New 5-Day Weekly Meal Plans at www.emealsforyou.com
To see the post regarding the new 5-day Weekly Meal Plans click here!
Add comment November 5, 2009
You Don’t Have To Be Martha Stewart, Series 5 – A Helpful Rant
(From the Misc Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Hazelnut Toffee
I thought it was right to end this series on homemade holiday treats and gifts with, what I consider, the best of the best. This homemade candy treat is easy to make, and has magical properties, it disappears as soon as it is put out.
I started this post and then realized I had written one on the toffee last year. So with apologies to those who remember the post I will repeat it here, I think I got it right that time. One last thing I would be remiss if I didn’t take the time to remind everyone to donate what you can to a food bank or local food drive. We support Manna Outreach, Inc in Cincinnati. Click here to go to the Manna Outreach website to donate.
Here is the post:
I used to make Hazelnut Toffee every year at Christmas. I would make several batches and then buy some nice Christmasy tins and pass the toffee around to the neighbors. We moved and I guess I kind of let the tradition get away from me. The kids grow up; you move away from the comfort zone you have established and some of the little things fall by the wayside.
I could find some tins and begin again with the new neighbors but for some reason it just doesn’t feel the same. Old friends ares still old friends but bonding with new friends takes time… histories have to be exchanged. Mutual interests need to be defined and common causes voiced. New lifestyle patterns are in place and time just seems to move faster.
The good news is that my kids now make the toffee and make the rounds with the Christmasy tins. And look, I made the toffee again… now if I can only find my tins.
A word of caution; this recipe involves very hot sugar and should not be made around children, as spills happen.
Hazelnut Toffee
| Complexity: | Medium |
| Serves: | 12 |
| Category: | Misc |
| Meal: | other (General) |
| 30 | Tb | butter, salted |
| 1.5 | cup | sugar, white |
| 0.5 | cup | sugar, brown |
| 3 | Tb | honey |
| 0.5 | cup | water |
| 1.5 | cup | hazelnuts, toasted |
| 20 | oz | chocolate, semi-sweet bits |
| 0.5 | cup | hazelnuts, ground |
Toast nuts in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes, remove immediately, cool and roll in a towel to remove husk. Place in plastic bag and hit with a flat pan to crush.
Prepping the chocolate- Place chocolate bits in a small food processor and chop into small pieces.
In a medium size, heavy pot place the butter, sugar, water and honey, heat over high heat about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 290-300 degrees on a candy thermometer. Immediately add the crushed nuts, remove from heat, and stir. Pour on a greased cookie sheet (11 X 17), spread out evenly and sprinkle the chocolate on top, when the chocolate melts sprinkle the ground nuts on top. Cool and store in airtight containers.
CAUTION: This is not a project you make with your kids. The sugar reaches 300 degrees and is very dangerous if handled improperly.
Add comment November 19, 2009
Recipe of the Week – Bev’s Pineapple Bread Pudding
(From the Misc Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Bev's Pineapple Bread Pudding
Looking for that different something to serve along with the usual holiday suspects? Want something easy and yet a complete surprise for those around your table? This may be the answer. My mother-in-law makes this wonderful side dish, good enough to serve as a dessert but perfect to cut through all the richness of the large holiday meals. Save this for the day after and you have the perfect way to make that turkey sandwich seem more like a meal.
Bev’s Pineapple Bread Pudding
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 6 |
| Category: | Misc |
| Meal: | other (General) |
| 1 | spritz | PAM |
| 0.5 | cup | butter, salted |
| 1 | cup | sugar, white |
| 4 | large | egg |
| 4 | oz | pineapple, crushed |
| 5 | slices | bread, day-old |
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray oven-proof casserole with Pam. Cream butter and sugar together; add eggs and blend. Cut bread into cubes and add to egg mixture. Stir in drained pineapple. Bake for 1 hour uncovered; until lightly browned.
Add comment November 16, 2009
You Don’t Have To Be Martha Stewart, Series 4 – A Helpful Rant
(From the Bread Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Date and Nut Bread
As we close in on the holidays I begin to bake various breads for both easy morning breakfasts and gifts for giving away. The Date and Nut Bread makes a perfect treat to take to a friend’s house for that holiday brunch or as a “leave behind” gift. I bake them in small round springform pans but you can make them in almost any ovenproof container you have around your kitchen. If you can’t find anything to bake the bread in try using a 15 oz can, lid removed, washed thoroughly. Place the can upright on a baking sheet or pie plate and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Once baked and cooled place in a plastic bag and freeze until needed. I usually bake these along with banana bread muffins and cornbread muffins. That way I have an assortment to wow my guests or as gifts.
Date & Nut Bread
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 10 |
| Category: | Breads |
| Meal: | other (General) |
| 1 | cup | Dates, dried, chopped |
| 1 | cup | walnuts, chopped |
| 0.33 | cup | karo syrup, dark |
| 1.5 | tsp | baking soda |
| 0.5 | tsp | salt, kosher |
| 3 | Tb | butter, unsalted |
| 0.75 | cup | water |
| 2 | large | egg |
| 0.75 | cup | sugar, white |
| 0.5 | cup | flour, wheat |
| 1 | cup | flour, all-purpose |
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 81/2 X 41/2 X 3 inch loaf pan.
Put dates, walnuts, baking soda, salt, karo syrup and butter in a bowl. Heat water to the boil and pour on top of date mixture. Let stand for 15 minutes.
Beat eggs and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the flours and stir. Add in the date mixture and stir until well blended. Pour batter into the loaf pan and bake 40 -50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Slide a knife around pan and invert over a serving plate. May be frozen.
1 comment November 12, 2009
Planning Breakfast – Company Breakfast Made Easy
(From the Misc Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Mary N's Baked French Toast
With the holidays rapidly approaching we find ourselves thinking about company coming to town to enjoy a visit and immediately our brains turn to food. What to feed them? The dinner meals are usually pretty straight forward; large extravaganzas with turkeys, hams or roasts taking center stage. Fill in around these and you are all set.
It’s the other meals that drive us up a wall. Beyond juice and coffee what to serve for breakfast. You know that meal first thing in the morning that you usually skip save for a cup of coffee. Company changes all that. Bagels and doughnuts only go so far, and besides you what them to think you care about starting the day off right, right? The answer may lie in make ahead breakfast casseroles. Do all the work ahead when you have the time. Company morning get up, turn the coffee pot on and preheat the oven. Pop in your pre-made casserole and let the aroma drift through the house. Chances are everyone will show up with a smile on their face and exclaim, “boy, I can’t believe you got up early and made breakfast for us!”
This recipe comes to us via my wife’s aunt Mary. She brought some cream cheese brownies to a family function recently and this recipe was a bonus recipe from her. Both recipes are on the emealsforyou.com website. This recipe is somewhere between French Toast and OMG Sticky Buns. You can’t beat the French toast for the ease of preparing it and it is certain to become a new family favorite.
Mary N’s Baked French Toast Casserole
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 6 |
| Category: | Misc |
| Meal: | Other (General) |
| 1 | large | bread, french |
| 1 | Tb | butter, unsalted |
| 8 | large | egg |
| 2 | cup | cream, half and half |
| 1 | cup | milk, whole |
| 2 | Tb | sugar, white |
| 1 | tsp | vanilla |
| 0.25 | tsp | cinnamon. ground |
| 0.25 | tsp | nutmeg, ground |
| 1 | pinch | salt, table |
| 16 | Tb | butter, unsalted |
| 1 | cup | sugar, brown, light |
| 1 | cup | pecans, chopped |
| 2 | Tb | corn syrup, light |
| 0.5 | tsp | cinnamon. ground |
| 0.5 | tsp | nutmeg, ground |
Slice French bread into 1-inch slices. Butter a 9 X 13 baking dish. Place slices in 2 overlapping rows. Mix the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt ion a large bowl until just mixed. Pour over the bread, making sure to get mixture between and all over bread slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate over night.
For the Praline Topping: Combine butter, brown sugar, pecans, light corn syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl, mix and allow to sit covered on a countertop over night.
Baking instructions: Spread the praline topping evenly over the casserole. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; bake casserole for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup.
1 comment November 9, 2009
You Don’t Have To Be Martha Stewart, Series 3 – A Helpful Rant
(From the Bread Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Sticky Buns
Okay, so now that you have your homemade Kahlua and Lemmoncello “maturing” in your dark closet we need to move on to other ideas for holiday gifts you can make and the recipient will love. Next in my mind, on the easy but really appreciated homemade gifts list are sticky buns. I give these year-round when I think they would be an ideal surprise for breakfast. Delivered hot and sticky on a holiday morning or just to be nice, they fill the house with that sweet smell you remember from visits to the corner bakery when you were growing up. You may also package them in a nice basket unbaked to be baked later. Frozen they last forever and when defrosted offer the perfect touch for a special morning.
The great part about these sticky buns is that they are very easy to make. Make the recipe for yourself and you will still have some leftover to share.
Sticky Buns
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 12 |
| Category: | Breads |
| Meal: | Company for Breakfast (Share-a-Meal Plans) |
| 2.5 | cup | flour, all-purpose |
| 0.25 | cup | sugar, brown |
| 1 | package | yeast, dried |
| 0.5 | tsp | salt, table |
| 0.75 | cup | water, hot |
| 4 | Tb | butter, unsalted |
| 1 | large | egg |
| 0.5 | tsp | cinnamon. ground |
| 8 | Tb | butter, unsalted |
| 0.75 | cup | sugar, brown |
| 1 | Tb | cinnamon. ground |
| 1 | cup | walnuts, chopped |
| 0.75 | cup | sugar, brown |
| 4 | Tb | butter, unsalted |
| 0.25 | cup | corn syrup, dark |
| 1 | cup | walnuts, halved |
(Makes enough for about 3 8 X 8 pans)
Dough- Mix flour, 1/4 cup sugar, yeast, salt, water, melted butter, egg and cinnamon in food processor, remove from processor, add enough flour to make a soft dough, let rise for 45 minutes.
Filling- Mix 1/2 cup softened butter, 3/4 sugar, cinnamon and chopped nuts together.
Roll dough to 15” X 24”. Spread filling on dough. Roll up and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Topping- Put remaining 3/4-cup sugar, 1/2-cup butter, and karo syrup in pan, bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add nuts and pour into baking tray or pan.
Cut rolled dough into 3/4” pieces and place on top of topping in pan. Can be frozen or refrigerated at this point. When ready to bake, let rise for 30 minutes and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Invert over plate and serve.
Note: When scaling this recipe be sure to adjust the ingredient proportions in this method section.
Add comment November 5, 2009
Recipe of the Week – Roasted Beet and Pear Salad
(From the Salad Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Roasted Beet and Pear Salad
This weekend was a “soup” weekend. The weather is changing and as Fall arrives I start to think about soups. Once I get into this mode I usually don’t stop until I either run out of room in the freezer or run out of containers to put the soup in. So on Saturday we had our choice of Chicken Noodle, Leek and Potato or French Onion soup. The chicken noddle is especially good to make and have in the freezer during this flu season. Nothing says neighborly like a container of chicken soup delivered to a neighbor who is down with the sniffles.
I needed a few things to put a large pot of vegetable soup simmering on the stove so off we went on Sunday to the market. Long story short we got what I needed for the soup and at the same time I picked up some beets and pears. I had this thought rolling around in my head, and yes I know this is strange, about putting roasted beets, pears and watercress together for a wonderfully attractive and deliciously light salad. The beets take awhile to roast so you have to think about this in advance but it was well worth the effort. The secret is to slice both the beets and the pears as thinly as you can, I use a cheap mandolin, but if you take your time, a very sharp knife will work just as well. Don’t tell the kids that the pretty “fruit” in the salad are beets and you just may slip this one by them.
Roasted Beet and Pear Salad
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 4 |
| Category: | Salad |
| Meal: | other (General) |
| 2 | medium | beets |
| 1 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 1 | pinch | salt and pepper to taste |
| 1 | bunch | watercress |
| 2 | medium | pears, fresh |
| 0.5 | recipe | French vinaigrette dressing |
| 1 | Tb | honey |
Peel beets and drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake in a 350 oven for 1 hour, or until tender. Slice beets and pears as thinly as possible. Place on serving plate in an overlapping circle, alternating pears and beets. Add honey to vinaigrette and toss watercress in vinaigrette. Place on top of beets and pears. Drizzle any leftover dressing on top.
French Vinaigrette Dressing
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 8 |
| Category: | Misc |
| Meal: | other (General) |
| 2 | Tb | vinegar, red wine |
| 1 | Tb | mustard, dijon |
| 0.5 | cup | oil, olive |
| 1 | small | shallots, sliced |
| 0.75 | tsp | salt, kosher |
| 1 | dash | pepper, fresh cracked |
Whisk vinegar,shallot and mustard together in a small glass bowl. Slowly drizzle in the oil, whisking constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
1 comment November 2, 2009
Defining Your Cooking Style – A Non-Rant
Trattoria ? Bistro ? French Peasant ? Old-fashioned Home Cooking ?
I get asked all the time what type of food do I cook? What is my favorite meal? These are all fair questions as my website, emealsforyou.com is virtually a rather large cookbook, interactive and full of bells and whistles but a cookbook none the less. I usually answer, “Whatever people want to eat” but that really doesn’t give you a real feel for what we do.
We strive to provide recipes and meal plans that are easy to prepare, use common ingredients and will WOW your dining companions, whether they are your kids or your boss. Recipes that won’t break the bank but are worthy of taking to the finest neighborhood potluck dinner club or a wine tasting gathering, yet comfortable enough to serve on Friday night in front of the fireplace for movie night with your family.
Just about every nationality has similar dishes. We embrace the ethnic meals. Whether you chose Chicken Cacciatore, Chicken Paprikash or Island Chicken, your house will be filled with wonderful aromas and you probably won’t have to call everyone more than once to the table. Pick homemade pizza or slow-roasted ribs and your family will start calling you chef.
Add comment October 29, 2009
New 5-Day Weekly Meal Plans at www.emealsforyou.com
(From the Recipe Collections at emealsforyou.com)
Pot Roast
Because you asked for it we now post a 5-day weekly meal planner with shopping list on our website at emealsforyou.com. The planner contains easy, complete meals for 5 days. Two options will be available: serving 4 and serving 2. Unlike some other sites, if you don’t like or your kids won’t eat the recipes we provide on the 5-day planner you may simply check out all the recipes on our site and choose a substitute. So you have the benefit of a full week’s planner and still use our site to pick other recipes or meal plans for special occasions or additional needs. We have also created a new recipes category, Weekly Meal Planner. Here you will find 5-day meal plans that you can choose the number of servings and create the shopping lists automatically. We have 20 weekly plans for you to chose from, that’s 5 months worth of headache-free meals, complete with scalability and shopping lists. All this and hundreds of other meal plans and recipes, everything from appetizers to desserts, from kid friendly to our WOW, watching our waists recipes.
This is available only to subscription members of emealsforyou.com. Once you sign up and logon to your account you simply choose the weekly meal plan that offers the number of servings you wish. Click on the link and print the downloaded file, it’s as easy as that. Having a special meal; just go right to our recipes and meal plans to make your own choice.; automatically scalable for 1,2,4,6,8,10,12 servings. It’s never been easier to feed your family good, nutritious meals. Save time, save money , save your sanity by planning your meals using emealsforyou.com.
1 comment October 26, 2009
Recipe of the Week – Creamy Scalloped Potatoes
(From the Starch Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Creamy Scalloped Potatoes
First of all let me say that my wife insists, maybe that is too strong a word, my wife suggests that scalloped potatoes don’t have any cheese in them. All well and good for normal scalloped potatoes; in fact we have a couple of different “cheesy” potatoes on our website, emealsforyou.com. These all bring to mind au gratin potatoes, wonderful just cooked potatoes dripping in gooey cheese sauce, almost a meal unto themselves.
Our Creamy Scalloped Potatoes are just that, creamy, deliciously creamy, with just a hint of cheese. They appear out of the oven gorgeously golden and unresistable. Melt in your mouth potatoes with just enough crunch and a hint of thyme. The best part is they are very simple and quick to make. Watch these disappear from your family’s plates. By the way, I didn’t hear anything further on the “no cheese in scalloped potatoes” theme from my wife once she tried these.
P.S. We paired these with slow-roasted ribs, corn relish and finished up with some Bourbon Gelato to welcome in the Fall season.
Creamy Scalloped Potatoes
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 6 |
| Category: | Starch |
| Meal: | Welcome Fall (Picnic Meal Plans) |
| 5 | large | potatoes |
| 1.5 | cup | cream, heavy |
| 1 | cup | cheese, parmesan, grated |
| 1 | tsp | thyme, fresh |
| 1 | tsp | salt, kosher |
| 0.5 | tsp | pepper, fresh cracked |
Slice potatoes as thinly as you can. Place in a large bowl. Add cream, cheese, fresh thyme, salt and pepper; mix thoroughly. Pour into an oven-proof casserole and bake at 250 degrees for 50- 60 minutes, until lightly browned.
Add comment October 26, 2009
