The Plucky Housewives

The other day, I had a hankering for cube steak, but did not want Swiss Steak or Chicken Fried Steak - my usual go to's.  I wanted to do something else with cube steak and remembered I had bookmarked a recipe from Pinterest that involved cube steak, bacon and goat cheese.  I tried it, we liked it, and it is now in the regular dinner rotation. I also discovered that this recipe can be done on the grill and is quite tasty either broiled or grilled.  You dont need a potato or rice dish with it.  A really nice salad and some crusty bread with some homemade lemonade really makes this a great summer meal. It is also very quick.  Just what we all want out of our summer dishes! Stuffed Cube Steak Serves 4 4 Cube steaks salt and pepper to taste 4 oz cream cheese (or goat cheese) softened - very soft. 2 T coconut oil 1 small sweet onion (Vidalia or Maui) finely chopped 4 garlic cloves, crushed 2 c baby spinach - stems removed and coarsely chopped 6-8...

So the official name is Lahanodolmades Avgolemono (Cabbage rolls with egg Lemon Sauce).  I love it.  My hubbie liked the cabbage rolls, but is still not converted to the lemon sauce yet.  Its easy, great with the kids help (they love to stuff and roll cabbage leaves) and it cooks on top of the stove and not in the oven, so nice for the spring, summer months as well.  The lemon sauce makes it lighter for this time of year too.  Greek Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Lemon-Egg Sauce (Lahanodolmades Avgolemono) 2 pounds sweet Italian sausage (seasoned ground lamb sausage is good too) 2 eggs, slightly beaten 3/4 c risotto rice (uncooked) 2 T dried dill or 3 T fresh dill, chopped 1-1/2 t fresh ground sea salt 1 t fresh ground black pepper 1 T fresh dill 1 med onion, chopped fine 1 T olive oil 1 T water 100 g pine nut, coarsely chopped 2 medium sized tomatoes, shredded 3 T fresh chopped Italian parsley 3/4 c olive oil 1 onion sliced, thin 3 med...

Yesterday was one of those days. No, this week has been one of those weeks, where I just haven't had time or energy to cook. I have lots of ideas, lots of recipes out, but I am not even in the mood to go to the grocery store, let alone cook. That being said, I decided to pull some meats out of the freezer.  I had handy a recent delivery of pork products from my favorite local organic farm.  I had grabbed some of his homemade italian sausage and some ground pork.   I let it thaw and in the meantime, was trying to figure out what I should do with it.  I wasn't interested in anything Italian.  We have had too much of that lately.   I had these great farmers market mushrooms I needed to use up as well and then the idea came.  Meatballs - but then I didn't want Italian.  How about Swedish meatballs.  They have that nice creamy mushroom sauce/gravy.   It all clicked.  Now remember, I am still not in the mood to really cook a gravy fro...

Zucchini stuffed with italian sausage, mushrooms and onions I went to the farmer's market yesterday afternoon and picked up some local veggies.  I was getting low and was craving the garden-fresh taste of good vegetables.  I saw some zucchini that were perfect and grabbed six of them, along with some very colorful cherry tomatoes (even purple ones, which were quite tasty) and walla walla onions.   I had gotten a delivery of some more italian sausage from my Ruegsegger Farms and was staring at this, wondering what I was going to do with it.  I remembered that a friend had sent me a stuffed zucchini recipe of hers and thought, lets give it a try.   Try we did and it was fabulous.  There is just the two of us now and I still haven't learned the trick to downsize my cooking for two, so I always seem to have plenty.  At least Tom gets a great lunch the next day!  Because there were extras (I made 6 boats - 3 zucchini's halved).  I caught hi...

My oldest child Amy is a fantastic cook.  Everything she cooks is really good.    She married into a family that goes to Lake Powell every summer.  They have a tribe of many mouths to feed.  This is a recipe that she makes ahead (cuts up the veggies, puts them into ziplock bags) so that al she has to do is heat it up!  She made this for our family because we have a tribe to feed as well (when we all get together there are 26 of us)!!  - Hawley Amy's Tacos 1-1/2 lb ground beef 1 onion, diced 2 cloves of garlic, minced Fry these ingredients together.  Drain fat.   To this mix add: 1 T chili powder or taco seasoning 1 t cumin Mix well in the pan.  Then add to the mix:  1 can tomato soup 1 can refried beans ketchup to taste (abt 2T) Worcestershire sauce to taste (abt 1T) Basil (optional) Simmer for one hour.  Toppings: Shredded cheese of your choosing Shredded lettuce Diced tomato  Sliced avocado So...

Scallops:  They are shell fish.  Their name comes from the French word, escalope, meaning “shell”.  There are two types of scallops most commonly used in cooking – bay and sea scallops.  Bay scallops are smaller (about the circumference of a quarter) , while seas scallops are larger.  Nutritionally, scallops are an excellent source of quite a few vitamins and minerals.  They are high in protein, vitamin B12, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and omega 3 fatty acids – so a great food for heart health! Nutritional Data for Scallops So here are some interesting pieces of trivia about the scallops:  Scalloped potatoes borrowed their name from the scallop.  The word scalloped originally was a reference to any type of seafood cooked in a cream sauce and served in their shell.  For the designers out their, a scalloped edge is a reference back to the scallops shell and its wavy edge pattern.  I fell in love with scallops when I went to Car...