Saturday, May 29th, 2010 - London Broil

Recipe: Got some general instructions from Macy to put a lot of salt on it. Also made mashed potatoes and fruit salad.

Verdict: Grill died half-way through so didn't get the full grilling experience. I think the trick is though to get the meat to somewhere between 145 and 150 degrees and then take it off the heat. It definitely needs to bleed first, then have a few more minutes after that on the grill.

The mashed potatoes were dry, should try sour cream next time.

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010 - Banana Bread

Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Janets-Rich-Banana-Bread/Detail.aspx

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter, melted 1 cup white sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 2 medium bananas, sliced

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2.	In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the butter mixture until smooth. Finally, fold in the sour cream, walnuts and bananas. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3.	Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Changes: used brown sugar instead of white sugar, used 3 bananas instead of 2, added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg.

Taste: Great!

Verdict: I would keep this recipe and keep experimenting with the spices and sour cream amounts.

Chicken and Biscuits

Chicken and Biscuits

Recipe: Mom's recipe of Biscuits on Creamy Chicken

1⁄2 pkg. frozen peas 2 cups cut-up cooked chicken 1 can cream of chicken soup 1⁄2 cup sour cream 1⁄2 cup milk Salt and pepper

Heat oven to 425°. Rinse peas under running water. Heat peas, chicken, soup, sour cream, milk, salt and pepper just to boiling. Pour into oblong pan. Sprinkle with 1 1⁄4 grated cheddar cheese. Place 1 can of biscuits, separate and place on top of chicken mixture and cheese. Bake until biscuits are brown, about 20 minutes.

Changes: Probably didn't have 2 cups of chicken, but didn't measure it. Used a dark 9x13 pan.

Taste: It was soupier than I remember.

Thoughts: I cooked it in a dark pan, so it cooked a lot faster. Need to figure out why it was so runny. Use less milk?

Pot Roast

Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Awesome-Slow-Cooker-Pot-Roast/Detail.aspx

INGREDIENTS:

2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix

1 1/4 cups water 5 1/2 pounds pot roast

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water. Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.
2.	Cook on High setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours.

Changes: I'm not sure how large my roast was, but probably around two pounds, so I changed the serving number down to 6 and followed that recipe. I also put a can and a half of cream of mushroom soup because I like a lot of sauce.

Taste: It was good, but it was salty.

Thoughts: Since it was salty, I should have added more water to balance out the packaged ingredients that probably had a lot of salt. Won't add more cream of mushroom soup than suggested. The roast was done after 8 hours, so set the timer to 8 hours, so it can go to warm after.

Sides: canned carrots and instant mashed potatoes