Savarine

These European Pastries are a favorite. The pastry is soaked in syrup for a unique flavor. Mmmm Mmmm.


Savarine

Ingredients:
(yields 6 servings)



BATTER:
4 eggs (separated)
5 Tbsp sugar
5 Tbsp plain bread crumbs
**TIP: I have found that Progresso brand bread crumbs work best, others are too salty.
Spray Baking Pam for greasing the bundt tray
Bundt Tray

SYRUP:
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp imitation rum
Lemon Zest **TIP: Wash the lemon and grate the yellow part of the lemon skin into the syrup. You can use as much or as little of this as you want, or none at all.

FILLING:
1 Cool Whip container whipped cream - 16 oz
Apricot Jam
Maraschino Cherries or Fresh Strawberries (to place on top of each pastry)


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F degrees. In 2 large bowls, separate the eggs - yolks in 1 bowl, whites in the other.

2. In the bowl with the yolks, add the 5 Tbsp of sugar, gradually, 1 Tbsp at a time. Mix with a wire whisk until creamy. Next, add 5 Tbsp bread crumbs, 1 Tbsp at a time, mixing with the wire whisk until well blended.

3. In the other bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the egg whites until they are stiff and to the consistency of whipped cream.

4. Next, take 1 big spoonful at a time of the beaten egg whites, and gently fold them into the yolk bowl. Make sure to be gentle when folding in the egg whites as you want the final mixture to have volume. Continue until you have added all of the egg whites to the yolk mixture.

5. Lightly spray the bundt pan with Spray Baking Pam just before you place the batter into it. Once you have sprayed the pan, gently place batter into each mold about 3/4 full.

**TIP: Make sure not to spray the pan until you are ready to put the batter into it. Doing this beforehand will cause the Pam spray to settle and the bottom and harden the pastry as it cooks.

6. IMMEDIATELY place the bundt tray into the oven and bake at 325 F degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven after 15 minutes and allow to cool for 5 minutes in bundt tray, then remove each pastry individually and place on wire rack to cool completely.

7. While the pastries are cooling, you can make the Syrup: In a saucepan, melt together all of the ingredients listed under "Syrup". Stir until all the sugar is dissolved. Once dissolved, allow to cool completely.

8. When pastries have cooled completely, cut each one in half. Next, take the cooled syrup and using a spoon, pour syrup over each pastry. (Don't be shy with the syrup!)

9. Using a butter knife, spread a bit of apricot jam (about 1/2 tsp per pastry) on the inside of the bottom half of the pastry.
Next, add whipped cream in between the layers of pastry (I like to use a pastry bag with a decorative tip to make it look nice). Place the top half of the pastry onto the whipped cream, and then add a bit of whipped cream to the very top of the pastry.
To finish it off, add either a maraschino cherry or a fresh strawberry on the top of each pastry.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Meatloaf

This meatloaf might look complicated, but it's very simple to do, and very yummy too! You'll look like a pro when you serve this one!


Stuffed Meatloaf

Ingredients:
(yields 5-6 servings)



1.5 lbs ground meat (you can mix any kind that you like, I used 1 lb italian sausage and 1/2 lb ground beef).
4 slices bread (any kind will do)
3 hard boiled eggs (see how to do this here)
2 raw eggs
3/4 cup diced onion
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup diced red bell peppers
1 tsp dill weed
1 tsp salt
3 cups water in a bowl (for soaking bread)


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Soak the slices of bread in the bowl of water. Flip the slices a few times to ensure that all the bread gets soaked thoroughly. Gently squeeze excess water out of the bread. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, place all ingredients except for the hard-boiled eggs.

3. Mix this together with your hands, until well blended, like in the photo below:

4. Spread the 1/2 of meatloaf mixture onto a 9x13 glass baking dish. Place the 3 hard-boiled eggs (without the shell) in a row on top of the meatloaf mixture. Then cover the eggs with the remaining 1/2 meatloaf mixture and form into a "loaf".

5. Cover with foil and bake at 350F for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove foil and bake for 15 min uncovered. Slice and serve.

Enjoy!

Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs

Simple way to cook the perfect hard-boiled egg. Doing it this way will ensure that you cook it through without ending up with the "green" colored yolk.


Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs

Ingredients:

Eggs
Water


Directions:

1. Put the eggs into your pot.

2. Fill pot with water to cover eggs by 1 inch.

3. Place pot of eggs over medium-high heat and bring to boil. As soon as the water is boiling, remove pot from the heat and cover with lid. Let sit for 15 minutes covered. And Vualah! Perfect Boiled Eggs!


Enjoy!

Vegeta!

Vegeta!

If you haven't heard about Vegeta yet, I am glad to introduce it to you! This is a gourmet seasoning and soup mix. It comes in powder form and you can add it to just about anything you are cooking. I use it on meat, poultry, veggies, rice, soups, stews, etc.

Basically, you would use Vegeta instead of salt in a recipe but you get super flavor! I get mine at the grocery store in the "international foods" aisle. If you dont find it at your grocery store, you can also purchase it online (here) for $1.95 for a 250gram bag, or $3.50 for a 500gram bag.

Yumm Yumm!!

Simple Feta Sandwiches

This one is Tim's creation. He loves feta cheese and tomatoes!


Simple Feta Sandwiches

Ingredients:

2 slices whole wheat bread
1 Tbsp butter or spread
Feta cheese, cut up into slices the best you can
**TIP: Feta cheese crumbles easily so cut through it slowly
1 medium tomato, sliced

Directions:

1. Toast the bread. Top bread with butter/spread.

2. Add the slices of feta cheese to cover the bread. Then add slices of tomato to cover the feta cheese.

Enjoy!

Tacos and Taco Salad

You can use this recipe to make either Tacos or Taco Salad, or both! I cook the taco meat, cut up the tomatoes, olives, and lettuce, shred some cheese, bring out the sour cream & taco sauce, and from there, we each make our own dinner the way we like it. Alexis (my 5 year old) likes tacos, so she adds the meat and tomatoes and cheese to her taco shell. Tim and I like to crunch up our taco shells on to a plate and then add toppings and veggies on top to make a taco salad. Yumm Yumm!!

Taco Meat

Ingredients:

3.5 Tbsp Homemade Taco Seasoning (Recipe Below)
2/3 cup water
1 lb ground meat of your choice


Directions:

1. Brown the meat, then add the taco seasoning and water. Cook for 5-7 min.

2. Cut up your favorite toppings or additions. example: Tomatoes, Olives, Lettuce. Shred some cheese. Bring out the Sour Cream & taco sauce, and ENJOY!!

Accepting Requests

If anyone has a recipe request, please leave a comment.

I would love to take requests and will try my best to provide the recipe you are looking for!

~Laura

MEASURE EQUIVALENTS

I find this chart very helpful and I have one on my fridge! It will probably come in handy at some point, so print it out and keep it in a good place.


MEASURE EQUIVALENTS

Cup = Fl oz = TBSP = TSP = Milliliter

1 C = 8 oz = 16 Tbsp = 48 tsp = 237 ml
3/4 C = 6 oz = 12 Tbsp = 36 tsp = 177 ml
2/3 C = 5 oz = 11 Tbsp = 32 tsp = 158 ml
1/2 C = 4 oz = 8 Tbsp = 24 tsp = 118 ml
1/3 C = 3 oz = 5 Tbsp = 16 tsp = 79 ml
1/4 C = 2 oz = 4 Tbsp = 12 tsp = 59 ml
1/8 C = 1 oz = 2 Tbsp = 6 tsp = 30 ml
1/16 C = .5 oz = 1 Tbsp = 3 tsp = 15 ml

Homemade Taco Seasoning

Homemade taco seasoning is so much better than any prepackaged taco seasoning. You've got to try this!


Homemade Taco Seasoning

Ingredients:



1/4 cup chili powder
2/3 cup cornstarch
2 Tbsp ground cumin
4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp granulated onions
1 tsp ground cayenne red pepper
1 tsp dried oregano


Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, add all ingredients. Mix well. Store in an airtight container.

2. When cooking: Use the ratio of 3.5 Tbsp Taco Seasoning to 1 lb ground meat of your choice. First, brown the meat, then add the 3.5 Tbsp Taco Seasoning and 2/3 cup of water. Cook for 5-7 min.


Enjoy!

Scrambled Potato Eggs

This is an easy way of making the usual scrambled eggs a bit more hearty. My husband requests more egg whites rather than yolks, so that's why my recipe includes more whites, but you can change it up however you like it!


Scrambled Potato Eggs

Ingredients:
(yields 2 servings)

2 Tbsp oil
1/2 cup potatoes, diced (I used OreIda southern style hash brown potatoes)
1 tsp granulated onions
1/2 tsp salt
5 eggs
4 egg whites
1/4 cup milk


Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, egg whites, & milk. Set aside.

2. In a medium skillet, heat 1 Tbsp oil. Add potatoes, granulated onions, & salt. Cook on medium heat for 3 minutes, until potatoes begin to soften.

3. Add remaining 1 Tbsp oil to skillet. Add egg mixture, and cook on medium heat until eggs are no longer runny. Stir or flip eggs with a spatula frequently.

Enjoy!

Chicken Piccata

If you've never had Chicken Piccata, this is really worth trying! Simple to make, and very delicious. The lemon gives it a nice "zing"!


Chicken Piccata

Ingredients:
(yields 5-6 servings)

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 eggs
1 lemon, cut in half
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 cup butter
1 cube chicken bouillon
1 cup boiling water


Directions:

1. In a small bowl, beat the eggs together with the juice of 1/2 of the lemon (minus the seeds!). Set aside.

2. In a shallow bowl or dish, mix together the flour, garlic powder and paprika. Set aside.

3. Cut each chicken breast into thin, round/oval pieces as shown in the photo. You'll get about 4-5 pieces out of each breast.

**TIP: I like to trim off excess fat & veins while I'm cutting the chicken into smaller pieces.

4. Dip the chicken in the egg/lemon mixture, then dip in the seasoned flour.

5. In a large skillet, melt butter and brown the coated chicken pieces. (This smells so good!)

**TIP: You may have to brown the chicken in batches, depending on how big/small your skillet is, and how much chicken you are making. If you are doing this in batches, then set the browned chicken aside on a plate while working on the rest of the chicken.

6. In a small pot, dissolve the bouillon cube in the boiling water, then add the juice of the other 1/2 of the lemon (minus seeds!).

7. After you've browned all the chicken pieces, return them all to the skillet and pour the boiling water mixture into the skillet. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes, turning chicken pieces after 10 minutes, until chicken is tender.

**TIP: Clean your kitchen workplace & your utensils as you go, and you'll have less to clean up later! (this one I learned from my mama!)

8. Serve with your choice of side dish. Pictured here with "Laura's Perfect Mashed Potatoes" (recipe below).

Enjoy!