Archive for High Five Recipes
High Five Recipes: Chicken Fried Steak Strips
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I do almost all of the cooking around here…not because Matt can’t or won’t cook. I just really, really love to cook and have more time to be in our kitchen.
However, ever since Matt started working at a restaurant, he’s been quite a bit more interested in learning about food preparation…and guess what? My husband has a really great cooking tip for you today.
Yes indeed, this nugget of Chicken Fried Steak Strip wisdom is brought to you by the Heavenly Homemaker’s Husband! (Maybe you knew this tip already, but I didn’t.)
Here’s what he shared with me the last time I made these Chicken Fried Steak Strips:
If you keep dipping the meat in the flour and then in the milk and then back in the flour and then back in the milk and then back in the flour and then back in the…
It will make an extra yummy, extra crispy coating on the outside of the strip.
My strips were good, but I had just been single dipping. Following Matt’s advice, I am now double and even triple dipping. Now, they are Oh My Goodness Amazing. All thanks to my husband. I love that man. You will too after you try his double/triple dipping advice. But you can’t have him. He’s mine.
Chicken Fried Steak Strips
1 pound beef cube steak
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 t. garlic powder
3/4 cup milk
oil for frying (I usually use Palm Shortening)
Cut cube steak into 1 inch strips. In a bowl, stir together flour and garlic powder. Pour milk into a separate bowl. Heat oil in a skillet (350° for electric skillet or medium heat on the stove top).
Dip beef strip in milk, then in flour mixture. Dip, repeat. Dip, repeat. Dip, repeat. (More or less is fine.) Place strip in oil. Cook for about 7 minutes on each side. (Salt to taste.)
So let’s review: The more you dip, the better the strip. You’ve gotta try it!
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Read a great tip about Preparing Ahead and Flash Freezing your Chicken Fried Steak Strips here!
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High Five Recipes: Super Simple Burritos
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All this time, I thought burritos was spelled “b-u-r-r-i-t-o-e-s”. Duh, I know. Spelling is not my gift. (You’ve probably figured that out by now.) I had “burritoes” typed in this recipe, but it just didn’t look right.
So, I did a swag search for “burritoes” and you know what it asked me?
“Did you mean burritos?”
Well, that answered my question. But sheesh, it’s like the computer is mocking me when it does that, you know?
Super Simple Meat and Cheese Burritos
1 pound ground beef, venison or turkey
sea salt to taste
3/4 cup shredded cheese (I use raw white cheddar)
1 cup salsa
10-12 whole wheat tortillas
Brown meat in a large pan. Salt to taste. Remove from heat and stir in salsa and shredded cheese. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons onto a tortilla and wrap.
To Freeze: Lay burritos barely touching in a 9×13 freezer safe dish. If you are freezing more than one layer of burritos, place wax paper or parchment paper between the layers to prevent them from sticking together.
To Re-Heat: Place burritos on a baking sheet. If burritos are thawed, warm in the oven for about 15 minutes until heated through and through. If burritos are frozen, leave them in the oven for about 30 minutes. They might get a little crispy on the outside, but yum!
Super Simple Bean and Cheese Burritos
3 cups cooked black or pinto beans
1 cup salsa
3/4 cups shredded cheese
sea salt to taste
8-10 whole wheat tortillas
Mix beans, salsa, cheese and salt. Wrap 2-3 tablespoons in each tortilla. Freeze and reheat as above.
Not flavorful enough for ya? Add any one or more of the following (which will mean that this recipe will no longer be a High Five Recipe…but who’s counting?):
- 3 Tablespoons chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 cup chopped olives
- 1/2 cup cooked sweet corn
Or, make the ingredients go a little farther by stirring in 1 cup cooked brown rice.
Why This is One of My Very Favorite Recipes:
- Everyone in my family loves them. The boys cheer when I make them.
- They are SO easy to make!
- They freeze VERY well. In fact, instead of making them just before serving time, I much prefer to make a triple batch of these, freeze them and have them ready to go for a quick meal.
- When I have them made ahead of time, they are the EASIEST lunch to serve: Heat…eat…done.
- They are very low in cost, especially if you use beans.
- They are good and healthy.
- They are a PERFECT item to take to someone who has just had a baby or a surgery or a whatever. The recipient can warm them up as they need them. I take these to people ALL the time!
- They keep my children full for longer than ten minutes.
- Last but not least, I now know how to spell them correctly. ;)
Now let’s take a vote. Which High Five Recipe would you like to see next? Cream Scalloped Potatoes…or Chicken Fried Steak Strips?
High Five Recipes: Cheddar Ranch Burgers
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Now that the busy-ness of the holiday season is over and it’s a new year, I’ve been excited to experiment with new simple and healthy recipes to share! I’ve been spending some time working up more High Five Recipes for us because a simple, healthy recipe with only five (0r fewer) ingredients?! Perfect!
These Cheddar Ranch Burgers are SO easy to stir together and cook up for a quick lunch or dinner. My kids (even the ones who usually don’t like meat as much) devour these! Such a fun variation to regular hamburgers!
Cheddar Ranch Burgers
2 pounds hamburger meat (beef, venison or turkey)
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese ( I use Landmark raw white cheddar)
2 Tablespoons ranch dressing mix (or 1/2 package ranch dressing pouch)
Whole wheat hamburger buns (optional)
Stir all ingredients together in a bowl. Shape burger into 8-10 patties. Fry in a skillet until cooked through and through.
These are the bunless burgers. Really, they are delicious with or without a bun! This is great, since I’m often behind in keeping up with making our homemade buns.
Be sure to try making this Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix to use in your Cheddar Ranch Burgers…SO healthy and easy!
I’ve got several more High Five Recipes in the works! I’ll try to share one every two weeks or so!
Question: Are you a ranch lover…or not? I’ve visited with several people lately that just don’t like ranch dressing. What is that about?
Do you think I could get away with feeding them these burgers and just call them something else? ;)
High Five Recipes: Super Simple Chip Dip
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Here is a very easy recipe to put together for a quick lunch or snack. Or, double the recipe to take to a party when you’ve been asked to bring a finger food.
Super Simple Chip Dip
1/2 pound hamburger meat
1 cup salsa
1 cup sour cream or kreme fresh
Tortilla chips (We like Kettle brand, which is made with organic corn)
Brown hamburger meat. Stir in salsa and sour cream or kreme fresh. Serve with chips. (See? Simple.)
What kinds of High Five Recipes are you interested in seeing more of? Main dishes? Side dishes? Desserts?
High Five Recipes: Homemade Barbeque Sauce
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I’ve had several requests for my homemade BBQ sauce recipe. Turns out…it’s a high five recipe! Doesn’t get much easier than that!
Homemade BBQ Sauce
3/4 cup ketchup (I use an organic, no high fructose corn syrup variety)
2 T. minced onion
1/4 t. garlic powder
1 t. liquid smoke
1 T. molasses, honey or sucanat
Mix ingredients in a small sauce pan. Simmer for a few minutes until flavors are blended.
I mix this up as a dip for our meatballs or popcorn chicken…YUM!
Sometimes I put a few pieces of chicken into the crock pot, dump the sauce over the top, and let it cook slowly for a few hours. Easiest main dish ever!
Or, sometimes I add it to leftover roast beef for BBQ beef sandwiches.
What all do you put BBQ sauce on?
Oh…and by the way…I really have no idea what “liquid smoke” is. I’m assuming that it isn’t the healthiest ingredient in the world. BUT…it makes for a yummy, easy BBQ sauce…and this version is MUCH healthier than the HFCS versions I could buy at the store.
If I ever figure out how to turn smoke into a liquid and put it into a bottle all by myself…you’ll be the first to know.
High Five Recipes: Italian Roast Wraps
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You may have seen this recipe when I guest posted at Money Saving Mom. I wanted to post this here also because it is one of our very favorite High Five Recipes!
I continue to be amazed at the great dishes you can make using only five ingredients. Or three. AND…so many of the recipes only take FIVE minutes to prepare!
Italian Roast Wraps are so flavorful and juicy! Now…if you were looking forward to seeing a recipe that only takes five minutes to prepare….you may be disappointed with this one. THIS one only takes two minutes. Sorry about that. :)
Italian Roast Wraps
2 – 3 pound frozen roast (beef or deer)
2 Tablespoons Italian dressing mix (If you don’t want to make your own mix, I also recommend using a half pouch of Simply Organic brand.)
Whole wheat tortillas
Sour cream or kreme fresh
Chopped fresh tomatoes
Place FROZEN roast in a crock pot. Sprinkle 1/2 pouch Italian dressing mix onto roast. Cook on low for 5 hours. Shred meat or slice thinly. Spoon meat onto a warm tortilla and top with tomatoes and sour cream. Wrap and eat!
Served with a fresh fruit salad…these Italian Roast Wraps are a great lunch or dinner!
Be sure to check out all of the High Five Recipes I’ve posted so far. There are many more to come!
Eat More Fruits and Veggies: Link Up!
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It took me 35 years to learn to like avocados. It wasn’t until a friend of mine brought a dip similar to the one below to our Sunday night Bible study that I actually decided that I liked avocados.
Now…I can’t get enough! I order them from Azure Standard all the time!
Avocados are SO good for you. They contain a good healthy fat…vitamin K…vitamin C…potassium…folate…Vitamin B6…fiber…good stuff!
I’m eating my avocado with tortilla chips…so maybe that’s not the healthiest (because no, a corn chip does not count as a vegetable), but at least I’m getting this good fruit into my system somehow. (BTW, I didn’t know if an avocado was a fruit or a veggie. A quick swagbuck search told me that it was a fruit that tastes like a vegetable. Alrighty then. Oh, and I even earned a swagbuck!)
For the record…this recipe will not only help you along in the Eat More Fruits and Veggies Challenge…it’s also a High Five Recipe. Yippee!
Spicy Avocado Dip
2 avocados
3/4 cup salsa (more if you want)
juice of one lime or one lemon
½ cup sour cream or kreme fresh
Scoop out the insides of the avocados into a bowl. Add salsa, lime or lemon juice, and sour cream. Stir well until completely mixed. Serve with tortilla chips (we really like the Kettle Brand).
I happen to like this recipe more with lemon juice instead of lime…Matt likes it better with lime. You take your pick. Shucks…add both. Yum!
So…what ideas do you have to inspire us all to eat more fruits and veggies? Share a recipe or a great idea on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, please leave a comment sharing a great fruit or veggie idea!
High Five Recipes: Justus’ Shaved Ice
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I’m not sure how often I’ve emphasized to you how much Justus (my nine year old) LOVES cooking. He wants to be a “restaurant worker” someday…he calls himself a chef (I am sometimes privileged to be his assistant)…and he really just can’t get enough of the kitchen. He LOVES it.
Of course I love it too. While the other boys mostly love to cook so that they can lick a beater, Justus truly loves everything there is about cooking.
He got a new cookbook for Christmas and has been waiting for a warm day to make the shaved ice recipe he found in it. We adapted it to make it healthier (ah yes, I’m teaching him how to change a recipe already!) and here’s what he came up with:
Justus’ Shaved Ice
1 cup fresh or frozen peach slices
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup honeyIf your fruit is frozen, place it in a bowl with warm water (not the water mentioned in the above list of ingredients) for about fifteen minutes to thaw. Drain.
Put fruit, water, orange juice and honey into a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Poor mixture into a 9×13 inch baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for about 6 hours.
Remove from freezer and allow it to sit on the counter about ten minutes. Use a large wooden spoon to “shave” icy mixture into serving bowls.
The “bummer” about this recipe is that we had to wait for SIX whole hours before we could eat it. Not much instant gratification there! However, it was worth the wait!
All the boys (and the parents) loved this treat! It was super refreshing on a hot afternoon.
And, of course, it’s a wonderful recipe to help you get another great serving of fruit. (Are you taking the challenge?!)
Any other recipes you’d like Justus to come up with for us?!
High Five Recipe: Creamy Mac and Cheese
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I’ve been searching my whole life (give or take) for a good homemade mac and cheese recipe. The recipes I’ve come up with in the past are decent….but not great.
A couple of months ago, a friend told me how she makes it. I adapted it a bit and now we can’t seem to get enough! It is THE creamiest mac and cheese ever.
Here’s the secret: Cook your pasta in MILK instead of water. The milk makes it super creamy. The starch from the pasta thickens the milk into a sauce. Add your cheese after the pasta is finished cooking.
Uh-huh…comfort food at it’s best.
Creamy Mac and Cheese
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pasta
3 cups whole milk
1/2 t. sea salt
1 cup shredded cheese (I use white cheddar)
Mix pasta, milk and salt in a large sauce pan. Cook over medium-high heat STIRRING ALMOST CONSTANTLY until the pasta is tender (10-15 minutes). Remove from heat. Add cheese and stir until melted. Serve immediately.
You can use any shape of pasta you want. I have found that elbow noodles cook quite a bit faster so I use those when I need a quick lunch.
Everytime I make this, we can not believe how creamy and delicious it is. My lifelong search for awesome homemade macaroni and cheese has come to an end. We should have some sort of mac and cheese ceremony.
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Which High Five Recipe would you like to see next?! Lime Avocado Dip…or Justus’ Shaved Ice?
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High Five Recipes: Crispy Cheese Crackers
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Move over little gold fish. There’s a new cheese in town.
Heidi emailed me a couple of months ago asking if I had a good cheese cracker recipe. Well no, I said, but I sure do love me a recipe challenge! It took a bit of trial and error, but I finally figured out a recipe that not only tastes good, but is SO easy.
Who knew a cheese cracker recipe that would qualify as a High Five Recipe!! (Oh, but psst…we’re not counting the tablespoon of water in this recipe as an ingredient…because that would mean there are technically six ingredients in this cracker. I really wanted to make this a High Five Recipe and it just would not work without a bit of water. Just sprinkle it in and look the other way.)
Crispy Cheese Crackers
¼ cup butter, softened
¼ t. sea salt
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, room temperature
1 cup whole wheat flour
¼ t. baking powder
1 T. cold water
Use beaters or food processor to mix butter and salt until creamy. Add cheese. Mix well. Gradually add flour, baking powder and water, mixing until dough begins to form a ball. Form dough into a ball with hands.
Roll the dough into 1/8 inch thickness onto a cookie sheet. (I find that placing the dough between two pieces of parchment paper helps me to roll them out more easily.) Cut the rolled out dough into 1 ½ inch squares. Bake 15 minutes at 350° or until lightly browned. Turn off the oven and leave the crackers inside to crisp up. Store tightly covered.
That’s all there is to it! I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that my kids will eat the entire pan of these (before Matt and I get some) in one ten minute time frame. They LOVE these! So much for trying to make a snack to “have on hand”. Guess I oughta double the recipe, huh?
