Grilled Teriyaki Salmon and Asparagus

I love grilled Salmon!  Tonight I tried this simple recipe and threw on some Asparagus to go with it.  It was delicious.  I always cook the salmon layered in tinfoil and then flip it.  Towards the end, open up the tinfoil and allow it to vent a little while cooking.  I like it to cook in the juices, or small amount of butter inside the tinfoil.  

Ingredients:
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup water
1 TBSP. olive oil
Lemon Pepper
Garlic Powder
Salt

Rinse your salmon and pat dry.  Cut four pieces of tinfoil large enough to fold the edges over and still fit the salmon inside.  Place your Salmon on top of two of the pieces of tinfoil.  Season both sides lightly or 1 side heavily with lemon pepper, garlic powder and salt.  Mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, water and olive oil in a small cup.  Brush over all sides of the salmon, leaving a little bit of extra juice on the tinfoil to cook in.  Put the remaining two pieces of tinfoil on top and double fold in the sides all around the salmon.  Cook on the grill on medium high heat until desired doneness (about 6-8 minutes each side, depending on thickness of salmon).  Be careful not to let it burn.

Asparagus Directions:

Rinse and snap the asparagus at the natural breaking point.  Brush the asparagus with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Throw on oiled grill, turning until desired crispness.  You can cook this on or inside tinfoil if you would like as well.

Cheater Breakfast Omelette

I love a good omelette, but let’s face it, rarely do I feel like taking the time to make one.  So, I’ve come up with an easy way.  Chop your green peppers, onions, mushrooms, bacon, ham, etc. up and place them in a freezer ziploc bag, with the right amount you would need for your morning omelette.  When you decide you want an omelette, pull them out for a quick and yummy breakfast.

Ingredients:
2 egg white
1 whole egg
peppers
mushrooms
onions
bacon
ham
pepper jack cheese
swiss cheese
etc.

In a frying pan, melt 1 TBSP. of butter.  Place all your veggies and meat in the omelette and saute to your desired crispness, seasoning with salt and pepper.  Crack your eggs in a bowl, eliminating two of the yolks.  Whip with a little milk until smooth and then pour over your veggies.  Cover pan and cook on low to medium heat until done to desired level.  I like them cooked all the way through.  Then add whatever kind of cheese to the top.  Slant your pan and slide the omelette off onto the plate, folding the omelette in half as you go.

Yum!

Best Ever Carrot Cake

I love a moist, dense cake and this one is heavenly.  Keep it chilled in the refrigerator and I promise, you won’t be able to stop eating it.  I have children with nut allergies, so instead of making it a triple layer, I doubled it and made another 8x8 pan without nuts for my two girls.

You won’t need to search any further for your favorite carrot cake recipe again.  I promise, this is it.

INGREDIENTS:

6 cups grated carrots

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup raisins, optional
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 heaping TBSP. ground cinnamon
• 1 cup chopped walnuts, optional

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium bowl, combine grated carrots and brown sugar. Set aside for 60 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour three 8 inch round cake pans.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light. Gradually beat in the white sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir in the pineapple. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, stir into the wet mixture until absorbed. Finally stir in the carrot mixture and the walnuts. Pour evenly into the prepared pans and bake for 45 to 50 minutes.  Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.  Frost with cream cheese frosting.

FROSTING:

1 pkg. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

1 (16oz.) bag powdered sugar (May not use the whole bag, depends on the consistency you prefer.  I only use about 3/4’s of a bag).

Beat cream cheese and butter until whipped smooth.  Add vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until creamy.  Frost cake when entirely cool.  Frosting will melt if the cake is hot.  It’s even better to refrigerate the cake for awhile before frosting.

COCONUT TOPPING:

1 1/2 cups coconut

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

In a saucepan, toast the coconut in butter and brown sugar until caramelized.  Sprinkle on top of cake just before serving.  

Bran Cereal Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups raisin bran cereal, crushed in blender

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup vegetable oil

 1 egg

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup white flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 heaping tsp. cinnamon

• Heat oven to 400°F. Grease bottoms only of 12 regular-size muffin cups with shortening, spray with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups. Lightly spray paper baking cups with cooking spray.  In a medium bowl, stir crushed cereal, buttermilk and vanilla until well mixed. Beat in oil and egg with fork until blended. 
  In another medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients until well mixed; stir into cereal mixture just until moistened. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
  Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. If baked in greased pan, let stand 5 minutes in pan, then remove from pan to cooling rack. If baked in paper baking cups, immediately remove from pan to cooling rack. Serve with butter.

Super Easy Swiss Steak

This is one of those great meals that you can just throw in a crock pot and let simmer on low all day.  I love it.  It’s very easy to make ahead and to make and freeze.  If you find a great sale on round steak, come home, cut it in strips, flour it and brown it.  Place it in a ziploc bag with the spices and the tomatoes and soup.  Seal and Freeze.  When you are ready to eat it, just pull it out and dump it in your crock pot.  Super easy and yummy!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 1/2 pounds boneless beef round steak (about 1-inch thick), cut into serving-size pieces
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup, undiluted
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 bay leaf

Directions

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and shake to coat. Remove steak from bag; flatten to 3/4-in. thickness.
2. In a large skillet, brown steak on both sides in oil over medium-high heat. In a bowl, combine tomatoes, tomato soup, onion, marjoram, thyme, paprika, cloves if desired, bay leaf and remaining salt; pour over beef in your crockpot and cook on low for 4-6 hours.  Serve over mashed potatoes.