Category Archives: recipes

Bandwagons, Eating, recipes

From the family cookbook: Hungarian Goulash

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This is the time of year for comfort food, and there is no greater comfort food than my mother-in-law’s goulash. It’s meaty, warm, creamy and a little bit spicy, and it’s 150 percent delicious. You can serve it over rice or egg noodles, and you’ll be happy either way.

Rockford’s Mom’s Hungarian Goulash

2 1/2 pounds sirloin tip steak, cubed
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 Bay leaves
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 cup sour cream
rice, to serve

Melt butter and oil together in pressure cooker; brown the meat. Reduce heat and add onion and garlic. Cook until onions are tender. Add paprika, Bay leaves, salt and pepper. Add water to cover. Cook according to pressure cooker directions (about 15 minutes on high pressure).

Remove Bay leaves. Add tomatoes and heat through.

Mix flour with a little water to make a thin paste; stir into goulash mixture. Stir in sour cream.

Serve over rice.

Bandwagons, menu plan Monday, partner campaign, recipes

Two-thirds of last week’s eMeals recipes were great

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Disclaimer: eMeals.com has provided Nichole with a free subscription in exchange for a review. Nichole’s opinions remain her own, and she remains very opinionated about food.

Last week we tried a couple of eMeals recipes, and only one of them — a pasta with a pumpkin-sausage sauce — was a flop. To be fair, that’s not something I would normally even consider trying. It wasn’t terrible, but it didn’t fit our preferred flavor profile at all. It smelled amazing while it was cooking, though. I was pretty disappointed that it wasn’t as delicious as it smelled.

The Sweet and Smoky Bacon-Wrapped Chicken, however, was a big hit. Poppy said it tasted like “something a cowboy would eat,” which must’ve been a compliment because she ate it without complaint. None of the rest of us had trouble with it, either.

Sweet and Smoky Bacon-Wrapped Chicken
Author: eMeals.com
Ingredients
  • 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 6 slices natural uncured bacon
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons honey
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt, pepper, paprika, and chili powder. Wrap 1 slice bacon around each piece of chicken; secure with wooden toothpicks.
  3. Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat; brown chicken, in batches, 2 to 3 minutes on each side.
  4. Arrange chicken in the skillet, and bake 15 minutes or until chicken is done and bacon is crisp.
  5. Drizzle with honey during last 5 minutes of baking.

We also tried the Chicken Tikka Masala — which Pete thought was called “Chicken Chicken Masala” — and it received high marks, too. I couldn’t find garam masala at the store, so I found an “easy garam masala” recipe and mixed up my own. Super simple, and it was way less expensive than buying it because I already had all of the spices involved.

This week we have a couple birthdays, so we’re once again not doing the full week of eMeals recipes. I’d hate to have a pumpkin pasta scenario on my birthday. So we’re going with things we already know on the birthdays and eMeals the rest of the week!

Monday: ???
Today’s my birthday, and I think we’re going out. I haven’t decided where I’d like to go. Possibly to Firehouse Subs, because I am hopelessly devoted to their brisket & cheddar sandwich.

Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie
I love a good chicken pot pie, and I’m really hoping that the eMeals version is just that. There are biscuits involved instead of a crust, though, so we’ll see.

Wednesday: ???
A friend asked us last week if we wanted to go out for dinner this Wednesday, but I haven’t heard back from him to confirm. So we might be going out again. But maybe not.

Thursday: Cheeseburgers
Me: Hey Pete, what would you like for your birthday dinner?
Pete: Hmmm, I don’t know. Probably cheeseburgers.

And so cheeseburgers it is!

menu plan Monday, recipes

Nothing like pancakes to kick off the week

Disclaimer: eMeals.com has provided Nichole with a free subscription in exchange for a review. Because of the nature of the product and the fact that Nichole writes/thinks about food a lot, you can expect to read at least a little bit about eMeals every week for the next month or so. Nichole’s opinions remain her own, and she remains very opinionated about food.

On Saturday we got to see Missouri beat Georgia in person, and it was uncomfortably hot and the QB got injured, but it was mostly awesome.

We’re continuing the eMeals.com experiment this week, and once again I only have two of the week’s seven recipes on the roster. My goal for next week is to try three of them!

Monday: Orange Pancakes
This is one of this week’s eMeals picks, and it calls for a side of bacon. Sold.

Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie
It’s October. It’s supposed to be pot pie weather, but it’s been pretty warm here lately. Maybe putting pot pie on the menu will bring in a little cool weather.

Wednesday: Tortellini
It’s easy, and the kids love it.

Thursday: Slow Cooker Chinese Barbecue Pork
This is another of the eMeals recipes. It sounds pretty tasty, and I’m always happy to find a reliable CrockPot meal.

Friday: Pizza
Yay pizza!

Last week the only eMeals recipe we ended up trying was the Philly Cheese Steak Stromboli. It was really good, but it called for far more roast beef than I actually ended up using.

Philly Cheese Steak Stromboli
Author: eMeals.com
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 green bell pepper, sliced
  • 2 (11 oz) cans refrigerated thin-crust pizza dough
  • 2 tablespoons stone-ground mustard, divided
  • 2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise, divided
  • 13 oz package deli sliced roast beef
  • 8 oz package sliced provolone cheese
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes or until tender. Unroll dough, and spread each with 1 tablespoon mustard and 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, leaving a 1-inch border. Top evenly with vegetables, beef and cheese.
  3. Roll up dough, jellyroll style, beginning with long side, pinching ends to seal. Place seam side down on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
  4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.