Trista Thinnes

Sausage cheese sage muffins

Talk about a breakfast on the go! These work great warmed in the microwave. You can refrigerate them or freeze them. The easiest way to avoid fast food is to make home food convenient. If you are going to spend the time to make something that does keep well or freeze well, make 2 batches.

1 pound hot breakfast sausage

1/2 yellow onion diced

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup baking mix

2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

1/3 cup sour cream

1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground sage

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook the sausage in a skillet. In the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the diced onion. Keep heat on low to caramelize the onion. Drain when finished.

Mix all of the above in a bowl with the cooked sausage.

Spray a large muffin tin with baking spray (the one with flour in it). Divide the mix evenly into 6 large muffin tins. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted is clean. They are actually better re-warmed the day after in my opinion because the texture becomes more dense.

Banana pecan bread

Bread, Breakfast

3 over-ripe bananas mashed

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs beaten

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup sugar – brown for moist cake

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 2/3 cup flour

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients until just combined. Do not over mix. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake 50-70 minutes or until toothpick is clean when inserted into center.

Corn vinaigrette salad

Garden creations, Side dishes

I cooked way too much corn on the cob yesterday. Today I wanted to use it and be lazy. It was actually perfect.

1 ears cooked corn – remove kernels from cob

1/4 red onion, finely diced

1 rib celery, finely diced

1/2 cup diced cucumber

1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon apple cidar vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup shredded parmesan

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix all of the vegetables together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, and lemon juice. Add the salt, pepper, and garlic. Pout the vinaigrette over the vegetables. Sprinkle with parmesan and mix. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before eating.

Rib rub

Dinner

This is the perfect dry rub for ribs. You can sauce the ribs and they are not overseasoned or leave them plain. It is a flavor that most people enjoy. Trust me… we eat a LOT of ribs. Actually, it is perfect on chicken too. I found it on Allrecipes.

As far as cooking these…. whelp. That will be a long detailed post someday. Essentially it requires removal of the skin on the rib side of the meat. Rib rub placed on both sides of the meat. The green egg is heated with or without smoking wood to 225-250 degrees. They cook for 3-4 hours. The ribs are sprayed every 30 minutes with a mix of 2/3 water and 1/3 apple cidar vinegar.

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons smoked paprika

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

1 1/2 tablespoon black pepper

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

Potato salad

Side dishes

This kind of tastes like the center of deviled eggs. It is sooooo good. This makes about 4 large servings.

14-15 small red potatoes – trim out large eyes or defects

1 rib celery, finely chopped

1/4 small yellow onion, finely chopped

2 hard boiled eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon Spike seasoning

3 tablespoons miracle whip

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

Place the potatoes in a large pot of water. Bring to a full boil and boil 15-20 minutes or until fork tender. Drain and allow to cool completely.

Once they are cooled, peel and dice the potatoes. The skins should just fall off.

Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, and diced egg whites in a large bowl.

Remove the yolks from the eggs. Mash them with a fork. Add in the salt, pepper, Spec, paprika, mayonnaise and miracle whip. Stir until completely mixed.

Pour the sauce over the potatoes. Stir until just mixed but not enough to mash the potatoes. Refrigerate at least 2-3 hours before serving. This is best made the day before needed.

Tortilla crisps

Bread

Do you have leftover flour tortillas? The really good fresh ones are only good for 24-48 hours. We buy them for taco night from the drive thru at taco cabana. A dozen tortillas is $2. I keep the leftover ones refrigerated until we need them . They are great baked. They are super thick for dips, great for homemade nachos, or good for dipping in soup.

Super easy! Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the tortillas like a pie into triangles. Using a spray bottle of canola oil, lightly spray the tops. Place them in a raised wire rack over a cookie sheet to crispen both sides. Bake for 5-7 minutes. Flip them over and bake another 5-7 minutes or until they are as cripsy and dark as you want them.

You could salt and spice them also. Just do it after the oil and before baking.

Gai pad krapow – thai basil chicken

Dinner

What happens when you get tired of Mexican food and you love spice? Thai food! So much flavor. Thai food is complex and flavorful AND healthy.

I cannot take credit for this recipe. Its all over in internet. I did add lime and peanuts. And I left out the sugar.

3 shallots thinly sliced

2 tablespoons canola oil

3 large garlic cloves minced

4-5 hot peppers like thai peppers or seranno

1.5 pounds ground chicken turkey or mixed

2 tablespoons low sodium soy

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1/3 cup water with 1/2 teaspoom chicken bouillon granules

2 bunches fresh thai basil

lime wedges

roasted low salt peanuts

cooked white rice

In a wok on medium heat, cook the shallots, garlic, and peppers in oil. Cook until just browned which takes 3-5 minutes.

Add the chicken or turkey. Cook until fully cooked. Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, and chicken broth. Add the fresh chopped basil. Cook until liquid is absorbed.

Serve over rice with lime wedges and peanuts…. and Sriracha.

Carne guisada

Dinner, jalapeno

What is this? Great question. It is like nothing else. Basically super spicy tex mex stew. It is almost like a beef chili….. served in a flour tortilla. Super juicy and saucy. There is a flavor explosion from slow cooking everything for hours. This is NOT a fast dinner. I will make a big batch on a Sunday. I usually use leftover steak that we didnt eat or stew meat. Today I used leftover steak and some frozen leftover smoked pork.

I hate soggy previously prepared and frozen casseroles. Before my second daughter, I filled my freezer with nothing else and it was a horrid experience. Non of the recipes froze well. I have found a few exceptions that do well in the freezer and this is one. It keeps wonderfully in a ziploc bag to reheat later.

3 roma tomatoes

8 ounces tomato sauce

2 pound beef – steak, stew meat, smoked brisket, whatever you have or a combination but not ground beef. Trim fat. You do not want a fatty piece of meat for this.

1 yellow onion chopped

1 green bell pepper chopped

1 jalepeno seeded and chopped

3 cloves garlic chopped

1/2 or more fresh cilantro leaves

1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper or peppercorns

2 teaspoons cumin

2 cups beef broth

1/2 teaspoon mexican oregano

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon chipotle chili powdered

1/2 teaspoon salt

If using pre-cooked meat then just combine all into a cast iron dutch oven with lid. Cook on stovetop on low for 2-3 hours. Stir every 20-30 minutes. Add water if it becomes too thick. I leave mine until there are no recognizable veggies left. I want them all cooked down into gravy. The finer you chop the veggies the faster this process happens.

From the beginning and then 30 minutes in:

1 hour:

2 hours:

And the final. See how the veggies vanish? Then it is done. Remember, it will look slightly different. Remember I said I had leftover pulled pork from last week. This photo is using a combination of leftover grilled steak and leftover pulled pork.

Don’t forget this freezes well! It is work (if by that I mean watching it cook for 3 hours), but you can easily get about 2-3 meals for 2 people out of this and maybe more!

Grilled corn

Garden creations, Side dishes

I grew up eating boiled corn in Missouri. I was hesitant to eat grilled corn. It really is good. I might like it better than boiled now just because of the variations in spices.

Open the corn husks and remove the silks. Wash the corn and be sure to completely soak the husks. Season the corn. Tonight we used garlic powder, black pepper, and salt. Fold the husks back. Grill at 250-300 for about 30-40 minutes. Turn every 5 minutes. Spray the husks with water as cooking so it doesn’t burn or catch fire.

Butter after removing from the husks.

Baked cod with sauteed tomatoes garlic and zucchini

Dinner, Garden creations, seafood, Uncategorized

Fish Fridays are my favorite days. It isn’t every Friday but I wish it were. I like this one because it is super fast, all of this could have been from my garden if it were later in the year, and it is a flavor explosion.

Start with fresh cod. We used 1.25 pounds for 2 adults and nibbles for the kids.

Preheat oven to 375. Place olive oil in 13×9 pan. Cover with 1 teasspoom salt and some lemon juice and bake for about 15-18 minutes or until 145 degrees.

While this is baking, prepare the veggies.

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons butter divided

3 cloves garlic slices

1 pint cherry tomatoes halves

1 large zucchini in slices

1 tablespoon sweet basil

1 teaspoom red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoom salt

1/2 teaspoom chicken bouillon granules

juice of 1/2 large lemon

1/4 cup water

Melt the butter in oil in a skillet on medium to medium high. Add the garlic. Cook about 2-3 minutes. Do not burn. Change heat down if needed. Add tomatoes. Blister for 1-2 minutes. Add lemon juice, basil, red pepper, salt, and chicken boullion. Cook about 5 minutes. Add zucchini. Cover and remove from heat. (I like zucchini semi crisp but cooked so leave in a minute longer if you like it cooked more). Add 2 more tablespoons of butter.

Serve over the fish with steamed white or brown rice. We poured a small amount the tomatoes over the cooked fish and let it set for 5 minutes before eating too. My kids won’t eat the sauce but I took fish out for them before covering it with sauce.

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