OMG YUM! Twice the yum for a Saturday!!

So, I woke up early enough this morning with enough of an appetite to make breakfast... YAY!

I decided to use the leftover mashed potatoes from the elk roast I had last night to make some potatoe pancakes. It's not a new recipe, I've used it a few times, but I think I FINALLY got the recipe perfect!! And then there was dinner... HOOOOOLY, yum, so tasty!

So, without further ado...


Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes

What We Used:

1 and 1/2 cups mashed potato
2 eggs
a splash of milk
salt and pepper


Method:


Use a mixer to blend everything together in a bowl. It SHOULD have a consistancy slightly thicker than pancake batter. Season it with other things if you wish, such as garlic or hot sauce or whatever!!

I cooked my pancakes in the same pan as bacon. Any type of oil would be good, though, and you'll want to use plenty of it or the poor tatorcakes will stick. Cook them much the same as you would pancakes, but be a little more gentle with them since they won't be quite as glutenous as pancakes.

I also ate mine with butter and jalapeno jelly. YUM!



Taco Meatballs with White Kidney Beans


What We Used:


Meatballs

1 pound ground beef
coriander
cumin
cayenne pepper
chili powder
garlic powder
onion powder
1/2 a fresh onion, chopped
1 egg
1/2 cup finely crushed crackers
3/4 cup uncooked rice

1/2 cup grated cheese
1 can tomato soup
1 bottle salsa (We used mild, you can use whatever you'd like)
1 can white kidney beans


Method:

Mix all the ingrediants for the meatballs together in a large bowl. Roll the meat into 1 inch balls and lay in a large casserole dish. Drain the liquid from the beans into a bowl, add the salsa and the soup. Put the beans on top of the meatballs, cover everything with the salsa mix. Put the cheese on top and bake, covered, until the rice in the meatballs is tender. Cook uncovered if you want the dish to be a little more solid and a little less soupy.

We served this with buttered toast, it was DELICIOUS!! Sooo filling because of the rice in the meatballs and the beans.

New Starts! And a new recipe!

Hurray! A new post from a new kitchen! The delay was a long one but hopefully the wait will have been worth it. We've moved into a big, beautiful house together and the kitchen is inspiring to say the least. Since these were such a success last time I made them, I decided to share the recipe with the world!


Sam's Chocolate Banana Zucchini muffins - Super Easy to make

What We Used:

2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup sugar

1 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup shaved chocolate
1 cup zucchini
2 bananas

Mix the eggs, the oil and the sugar together in a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingrediants and stir together till everything is wet. Spoon the batter into a greased muffin tin so the cups are about 2/3rds full, then bake at 375 for about 25 minutes.

While the method for these is super easy, I thought it might be good to add in a few pointers about some of the things included in the recipe!!

For instance, shaving chocolate can be a bit of a chore, so you can substitute chocolate chips for a different texture and flavor and to save yourself a bit of a headache. We have a handy dandy Pampered Chef grater that I used to shave the chocolate, and it works like a dream.

In the case of the Bananas, freezing bananas that are getting too ripe is a great way to do it! You could mash a fresh banana by hand, but a frozen banana is already mush when it thaws, saving a bit of time.

If you're missing the bananas or don't have zucchini, substituting pumpkin would also work brilliantly.

These are very moist and full of flavor, and they're relatively healthy despite the chocolate in them.

Oh Food Blog, how I have missed you!!! Pictures will be put up soon of some of the things we missed blogging about during our long silence!

- Sam