School started last Thursday and look at this I am already in the cooking mode. I could not wait. Schedule changes have not even been finalized and I just had to show this group of very interested teens what was in store for them. Anytime that I bake with cinnamon everyone appears at my door. MMM it smells so good. There is nothing like a little sensory blackmail to get them into my class and then there is no turning back! Some of them are so funny. They made comments like this, ” This class is just like being in the audience of a Food Network Show. Do you feel like your on TV, Mrs. Lupo?” I am telling you I had their undivided attention for the entire class period.
Category Archives: easy
Pecan Sticky Buns
Apricot Bars
You could say that I go a little overboard sometimes when I cook. When asked to bring a certain food I have been known to bring more than was expected. Why would someone who cooks as much as I do act so insane? I need help. I know I do. But where do you go when you are an overachiever in the kitchen? While trying out this new recipe GI Joe said to me, “Just how many more times are you going to make those bars?” The truth is I was making them to take with me to the lake last month and wasn’t sure if they were good enough so I tried two recipes. Guess what they were both good so I took both with me.
Filed under Bar Cookies, Desserts, easy
Crispy Skin Salmon with Fresh Orange Juice
I love this recipe! It is a super fast one from Cooking Light that I have run in the ground at my house because it take no time to pull together. Salmon is so versatile. Pair it with most any of your favorite side dishes. I like asparagus , broccoli or squash. Maybe even a combination of all three. For that matter I like it right out of the pan on top of a big salad that is both delicious and nutritious. You don’t need a lot of ingredients. Another reason to love it. Just pick up salmon, salt, pepper, orange juice and olive oil. The recipe calls for fresh orange juice, but Minute Maid out of the carton will work fine. So here’s what you do.
Blueberry Muffins with a hint of Lemon
Today is the first day of my summer vacation. It is a gorgeous day here in Atlanta. There is not a cloud in the sky and the humidity is almost nonexistent. Now this is not going to stay, but I am enjoying it while it is here. To celebrate my new unfilled time I just had to make these blueberry muffins with the first blueberries I have received this season. These were shipped here from Baxley, Georgia. When I saw the address I was flooded with childhood memories of the beach. Baxley is about an hour south of McRae which is my hometown. Driving through Baxley meant that we just had to travel through Jesup and we would arrive at our destination St. Simons. Then my sister and I would have all the pool time and beach time we wanted.
Gourmet Jalapeno Cheeseburger
Are you ready for a burger that will knock your socks off? I have just the one for you. It has been in my repertoire for about four years and I am just here to tell you that it is everything that you want in a burger. It is juicy and flavorful. The kind that you might want to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is one to write home about. Oh, my gosh the spicy sauce that you see dripping down the side of the burger is to die for. You will want to make it for more that just these burgers or just take a spoonful and savor it! It is that good. The burgers and the sauce go together. Don’t make one without the other or you will be disappointed. We don’t want that.
Filed under easy, Grill, Hamburger, Main dish, Ranch Sauce
Rice Pilaf with Spinach and Bacon
Spinach, spinach everywhere! I have loved the beautiful spinach I am getting in my CSA box each week. It has been some of the best that I have ever had, but I cannot prepare this every week. I have to branch out and try something new,even though sitting down with a bowl of this would be quite rewarding. What did I come up with? It had to be something quick and a dish that could use some of my other CSA goodies, a gorgeous oyster mushroom and an onion. Anna’s rice pilaf recipe came to mind. It’s not her original recipe. I will share it at a another time. It is quite delicious. I used it as a side dish, but it could very well work as a main dish. I have been known to add a little soy sauce and eat a plateful.
Favorite Hot Cocoa and Eggs
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. One-fourth of your daily calories should be consumed first thing in the morning. I have found that less than one-fourth of my students do not eat breakfast before they leave for school. The number one reason given for not eating breakfast is – no time. I say it is just poor planning. Breakfast is so easy and quick to make! Especially eggs!
How do we like our eggs? Scrambled is the number one choice of most Americans, then hard-cooked , over-easy, over-medium and sunny-side up. Here are some tips for making great eggs:
Ultimate Comfort Food – Tuna and Shells – another classroom activity
You either love it or hate it. Canned tuna that is. In my case I love it. When I was in college my mother would make a Tuna Noodle Casserole for me every time I came home. It was comfort food for me. It made me feel loved and at home. Some of you are probably thinking that I was probably starving and I would have loved anything that mother made for me, but that was not the case. We had great food in the college cafeteria and believe me I ate my share of it. We never had dessert growing up and I quickly learned after eating dessert after every meal in college that I had to give it up because I was too broke to buy new clothes! Filed under Cheese, easy, pasta, Tuna and Shells
Beef Stroganoff Made Easy
This is one of my all time favorite recipes. It is easy to put together and it taste great. To me it is comfort food. Rich gravy made with white wine added mushrooms over rice. Heaven on a plate! The recipe came from my long ago friend Cile that lives in Baton Rouge where great food runs rampant. It is one of those dishes that you can throw together in 20 minutes and leave it alone for about an hour. When you return to check on it the flavors are unbelievable. Trust me if you like a nice rich gravy with tender strips of steak this is it!
In the last couple of years I have had a really hard time finding a top and bottom round steak . They are now sent to supermarkets as top round steak or bottom round steak. Even at that they are cut paper-thin. For this recipe the steak needs to be about 1 1/2 inches thick. After much experimenting I found that round steak cut for fajitas works fantastic. It is cut to the right thickness and in strips. That is even better because the step of slicing while partially frozen can be skipped saving much time. The results I think are much better.
Filed under Beef Stroganoff, easy
Roasted Vegetables
If you have never roasted vegetables you do not know what you are missing. Roasting vegetables caramelizes the sugar and intensifies the flavors. In my CSA package this week were the most beautiful carrots and brussel sprouts. I did not want just any run of the mill brussel sprouts. So this is what I did and they were amazing.
Cory Mosser turned me on to this fantastic dish so when he published his recipe for a “Root Roast” I knew it had to be good. Making it the first time I used all these roots that appeared in my CSA package that I had no clue as to what to do with them. We had about six guests over to grill steaks and I made the root roast as a side dish.. It is the number one rule when entertaining – DO NOT try out a new recipe on guests! Lots of times I do not adhere to my own advice. Most times the results are not good, but this time it worked out to my advantage and the talk of the evening was the vegetables and not the steak.
Here is how it is done.
Filed under easy, Roasted Vegetables
The Teacher Cooks 