Creamy Dill Cucumber Toasties

When I asked Scott to go to the store and get me a bunch of cilantro, he came home with a bunch of dill. I already had a bunch of dill in the refrigerator! So, what to do with all of this dill...

I chopped up one bunch and put it in a ziplock bag and froze it. With the other bunch... I went to my 'go to' recipe site http://www.allrecipes.com/ and found an appetixer that uses dill and has great reviews. I made Creamy Dill Cucumber Toasties. The kids... especially Scott, LOVED these!

In the reviews, people mentioned to make the cream cheese spread at least a day ahead of time, try using fat free sour cream instead of the cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese) and also that they're good using the small loaf of Pumpernickle bread. I'll try that next time.

Creamy Dill Cucumber Toasties

PREP TIME
15 Min
READY IN
15 Min
INGREDIENTS
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 French baguette, cut into 1/2 inch thick circles
1 cucumber, sliced
2 teaspoons dried dill weed or chopped fresh dill
DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, dressing mix and mayonnaise.
Spread a thin layer of the cream cheese mixture on a slice of bread, and top with a slice of cucumber. Sprinkle with dill. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Asian Noodle Salad... A GREAT SALAD!

I made the Asian Noodle Salad from the Pioneer Woman Cooks blog. It was so good, especially the dressing! It made enough for an army yet after Scott and Alyssa's 10 pm second dinner, now it's almost all finished. It will make enough for probably 15 people as a side dish! The recipe is easy to cut in half or even into a 1/4. I wouldn't cut the dressing though. Use it over regular salad! And the jalapeno peppers didn't make it hot. Just be sure to get rid of the seeds without touching them! I think the key is all of the cilantro. I love cilantro! In all, I used 1 1/2 bunches... one in the salad and 1/2 for the dressing. Next time I will leave out the cashews, mostly because it gets too expensive. Speaking of which, the regular peppers were $5 per pound this week (for red) and I refuse to spend that on food! So I used whatever I had in the fridge. I also used romaine lettuce instead of the Napa Cabbage. Next time I will get rid of most of the EVOO to lighten it up a bit and add something else. Other than that... it's a keeper!
Asian Noodle Salad
SALAD INGREDIENTS:
1 package linguine noodles, cooked, rinsed, and cooled
1/2 to 1 head sliced Napa cabbage
1/2 to 1 head sliced purple cabbage
1/2 to 1 bag baby spinach
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
1 orange bell pepper, sliced thin (if available)
1 small bag bean sprouts
3 sliced scallions
3 peeled, sliced cucumbers
LOTS of chopped cilantro—up to one bunch
1 can whole cashews, lightly toasted in skillet
DRESSING:
Juice of 1 lime
8 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 hot peppers or jalapenos, chopped
More chopped cilantro—LOTS
Mix together salad ingredients. Whisk together dressing ingredients ( I put it in the blender) and pour over salad. Mix with tongs or hands and serve on platter.*Dressing keeps up to three days before serving, WITHOUT cilantro.

COMFORT FOOD NIGHT!!!!

Tonight was definately a comfort food night. I'll be walking extra miles after this one!

I made a spiral sliced ham along with Scott's favorite side that we call That Corn Dish. A friend from town gave me the recipe stating that 1/2 of the town makes it on Thanksgiving. I shared it with a bunch of friends who now also make it for Thanksgiving. You can't have it more than a few times a year because it's sooo unhealthy! Then we had my Grandmother's favorite way to cook cabbage which is now PJ's favorite also. It's an old Dutch recipe that was handed down to her. When I first made it I ended up in the ER needing 12 stitches from shredding the palm of my hand! Now I'm more careful! Last but not least, a healthy side, steamed carrots mixed with my favorite herb, dill. Here's the recipes:

NANNY'S CABBAGE

1/2 head of cabbage, shredded

5 slices of bacon cut into 1" pieces

a sprinkle of caraway seeds

a few dashes of black pepper

a little salt if you wish. I don't add the salt because the bacon is salty enough.

In a pan, saute bacon until brown. Put cabbage in pan (yup, in all that bacon fat!). Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until cabbage is wilted. I like to cook it so some of the cabbage is actually getting golden in color. That's is, simple and delish!

THAT CORN DISH

1 can of creamed corn

1 can whole kernal corn - lightly drained

1 stick of better, melted

1 pkg corn muffin mix - Jiffy works best

1 cup sour cream

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all and put in a casserole dish. Bake 45 minutes or until center tests clean and top is a little golden in color.

I haven't met ANYONE that doesn't like this dish!

Steamed Carrots mixed with fresh chopped dill. That's it... no butter or salt! The ONLY healthy part of the meal! YUM!

SLOW COOKED SHORT RIBS YUMMMMMM!

We enjoyed these ribs last night. PJ couldn't get enough of them, even saying what a great dinner it was!! They were very simple to put the ingredients together and throw into a crockpot and let them cook all day. I actually made them on Friday. When they were finished, I took the crock out of the pot and refrigerated the whole thing until last night. This allows you to get rid of all of the grease that comes out of short-ribs. I then put everything in a covered pyrex dish, and put it in a 350 oven for about 45 minutes to heat up. I served it with Garlic Smashed Potatoes and carrots. It was definately a keeper!!!

Slow-Cooked Short Ribs
PREP TIME
25 Min
COOK TIME
9 Hrs
READY IN
9 Hrs 25 Min
INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 pounds boneless beef short ribs
1/4 cup butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups beef broth
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
DIRECTIONS
In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the flour, salt and pepper. Add ribs in batches and shake to coat. In a large skillet, brown ribs in butter.
Transfer to a 6-qt. slow cooker. In the same skillet, combine the remaining ingredients. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil; pour over ribs. Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or until meat is tender.