bacon and brussels sprout fladbread

Bacon and Brussels Sprout Flatbread

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bacon and brussels sprout fladbread

We went out to dinner one night and tried a bacon and brussels sprout flatbread. It was so good, I had to recreate it at home!

Ingredients:

  • dough, this is actually the same recipe for the BBQ Chicken flat bread, but now I make all the dough, and then separate it into two halves. Roll one half out and freeze the other half until next time. This allows the dough to be even thinner and more crispy.
  • 4 slices of bacon
  • ~ 8 frozen brussels sprouts, thawed and quartered
  • black pepper
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • shredded parmesan
  • shredded mozzarella

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 450°
  2. Roll out the dough and place on greased baking sheet
  3. Cook the dough for about 8 minutes.
  4. While the dough is in the oven, heat a large skillet on medium.
  5. Cook the bacon until it’s how you like it. I prefer mine to be crispy. Chop or tear apart into pieces after it has cooled down.
  6. Save a little bit of the bacon grease in the pan and add the brussels sprouts, garlic and pepper to taste.
  7. Saute for about 5 minutes, and then set aside.
  8. Remove the dough from the oven and carefully flip over. Leave the oven on.
  9. Place a layer of parmesan cheese on the bread, followed by the bacon, brussels sprouts and more cheese. The amount of cheese to add is whatever your personal preference.
  10. Cook for another 8 minutes.
  11. Carefully remove and slice.
  12. Enjoy!

bacon and brussels sprout fladbread


fried pickles

Fried Pickles Recipe

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fried pickles

I love fried food. This is no surprise. My favorite fried food? Pickles, it is most definitely fried pickles, preferably in chip form.

Ingredients:

  • ¼ cup all purpose flour
  • ¼ cup corn starch
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • a few shakes of Tabasco, to taste
  • a little bit of red and black pepper
  • 2/3 cups of water
  • oil for frying

Directions:

  1. In a small sauce pan, heat oil on medium.
  2. In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Then stir in the water and Tabasco.  The batter should be thick.
  3. Coat a pickle in the batter and place it into the oil.
  4. The pickles should be fried for about 1-2 minutes. (I usually have to flip over the pickles because I don’t use a lot of oil.)
  5. Carefully remove with a slotted spoon. Sprinkle with a tiny bit of salt.
  6. Enjoy!
fried pickles

I also fried some cheese cubes with this batter.

fried pickles

Rusty would like a bite.

 


shrimp ceviche

Shrimp Ceviche Recipe

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shrimp ceviche

A few summers back when my husband and I spent a couple of days in Miami we ordered a shrimp ceviche and the waiter politely told us that was fine but a shrimp ceviche isn’t a real ceviche because you have to cook the shrimp with heat, as opposed to traditional ceviche where the acidity in the juice cooks the fish, before you put into the vegetables. I’m not sure why it needs to be cooked first but it’s not a big deal because it actually speeds up the time from making to eating which is always a good thing.

Ingredients:

  • 10 or more medium-sized shrimp, peeled, tail removed and deveined (or be smarter than me and buy some that are already like that) cut into bite size pieces
  • 1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice
  • 1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/2 red onion, finely diced
  • 1-2 chopped fresh seeded vine tomatoes
  • 1 chopped bell pepper, no color preference
  • 1/2 jalapeño pepper, chopped and 1/4 of the seeds, add more seeds if you want it a little hotter.
  • Salt to taste
  • Cilantro to taste, stem removed and chopped

Directions:

1. In a glass bowl with lid, like a Pyrex, combine equal parts tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper. Next add the jalapeño. Mix well with a spoon.

2.  Add cilantro and mix. Then add the salt to taste and a little bit of lime juice. The salt is to take some of the sweetness away from the lemon and lime juice.

shrimp ceviche

3. In a small saucepan on medium heat, bring the lime and lemon juice to a soft boil.

4. Add the shrimp and cook until it goes from clear to white.

shrimp ceviche

raw shrimp

 

shrimp ceviche

cooked

5. Add the shrimp and a little bit of the juice to the veggies and mix.

6. Enjoy! With tortilla chips, crackers, pita bread and/or guacamole.

shrimp ceviche

 


flatbread

BBQ Chicken Flatbread Recipe

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flatbread

Barbecue chicken flatbread, or what I like to call BBQ chicken pizza without the sauce. 🙂

Flatbread Ingredients:

  • dough, click here for recipe, don’t bake it yet *if you want a chewier dough use bread flour, use All-Purpose flour for a crisper dough
  • shredded chicken
  • barbecue sauce, I like Stubbs
  • diced red onion, about half of it
  • diced bell pepper, about half of it
  • olive oil

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 450°
  2. Generously coat the shredded chicken in barbecue sauce.
  3. Put about a tablespoon of oil into a skillet and put on medium heat.
  4. Place diced peppers in the pan and sauté for about 3 minutes and then add the onions. Sauté both until tender, about 7 minutes.
  5. Roll out the dough on a floured surface. Place on a greased pan and place in the oven for about 8 minutes. *This is to make sure the top is cooked all the way through before putting on the toppings.
  6. Carefully remove the flatbread from the oven and top with cheese, chicken, onions and peppers. Followed by pouring a little more barbecue sauce on top of the flatbread.
  7. Cook for another 10-15 minutes, where the cheese is melted and the bottom is cooked all the way through.
  8. Enjoy!

flatbread


eggplant sandwich

Eggplant Sandwich

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eggplant sandwich

 

I bought a gigantic eggplant from the store the other day. I bought it with no idea how I was going to cook it. I decided to try an eggplant sandwich, burger type thing. I did add bacon to it but it can easily be omitted to make this a vegetarian option. I liked it and my husband even enjoyed it! Now what to do with the rest of this thing, eggplant parm?

Ingredients:

  • toasted bun
  • 2 pieces of cooked bacon
  • sautéed/wilted spinach – little bit of oil and saute in medium heat until wilted
  • slice of eggplant
  • shredded mozzarella
  • some Parmesan
  • basil
  • tomato slice
Directions:
  1. Pre-heat the to oven 350°F
  2. Pour a  tiny bit of oil in a skillet on medium-high heat.
  3. Cook eggplant on each side for 2-3 minutes until it has softened.
  4. On a baking sheet, place eggplant slice, sprinkle some salt on it,  followed by bacon, then spinach and then both cheeses. Place either a fresh basil leaf or generous amount of dried basil on top of cheese.
  5. Place in the oven for about 7 minutes or until cheese is completely melted.
  6. Put tomato slice on the bottom bun and then place eggplant on top of the tomato.
  7. Enjoy! I served with sweet potato fries.

eggplant sandwich


pancake

Pancake Recipe with Applesauce

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pancake

Good morning! Pancakes are delicious and not particularly healthy with the butter and syrup added to it which is why I decided to make mine with applesauce and only a tiny bit of oil instead of a lot of oil.

Makes 6-8 largish pancakes.

Wet Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs
  • 1¼ cup milk
  • 3 Tbsp of applesauce
  • ¼ tsp of vegetable oil

Dry Ingredients:

  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • large pinch of cinnamon

Directions:

  1. Whisk all the wet ingredients together
  2. In a separate bowl mix all the dry ingredients together.
  3. Add dry ingredients to wet and whisk until well combined.
  4. On a griddle or a skillet on medium heat, place a couple spoonfuls of batter.pancake
  5. Flip when the top of the pancake starts to bubble.
  6. Leave on for a couple of minutes to cook the other side.
  7. Enjoy!

pancake


Twice Baked Potato Recipe

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twice baked potato

 

Twice baked potatoes are amazing. Enough said, here’s how I make mine.

Ingredients:

  • 4 potatoes, the ones that are good for baking not the red ones
  • olive oil to taste
  • salt to taste
  • black pepper to taste
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup mixed herbs
  • 1 cup cheese of your choice, I do mozzarella
  • sour cream to taste
  • butter to taste

OR

  • 4 potatoes
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 cup cheese of your choice, I use cheddar
  • A lot of ranch dressing, to taste

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
  2. Scrub potatoes well, you need clean skins
  3. Pat dry with a paper towel
  4. Pierce with sharp object several times,  I use a fork
  5. Place in roasting tin or cookie sheet with a lip and drizzle with olive oil until potatoes are well coated, salt to taste
  6. Place tin on an upper shelf and roast for about 1 hour or until cooked, if you’re using a convection oven the time is about 40 minutes because it has a smaller small to heat up.
  7. While potatoes are in the oven, combine the rest of the ingredients to taste, set aside until the potatoes are done
  8. Carefully remove and cut each potato in half, lengthwise
  9. With a spoon, remove the potato flesh but be careful not to rip the skin and put into the bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mash until well combined
  10. Pile flesh back into the skins and return the potato halves to the roasting tin, sprinkle with cheese
  11. Return the tin to the oven for 10-15 or until the tops of the potatoes are light golden brown and cheese has melted
  12. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
  13. Enjoy!

twice baked potato

 

 

 


Oven Baked Salmon Recipe

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As a kid I use to hate all types of fish. I’m still not a huge fan of it but I do like oven baked salmon. Here’s how I do it:

Ingredients:

  • salmon fillet
  • olive oil
  • lemon juice
  • salt and pepper
  • dill

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 450°

2. Lightly coat the bottom of the baking dish in olive oil, I like to use my Misto

3. Place the salmon in the dish, scale side down

4. Squirt a couple of lemon wedges or pour a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice over the salmon

5. Salt and pepper the salmon to taste

6. Put a heavy coating of dill on the salmon

oven baked salmon

7. Place in oven and bake for 9-15 minutes. You always want to make sure it’s cooked all the way, should flake easily, but at around 9 minutes it’s done and tastes more like fish but at around 13-15 minutes it’s more of a steak consistency for me which I prefer.

8. Enjoy!

– If using a convection oven, it will cook a little faster.

– If using a regular oven, the salmon should be baked on the top rack! Otherwise, it will take a lot longer to bake.


Fried Caprese Salad Recipe

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fried caprese salad

Oh yes, this is another fried recipe and another caprese salad recipe combined into one, fried caprese salad. I wanted something fried and greasy but I also wanted to feel like I was attempting to be healthy. :/ So I made caprese salad and fried it. It was pretty good and satisfied my cravings but it’s not something I would make very often, just when I’m feeling the need for healthy and fattening at the same time. Does that make sense to anyone but me?

Ingredients:

  • tomato slices
  • mozzarella slices
  • fresh basil leaves
  • balsamic dressing
  • olive oil
  • bread crumbs
  • egg wash (1 egg 1/2  milk, whisked together)

Directions:

  1. In a small skillet, heat up about a tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat.
  2.  Stack the basil then mozzarella on top of a tomato slice.
  3.  Carefully pick the stack up and dunk in the egg wash.
  4. Coat in breadcrumbs.
  5.  Place in heated skillet, fry until bottom side is a golden to dark brown and flip to other side and fry.
  6. Place on plate and drizzle with balsamic dressing.
  7. Enjoy!

 


fried fish

Fried Fish Recipe

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fried fish

My husband went ice fishing and brought back some fresh fish. The only problem was that it was already cleaned so I had no idea what kind of fish it was or how to prepare it. So I decided to make fried fish sandwiches. By now no one should be surprised I decided to fry it.

The amounts for everything are for 1 fish fillet. Do equal parts of flour and corn starch for more batter.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • ~ 3/4 cup water
  • tabasco sauce (optional)
  • celery salt
  • red pepper
  • cumin
  • oil for frying

Directions:

1. Heat a couple of inches of oil, I used canola, in a small sauce pan.

2. In a small bowl, combine flour and cornstarch, season to taste and mix.

3. Add water and a couple shakes of tabasco (to taste, can omit), to the flour mixture and whisk until smooth

4. Coat the fish in the batter, and place in the oil to fry.

fried fish

5. Fry for about 3 minutes on each side, until a nice golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon. As you can see I didn’t put enough oil in the pan to where the fillet was completely submerged so I flip it.

6. Enjoy!

I like to make a sandwich out of it by placing it on a toasted bun, placing cheese on it right after it comes out of the oil so it melts and a little bit of tartar sauce.