Saturday, March 4th, 2011 - Minestrone Soup with Vegetables & Pasta

On a gloomy day this is a really nice, warm and comforting dinner … not to mention we could smell it cooking all day so by dinner time we were so hungry. I am not a big soup person, just a few I will eat but this one was really good … I recommend it!

I used a Little help for this one … Love Robin Miller she makes really good food that is affordable and realistic for the everyday person. Main Idea came from her with a few changes from me to make it my own … Enjoy!

MINESTRONE SOUP WITH PASTA, BEANS AND VEGETABLES

Ingredients
• 3 cups reduced-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15-ounce) can white (cannellini or navy) beans, drained
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1 clove Garlic, Finely chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 2 cups cooked mini bow tie pasta
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped
• 1 medium yellow squash, chopped
• 2 cups loosely chopped fresh spinach
• ¼ Cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
• Chopped fresh parsley, garnish, optional
• Grated Mozzarella Cheese, garnish, optional

Directions:
In a slow cooker, combine broth, tomatoes, beans, onion, thyme, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.

Thirty minutes before the soup is done cooking, add pasta, zucchini, squash, parsley and spinach. Cover and cook 30 more minutes. Remove bay leaves and season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle mozzarella cheese and fresh parsley

The Only thing I did different was I did not use the carrots, we are not big fans and with the zucchini I added some yellow squash. The pasta I used was small bow ties. Also I am a big fan of spinach, fresh or frozen is fine, but I used fresh baby spinach. With Onions I have a tendency to get heart burn so I used about ½ cup and added a small diced clove of garlic. Add some crusty bread or biscuits along side it.

Friday, March 4th, 2011 - Breakfast Tart

Tonight I was craving breakfast for dinner... I was watching the Food Channel and “Everyday Italian” was on she was making a breakfast tart and I thought well I can make that... The ingredients she was using were a little to expensive for me so I had to substitute a lot of things to make it my own

Here it is: You will need a tart pan, if you do not have one a pie pan will work just fine. Make sure you butter the sides and the bottom. I am not that good at making my own pie crust so I used a pre made pie crust... line the pan with the pie crust trimming off the edges... remember to poke the bottom and sides with a fork all over to release the air bubbles ... put in a pre heated 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. When done set aside and let cool a little.

While the crust is cooling you will want to start your filling ... you will need 5 eggs at room temperature, 1 tub of cream cheese at room temperature (you won't be able to mix it if it is to cold) 1 brick of Swiss cheese grated, 5 strips of bacon cooked and drained on a paper towel, 1 long green onion, 3 stalks of fresh asparagus and salt & pepper.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl, add the cream cheese and beat until smooth then add the cheese, diced onions, diced asparagus and crumbled bacon season with salt and pepper .. mix all together really well ... pour mixture into pie shell and smooth over to the edges ... bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes... your egg mixture will settle, puff up and the top will be golden brown .... Let sit for about 10 minutes after taking it out of the oven.

There you go... yummy! I wish there was a way to let you smell how good the kitchen smells while this is baking... my goodness it is delicious! You will just have to make it!!

This particular night I made some homemade apple sauce, get a pot chop up about 5 or 6 apples, I leave the skin on ... put in to pot with about 2/3 cup of water, 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon ... stir and let simmer for a good hour stirring occasionally to break the apples up ... it is a great homemade apple sauce and best of all you know what’s in it.

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011 Philly Cheese Steak

Well it is the end of the week and that normally means using some of the leftovers that are in the fridge to make a great dinner.  So tonight I made a semi-version of a Philly Cheese steak.

I had left over roast, from the crock pot roast beef, left over marinated chicken, the chicken was marinated in soy sauce, lime juice and garlic salt for at least an hour... I think mine was a few hours I like the flavor a little stronger then put it on the grill... getting side tracked ... and left over mushrooms from the Alfredo.

You will need a frying pan with good sides, melt 2 tablespoons of butter, add the mushrooms, sauté until brown, they will shrink a little... then add the diced up chicken and beef .. Warm through

While the mixture is cooking heat your oven to 400 and toast 2 sub rolls (they are a little big if you want them smaller use hot dog buns) probably 6-8 minutes they should be lightly toasted.

Take your toasted buns and spread one half with mayo, one half dijion mustard and then a little raw horseradish (I don't like onions and peppers, so the mustard and horseradish kind of take the place of them) it provides a nice tang... then spread the meat mixture high on the bun and top with provolone cheese (you can use what ever kind of cheese you want but I like provolone because it melts nice) Then most important.. smush it all together, you have to smush to get everything to stick together.

For a side I had mashed sweet potatoes and mashed regular potatoes so I made potato pancakes ... the pancakes I baked in the 400 degree oven instead of in the frying pan, it cuts down on the fat, for about 8 minutes on each side.  Then I topped them with butter, can you tell I love butter, for the Sweet Potato Cakes I sprinkled with cinnamon sugar

That is what we had for dinner tonight and the best thing about it ... I had everything already in the fridge so I spent $20.00 bucks on groceries and got 3 dinners out of it ... not bad!

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011 - Chicken Alfredo

So Mr. Lucas, my son, has been feeling a little under the weather the past few days so I have been trying to make things I know he likes and will eat. Tonight we are having creamy chicken and mushroom Alfredo with fresh asparagus. I have a feeling I am going to get hungry just telling everyone about it ... yummy!
First I start with pasta, normally boxed linguine is what I will use, however I had a coupon! Love Coupons try to use them whenever I can... anyways I will be using Butioni (sp) which is fresh made pasta that you can find in the refrigerator section of the grocery store .... Maybe one day I will learn to make pasta, that would be amazing. You are going to cook the pasta like you normally would in a pot of boiling salted water for about 10-12 minutes then drain. (fresh made pasta will puff up a little and flot to the top of the pot, so it might not take as long as 12 minutes)

Next you are going to start your chicken, because chicken has to be cooked completely, you are going to want to brown it in a pan with a little extra virgin olive oil and fresh diced garlic ... stir and cook until the inside is white .. No Pink! Then cube it up and set it aside.

To start your cream sauce: you need about 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablesspoons of flour... you are going to completely melt the butter and then stir the flour in until it is completely incorporated with each other ... this is called a rue ... make sure you do not burn it, if you do you have to start all over.

After your rue is made keep your heat on medium,  poor in 2 1/2 cups of cold milk stir until slightly thickened but not boiling, then add your cream cheese ... normally I use 1 1/2 bricks tonight I am trying something a little different.. because again I had a coupon ... so I got a tub of Italian Herb Cream Cheese for Cooking for .59 cents (normally $2.99) melt that into milk until it is fully meld together, then add about 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese ... play your cheese by ear, if you like more use more it is your dinner. Once all your cheese is melted and your sauce is thickened add your sliced mushrooms and cooked chicken (scrape your chicken right from the pan so you will get the garlic flavor also) let sit in the sauce on low heat for about 25-30 minutes, stiring frequently (you do not want your sauce to curdle)

In a separately trim your asparagus and drop into a pot of boiling salted water ... I like mine bright green and crispy so I cook for about 3 minutes, drain, then melt butter and sprinkle with a tiny bit of sea salt ... serve alongside your pasta

Yummy this is an amazing dinner..... I will post a picture of the finished product if I can figure it out hahaha

I reference coupons a lot ... I am a coupon clipper, have to be ... also pretty much every grocery store out there has bonus cards that they offer for free ... if you do not have one get one you can save so much money .. Even if you are not a coupon clipper always use a bonus card.... BiLo is probably the best because they have a Fuel Perks card... you save money on your groceries and every time you spend $50.00 you get .5 or .10 cents off a gallon of gas ... lets be real gas is radically high and when do you not spend that much on groceries.

So I hope that you try my Alfredo recipe ... pretty easy and very much a crowd pleaser ... Good Luck!

First Post for Cooking with Leslie

So I have never created a blog before and I thought since I have a little free time now I would try.  The main focus behind my blog is going to be my world as a single mom and cooking and tips on how I try to save money..I know there are a lot of simalar blogs and websites out there but I am hoping mine will be a little different.  I am an everyday single mom to a 5 year old little boy who recently lost her job.  And can relate a little better the the everday woman then some of the other websites out there.. at least I hope I can!

So I try really hard to make dinner from scratch or sorta from scratch every night, I am going to post my dinners and recipes whether they be family recipes, my mom is my main insperation, from my many cook books and magazines or from my favorite food network chefs, Rachel Ray, Paula Deen, Giada De Laurintis .. love those ladies.  Or maybe just something I have thrown together on my own.

I am hoping to give tips and recieve tips through this process ... I am been inspired a little by the movie Julie & Julia... if you have not seen it you totally should it is a great movie.  In the movie Amy Adams character cooks her way through Julia Childs cook book the "Joy of Cooking" and writes about it, I probably won't go that extreme ... I don't know if I can cook some of that stuff that Julia could do.  But I am excited to document what I can cook.

So Here We Go .........