A New Twist to Ziti

I can’t say I am terribly fond of baked ziti. It tends to be dry and a bit tasteless to me. I am very find of Italian dishes but baked ziti seems to be very… American. lol. American style is great for a citizen watch or architecture, but I think American food tends to be a little boring. I prefer Italian and Chinese dishes which tend to be more flavorful. But baked ziti is dull dull dull!

So I am always adding little things to ziti to try and perk it up. This latest addition was pretty good– fresh kale.

I removed the stalks from the kale and ripped the leaves into bite-sized pieces. Kale is such a wonderful vegetable. A member of the cruciferous family, kale has plenty of vitamins and antioxidants that help destroy “free-radical” cells– the cells that cause cell mutations which can lead to cancer.

The ziti pasta will readily slurp up the moisture from the kale leaves during the cooking process, so I suggest adding a bit of water or additional tomatoe sauce to the mix. Cover tightly and bake. The kale added a nice tang to the otherwise bland dish.

How about you? Do you have any ideas for sprucing up a ziti dish?

Weird Crockpot App Discrepancies

Yes, I’m blogging about the iPhone Crockpot app AGAIN. I’m purposely forcing myself to try out a large number of the recipes (I usually grow bored with them by now), so that I can get used to the thing. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, see my post here about the app I’ve been experimenting with. Also, if you search under “Crockpot” you’ll find where I have posted various recipes and my reviews of the results. It’s been interesting, to say the least.

This week I was sifting through more recipes, trying to decide on what to make. As I looked at ingredients and read cooking directions, I noticed a terrible flaw with the app– the directions do not match the ingredients.

Look at this recipe, the Thai Chicken I was thinking about making:

8 chicken thighs
1 cup hot salsa
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro

Directions:
1. Coat bottom of skillet with oil and place on stovetop set to medium heat. Add chopped onion, garlic, and jalape-o, and saute until soft.
2. Move onions, garlic, and jalapeno to one side of the pan and brown chicken breasts on other side…
3. Place stoneware in slow cooker heating base, add onion mixture, chicken, potatoes, chicken broth, coconut milk, salt and pepper, and curry powder…

WHOA WHOA WHOA.

Now I thought I was supposed to have chicken thighs? And what’s this with coconut powder and potatoes and curry?

The thing is messed up. It wasn’t just for this recipe, I saw this for a few others.

I don’t think I can use this app anymore. It’s unreliable. The whole reason I liked it was so that all I had to do was literally “click here“, and it would automatically create a shopping list for me …. but if it’s going to add different ingredients than what the recipe calls for, what good is it?

I’m sad. I was hoping that I had finally found the perfect app. Please leave a suggestion if you have any apps you want to share. I’m obviously in the market for one! LOL

P.S. By the way, am I the only one who hates cooking things twice? When I want to make a crockpot meal, I just want to throw everything in the pot and forget about it. All this chopping and sauteing and transferring is a royal pain!

CrockPot App Recipe Review

I mentioned earlier that I downloaded a new app for the iPhone, the Crock-Pot Slow Cooker Recipe Finder app. I’ve been toodling around with it a lot. I’ve built a list of favorite recipes from it. The best thing I like about the app is the ability to save a recipe, and the app with include all the ingredients into a shopping list. It’s make meal planning SO SO easy. I think it’s the best thing about the app. I’m looking for more apps that do similar things. I’ll let you know when I find them) and if you know of any, please let me know!).

Well, I tried the Beef Stroganoff recipe last night. It was “OK.” I’m not a big fan of cream sauces, but the kids like stroganoff. Stroganoff is, I believe, a Russian dish. I find it bland…. I wonder if the Russians really made it as bland, it’s like eating the leather from ugg boots, to me. It always needs more salt and LOTS more spices.

The recipe is a basic Beef Stroganoff (you use beef strips and not ground beef). It has onions, mushrooms, beef broth, Worcestershir sauce, etc. The recipe called for white wine, but I had none so I skipped that. I also usually add some of my own ideas when cooking– I was tempted to add paprika to this recipe to give it some kick, but I decided not to. I wanted to see how this would taste if I made it straight by the recipe. Again, just “OK.”

The recipe also calls for sour cream (another bland ingredient, I think). I added it very carefully, but it still curdled from the heat a little. (I haven’t been able to stop sour cream from doing that for any of my crockpot recipes! I’m going to avoid sour cream altogether next time).

The kids liked it, enough to eat it all! The beef was nice, but a little strong (always is in crockpot). The gravy consistency was good, but bland. I would make this recipe again, but I would spice it up a bit.

I’ll have more from this app (and any future app) to come. I’m looking forward to making some of the chicken recipes, especially a lemon-herb chicken dish that looks great! Stay tuned…

Would Someone Please Explain Foodbuzz??

I joined Foodbuzz eons ago. I have since tried to understand how on earth the thing works, but have been unable to figure it out. What the heck does it do? Is it just a cooking kiosk, a site where people toss up links to their food blogs? Is it a voting site, where people vote on your blog or recipe and you somehow make it to the front page?

I’d heard that you could earn a little money from the site… but I haven’t been able to really figure out how it all works. It seems confusing. I admit, I am an impatient gal– if I can’t figure it out relatively quickly (about the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee), then I either move along, or ask for help. ?? So I’m asking for Foodbuzz career advice here. I want to earn some $$…. but how do you do it? If I have to submit recipes and have them voted on…. sheesh, I’d probably lose money. :S My recipes are not anything near gourmet or desirable They are plain old, quick and easy family meals. We’re talking serious homespun here.

?? Is there any room in Foodbuzz for a plain Jane cook like me?

Spiced Apple Cider Recipes

Store-bought apple cider is so expensive! I did a little research to see how I could make my own. I had no idea it was so complex! :S This video is very entertaining, the guy tells about the basic process of making cider. LOL. I love the guys’ faces when they try their cider. LOLOL!!

The recipe those guys made seems to be hard cider (they add yeast). I’m not looking for that, I’m happy with a basic Super Apple Juice kind of cider.

I did find a more basic Apple Cider recipe at Food.com, that does not require the use of an expensive apple press. This looks like a recipe I can actually do!

Making cider has got to be a terrific job to do with the kids; it can get their minds off acne products and get them involved in the kitchen work.

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