I was at work chatting with some co-workers about our dinner plans. I explained that, at my husband’s request, I was going to attempt a Detroit style Coney Dog. “Detroit or Flint style?” one of them asked, while another nodded knowingly. “Ummm… yes?” was my ever-intelligent response. Despite having lived in Michigan for most of my life I have actually never had an authentic Detroit Coney dog (unless you count one from a chain restaurant in the Detroit airport during a layover on our honeymoon. And since it was less than delicious I won’t count it, so neither should you. Glad we settled that.) And I certainly have never had a Flint Coney dog. My one and only foray in to Flint, Michigan involved getting lost in what I can only describe as the ghetto, running out of gas, then my mom driving the wrong way on a one way street. Needless to say we didn’t exactly stop for dinner and chill after all of that.

From what I understand from my Mo-Town friends, this is a pretty authentic replica of a Motor City Coney dog. Apparently to make it even more authentic you can use a bit of ground up beef heart in place of some of the beef. In this case I’m ok with lacking a smidge of authenticity.

What I do know is that this beats the pants off any chili dog, Coney dog or just plain ole hot dog I’ve ever had. Slightly spicy and very hearty, it’s a definite Man-Food that this girl downright loved. Mo-Town rocks again.

One Year Ago
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Two Years Ago
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Detroit-Style Coney Dogs
printable recipe
yields enough sauce for about 12 dogs

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups beef broth
4 ounces tomato paste
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco

Directions:
Mix the chili powder, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, oregano, salt & pepper together in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a large skillet, brown the beef, chopping with a spatula to break into very small pieces. Add the onion and red pepper and sauté until the beef is browned and the onions and peppers are softened. Strain the beef mixture retaining 3 tablespoons of the fat, draining the rest.

Whisk the remaining beef fat with the flour to make a roux, stirring until golden. Stir in the beef broth, tomato paste and cider vinegar.

Add the beef back into the pot and stir together. Stir the seasonings into the pan and mix until combined. Let simmer for 15 minutes to an hour.

Serve over a hot dog in a bun. Traditionally served with chopped onion and mustard. Ever better if served with bottle of Vernors ginger ale!

Source: AmazingRibs.com

Hi there! Remember me? I used to post recipes around here? Ha Life’s been a bit hectic in the last few weeks and our dinners have consisted of tried and true, quick favorites, so posting, as you may have noticed, has been sparse. I’m happy to say that we seem to finally have gotten back in the groove and dinnertime (and breakfast and dessert time) have been much more exciting as of late.

This dish was invented by Yours Truly during one of those aforementioned hectic evenings. I’d been wandering around our grocery store, which is in the process of being remodeled and is at times a complete mess, when I wandered by a display of chicken sausage. On a whim I picked up some spinach feta chicken sausage and put it in the cart without any idea what I was actually going to do with it. At another store a few days later I did the same thing with a box of gnocchi. Then, one evening I was staring into our refrigerator trying to concoct something tasty that did not involve peanut butter and jelly when I saw the chicken sausage. I started throwing things into the pan and – tada- Brian’s new favorite meal was born. I’m happy to report that my What Can I Make in Twenty Minutes dinner ended up being a new entry in our weekly dinner rotation. Up next? Making the gnocchi from scratch!

Gnocchi with Spinach and Chicken Sausage
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Ingredients:
2 16 oz boxes potato gnocchi
4 chicken sausages, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon corn starch
1/2 cup white wine
14 oz low sodium chicken broth
2-3 large handfuls spinach
dash of heavy cream (optional)
grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
Cook the gnocchi according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Heat the olive oil into a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots into the pan and saute until tender. Add in the garlic and saute for 1 minute or until lightly golden. Add in the chicken sausage and cook until heated through. Add the corn starch to the pan and stir to combine

Pour the wine into the pan and stir to deglaze, scraping the brown bits off the bottom as you stir. Let simmer and reduce by about half.

Pour the chicken broth into the pan and simmer until the broth is thickened and reduced to about half. Add the spinach into the pan and simmer until wilted. Remove from heat and add a splash of heavy cream, stirring well. Combine with the cooked gnocchi. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and mix together. Serve.

Source: Laura’s Recipe Collection Original

My lame waffle maker so does not deserve these waffles! They are so flavorful while being healthy. I substitute applesauce for the oil the original recipe calls for while not only makes them healthier, it gives them a very light, yummy cinnamon apple flavor.

Whole Grain Waffles
printable recipe

Ingredients:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup rolled oats
¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons wheat germ
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of fine salt
2 large eggs
1½ cups milk
¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat waffle maker according to manufacture instructions.

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Whisk the egg, milk, butter and applesauce together.

Gently mix together the dry ingredients with the egg mixture until just combined.

Pour the batter into waffle maker and cook golden brown and cooked through.

Source: Food Network

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
printable recipe

Ingredients:
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 egg
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup plain yogurt or sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas, about 3 bananas
¾ cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°. Prepare 2 muffin pan cups with paper liners or grease lightly.

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together the egg, bananas, vegetable oil, yogurt (or sour cream), and vanilla extract.

Pour the flour mixture into the banana mixture and blend on low speed until just combined. Gently beat in the chocolate chips.

Scoop the batter into prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove from the muffin pan.

Source: Mary Ellen’s Cooking Creations

As much as I love to cook, its sometimes nice when Brian takes over the cooking for the evening. Even better, when he makes some as fantastic as this chili! I love finding great crockpot and freezer-friendly recipes. This is also one of those foods that gets even better after freezing- something about all those peppers and spices sitting mixed with everything else. It’s so flavorful! Because this freezes so well we make a huge double batch of this every time.  The recipe below reflects the double batch.

Chili
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Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef or venison
2 red peppers, diced into larger chunks
2 yellow peppers, diced into larger chunks
2 1/2 C frozen corn
1 28 oz. can tomato sauce
1 30 oz. can chili beans
1 medium onion, chopped
2 C canned black beans
3 T. chili powder
Tabasco  to taste
sour cream and cheese to top, if desired

Directions:
In a large skillet, brown and drain the beef. Chop the peppers and onion. Add these into the crockpot. Add in the rest of the ingredients, aside from the sour cream and cheese, and mix well.

Simmer for 8-10 hours on low. Garnish with sour cream and cheese, serve.

Source: A Brian original

Brian and I are often in need of fast but tasty dinner options. What with 2 kids, jobs, and long commutes each day we unfortunately don’t often have time in the evenings to make the time-consuming but awesome dinners I’d like to prepare. Thankfully these sloppy joes are both delicious and quick and easy. It’s a standard dinner option in our house.

The recipe below is for a double batch. We always make a double, if not triple, batch of this since the sloppy joe beef freezes and re-heats so well. The measurements for the ingredients are an approximation since we tend to add them to-taste instead of by measurements.

Sloppy Joes
print this recipe

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef
2 1/2 c catsup
2 T brown sugar
1/4 C vinegar
1 medium onion, diced
olive oil or butter for sauteing

Directions:
In a large skillet, saute the onion in a bit of olive oil or butter until softened. Add in the ground beef to the pan and brown the beef, then drain any excess grease.

Add in the catsup, vinegar, and brown sugar. Simmer until completely heated. Serve on a bun.

Source: a Laura original

It’s that time of year again. The leaves are changing colors, the temperatures are dropping. And the cold and flu season is upon us. Just ask my 4 month old, Madeline. Thankfully, just in time for this nasty illness season, I discovered this recipe for chicken noodle soup- the age old Mom Cure for ailments

I found this actually freezes nicely, but you wouldn’t want the noodles to be too squashy when you freeze them. The first time around the noodles were a bit more al dente than I would have prefered but after freezing and reheating they were perfect!

Ingredients:
2 split chicken breasts, bone in, skin on (I used leftovers from whole roasting chickens)
olive oil
kosher salt
ground black pepper
2 quarts chicken stock
1 C medium-diced celery
1 C medium-diced carrots
2 C wide egg noodles
1/4 C chopped fresh parsley

Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 350°. Coat the chicken with olive oil, then season generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35-40 minutes or until no longer pink in the center. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Once the chicken is cooled enough to handle, remove the bones and skin and cut up or shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces (or whatever size you desire in your soup).

In a large soup pot, simmer the chicken stock, adding the carrots, celery and noodles. Simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the noodles are completely cooked. Add in the chicken and parsley and simmer until fully heated. Serve.

Source: Barefoot Contessa Family Style by Ina Garten

Every year when fall rolls around, Brian heads out to his family’s cabin for deer hunting. For the last several years when he’s shot one we end up cooking the venison in the same way- pan fried in olive oil, covered in saltines and egg. It’s amazing, but sometimes a girl needs a little variety in her dinner, right?

This year, I convinced Brian to let me try a few new things with the venison he gets. We’ll still make our old, delicious standby, but I had some recipe ideas that were begging to be made. The first one he’s agreed to is this venison stew.

The beauty of this recipe is that it was made in the crock pot. I love when I can throw things in a crock pot, work all day and come home to a fully cooked meal. You just can’t beat that. Thankfully, Brian loved this and is already agreeing to try some of my other recipes in the coming weeks.

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs venison steaks, cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
3 T. flour
1/4 t. kosher salt
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1 t. basil (NOTE: the seasonings are an estimation as I eyeballed it instead of measuring)
1 t. thyme
1 t. onion powder
1 t. oregano
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
2-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 C red wine
2 C beef broth
2-3 drops hot sauce (I used Louisiana hot sauce and was a bit heavy handed with it- I did much more than 2-3 drops and it was HOT! but really good)

Directions:

Place the venison in a gallon-sized ziplock bag and cover with flour, salt and pepper. Toss until well coated, then place in the crock pot.

Add in the veggies and the rest of the spices, then the wine and broth. Mix until evenly dispersed.

Cook on low for 8 hours or until meat is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.

Just prior to serving, mix in the hot sauce.

Source: A Laura’s Recipe Collection original

As usual, comfort food makes for ugly pictures

Remember how I said that I used to not like stuffed shells? Well, now I can’t get enough of them!

I concocted these when I had a package of sausage out of the freezer that I had intended on using for something else which fell threw. The spinach needed to be used so I dreamed up these. They were so good, and in my opinion better left over than they were the first time around.

Ingredients:
1 lb sweet Italian pork sausage
4C mozzarella cheese
1/2 jar pasta sauce
16oz ricotta cheese
4C cooked spinach
1/4 t. rosemary
1/4 t. oregano
1 t. red pepper flakes
1 T. parsley

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350°.

Cook the shells according to package directions and drain.

Steam the spinach (I used a microwave steamer for about 5 minutes) then drain excess water.

In a fry pan, brown the sausage and remove from heat.

In a large bowl blend the spinach, sausage, cheese & egg mix along with  1/4-1/2 C of sauce and  1/2 the mozzarella.

Stuff the mixture into the shells and place in the pan, open-side up.

Pour additional sauce on shells, then top with the rest of the cheese.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melty.

Source: Original Laura recipe

Homemade marinara is something I’ve wanted to make for years- since well before my kitchen and I started getting along better. This sauce did not disappoint! As a matter of fact, while eating this for dinner we decided that we will not be buying jarred sauce anymore! This made easily enough for at least 2 meals, including lunch leftovers for both of us, so I put the extra left into the freazer for another time.

I had seen people using spaghetti squash in leiu of pasta on food blogs before and decided to give it a whirl. We were both shocked at how much we all loved it! You could honestly barely tell the difference. We’ll for sure be making this again.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 oz.) can tomato puree
1 (28 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 tsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar
~1/2 cup of water

Directions:

Pour the oil into a large stock pot and heat over medium heat, then saute the onions until they are tender. Add in the garlic and continue cooking for an additional minute or two.

Add the tomato puree and sauce to the pot, mix in the seasonings, salt and sugar. Stir in the water until the sauce reaches your preferred consistency.

Simmer the sauce for at least two hours.

Source: Annie’s Eats