up for my family. Sunday:  eating at family's home Monday:  Honey and Walnut Crusted Chicken  Tuesday: Cheesy Zucchini Bake  Wednesday: The Layered Look - Eggplant  Thursday:  Creamy Cabbage and Noodles Friday: Chicken and Mushrooms in Wine Sauce Saturday:  Gluten-free Pizza

I don't know how long other bloggers spend visiting other sites.  I don't have a clue how long I spend doing this either.  When I check out other food sites, I am totally engrossed in what I am doing.  I love to catch up with what people are up to as well as what they are cooking.  It is fun but it is time consuming, time well worth it. More than that, each blog is a place with tons of information.  How many tips have you picked up?  How many recipes have you made?  I find that if I make the recipe right away, it gets done.  If I bookmark it or print it, it may get lost. Today, I was at Spiced Curiosity  and found this amazing sorbet.  I did the right thing and went to the kitchen and made it.  I don't use my ice cream maker enough.  I was thrilled to make something that was not filled with raw eggs or whipping cream and I was more than pleased with the results. The strawberry mixture thickened quickly and it is now wait...

Today is the second day of my approach to more interesting lunches.  I find it quite amusing that my husband is enjoying this so much.  For decades, the man has taken the same sandwich to work, literally day after day, five days a week.  It is comprised to two slices of gluten-free bread with one piece of  Munster cheese and a little piece of lettuce.  Yep - one single slice of cheese.  To keep myself honest, originally he took a slice of Swiss cheese and somewhere along the way, he made that major change to Munster.  And no, he is not an exciting eater.  You can see why, I am giggling about his very happy attitude toward a new lunch idea daily. As you may remember, I am using up "stuff" in the house for our meals today.  I think, we did a dual shopping because I ended up with two sour cream, 2 whipped cream cheese, 2 bottles of Parmesan cheese and 2 bags of shredded mozzarella.  I had to remedy this situation for lunch and it didn't t...

This is another Passover recipe, I have to share.  Passover is a funny holiday when it comes to food.  Some people feel deprived because we do not use many  of our normal choices. There are others and I count myself as part of this group who glory in what can be done with a more limited array of  ingredients.   When you think about it, there is one week, we eat without using flour and foods with gluten.  No pasta, no bread, no "normal" cake or cookies, no rice for Sefardic Jews, no beans as well.  It is different but I welcome it.  I think we eat as well if not better for this week than the entire year. Honey and Walnut-Crusted Chicken Ingredients: 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded flat  non stick cooking spray (olive oil) ½ cup honey ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper 3/4 cup potato starch ¾ cup fine chopped nuts (I used walnuts but pecans would be better, in my opinion.) ...

I had no idea what to call this recipe.  I was supposed to make this for Monday night but I remembered, we had a wedding to go to and there was no need for me to cook.  I changed things around a bit and here we are with one of the best meals, I have had in a while.  I think it is better than the fancy meal served at the wedding.   Giving a name to a recipe that I put together, with what is on hand, is a challenge and in this case, I came to a dead-end.  Listing the ingredients for a title seems wrong and boring. I thought about what I did and that was to perk up the quinoa. Quinoa is something that takes on the identity of the ingredients or other foods on the plate.  Like rice, barley, orzo or kasha, you can vary what you do with it in innumerable ways.  I think, quinoa is the easiest to cook especially with many of the ones on the store shelves do not need to be rinsed. To make this recipe work, do a lot of the prep  before hand.   ...

While our friend, Louise brings cheer into our lives throughout the year, she particularly does so when she organizes the SOCIAL EVENT of the year, our online picnic with the most outstanding variety of foods.  Louise can be found  at  Months of Edible Celebrations  where you will find the fascinating information and delicious recipes.  It is a treat to visit there each day so go on over and enjoy yourselves. I love this picnic and usually, I choose a difficult letter, but let me clue you all in, there is no such thing as a difficult letter.  This year, I have Y and I decided before hand, if I ran into a problem, my dish would be called Yummy something but there are yams and yellow squash, yogurt and yolks and Yakbraten. I ended up making this delicious Yellow squash Crustless Quiche.  My inspiration came from Sally's Baking Addiction , a place you should surely visit. The Parmesan on the top of the quiche turned an ugly dark brown but taste...

Two years ago, I started posting my lunch dishes which resulted in my making better and more interesting lunches.  Since my hubby and I are both home, this summer, I am planning to add some recipes to the page of lunch dishes above.  This is my first choice.  It was originally meant for a dinner dish but I had forgotten, we had a wedding on Monday night and I had no need to cook.  A great dinner became a great lunch. You could choose other vegetables in this dish such as spinach, red bell pepper or cauliflower.  You could add red pepper to any combination.  You could also flavor this with different spices.  I used basil because the original recipe called for it.  I can see it with oregano or parsley. Chives is a safe bet to be added at any time.   I was looking for ways to use my goat cheese and found a recipe that intrigued me at Food 52 .  I owe them for my inspiration.  I added broccoli to the corn.  I used sour cre...

When I saw that the choice for this week in WWDH was paella, I immediately cringed since I knew what was coming, and I was correct.  Mussels, Clams, Prawns and Sausage, none of which are kosher.  Actually, sausage is kosher but it can't be cooked with fish and shell fish is definitely prohibited in a kosher diet. When I joined the group, Wednesdays with Donna Hay, I made the decision to at least attempt to modify recipes so that we could eat them and in most cases, it is not difficult to accomplish.  When pork is used, I use chicken or turkey.  When fish is used, I sub in salm on or a white fish such as flounder or sole.  Easy to do..... Donna went all out using so many shellfish and the only course of action I had was to ignore them completely and use vegetables and sausage with the rice.   I also decided to look up what a paella should really be and was happy to find the following at Wise Geek . "Almost anything can be used in a paella, and it is...

I  made this soup during Passover and again recently,.  I had to  make it because it was unusual in the way it was made.   This time, I added some vegetable broth to it to thin it out.  Look at the photo.  It almost looks like sauce and that is slightly thinned down. It has very few ingredients for such a wholesome full tasting soup. Ingredients: 2 zucchini 2 onions 2 red pepper olive oil 1 cup vegetable broth salt and pepper to taste You can add any seasoning you want to this.  We liked it as is but now that I have my  herbs growing in the garden, I would throw them into the mix. You do not have to peel the zucchini if you prefer. Red Pepper Zucchini Soup Method:   Cut onions into thick slices. Cut zucchini into about half inch pieces. Red peppers should be cut into chunks.  Remove the seeds. Heat olive oil in saucepan.   Add the vegetables.  Cover and cook over low heat for abo...