Tri-Colored Potatoes with Rosemary and Olive Oil

Incredible.  That is the word my husband used when enjoying these tri-colored potatoes this week for dinner.  So simple yet so perfect.  However, they were so good I was snitching them from the pan before setting them on the table and we ate them before I even thought about an 'after' photo.

You can grill them, which is wonderful, but we were out of propane so I baked them in the oven this time and oh... soooo good!


Tri-Colored Potatoes with Rosemary and Olive Oil

Petite potatoes (come by Klondike in 1.5 lbs. bags - enough for 4 people)
olive oil 
Salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Rosemary (fresh or dried) to taste (about 1 t)

In a roasting pan, place enough oil to cover the bottom.  Add the potatoes, slicing in half if you want to speed up the roasting time, or leave whole.  Stir until well coated.  Sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper and rosemary.  Bake at 400 about 45 minutes or until done.  I like to roast them this long without stirring at all so the edge next to the pan gets caramelized and crisp and golden brown. 

Flour Tortillas are Quick and Easy if you Own a Tortilla Press

Homemade Tortillas

 

 

A couple days ago I posted a recipe for chicken taco's.  This is a photo (above) of the flour tortillas I served with them.  We had just returned from vacation so our refrigerator was bare and we were out of tortillas.  I have to admit that there are such amazingly yummy flour tortilla options on the market that I actually prefer a good store bought version (thick and homemade tasting and looking) to the actual homemade versions. 

If you want to make homemade tortillas you can certainly roll them out very thin by hand, but I happen to have a tortilla press.  I bought it perhaps 15 years ago, and although it's not an expensive nor cast iron version, it was affordable and works great.

I have this one: Norpro Aluminum Tortilla Press which sells for under $15 but you can use any press.

Norpro Aluminum Tortilla Press

I also have Walmart's Flour Tortilla Mix on hand - although making them from scratch is as easy as some shortening, flour and salt. 

Mix up your dough, divide equally in half, then each half divided into half again, etc.  With 2 cups mix and 1/2 cup water, kneaded for about 5 minutes and then left to rest 15 minutes and divided equally until you get walnut sized balls, you will have about 8 balls (tortillas).   You simply flour lightly, press in your tortilla press and then briefly cook on an oiled griddle or hot surface, flip and serve.

Cream Horns - Easier than you may think! Use Puff Pastry!

I was going for QUICK and easy!

I've posted about cream horns (also can be called by some 'lady locks' or 'clothespin cookies') in the past but I thought I'd update and let everyone know how unbelievably easy and FAST they are to make using a puff pastry.

Note;  You WILL need a 'form' to make these.  Our Great Grandmothers used round clothespins, but I prefer a cream horn mold as it makes them tapered from  larger to smaller which not only makes them pretty but makes them simple to fill.

Here is the set I ordered 2 of on Amazon a few years ago and they are still available: Cream Horn Set

I was frustrated yesterday however to find that my 2 big cream horn sets are MIA.  Yet another victim of our recent relocation with the worst movers we've had in 11 relocation's.  I have a 20 piece set of smaller, straighter forms from Grandma Joans, but they are not the larger, tapered version I prefer.  Still, they are nice and work like a charm. So the cream horns in these photos are the smaller, thin style - not the larger size you find in bakeries and at, for example, Walmart or the grocery store.  Buy the larger sized forms for that size. 

Quick and Easy Cream Horns

1 package Puff Pastry (2 to a package, makes about 32 total if you use both sheets)

1 recipe cream filling*

Sugar (or Xylitol sugar substitute) for sprinkling

Thaw the puff pastry according to directions.  I used just 1 of the two sheets and it makes about 15-16 cream horns so the whole package would make about 32.  

Preheat your oven to about 400 degrees.  Lay the puff pastry out on parchment paper (or lightly flour your counter).  Slice the pastry about every half-inch to make about 15 strips or if you want to make them larger, about 8 1-inch slices.  

Wrap one long strip of pastry around your mold.  Leave the large round end open without it overlapping to make removal easier later. I spray the tops with butter flavored Pam and then sprinkle with large crystals of sugar or natural sugar substitute. 

Bake on a lightly greased or non-stick baking sheet for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown and crisp.  While they are baking, mix up your favorite butter cream or other filling.  Removal from oven, remove from pan to a cooling rack and let cool completely.  Use a pastry bag with a large tip to squeeze filling into each horn.  These are wonderful if you can let them set up or even refrigerate them to chill the filling but they are delicious eaten immediately too!  

Use whatever filling YOU like.  A simple whipped cream filling is good - but is temperature temperamental unless you stabilize it with gelatin or other stabilizer.  A good filling that is an easy go-to for any temperature, room temperature or serving at a summer event, is this buttercream style filling.

Filling (half this recipe for the recipe above)

1 c Crisco
1 c butter
4 c powdered sugar
4 t vanilla
3/4 c marshmallow creme

Cream the Crisco and butter. Add the sugar gradually and then the creme and vanilla. Beat well until it's smooth like whipped cream. Fill cooled or chilled cream horn forms. Does not need to be refrigerated for storage.

Makes homemade cream puffs effortless

Wrapping around a form

Sprinkled with Xylitol or Sugar and ready to bake

Mix up your filling

Baked golden brown

Leave the end open so you can slide it right off the form

Mmmmmm.

Easy Chicken Taco's (Using a whole chicken and a crock pot)

Our household is a busy one since yesterday afternoon... we've added two little puppies to our family and oh my! Luckily I was still able to pull off a delicious dinner last night with the help of a crock pot to do the cooking for me while I was busy with the two new members of the clan.

We had a simple dinner of soft chicken tacos - starting with a whole chicken cooked in the crock pot.  Perfect for a hot summer day when you don't want to use the oven.

Chicken Taco's

1 whole chicken
2 - 3 packages taco seasoning mix
hard or soft shells for your taco's
toppings for tacos: cheese, lettuce, salsa, sour cream, etc.


Rinse the chicken and place it in the crockpot.  Cook on low or high depending on how much time you have.  I chose 4 hours on high and then turned it off and left it for about 2 hours before I cleaned it.  You could do 8 hours on low, 6 on high, etc.  The only thing that matters is that it is completely cooked.  Leave time for it to cool a bit or you'll burn your fingers.  You could also cook it the day before and clean it the next day.  Any way you cook it, you then simply take all the meat from the bones, discard the bones and put the meat back in the crock pot with the juices from cooking.  You will have about a cup or so of the broth/juices from cooking - leave it in.    Now use two forks and start to shred the chicken.  It will shred easily if it is cooked completely.  Then add 2 or 3 packages of taco seasoning (I like 3 but if you like it less flavored just use two.  Add about 1 more cup of water for the 2nd and another 1/2 - 3/4 cup water if you use a 3rd package of seasoning).  The shredded chicken will soak up all the liquid.

Now you can refrigerate it or freeze it for later use, or serve it with flour tortillas, hard taco shell's or tortilla chips along with various taco toppings.

Starting to shred the cooked chicken

Within a minute you will have shredded it completely.

Add taco seasoning and water and stir!

Sugar Cookies from a Mix and Made with Powdered Eggs

Sugar Cookies made with powdered egg

Regular readers to An American Housewife know we just returned from a family vacation. 

Since a tropical storm was arriving the day before we were, I wanted to be 'ready' to spend a day or two holed up in a hotel room with 4 teenagers if need be, so I packed 10 movies, an extra power source in case we had issues with power outages and even a ready-mix package of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookies that only use a stick of butter and 1 egg to make.

Instead of having to go to the grocery store upon arrival at our destination, I was packing and bringing everything with us this time.  Since I didn't want to pack and tote eggs on a 10 hour car ride and then hauling them up to the hotel room, I simply used powered eggs.  

Simply add 2 tablespoons egg powder to 1/4 cup water and you have the equivalent of 1 whole egg.  Since we had beautiful weather on vacation, the store bought cookie mix came back home with us and I whipped them up last night as a special treat for my husband.  So delicious and so easy!


Sugar Cookies from a Powdered Mix and Powdered Eggs

Sugar Cookie Mix
Whole Egg Powder 
1 stick butter (I use just a little less - about a tablespoon less than a whole stick)

Pour the cookie mix in a bowl.  Add the egg powder to equal 1 egg according to your package directions.  Mine calls for 2 tablespoons powder to 1/4 cup water.  Add a stick of butter (or just shy of a stick) - already soft, but not melted.  I like to add a bit of vanilla at this point, but you don't have to.  Mix with a wooden spoon until a dough forms.  Drop by tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 until golden brown on the edges.  You can bake and eat as they are, or before baking, sprinkle with sugar or colored sprinkles, or bake and cool, followed by icing them with a simple frosting.  Very good!