DannyEckes.com

Crockpot Split Pea Soup

Daniel Eckes — Wed, 02 May 2012 03:17:21 +0000

I have always been a big fan of a good split pea soup. I had a bowl not too long ago and thought to myself “wow I bet I could make this”. Growing up my mother would always make pea soup after Easter or anytime we had a ham bone left over. Her recipe, however, called for the soup to be boiled all day. I searched the Internet looking for a recipe I could use with the crockpot. I found several and came up with is hybrid of them all.

Crockpot Split Pea Soup

Ingredients

16 oz. bag of dried split peas rinsed
2-3 cups Precooked Dinner Ham, cubed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium size yellow onion
3 medium size carrots
2 celery stocks
1/2 tsp bay leaf flakes
1/4 cup fresh parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste
6 cups hot water

Instructions

Use hand held grater or food processor on vegetables. (see pic below)
Put ingredients in crockpot, cook on high 4-5 hours or low 8-10.
Stir an hour before it is done.

http://www.dannyeckes.com/crockpot-split-pea-soup/

Detailed Instructions and Photos

Ingredients
16 oz. bag of dried split peas rinsed 2-3 cups Precooked Dinner Ham, cubed 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 medium size yellow onion 3 medium size carrots	2 celery stocks 1/2 tsp bay leaf flakes 1/4 cup fresh parsley Salt & Pepper to taste 6 cups hot water

It really doesn’t get any easier than this recipe. All you have to do is take the ingredients, put them in a crockpot, and turn it on. I used a hand held grater to finely chop all the vegetables. My thinking behind this was that I didn’t want to have to blend the soup when it was done like most recipes call for. You can notice the carrot and onions in the picture below being more of a puree instead of slices.

An hour before it is done, stir the soup well. Then let it continue to cook. Serve hot with your favorite bread for dipping!

Shrimp and Scallop Pesto Linguine

Daniel Eckes — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 07:00:41 +0000

I was looking for a quick seafood pasta I could make during Lent and came up with this after reading a few recipes. It is a great meal when you’re in a rush and don’t want to sacrifice quality. For this example I used pesto and sun dried tomatoes from a jar. If you have a food processor I suggest making your own Basil Pesto. I used a generic Pesto but I suggest trying to find one without Parmesan Cheese in it and straining a lot of the oil out. This pasta will cook in minutes and is perfect for anyone trying to cut back on chicken or red meat.

Shrimp and Scallop Pesto

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

Shrimp (3/4 to 1 lb. large 21/25 per lb.)
Scallops (1/2 lb. large scallops)
White Wine
Sun Dried Tomatoes
Basil Pesto
Linguine (1/2 lb.)
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Instructions

Bring pot of water to boil and cook Linguine.
Salt and Pepper Shrimp and Scallops
In a hot skillet with olive oil place shrimp and scallops. Cook scallops thoroughly and make sure shrimp is pink.
Add wine to taste and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add Linguine to skillet and mix.
Add Sun Dried Tomatoes
Add Pesto to taste.
Mix well, remove from heat, and serve.

http://www.dannyeckes.com/shrimp-and-scallop-pesto/

Detailed Instructions and Photos

Ingredients
Shrimp (3/4 to 1 lb. large 21/25 per lb.) Scallops (1/2 lb. large scallops) White Wine Sun Dried Tomatoes	Basil Pesto Linguine (1/2 lb.) Olive Oil Salt & Pepper

Bring pot of water to boil and cook Linguine. Salt and Pepper Shrimp and Scallops to taste.
In a hot skillet with olive oil place shrimp and scallops. Make sure the shrimp and scallops are fully thawed. Cook scallops thoroughly and make sure shrimp is pink.

Add wine, to taste, and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add Linguine to skillet and mix.

Add Sun Dried Tomatoes and Pesto to taste.
Mix well, remove from heat, and serve.

Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

Daniel Eckes — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 06:49:25 +0000

There’s nothing like the taste of homemade spaghetti. Sure you can easily open a can of sauce and have dinner ready in minutes. However, I challenge you to find a canned sauce that taste nearly as good as this recipe. This recipe is perfect for a saturday afternoon to have it ready by dinner or on a weekday to simmer on low while you’re busy with the eight to five.

Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients

1 lb. Ground Beef.
1 lb. Hot Italian Sausage (not links).
1 lb. Mild or plain Italian Sausage (not links).
2 Large Onions, Chopped.
1-2 Red Bell Peppers, Chopped.
2 (8 oz.) cans Tomato Sauce.
2 (6 oz.) cans Tomato Paste.
4 (14.5 oz.) cans Italian Style tomatoes.
4 Cloves Garlic, Minced.
4 tbsp. Brown Sugar.
3 tsp. Salt.
2 tsp. dried Italian Seasoning.
2 tsp. dried Oregano.
Crushed Red Pepper if more heat desired.

Instructions

In large skillet brown beef and italian sausage breaking apart and mixing meats together.
Drain meat well and add to large crockpot.
Add all other ingredients to crockpot and mix well.
Cook on high 4-5 hours or low 8-10 hours, stirring and tasting occasionally.
Serve over your favorite type of pasta.

http://www.dannyeckes.com/crockpot-spaghetti-sauce/

Detailed Instructions and Photos

Ingredients
1 lb. Ground Beef 1 lb. Hot Italian Sausage 1 lb. Mild or Regular Italian Sausage 2 Large Onions, Chopped. 1-2 Red Bell Peppers, Chopped. 2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce. 2 (6 oz.) cans tomato paste.	4 (14.5 oz.) cans Italian Style tomatoes. 4 Cloves Garlic, Minced. 4 tbsp. Brown Sugar. 3 tsp. salt. 2 tsp. dried Italian Seasoning. 2 tsp. dried Oregano. Crushed red pepper if more heat desired.
Cook: 4-5 hrs on High, 8-10 hrs on Low	Servings: 10-12

Finely chop, or use food processor, Onions and Bell Peppers and place into large crockpot.

Add Garlic, Sugar, Salt, Italian Seasoning, Oregano, and Crushed Red Pepper(optional).

Add canned Tomatoes, Tomato Paste, and Tomato Sauce. Just to clarify when I say 2 (8 oz.) cans, I mean 2 cans that are 8 oz. each. So 16 oz. total.

Add the 3 meats to a large skillet and brown. Make sure the Italian Sausage is not the links. Get the 1lb bags of ground sausage meat.

Do not over cook the meat making it hard. Make sure to drain the meat well as the sausage has a lot of fat. Mix all the meats well and make sure to break up into small pieces.

Add meat to the crockpot.

Mix the browned meat and all other ingredients well. Mixture will be very thick. Do not be fooled and think you need to add water. As it cooks down it will become more sauce like.

Cook on High for 4-5 hours or on low 8-10.

Mix occasionally just to make sure all spices are evenly distributed.

Serve over your favorite type of noodle and enjoy. For added flavor top with fresh grated parmesan cheese.

Capstone Project

Daniel Eckes — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 02:37:02 +0000

In my final semester at California State University, Fresno, while earning my undergraduate degree in Business Administration with an emphasis on Information Systems, I was involved in a semester long Capstone Project. This project’s goal was to demonstrate all facets of Business that I have learned over the course of my undergraduate career and showcase them in a real world project. The project I was assigned was to help a new task forced consisting of school administrators that was formed to help streamline and increase international study and study abroad admissions. The current structure of international programs is that each department is some what on it’s own. Each department has their own website, with current and outdated information, and rarely do the departments communicate with one another. This causes issues with students and faculty acquiring accurate information. To solve this issue the request from the task force was to 1) create a Portal website that would help direct students and faculty to information that pertained to them and 2) create a theme that each department can implement keeping all Global and Continuing Education website uniform. It was key to go beyond the request and produce a website that was, in addition to the needs of the task force, easy for novice end users to manage and maintain.

Below you will find the Final project documentation, edited to remove sensitive information, and links the mock websites. The Portal Demo was designed as a proof of concept to show how easily administration could access the portal and update changes. The Theme Demo was the actual International Student Services and Programs (ISSP) website mimicked with our custom theme.

Project Management Institue

Daniel Eckes — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 06:26:23 +0000

PMI is the world’s leading not-for-profit membership association for the project management profession, with more than half a million members and credential holders in more than 185 countries. Our worldwide advocacy for project management is supported by our globally-recognized standards and credentials, our extensive research program, and our professional development opportunities.

While taking a course in Project Management for my undergraduate degree I discovered that I enjoy the challenge that managing projects involves. I became a member of the global organization through the student forum at California State University Fresno. At this point in my life I am set on becoming a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM). Over time I would like to become a Project Management Professional (PMP).

Tulare Astronomical Association

Daniel Eckes — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:15:37 +0000

My father is a member of Tulare Astronomical Association. They have recently had issues attracting new members and managing their website/facebook page. I volunteered over 400 hours to create a content management solution for the club. I also volunteer two hours a month to act as webmaster. Feel free to view the web site and the admin manual I created for the club.

Managing Nonprofits

Daniel Eckes — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 06:49:38 +0000

While taking classes for my certificate in organizational management, I enrolled in a nonprofit management class. The semester long project was to do a special assignment from Community Food Bank of Fresno. This was on top of 16 hours of manual service working down in the warehouse. This was one of the most challenging projects I have completed. The groups were randomly assigned and I ended up doing most of the work by myself. In a way this made me a stronger individual and at the same time was very discouraging. The files below are the Assessment done for Community Food Bank and the Report about the project.

Capacity Assessment

Nonprofit Management Project Report

Contemporary Leadership

Daniel Eckes — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 06:36:03 +0000

My most enjoyable class to-date was Contemporary Leadership. This class was part of my Organizational Management certificate. This class focused on leading change in an organization and addressed the challenges and approach to being a leader in an organization. A quote from the class that stuck with me was: “Managers do the right thing, Leaders do what is right”. This had an impact on me for not only the class but my personal life as well. Below are a couple assignments that we had to do throughout the semester. The first, part A, is a behavioral shaping plan in wich we had to identify a behavior we wanted to change and come up with an action plan to change it. We then, part B, had to assess our progress 2 months later. The third paper is a Leadership Development plan in which we had to assess ourselves and create a plan for our future.

Shaping Plan A

Shaping Plan B

Leadership Developement Plan

Organizational Theory and Design

Daniel Eckes — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 06:22:39 +0000

For my management certificate I took an Organizational Design and Organization Theory class. The major project in this class was an organizational analysis of a real business. For my project my team and I did an analysis on Toledo’s Mexican restaurant. A locally owned mexican restaurant with several locations in the Fresno area. The purpose of the project was to identify issues within an organization and apply organizational theory and design concepts to provide solutions.

Toledo’s Organizational Analysis

Certificate in Organizational Management

Daniel Eckes — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:40:23 +0000

Certificate in Organizational Management

Management Administration and Organizational Behavior (MGT 110)
Seminar in Management Theory and Organization Design (MGT 180)
Contemporary Leadership (MGT 127)
Managing Nonprofit Organizations (MGT 133)

I took classes on top of my IS requirements to earn a Certificate in Organizational Management. I believe this will be very beneficial in my future plans for a senior management position.