Calico Beans

Today I am sharing a dish that my husband made for a cook-out we went to last weekend. I really have the most amazing husband: he's a great provider, hard-working and ambitious, great with the kids, helps with the housework, and he can cook! Did I get a good guy or what?

This dish is called Calico Beans and the recipe came from Jared's mom Kelly, who, by the way, is undoubtedly one of the major reasons Jared turned out so well. I believe Kelly originally got this recipe from her Grandma Louise. Aren't family recipes fun?

Calico Beans
serves a crowd
printable recipe

3 cans of Pork and Beans
1 can garbanzo beans 
1 can black beans (rinsed)
1 can kidney beans (rinsed)
(you can play around with the kinds of beans, just use 6 cans total)
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 lb Jimmy Dean sausage

Brown the sausage over medium-high heat in a large heavy pot. Once sausage is cooked, dump all the other ingredients in and simmer over medium to medium-low heat until the onion is tender, about a half hour.

Serve hot alone or with chips or rice.

We had it as a side to hamburgers, which was delicious, but it would also make a great main dish as well.

Be sure to enter my giveaway if you haven't already!  

What is your favorite family recipe?

Blueberry Cream Cheese Pancakes

Last night we put our children to bed at 8 as usual then enjoyed some popcorn and a movie downstairs. When we headed upstairs to bed, I noticed that Nathan's bedroom light was on. Opening the door, this is what we found:

I guess he had gotten up to play and fallen asleep on the floor. We had a good chuckle and put him back to bed, but I would not have been as amused if I had realized how many more times throughout the night he would be getting up. Our friends gave him a train table that their boys have outgrown and Nathan loves it so much that he apparently decided it was playtime at 3, 4, and 6 AM this morning. Needless to say, as the parent who is the lighter sleeper, it was a little bit of a rough night for me.

Fortunately, I have an amazing husband! In the morning, he got up with the kids and let me sleep in. Pure bliss. On top of that he made me these fantastic pancakes AND took notes on how he did it so I could post it for all of you. I hope you all enjoy these as much as I did!

There are three parts to this recipe:

1.  Cream Cheese Sauce

         4 oz Cream Cheese, softened

         1/4 C Milk

         2 T Sugar

2.  Blueberry Sauce

         1 C Blueberries, rinsed and drained

         1/4 C Sugar

         1/4 C Water

         2 t Corn Starch

3.  Blueberry Pancakes

         Use this Pancake Recipe

         1/2 C Blueberries

Cream Cheese Sauce

Mix the cream cheese and milk together in a mixer until combined.

Add the sugar and mix on high until combined.

Pour the sauce into a bowl and refrigerate until the pancakes are ready.

Blueberry Sauce

 Rinse and strain the blueberries.

Place the blueberries and sugar into a saucepan.

Smash the blueberries and mix with the sugar. Turn the burner on low and let sit for several minutes. This is an excellent time to start the pancakes.

Once the berries have warmed up add the water and bring to a boil.

Once the sauce is boiling add the cornstarch and whisk until slightly thickened.

Set the sauce aside until the pancakes are ready.

Blueberry Pancakes

Mix the pancake batter according to the recipe and pour the batter out onto a griddle. While the pancakes are cooking drop the blueberries into the batter. Mixing the berries with the batter can result in broken berries, this way keeps them whole.

Once the pancakes are done arrange on a plate and top with the cream cheese sauce.

Add the blueberry sauce and enjoy! These are very rich, I would say 1-2 pancakes per serving, the recipe yields 8 pancakes total.

Grilled Pepperoni and Red Onion Pizza

Due to an unavoidable encounter between an oral surgeon and her wisdom teeth, the Menu Mama will be out for a few days.  Not to worry though!  I (The Menu Papa?) will be posting recipes for the next few days.  To preface our first recipe many of you may have noticed that my contributions thus far to the blog have been in either A) coming up with some kind of funky pizza or B) cooking something on the grill.  Today we will combine two of my culinary passions: pizza and grilling.  Excited yet?  Here's what we're going for today:

Grilled Pepperoni and Red Onion Pizza

Serves 4

1 lb pizza dough

1 C Mozzarella cheese

1 C Cheddar cheese

3 T Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

4 oz Pepperoni

1/2 C Pizza sauce (We use Hunt's Basil, Garlic and Oregano tomato sauce)

1/4 Red Onion, sliced into rings then cut in half

Before you start cooking preheat your grill to high.  (Charcoal would taste better but makes it much harder to control the temps.)  Next, roll out some foil onto a cooking sheet.  Spray the foil down with non-stick cooking spray and roll your pizza dough out.  Allow the dough to warm up to room temperature.  (We want all of our ingredients to be as warm as possible so they cook quickly on the grill).

While the dough warms up grate about a cup of mozzarella, a cup of cheddar and a few tablespoons of Parmesan.  Mix together in a bowl and set aside.

 








Slice the onion and arrange your pepperoni on a plate.  Microwave for 30 seconds.  This will help it crisp up on the grill.












 


Take every thing out to the grill and arrange so it's convenient.  Part of pulling this pizza off is getting the toppings on, and the whole shebang back onto the grill as quickly as possible.


  





 
Once everything is arranged and ready, reduce the grill heat to medium low and slide the foil with the dough onto the grill.  Close the lid and let cook 3 - 5 minutes, turning if your grill (like mine) has hot spots to prevent any burnt areas.
 

While the dough is cooking spray down the baking sheet with cooking spray.  Once the dough is done use a spatula (or two) to flip the dough, cooked side up onto the baking sheet.













 


Close the grill and spread the tomato sauce, followed by the onions onto the cooked side of the dough.

Add cheese and pepperoni.  I like to put down a nice layer of cheese, then the pepperoni and sprinkle a little cheese on top of it all.







 



Gently slide the pizza back onto the grill.  It's not going to want to move once it's down so make sure that you get in the right spot the first time.  Otherwise things may get ugly! 

Close the grill and let cook another 3 - 5 minutes.  Keep an eye on those hot spots!  If you are concerned about the pizza burning on the bottom you can pull it off after 3 minutes and finish in a 425 degree oven for 5 minutes.

Once the pizza is done cut into slices and serve hot.

White Chicken Pizza

My husband is such a good cook. Really, it's not fair; he is super smart, a hard worker, a great dad, supportive husband, awesome in the kitchen, and has gorgeous blue eyes that make me melt. Oh yeah, and he cleans too! Sorry ladies, he's taken.

This pizza is one of his creations and I love it.

Yep, I'm pretty sure he's a keeper.

P.S. Aren't those strawberries gorgeous? For as nasty a winter as this is, we sure are getting some amazing fruit!

printable recipe

White Chicken Pizza

1 large chicken breast, marinated in Italian dressing
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 can artichoke hearts in water, quartered
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic
crushed red pepper
8 oz (2 cups) of Italian blend cheese, shredded (mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, romano, asiago, etc)

Pizza dough

3/4 cup warm water

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp yeast

Place dough ingredients in bread maker and run on dough-only setting.

Preheat oven to 425F. Roll out dough and place on a greased baking sheet. In a small skillet, sauté the garlic in the olive oil medium-low heat until the garlic starts to brown. Mash the garlic with a wooden spoon.

Spread the olive oil and garlic evenly over the pizza dough. Sprinkle lightly with salt.

Cut the chicken into slices against the grain and arrange over pizza. 

Top pizza with artichoke hearts, red onions, and sun-dried tomatoes and sprinkle with crushed red pepper.

Top with cheese. 

Bake at 425F for 12-15 minutes, until crust is golden and cheese is melted.

This recipe is featured in Menu Plan 11.

Philly Cheese-Steak Pizza

This pizza was my husband's creation and it is delicious!! So simple to make, too, take a look.

printable recipe

Philly Cheese-Steak Pizza

serves 3-4

1 petite sirloin steak, about 1/2 lb

salt and pepper

canola oil

green pepper

onion

1 cup heavy cream

2 cups shredded cheese, your choice, we recommend Monterey Jack, Provolone, and/or Mozzarella

Pizza dough

3/4 cup warm water

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp yeast

Place dough ingredients in bread maker and run on dough-only setting.

Cut the onion into strips. 

Repeat with the green pepper.

Heat a tablespoon of canola oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle salt and pepper over a steak and place in skillet.

Cook for a few minutes on one side then flip. Add in vegetables and sprinkle some salt and pepper on them.

Meanwhile, in a separate skillet heat a couple of tablespoons of canola oil and several cloves of garlic over medium-low heat until the garlic starts to brown.

Cook the steak a few more minutes until brown on both sides and the vegetables start to brown.

Remove steak and vegetables to a plate, retaining the juices of the steak in the pan.

Add the garlic and canola oil to the skillet with the steak juice in it. Mash the garlic cloves.

Pour in 1/2 cup of heavy cream and season generously with salt and pepper. Cook and stir, sauce will begin to thicken. Add more cream to reach the amount and consistency you desire (if you like a more saucy pizza, put in a whole cup). 

Roll out the pizza dough and place it on a pan that has been sprinkled with cornmeal. Spread sauce over the dough.

Slice the steak against the grain in thin strips.

Sprinkle a cup and a half of cheese over the pizza, and top with vegetables then steak.

Sprinkle with remaining cheese. 

Bake in oven at 450F for 12-15 minutes, until crust is golden.

 

Serve hot with fresh fruit.

 

This recipe is featured in Menu Plan 7.