...and a cookie for dessert

Chicken & Broccoli Braid

2011-03-14T04:49:00.000-07:00

I like to think that I'm fairly smart. I graduated college with honors, have held down good jobs, and can hold a reasonably intelligent conversation when need be. However, this little recipe had me completely and utterly baffled.

I had several Pampered Chef shows scheduled for this past week, and the host of the show I was doing Friday requested that I make this Chicken and Broccoli Braid at her show. Being that I've never made it before, I figured that it would be a good idea to make it at home first so that I could put it together easily at the show. Boy, am I glad I did! I got started with the recipe. Mix up the feeling - easy! Roll out the crescent roll dough - easy! Braid the dough - um....what? I must have read the instructions 10 times and STILL couldn't figure out how to make the braid. I finally did what any truly "smart" person would do - I went to You Tube and watched this demo. *cue light bulb over head* Aaahhh! Once I saw the braid done, I realized how incredibly easy it really was. I braided my dough, stuck it in the oven, and was rewarded with cheesy, doughy goodness afterwards. Joe said that, if eaten fresh out of the oven, this may be his new favorite meal. And all the guests at my show on Friday went nuts for it! So don't be intimidated by the braiding - if I can do it, YOU can do it!

(The braid in the picture is a little different than the one in the recipe. Since I made this one at home for Joe, I used Chipotle mayo instead of regular and subbed chopped bacon for the broccoli. So feel free to be creative with your fillings as well!)

Chicken & Broccoli Braid

1 cup (250 mL) chopped broccoli florets
2 cups (500 mL) chopped cooked chicken breasts
1/2 cup (125 mL) diced red bell pepper
1 cup (250 mL) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (125 mL) mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, pressed
2 tsp (10 mL) dill
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
2 pkg (8 oz or 235 g) refrigerated crescent dough (the new Recipe Creations seamless dough would be even better!)
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 tbsp (30 mL) slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Combine broccoli, chicken, bell pepper, cheese, mayonnaise, dill mix, pressed garlic and salt in Classic Batter Bowl; mix well.

Unroll one package of the crescent dough; do not separate. Arrange longest sides of dough across width of Rectangle Stone. Repeat with remaining package of dough. Using Baker's Roller®, roll dough to seal perforations. On longest sides of baking stone, cut dough into strips 1 1/2 in. (4 cm) apart, 3 in. (7.5 cm) deep. (There will be 6 in./15 cm in the center for the filling.)

Spread filling evenly over center of dough. To braid, lift dough strips across filling to meet in center, twisting each strip one turn. Continue alternating strips to form a braid. Tuck ends up to seal at end of braid. Brush egg white over dough. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake 25-28 minutes or until deep golden brown

Free Form Burgers

2011-02-25T13:56:00.000-08:00

The original name for this recipe is Loose Meat Sandwiches. But when I was discussing this with my friends, none of them were able to get past the "loose meat" moniker - they thought it sounded gross. And since this recipe is totally NOT gross, I changed the name to avoid any further turn-offs. Because you really DO want to make these sandwiches - they are incredibly easy and incredibly delicious. The recipe comes from one of my favorite blogs, A Year of Slow Cooking. What really caught my eye about this recipe is the fact that you don't have to brown the meat before you put it in the crockpot. I've never come across a recipe that didn't require browning the meat, so I was intrigued. I hate the extra step of browning meat before putting it in the crockpot - I feel like if I have to cook it first, the whole point of using the crockpot is defeated.

So this recipe won points with me right off the bat, but it totally won me over once I tasted it. The meat is savory and full of flavor - you definitely can't tell it wasn't browned first. I served these sandwiches on toasted rolls topped with a drizzle of ketchup and mustard and a slice of pickle. Trust me and don't skip the pickle - it really made the sandwiches for me and Joe! And feel free to call it whatever you want ;)

Free Form Burgers

1 pound extra lean ground beef or turkey, thawed (make sure it's lean)
1 onion, finely diced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 cups beef broth
8 hamburger buns
burger fixings of your choice

Crumble in the ground meat into slow cooker. Add onion, sugar, spices, mustard, and vinegar. Pour in the beef broth. Mix well until everything is fully incorporated. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Stir well before serving by scooping with a slotted spoons onto hamburger buns. Top with your desired fixings.

Two (er, Three) Ingredient Pumpkin Cookies

2011-02-08T10:23:00.000-08:00

The official pumpkin season may have passed, but I still have several cans in my pantry and am always in the mood for something pumpkiny. This past weekend I realized that my pantry also contained a spice cake mix that was about to expire so I figured that I would try to marry these two ingredients in some way. I knew that that it was possible to make a cake with just mix and a can of pumpkin, so I went looking in that direction on All Recipes and found these cookies instead.

Random side note: I get a lot of recipes from All Recipes and I always read the reviews before I make the recipe, but the reviews really tend to get on my nerves. People seem to make the recipes with all kinds of modifications and then complain how the recipe is terrible. This one is a perfect example - there are tons of reviews where people added eggs, oil, etc and then gave the recipe one star because the cookies didn't turn out right. They didn't turn out right because you made them wrong!!! (Okay, vent over.)

Anyhow, these cookies require just two ingredients - a spice cake mix and a 15 oz can of pumpkin. I added in chocolate chips because I love the combination of pumpkin and chocolate. I thought these cookies were great! They tasted almost identical to these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies I make, but were much quicker and easier. They're rich and cakey and perfectly sweet. I served these cookies to my former boss and her husband when they came over to visit on Sunday afternoon and they were gobbled up.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

1 (18.25 ounce) package spice cake mix
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
In a large bowl, stir together the cake mix and pumpkin until well blended. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cranberry Applesauce Muffins

2011-02-04T11:33:00.000-08:00

On Monday I had a meeting at my house regarding our local March of Dimes March for Babies walk. Being the mother of micro-preemies, it's needless to say that March of Dimes is an organization close to my heart. The meeting was at 11:00, so I wanted to provide something to munch on but thought it might be a little early for cookies or brownies. I scoured the Internet for a muffin recipe that used ingredients I already had on hand and decided on this recipe for Cranberry Applesauce Muffins. I thought they would be appealing to the adults but also something my kids would enjoy for a snack.

Like most muffins, these were simple to put together. The applesauce I had was sweetened, so I cut back the sugar to 1/4 cup to compensate for that. I also used dried cranberries instead of fresh and sprinkled a little cinnamon sugar on the muffin tops before baking.

I thought these were delicious. Light and sweet, but not too sweet, with a perfect tang from the cranberries. I'll definitely be keeping this in my recipe file.

Cranberry Applesauce Muffins

1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 eggs, beaten
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a muffin pan, or use paper liners.
In a small bowl, mix together applesauce, oil and egg. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in egg mixture. Stir until just moistened. Fold in cranberries and pecans. Spoon into muffin cups, 2/3 full.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 2 minutes before removing.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Crunch Bars

2011-01-29T04:44:00.000-08:00

As I think I've mentioned before, when I became a stay-at-home mom last year I also became a Pampered Chef consultant. I needed a way to make some extra money without having to be outside the house too much, and Pampered Chef fit the bill. It's a super fun job to have - I get out, I meet new people, and I get to try awesome new recipes like this one.

I'm doing a show this weekend with a Valentine's Day theme, so I'm making a dessert and a wine-based drink. The host and I chose this recipe together, but I'd never actually made it so I figured it would be good to give it a whirl before the show. And I am SO glad I did. Wow - these are good!

They are sort of like a kicked-up rice krispie treat. The bottom layer is your standard rice krispie treat, but with pretzels mixed in for crunch and salt. Then it's topped with a peanut butter layer, and finally a coating of chocolate ganace garnished with peanuts and pretzels. The salty/sweet/chewy/crunchy combos are out of this world. I ate way more of these than I care to admit. Plus, they are quick and easy - no baking required. Any Valentine would be more than happy to receive these treats!

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Crunch Bars
Recipe from: The Pampered Chef

1/4 cup (50 mL) dry-roasted peanuts
3 cups (750 mL) mini pretzel twists (about 1 2/3 cups/400 mL coarsely crushed), divided
3 cups (750 mL) crisp rice cereal
3/4 cup (175 mL) butter (1½ sticks), divided
1 bag (10.5 oz or 250 g) miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup (125 mL) light corn syrup, divided
1 bag (10 oz or 300 g) peanut butter morsels
1 cup (250 mL) semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Coarsely chop peanuts using Food Chopper; set aside. Place pretzels into large resealable plastic bag; coarsely crush using flat side of Meat Tenderizer. Set aside 1/3 cup (75 mL) of the pretzels. Place remaining pretzels and cereal in Stainless (4-qt./4-L) Mixing Bowl.

Place 6 tbsp (90 mL) of the butter in Classic Batter Bowl. Microwave on HIGH 60-90 seconds or until melted. Add marshmallows; microwave on HIGH 60-90 seconds. Stir until marshmallows are completely melted using Mix ‘N Scraper® (see Cook's Tip). Immediately add marshmallow mixture to mixing bowl; mix thoroughly. Spread crust evenly over Medium Sheet Pan; firmly press into pan using Baker's Roller®.

Combine 2 tbsp (30 mL) of the butter and half of the corn syrup in Small Micro-Cooker®. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 60-90 seconds or until melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir in peanut butter morsels; mix until melted (mixture will be stiff). Spread peanut butter mixture over crust using Small Spreader.

For ganache, place remaining butter and corn syrup in Small Batter Bowl. Microwave on HIGH 60-90 seconds or until melted. Stir in chocolate morsels; mix until smooth. Spread ganache evenly over peanut butter mixture. Sprinkle with peanuts and reserved pretzels. Place in freezer 5-10 minutes or until ganache is set. Cut into 24 squares; cut squares in half.

Yield: 24 servings

Oriental Beef and Noodles

2011-01-26T10:16:00.000-08:00

This super easy recipe is courtesy of my good friend Colleen. When it comes to making dinner, there's nothing I love more than tossing a few things into the crockpot and leaving it at that. This recipe requires so little work that you can throw it together in even the tightest time crunch. I made a few minor changes to the recipe. I'd heard talk that the veggies tend to disintegrate in the crockpot, so I held off and added mine around lunchtime to see if that helped. And it did - somewhat. My carrots and water chestnuts held their shape, but I still lost my broccoli! I also could not find plain ramen noodles so I used Chinese rice noodles and they were fine.

This dinner smelled amazing as it cooked and tasted just as good - like an authentic stir fry. Joe and I both really enjoyed it.

Oriental Beef and Noodles

1 (16 ounce) package frozen stir fry vegetables
2 - 2 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1" cubes
1 (12 ounce) bottle stir-fry sauce, any flavor
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 (3 ounce) packages ramen noodles, broken
1/4 cup green onions, chopped (I omitted)

Coat a 4 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Place frozen vegetables in the bottom and top with stew meat. In a medium bowl, stir together stir-fry sauce, water, and red pepper. Pour over stew meat and vegetables in cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or on high for 4 1/2-5 hours (I recommend low, it will help to break the meat down more).

At the end of cooking time, discard spice packets from ramen noodles. Stir noodles and green onions into meat mixture. Cover and let stand 10 minutes more. Stir before serving. This can be kept on warm for 1-2 hours.

Still here!

2011-01-24T04:40:00.000-08:00

And I miss my cooking blog! Sadly, I really haven't been making anything blog worthy recently. Joe requested that I get more back-to-basics with my dinners - in other words, stop trying so many new things and make more of the old recipes we know we like. And I guess he's right - so often I make something that we both love, but in my desire to keep trying new things I never make the favorites again. I have made a few new things here and there, but in the crazy pre-dinner rush to feed Charlie, Lily, Joe and I before the pre-bedtime meltdown, I often forget to take pictures anyway. So there's been a few new, un-blogged meals and a lot of repeats going on here, plus a lot of quick and easy meals that I can throw together at nap time or when Joe gets home from work. And meals like that often turn out great - like this pizza! I took a store-bought pizza crust and topped it with pre-made shredded barbecue chicken (Lloyd's), caramelized onions and cheddar cheese - it was awesome!

But I do have some new recipes planned for this week, so I hope to get them posted and maybe resurrect my little cooking blog. Here's hoping!

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

2010-11-07T17:28:00.000-08:00

A little over a year ago, after being born 15 weeks premature and spending almost 100 days in the NICU, my son and daughter finally came home. I was scheduled to return work part-time about 2 months after we brought them home, but about 2 weeks before my return to work date I was laid off during a corporate restructuring. Since I was very, very unhappy with the thought of leaving Charlie and Lily in someone else's care, I wasn't too upset about suddenly being unemployed and taking on the permanent role of stay-at-home mom. However, suddenly going from two incomes to one is hard to adjust to, so I became a Pampered Chef consultant in order to earn some extra money. I really love selling Pampered Chef! I've met some great people, I have fun doing cooking shows, and I get to try lots and lots of great new recipes.

This recipe for pumpkin bread pudding was one a I did at a show last month. I always try out new recipes in my own kitchen before demonstrating them at a show, so I whipped up this pudding during the babies' nap time one afternoon. This is fantastic! So comforting - totally perfect for a chilly fall evening. Plus, it's incredibly easy and quick to make. It was a hit at my cooking show and is sure to go over well anywhere you choose to serve it!

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

1 loaf (16 ounces) raisin bread
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 can(15 ounces) solid pack pumpkin
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
3 eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
Vanilla frozen yogurt or thawed, frozen fat-free whipped topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly spray Oval Baker with nonstick cooking spray. Slice bread into 1-inch cubes; set aside.

Pour evaporated milk into small microwave-safe bowl; microwave on HIGH 3 minutes or until hot. In large bowl, whisk pumpkin, 1/2 cup of the sugar, eggs, spice blend and orange zest until smooth. Gradually whisk hot milk into pumpkin mixture.

Place half of the bread cubes over bottom of baker; pour half of the pumpkin mixture over bread. Top with remaining bread cubes and remaining pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle pecans evenly over bread. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake 25-30 minutes or until set. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Serve with frozen yogurt or whipped topping, if desired.

Yield: 8 servings

Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf

2010-11-07T16:44:00.000-08:00

One of my top favorite treats is most definitely pumpkin chocolate chip bread. It is just so, so delicious. A few weeks ago I got a craving and decided to make a few loaves, however I was out of the yogurt I needed to make my favorite chocolate chip pumpkin bread recipe. Then I remembered this recipe for Chocolate & Butterscotch Pumpkin Loaf I found on Jessica's blog and decided to give it a try. The recipe originally comes from the Baked - New Frontiers in Baking cookbook. I've been seeing recipes from the book popping up in many other food blogs, so I was eager to see what all the fuss was about.

I modified the recipe a little since I didn't have any butterscotch chips in the house. Instead, I just replaced them with more chocolate chips. The recipe calls for dark chocolate chips, but I only had semi-sweet, plus I'm not really a dark chocolate fan. I was a bit skeptical of the addition of water, since I've never baked a quick bread that required water. I was tempted to leave it out, but am glad I didn't because the bread baked up perfectly the way it was. And how was it? Pretty darn delicious! This recipe is thisclose to being as good as my favorite, although it's a lot more heavy on calories and fat than my other. But it was GOOD. My brother-in-law happened to stop by after I finished baking the loaves, so I sent one home with him to enjoy with his girlfriend Bec. He texted me around dinner time to let me know that he'd already finished 1/3 loaf himself. As for the other loaf, I happily polished that one off myself in less than 3 days. I'd like to say that I shared it with Joe, Charlie and Lily, but that would be a lie.

Chocolate & Butterscotch Pumpkin Loaf

Yields: 2 loaves

3-1/4 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly-grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp Kosher salt
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
1 c vegetable oil
3 c sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2/3 c room-temperature water
1 c dark chocolate chips (I used 1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips)
1/2 c butterscotch chips (I ommitted)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9″x5″x3″ loaf pans, dust them with flour and knock out the excess flour.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, baking soda and salt. In another large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree and oil until combined. Add the sugar and whisk again. Whisk the eggs into the mixture, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Add the water and whisk until combined. With a rubber spatula, stir in the butterscotch and chocolate chips.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet, but do not overmix. Evenly divide the batter between the prepared pans. Gently knock the bottom of the pans against the countertop to even out the batter. Use the spatula to smooth the tops.

Bake in the center of the oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a loaf comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking time. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes. Invert the loaves onto wire racks and cool completely before serving. The loaves will keep for 3 days, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature.

Candy Bar Shortbread Cookies

2010-10-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

Halloween is almost here, and we all know what that means - tons of leftover candy to deal with once the trick-or-treaters have all gone home. You could sit down in front of Glee and eat yourself sick (which is what I probably would have done myself), or you could put the candy to a better use and make these cookies to share (or eat all by yourself in front of Glee).

These cookies (from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food) come together very quickly and are addictive. You can definitely taste those 2 sticks of butter in the crust - it's rich and crumbly and delicious. I used Butterfingers for these bars, but I'm eager to experiment with other kinds.

Candy Bar Shortbread Cookies

2 sticks salted butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 cups AP flour
1 cup chocolate chips
12 oz favorite candy bars, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare an 8 inch baking pan. Cream butter and light brown sugar and salt about 3 mins. Once creamed, add in flour in 3 additions, blending well in between each addition. (It will be a bit crumbly).

Add to prepared pan and bake for 30-35 mins (until golden brown and firm). Add chocolate chips on top and place back into oven for a minute more. Take out of oven and with an offset spatula, smooth out the melted chocolate chips. Add candy bar pieces and let cool on wire rack for 30 mins. Then pop into fridge to firm up for a couple minutes before cutting.

Taco Bake

2010-10-16T17:14:00.000-07:00

This recipe has been circulating among my friends for quite some time now, and I'm pretty sure that Colleen started it all. If I remember correctly, she made it for Lauren's family after the birth of Lauren's newest son. Lauren and her husband raved about it, then Lauren made it and posted it on her blog. (I believe the recipe actually originated on Taste and Tell.)

I've had this recipe saved since that time, and since Lauren's son is now 15 months old, I figured it was about time that I got around to trying it for myself. And I'm glad I did - this is delicious! I never would have thought of using buttermilk biscuits in a Mexican recipe, but they act almost like tortillas with a little more heft. I actually ate the leftovers of this for lunch the next day, and I hardly ever eat leftovers. But this was too good to let go to waste!

Taco Bake

16 oz. taco sauce
12 ounce can buttermilk biscuits
4-6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
4-6 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1 can sliced olives, drained
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup green bell pepper, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly grease a 13x9 inch baking dish. Spread taco sauce evenly over bottom of dish.

Separate dough into 10 biscuits. Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Place biscuit pieces in hot sauce, turn to coat. Sprinkle biscuits with half of the cheese and the olives. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

In a large skillet, combine ground beef, peppers, mushrooms, cumin and chili powder. Cook until ground beef is cooked through.

Sprinkle the ground beef mixture over the baked biscuit mixture. Top with the remaining cheese. Bake an additional 5-7 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Soft Pumpkin Yeast Bread

2010-10-12T17:06:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago Joe and I were in the checkout line of BJ's when I spotted the Taste of Home Fall Baking Cookbook on the magazine rack. I snatched it up and tossed it on the conveyor belt, and Joe nearly choked when it rang up at $9.99. I say it's been worth it though, as I've already made several recipes from the book and there's still plenty of Fall left!

This recipe incorporates two things I adore - pumpkin and my bread maker. It smelled incredible while baking and yielded a soft loaf that was just slightly sweet with hints of spice. It was awesome warm with some melted butter, and even my toddlers gobbled it up. I didn't have any walnuts, so I omitted them from the recipe, and it turned out just fine. This bread would be perfect on a cool, crisp evening served alongside a pork roast or some turkey.

Soft Pumpkin Yeast Bread

1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup warm evaporated milk (70-80 degrees)
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups bread flour
2-3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup ground walnuts (I omitted)
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

In a bread machine pan, place all ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select basic bread setting. Choose crust color and loaf size if available.

Bake according to bread machine directions.

Cheeseburger Pasta

2010-10-12T16:55:00.000-07:00

It's Velveeta, versus cheddar! Our Velveeta, melts much better. Cheddar's lumpy, cheddar's oily. It runs off of your plate onto to your doily!

Does anyone but me remember that jingle? It must be, oh, 15 years old by now? But it's always what pops into my head when I hear "Velveeta." I've actually never cooked with Velveeta before. I guess I've just never had cause to. But when I spotted this quick and simple recipe on my good friend Lauren's blog I decided it was time to grab some Velveeta.

Upon spotting the Velveeta on the counter when I was making dinner, Joe got super excited and told me how his dad used to buy it all the time when he was a kid and how much he'd loved it. He asked for a piece to snack on, then promptly declared it to be not nearly as good as he remembered. Isn't that always the way? But being that I had no fond childhood memories involving processed cheese, I found it to be quite tasty. And I loved it in this pasta! This was a lot like hamburger helper, but with more flavor and way less sodium and chemicals. I found myself sneaking bites of the leftovers from the pan as I was cleaning up from dinner, so it was definitely a winner. Kids are sure to love this too!

Cheeseburger Pasta

1 lb ground turkey breast
1 onion, diced
2 3/4 cups water
1/3 cup ketchup
1T mustard
2 cups elbow mac, uncooked
4 oz reduced fat Velveeta, cubed

Brown meat in a large skillet, drain.

Add water, ketchup, onion powder and mix well.

Bring to a boil and add mac. Simmer on med-low heat, covered, for 8-10 minutes (until pasta tender).

Stir in Velveeta and cook until melted, stirring occasionally.

Breakfast Pizza

2010-10-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

I love "to do" lists. When I worked in an office I never left for the night before writing out a "to do" list for the next day. Now that I'm a stay-at-home mom, I still write myself "to do" lists to make sure all of my chores and other things actually get done. This morning I added "update food blog" to me list, and since I get great pleasure in crossing things off my list, here I am with some new posts!

I'll start with this breakfast pizza from Amanda's blog. All I can say is, wow. Wow. This pizza was freaking awesome! I loved the way the eggs reached a sort of over-easy texture in the oven, and when I cut into a slice of pizza the yolk oozed all over making a delicious sauce to dip my crust in. Mmmmmm. I used turkey bacon to cut down on the fat, and used more eggs than the original recipe called for because I wanted to make sure that each slice would have some egg. We had this for dinner and enjoyed every bite, but it would also be a really unique addition to a brunch table.

Breakfast Pizza

1 homemade or store-bought pizza dough
6 strips bacon
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 cups grated mozzarella
4 eggs
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons minced chives
olive oil, for brushing

Preheat the oven to 500F or follow package instruction.

Fry bacon strips over medium-high heat until crisp. Cool on a plate lined with paper towels. Crumble. Set aside.

Dust your baking sheet with cornmeal and stretch dough to fit. Sprinkle with Parmesan, mozzarella, and bacon. Crack eggs over top and season and season with salt and pepper. Brush the exposed crust with olive oil.

Bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until eggs are cooked through and crust is golden brown. Sprinkle chives over top.

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

2010-08-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

I never intended to make this recipe. I'm a Pampered Chef consultant, and a few weeks ago my new Fall/Winter Season's Best Cookbook came in the mail. I wanted to try out some of the recipes, and one on my list was for an Italian pot pie. The recipe called for pizza dough, cheese and sausage, so I bought all the ingredients at the store. Only to promptly lose my new cookbook and be unable to find the recipe online. And of course, I didn't discover that I had lost the cookbook until right before I went to make dinner. The sausage was already defrosted and I was in the mood for something pizza-esque, so I hopped online and did a quick search for something else.

These pizza rolls jumped right out at me. They sounded delicious and seemed easy to put together. I decided to make half sausage for Joe, and the other half broccoli for me and the babies. All four of us enjoyed these pizza rolls - they are garlicky and cheesy and perfect for dipping in pizza sauce. This would be a fun meal for a casual get-together or a weekend lunch, and kids would definitely enjoy helping make them. You can do any combination of fillings and come up with something everyone will love.

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

1 roll refrigerated pizza dough
marinara/pizza sauce
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
1 T olive oil or melted butter
1/2 t garlic powder
1 t dried Italian seasoning
mozzarella cheese
Pizza toppings of your choice (sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, etc.)

Preheat oven to heat specified on pizza dough package.

Unroll your pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat or roll the dough so it's about 12" by 8". You're going to want to cut it into 24 squares, so just eyeball it if you need to. Slice the dough into 24 squares

Place cheese and desired toppings on each square.

When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully lift up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings. Pinch to make sure each ball is sealed shut and then place them seam side down in a lightly sprayed pie pan (or similar sized dish).

Brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil or melted butter and then sprinkle with the garlic and Italian seasoning and top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve warm with heated marinara sauce on the side for dipping.

Peanut Butter Crusted Sweet Potato Fries

2010-07-26T18:01:00.001-07:00

I've mentioned before how much I enjoy Amanda's blog, Fake Ginger. I find her recipes to be unique and appealing, and these sweet potato fries were no exception. Combining two of my favorite foods and calling it dinner? Sweet! I made these on a night when I had promised Joe steak pinwheels. I don't eat steak, and I knew that he wouldn't touch these fries, so I made these for myself. And ate them all. They were so good! I used crunchy natural peanut butter and it complimented the slight sweetness of the potatoes perfectly. These need no condiments at all - they are perfect as they are.

Peanut Butter Crusted Sweet Potato Fries

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into thin fry-like strips
3 tablespoons chunky peanut butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium size bowl, mix together the peanut butter, olive oil, and salt. Take sweet potatoes and toss in bowl with your hands until fully coated. Line up on baking pan and cook at 400F for 20 minutes. Flip and bake for another 10 – 20 minutes or until crisp.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

2010-07-26T17:50:00.000-07:00

Like most people, when I think of snickerdoodles I think of Christmas. Snickerdoodles are one of the cookies I make each holiday season. They're not my favorites - my heart belongs to peanut butter blossoms - but I just feel like they are quintessential to Christmas. So I surprised myself by by rushing right out and making these snickerdoodle blondies. In July. But when I saw them on Michelle's blog I thought they looked so good I couldn't resist. I've been all about the bar cookies recently, and I knew I had all the ingredients in the house. I literally made these about an hour after I came across them in my Google Reader. And I'm glad I did! Not only did these smell awesome while they were baking, but they tasted exactly like my holiday snickerdoodles. Light and slightly tangy with that sweet/spicy topping. Yum! No need to wait until December for snickerdoodles - give these blondies a go to hold you over.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan; set aside. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside. Beat together the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, and then the vanilla. Beat, scraping the bowl, until thoroughly combined. On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture until just combined. Give the dough a final stir with a spatula or wooden spoon to make sure the flour is incorporated. Spread the dough evenly into the pan (I found an offset spatula was the best tool for the job, as it’s a thick batter). Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the top of the batter. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool completely before cutting. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Pineapple Coconut Bread

2010-07-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my friends Colleen and Jenn brought their babies, Abbie and Owen, over for a play date with Charlie and Lily in our spalsh pool. Colleen brought hummus and chips and Jenn made some yummy spinach dip, so I wanted to contribute something sweet. I knew I wanted to make a quick bread of some sort, and I wanted it to have summery flavors. Like pineapple. I LOVE pineapple, and I had a big can of the crushed stuff in my pantry. After a little searching on All Recipes I decided on this one to make. Since it is swimsuit season after all, I chose to lighten it up a bit. I kept the butter, but used Egg Beaters in place of the egg and Splenda instead of sugar. I also substituted coconut for the walnuts to make it even more tropical-tasting.

This bread was delicious! It was tender and crumbly and just sweet enough. It was awesome warm with a bit of butter. I will definitely be making this again!

Pineapple Coconut Bread

2 eggs (I used Egg Beaters)
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup white sugar or Splenda Baking
1 cup crushed pineapple with juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.
Beat eggs slightly. Add butter and sugar. Beat smooth. Stir in pineapple and vanilla.
In separate bowl put flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and walnuts. Stir well and pour into pineapple mixture. Stir to moisten. Pour into greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.
Bake in 350 degree F (175 degree C) oven for 1 hour. Test with toothpick. Let stand 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool and wrap.

Pool party!

Sugar Cookie Bars

2010-06-09T13:01:00.000-07:00

I've recently become a big fan of bar cookies. There's really no food I enjoy more than a good cookie, but I find that I rarely have the patience for pulling out the cookie sheets, scooping out the dough, cooling the cookies on racks, etc. But with a bar cookie, the steps are simple - mix the dough, press it into a pan, bake. Viola - cookies!

Sugar cookies are not typically my cookie of choice, but I had been looking into getting some decorated sugar cookies for Charlie and Lily's upcoming birthday party so they were on my mind. Then the other night I came across this recipe for Sugar Cookie Bars on Annie's blog and couldn't resist whipping them up.

First, let me say that this recipe makes a LOT of bars. I think I got almost 40 good-sized bars, so this recipe would be perfect for a summer barbecue or party. The bars came out tender and just slightly sweet. Annie suggested using vanilla bean and lemon zest in addition to the vanilla extract. I did not, since I had neither on hand (and I hate lemon) and I thought they were very good as they were - just like a normal sugar cookie. Instead of using the buttercream frosting that went along with this cookie recipe (I didn't have any powdered sugar), I cheated and used a can of Funfetti frosting from my pantry. The bars taste great this way, but I would like to try the frosting recipe next time, especially since I love buttercream. (And I'm including the buttercream recipe below in case you'd like to make it!)

These bars are tasty, simple and fun! I may become a sugar cookie convert after all.

Sugar Cookie Bars

For the cookie bars:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda

For the frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
5 tbsp. milk
Food coloring (optional)

To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Grease a 13 x 18″ rimmed baking sheet. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until light and smooth, about 2 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Blend in the vanilla. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Stir together with a fork to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and beat on low speed just until incorporated.

Transfer the cookie dough to the prepared baking sheet and press into an even layer. Bake 10-15 minutes, until light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Blend in the vanilla, salt, and confectioners’ sugar until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Mix in the milk. Tint as desired with food coloring. Spread over the cookie in the pan, cut into bars and serve.

Crockpot Roasted Chicken

2010-06-09T12:36:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that I adore my crockpot, so I was incredibly excited when I found this recipe for roasted chicken in the crockpot on my brilliant friend Lauren's blog. We love roast chicken, but I've never actually made one myself. For some reason cooking a whole bird in the oven for hours is intimidating to me, but this recipe sounded so easy there was no way I could resist. This is just a fantastic idea! It takes all of two minutes to prepare, and it smells amazing as it cooks. The result is a juicy, tender chicken with meat that just falls off the bone. We ate some of the chicken with mashed potatoes, veggies and rolls, then I used the leftovers in a pasta dish later in the week. You will definitely get more than one meal out of this! Feel free to get creative with the seasonings - I used a lemon pepper seasoning that was great, but I'd also like to try a more garlicky seasoning, or maybe a barbecue rub.

Crockpot Roasted Chicken

Whole chicken (4-5 pounds)
1/2 cup chicken broth
4 cloves garlic, peeled
Olive oil
Seasonings of choice

Prep the chicken- remove the bag from the inside, thoroughly washing out the cavity and outside of the chicken. Pat dry.

Roll 3 pieces of tin foil into balls, about 2 inches in diameter. Place them in a triangle shape on the bottom of the crockpot.

Pour the chicken broth into the bottom of the crockpot. Toss the garlic cloves, whole, into the broth.

Place the chicken on top of the tin foil. Rub a small amount of olive oil over the skin (about 1-2 teaspoons).

Season heavily with the seasonings of your choice, gently rubbing them into the skin.

Cook on low 8 hours.

Applesauce Bread

2010-06-09T12:22:00.000-07:00

Every Sunday, I make a loaf of quick bread for Joe to eat during the week for breakfast. I usually just use a Pillsbury mix, because Joe really likes them, but every once in awhile I'll make something from scratch. This Applesauce Bread is one of my favorite loaves to whip up. It's easy and fast, and doesn't require any special ingredients. It's dense and soft and sweet. I always make two loaves and either freeze the second for a later date or serve it to guests (or eat it myself!). Definitely give this one a try! (The below recipe is for two loaves. The only thing I suggest is keeping an eye on the cooking time - the recipe says to bake for 80 minutes, but mine were done in 60.)

Applesauce Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups applesauce
1 cup raisins (optional)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Beat together eggs, sugar, and oil. Blend in applesauce, and then sour cream or buttermilk. Mix in flour, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon. Stir in raisins. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 80 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Ranch Ham 'N' Cheese Pasta

2010-04-28T17:17:00.000-07:00

While I've only recently expanded my culinary world to include pork tenderloin and pulled pork, the ham sandwich has always been a favorite of mine - I love me some deli ham. This Ranch Ham 'N' Cheese Pasta caught my eye because it uses ham, and I knew that Joe would like it because he is a fan of anything that includes sour cream. I found this recipe in Taste of Home Healthy Cooking magazine. I bought the magazine on a whim a few years ago and still make recipes from it often. The recipes are quick, low-fat and unique - I never would have thought the combination of flavors in this pasta would work, but they do! This pasta is fantastic - creamy and cheesy with a fantastic tangy taste. Plus, it came together in about 20 minutes, which was an added bonus!

I did make a few changes to the original recipe. I used only 8 ounces of pasta since just Joe and I were eating this. However I left all the other measurements the same and felt I still had a perfect pasta to sauce ratio. I left out the dill because I didn't have any, and also left out the Parmesan cheese because I felt the pasta just didn't need it.

Ranch Ham 'N' Cheese Pasta

1 package (16 ounces) penne pasta
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup fat-free milk
2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon salt-free lemon-pepper seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup (8 ounces) reduced-fat sour cream
2 cups cubed fully cooked lean ham
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. In a Dutch oven, melt butter; whisk in flour until smooth. Gradually add milk and seasonings. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
Reduce heat; fold in sour cream until blended. Add ham and pasta; cook and stir until heated through. Remove from the heat; stir in Mexican cheese blend until melted. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Yield: 10 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: 1 cup equals 306 calories, 9 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 27 mg cholesterol, 612 mg sodium, 38 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 20 g protein.

Cinnamon French Toast Bowl-a-Rama

2010-04-13T06:42:00.000-07:00

Since I was enjoying my Hungry Girl 200 Under 200 cookbook so much, I decided to purchase her newest book, Hungry Girl 1-2-3. I was especially drawn to this book because it features a whole section of crockpot recipes, as well as a section of meals and treats you can make in the microwave. I decided to go the microwave route for the first recipe I tried from the book and made Cinnamon French Toast Bowl-a-Rama for breakfast. This is essentially a French toast bake that you make in a mug in the microwave. It's big and warm and filling and delicious! I love that it feels indulgent when it's totally not. The whole mug has only 228 calories and 21.5 grams of protein! Not only was it a decadent and sweet way to start the day, it kept me full for hours. The only changes I made were to use sugar-free french vanilla creamer in liquid form, since that's what I had on hand, and to reduce the amount of Reddi-wip and add a little more syrup instead. Make this for your breakfast tomorrow!

Cinnamon French Toast Bowl-a-Rama

2 tsp Coffee-mate Sugar Free French Vanilla creamer
2 tbs fat-free cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 no-calorie sweetner packets (I used Splenda)
1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute
2 slices light white bread
1/4 cup Fat Free Reddi-wip
1 tbs sugar-free pancake syrup

Combine powdered creamer with 1/4 cup hot water in a bowl and stir to dissolve. Add cream cheese, cinnamon, vanilla extract and sweetner and stir until mixture is smooth and free of lumps. Add egg substitute and stir. Set aside.

Toast the bread and tear into cubes. Spray a large microwave-safe mug with nonstick cooking spray. Add bread cubes and top with the vanilla-egg mixture. If needed, stir gently to ensure that bread is thoroughly soaked. (I added the bread to the bowl with my egg mixture, stirred it all up and added everything together to the mug.)

Microwave for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, until just set. (Make sure your mug is big! This puffs up a LOT while cooking, but then deflates down once its done.) Allow to cool slightly.

Fluff mixture gently with fork. Top with Reddi-wip and drizzle with syrup. Enjoy!

228 calories, 3 g fat, 671 mg sodium, 31 g carbs, 6 g fiber, 6 g sugar, 21.5 g protein

Sweet!

2010-04-13T04:53:00.000-07:00

I love to enter online contests, but I'm not very lucky with that type of thing and never really win anything. So I was super excited when I was announced as a winner of a jar of Bee Raw Honey from cool food blogger Blake of Blake Makes. I love me some honey, so I was excited to break right into my jar of Wild Raspberry honey when it arrived. I decided to try it out in my favorite way to eat honey - on toast with peanut butter. The honey was perfectly smooth and golden and the taste was fantastic! Sweet, of course, with just the slightest tang of raspberry. Delicious, and much better than the stuff you pick up at the grocery store (although I will always love you, Mr. Honey Bear). Thanks Blake and Bee Raw!

Chicken Tamale Casserole

2010-04-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

I'm a huge fan of any meal that I can make using a single dish, pot, etc. so this one caught my eye immediately. I also loved that it used corn bread mix, because who doesn't love cornbread? I snagged this recipe off of Deborah's blog, and I was even more sold on it when I realized it was a Cooking Light recipe! It was incredibly easy to put together. The only change I made was to use pre-cooked Perdue chicken slices and dice them up instead of cooking and shredding chicken. Joe and I both enjoyed this recipe, although we agreed that it could use a little crunch as the entire thing is very soft. Some crumbled tortilla chips on top next time, perhaps?

Chicken Tamale Casserole

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/3 cup milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (14 3/4 ounce) can cream style corn
1 (8.5 ounce) box corn muffin mix
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained
cooking spray
1 (10 ounce) can red enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.

The Doctor is In

2010-03-26T17:25:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Joe's annual fantasy baseball draft with his friends, and I always bake some sort of treat for him to bring along. I usually make Joe's favorite Kandy Kake bars, which was the plan for this year as well, but this morning I discovered that I was out of flour. I immediately turned to The Cake Mix Doctor Returns, a great cookbook given to me by my friend Lauren this past Christmas. I thumbed for through the book looking for a bar or cookie recipe that I had all the ingredients for and found this recipe for peanut butter chocolate bars. These were super simple to make and are really good - they taste like thick peanut butter cookies with chocolate frosting. Can't beat that!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

1 package plain yellow cake mix (18.25 ounces)
1 cup smooth peanut butter
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), melted
2 large eggs
1 package semisweet chocolate chips (12 ounces; 2 cups)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Set aside an ungreased 13-by-9-inch baking pan.

Place the cake mix, peanut butter, melted butter and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for one minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. The mixture will be thick. Reserve 1 1/2 cups for the topping. Transfer the remaining crust mixture to the pan. Using your fingertips, press the crust evenly over the bottom of the pan so that it reaches all sides. Set aside.

For the filling, place the chocolate chips and condensed milk in a microwave safe bowl and microwave 1 minute. Stir until smooth, then stir in vanilla. Spread mixture evenly over crust in pan. Using your fingertips, crumble the reserved crust and scatter it evenly over the chocolate. Place the pan in the oven.

Bake 30-35 minutes until edges are golden. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes.

Turkey Goulash

2010-03-26T17:13:00.000-07:00

Charlie and Lily keep me pretty darn busy all day, so I don't have much time to peruse other food blogs like I used to. Thanks to the recent purchase of my beloved BlackBerry Curve, however, I am now able to quickly browse through my Google Reader here and there to search for new recipes. One blog that I always read is Fake Ginger. I love Amanda's recipes, her funny and honest description of things, and her ability to cook or bake something new almost daily while caring for two small children. I found this turkey goulash recipe on Amanda's blog recently and immediately printed it out. It sounded quick, hearty and tasty so I was eager to make it. I had planned to cook this during the babies' afternoon nap today, but I am in the midst of reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and decided that I would rather devote my small amount of free time to that today rather than standing over the stove. So I modified this recipe for the crockpot. I took 10 minutes to throw it together in the morning and had a hot, delicious dinner simmering away while I read. My changes are below - check out Amanda's blog for the original!

Turkey Goulash

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 pound ground turkey
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups water
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups elbow macaroni or small shells

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Saute turkey, onion, and garlic until turkey is cooked through and onion is soft. Place turkey mixture in crockpot and add water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, soy sauce, bay leaf, black pepper, and salt. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Add pasta, stir well and replace lid for 10 mintues or until pasta is tender. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Oatmeal Insanity

2010-03-22T17:35:00.000-07:00

I've been a fan of Hungry Girl for years. I get her daily emails and seek out her television appearances, but I never bought any of her books. I was certain that I would never make anything from them and they would just collect dust. Slowly, however, I felt the urge to buy the books creeping up. My friend Lauren has a few and has made several delicious recipes from it, so I started to get tempted. What really sent me to Amazon, though, is the fact that I was getting really bored with my breakfast of Special K and my lunch of toast or frozen waffles. I wanted a variety of healthy and easy meals to choose from for breakfast and lunch, so I purchased Hungry Girl 2oo Under 200 (and her newest book, which should be shipping this week) and I'm so glad I did! I've already made a few things and have many more bookmarked. I did have to make a trip to the store to purchase some of her most used ingredients - I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, Flatout Wraps, Egg Beaters, etc. - but many of the things used I already had. I chose Complete and Utter Oatmeal Insanity for my first recipe because it called for pumpkin, and I love me some pumpkin. This oatmeal is so, so good! It's sweet and hearty and comforting - plus the serving is huge! I left out the Reddi-wip because I didn't have any, but I don't think you need it. If you're looking for a unique and delicious breakfast treat, this is it!

Complete and Utter Oatmeal Insanity

1 packet plain instant oatmeal
1/4 cup Fiber One cereal (original)
1/4 light vanilla soymilk (I used skim milk)
2 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons Fat Free Reddi-wip (I omitted)
1 tablespoon sugar-free pancake syrup
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
5 sprays I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray
1 no-calorie sweetner packet
Dash salt

Place all ingredients except Reddi-wip in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Add 1/4 cup water and stir. Micrwoave 45 seconds, then mix well. Microwave for an additional 30-40 seconds. Allow oatmeal to thicken before removing from microwave. Add Redd-wip and stir well.

Irish Potato Candy

2010-03-22T17:21:00.000-07:00

After making my Irish soda bread, I had St. Patrick's Day fever and wanted to make something else. I knew I wanted something sweet, so I settled on this Irish Potato Candy. This was yummy. Really, really yummy. And easy to make. I read a lot of the reviews before getting started and followed the suggestions that kept appearing again and again (my changes are reflected in the below recipe). I halved the amount of powdered sugar, using only 2 cups rather than the 4 cups called for and the consistency was perfect. I chilled between steps - before rolling and before coating - and had no problem handling or molding the treats. Finally, I rolled the candies in a mixture of cinnamon and a hot cocoa packet - the coating was delicious and not at all over powering. After eating a few too many myself I sent the remainder to school with Joe where they were a big hit! I definitely plan to make these again - I'm already thinking about how I can use food coloring in the candy to make Easter eggs!

Irish Potato Candy

1/4 cup butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
2 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 packet hot cocoa mix

In a medium bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar; beat until smooth. Mix in coconut. Chill mixture in refrigerator 60 minutes or until firm. Shape into potato or ball shapes. Place on cookie sheet and chill 30 minutes. Mix together cinnamon and hot cocoa mix in a shallow dish. Roll candies in cinnamon mixture.

Creamy Orzo with Chicken and Feta

2010-03-15T17:06:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've cooked anything new. Since time is so limited these days I've been turning to quick and easy old favorites. But recently several new recipes have caught my eye and I'm determined to try them out. This delicious orzo dish is the first. I found this on Confections of a Foodie Bride's blog and bookmarked it immediately. It had a bunch of my favorite things - orzo, sun-dried tomatoes, cheese - and required very little prep work. Sold! The only change I made was to use feta in place of goat cheese. Joe does the shopping and I was afraid that if I asked him to buy goat cheese he'd balk and refuse to eat this dish, so I went with the more familiar feta. This meal was delicious! I loved the creamy orzo combined with the tangy tomatoes and cheese. This will definitely be added to the "quick and easy old favorites" list!

Creamy Orzo with Chicken and Feta

1 lb orzo
1 lb chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
6 oz feta or goat cheese, crumbled
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
Juice of half a lemon (about 2 teaspoons)
4 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
3/4 cup Parmesan, grated
3/4 cup Panko

Preheat oven to 400. Add orzo, chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, thyme, lemon juice and feta to a 2.5 - 3 quart baking dish. Bring chicken broth, water, 1 tbsp butter, salt and pepper to a boil on the stove. Pour into baking dish, stirring slightly to mix. Bake for 30 minutes.

Mix Parmesan and Panko. Melt remaining 1 tbsp butter and mix into Parmesan and Panko mixture. Sprinkle mixture on top of orzo dish and and bake for 7-10 minutes more until bubbly. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Irish Soda Bread

2010-03-15T16:50:00.000-07:00

I am a fan of bread. I love all breads and bread-like items, and Irish soda bread is no exception. This past weekend my mom's neighbor baked her a loaf of soda bread and my mom shared a slice with me. Yum! That was all it took to send me to the kitchen to make a loaf of my own. A few years ago I worked with a lovely woman from Ireland who gave me her recipe for Irish soda bread which I've made and enjoyed in the past. Of course, today I couldn't find it, so I hit the Internet to find a substitute an All Recipes. I went back and forth between this recipe and the one I ultimately chose for a while, but went with the latter for two reasons. 1 - it seemed more "traditional" to me since it was shaped into a rustic loaf rather than baked in a bread pan and 2 - the first recipe said the resulting bread tasted best if you let it sit for several hours to a day, and really, who can let fresh baked bread sit?!?

I'm happy I chose the recipe I did. It came out beautiful and delicious! The wash of buttermilk and melted butter on top makes a nice, slightly sweet crust. I brushed the loaf once before baking and once in the middle of baking and had a ton of butter/buttermilk left, so you can definitely reduce the amount if you want to avoid waste. I added raisins because to me, Irish soda bread needs raisins! I also made my own buttermilk substitute by adding 1 tablespoon lemon juice to 1 cup of milk and letting it sit for 5 minutes. I will definitely bake up this bread again!

Amazingly Easy Irish Soda Bread

4 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, sat and margarine. Stir in 1 cup buttermilk and egg. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead slightly. Form dough into a round and and place on prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup melted butter and 1/4 cup buttermilk; brush loaf with mixture. Use a sharp knife to cut an "x" in the top of loaf.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. You may brush the loaf with more buttermilk/butter mixture during baking if desired.

Rolos Cake

2010-03-07T17:48:00.000-08:00

This cake came about as the result of a snow day. There is just something about snowy days that make me want to bake. I needed something quick and easy, so I turned to a boxed cake mix and canned frosting that I could jazz up. Rather than make a regular old layer cake, I mixed up my chocolate cake mix with some chocolate chips and poured half of the batter into a bundt pan. I then sprinkled on a layer of chopped Rolos and then poured in the rest of the batter. After baking, cooling and removing from the pan I melted some chocolate frosting and drizzled it over the top of the cake. The result? YUM! Chocolate, caramel, gooey fudgy frosting - perfect for hibernating indoors as the snow fall. Hopefully though, the next thing I make will be spring inspired, as I'm hoping we are through with snow for the season! Even though they result in delicious desserts like this one, I've had enough of winter storms.

Rolos Cake

1 box chocolate cake mix + ingredients to make cake
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 rolls Rolos candy, chopped
1/2 can chocolate frosting, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Grease bundt pan and set aside. Prepare cake according to package directions and stir in chocolate chips. Pour half of batter into prepared bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped Rolos over batter, then top with remaining batter. Bake 45 minutes or according to package direction for pan size. Cool completely before removing from pan. Drizzle with melted frosting.

Caprese Salad

2010-02-26T16:51:00.000-08:00

So easy, yet so delicious! My mother-in-law Anne's birthday was last week, and this past Saturday Joe and I invited Anne and my father-in-law Fred over for dinner to celebrate, along with my brother-in-law John and his girlfriend Rebecca. Knowing that Joe and I don't have much time these days to cook, John and Rebecca graciously offered to bring dinner and dessert. John made his amazing homemade ravioli, meatballs and sauce, and Rebecca whipped up a delicious tiramisu (get the recipes on their blog!). I wanted to contribute something, so I decided to make an easy salad. I was planning on doing something plain with lettuce, but the night before dinner while feeding the babies at 2:00 am I for some reason decided I wanted to do a caprese salad (who knows why I decide what I do at 2:00 am?). I don't really even like tomatoes, but for some reason I wanted to go with caprese. I had Joe pick up the ingredients for me at the store, and when he returned with basil I saw that there was a recipe for caprese salad on the bag. I had just been planning to put sliced tomatoes, mozzarella and basil leaves on a plate, but this recipe jazzed it up a bit. And it was delicious! I had three servings of it, and as I said, I don't really like tomatoes. It was a great addition to our Italian feast!

Caprese Salad

2 large tomatoes, sliced
Fresh mozzarella, sliced
Basil leaves
1 garlic clove, finely minced
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

Place tomato and mozzarella slices on plate and arrange basil leaves in between and on top of slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and top with minced garlic. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top before serving.

Marshmallow Swirl Brownies

2010-02-01T18:06:00.000-08:00

To help make ends meet, I recently became a Pampered Chef consultant. I've really been enjoying the job - it's so fun to do parties, meet new people and play with cool Pampered Chef products. I'm always on the hunt for easy and delicious recipes to demo at my parties, and this one from Pillsbury fit the bill! I came across the recipe on a box of Pillsbury brownie mix and figured that no one could resist the combination of chocolate and marshmallow. I mean really, is there anything better than marshmallow fluff? Give these a whirl - they are fantastic and super easy!

Marshmallow Swirl Brownies

Cooking Spray
1 pkg fudge brownie mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs
1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow creme
1/3 cup chocolate frosting

Heat oven to 350. Prepare brownies as indicated on package with oil, water and eggs. Cool completely.

Spread a thin layer of marshmallow creme over brownies. Place frosting in microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 10-20 seconds. Stir until smooth. Drizzle frosting over marshmallow creme. Swirl with knife.

Refrigerate 15 minutes. To cut cleanly, spray a knife with non-stick cooking spray as needed. Store loosely covered in the refrigerator.

Pasta Bake with Sausage, Spinach and Beans

2010-02-01T17:42:00.000-08:00

I'll admit it - I was naive. Before I had my babies, I totally used to judge women who said that they didn't have time to do things once they had their babies. Women who said that they couldn't find the time to work out? "Please!" I'd think. "You can totally get up early and exercise, or do it at night after the kids go to bed." Um, yeah, right. I now know that when you spend half the night up soothing and feeding babies the last thing you want to do is get up at 5:30 am and work out. There is also no way that you have the energy for a workout at 8:00 pm once the babies are finally in bed. I also used to laugh at women who said they had no time to cook once they had their babies. "Ha!" I thought. "You can't find half an hour a day to throw dinner together?!?" Um, no, on many days, you can't. For the past few months Joe and I have been living on takeout, standby crockpot recipes, frozen salmon filets with tater tots and meals kindly provided by family members. Luckily, as the babies get a little older we have more of a routine established and I have managed to find time to cook some decent dinners recently.

The first thing that I was eager to try came from the Cook Yourself Thin cookbook. This spring while I was on bedrest, Cook Yourself Thin aired every day at 5:00 and 5:30 on Lifetime. Since I wasn't allowed to leave the couch, I watched it religiously. I always thought that the recipes looked great and I vowed that I would get the cookbook once I had the babies. The book was under the Christmas tree for me this year, and this recipe for Pasta Bake with Sausage, Spinach and Beans was the first I tried. I made a few changes - I used spinach instead of the broccoli the recipe called for because Joe dislikes spinach less than he dislikes broccoli, and I used a sun-dried tomato and mozzarella chicken sausage in place of the turkey sausage.

This pasta was really, really good! I love the addition of the beans, and it was deliciously creamy with a nice crunchy crust on top. I'm anxious to try more recipes from the cookbook as soon as I get another chance!

(Blogger hates me right now and won't let me copy the recipe to this post, so please use the direct link until I can get it pasted!

The reasons for my lack of cooking - Charlie and Lily, 7 months old!

Incredible Bundt Cake

2009-09-02T14:49:00.000-07:00

Sometime over the course of the last year or so I acquired a cookbook called 101 Things to Do With a Cake Mix. I pulled it out yesterday as I had just been to the grocery store and cake mixes were on sale (gotta love 10 for $10 items!). I decided to whip something up for the NICU nurses. I make brownies and cookies a lot, so I decided to go with a cake. I originally chose a chocolatey cake, but then I remembered something.

Last week I was telling Lily's primary nurse Julia about my plan to bring in cupcakes for the babies 2 month birthday and Julia informed me that "Lily" was not a fan of chocolate cake and preferred vanilla. As not to disappoint "Lily," I ditched the chocolate cake and went with this one instead. The problem with making a cake to give away is that you can't taste it beforehand. However, if the aroma it made while baking is any indication, this cake is awesome! I got many compliments on it from the nurses today, so I think it's a winner! While typing this recipe I realized that I forgot to divide the chips and nuts and instead put them all in one layer. I'm not sure if it made much of a difference, but next time I'll try to pay attention to the directions!

Incredible Bundt Cake

1 yellow cake mix
1 small box vanilla pudding
1 cup sour cream
3 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1 cup chopped pecans, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using and electric mixer, blend the cake mix, pudding, sour cream, eggs, oil and applesauce 5-6 minutes. Grease and flour a bundt or tube pan. Pour 1/3 of the batter into pan and sprinkle one half of chocolate chips and nuts over it. Pour in remaining batter and top with remaining chips and nuts. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool about 5 minutes, then turn out onto a serving plate; cool completely.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-09-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

Charlie and Lily have been in the NICU for a little over 2 months now. In this time we've really gotten to know many of their nurses well, and they are wonderful, wonderful women. To show our gratitude to them in some small way, I try to bake them treats at least once a week. Sometimes it's just brownies from a box, but when I have time I try to do something from scratch. These cookies were one of the first treats I made for them after I got out of the hospital and they were delicious! Rich and fudgy and chewy - a huge hit! I left out the nuts in case anyone was allergic and I added a cup of semisweet chocolate chips in addition to the white chips.

(The recipe is linked above, but I will add it to the post later. For some reason Blogger is refusing to let me copy and paste...)

I'm back!

2009-09-02T14:32:00.001-07:00

So by now everyone knows why I haven't been baking or cooking much since my last post! Joe and I have been spending a lot of time in the NICU with Charlie and Lily - we love being parents! I don't have much free time at home these days, but I'm trying to cook and bake a little when I can. So stay tuned for some new posts!

On Hiatus

2009-05-16T09:59:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm sorry to announce that "...and a cookie for dessert" will be taking a rather lengthy hiatus. I've been put on bedrest, most likely until the babies arrive, and then I think I'm going to have my hands full for awhile after that. I hope to be able to return at some point though, as I really do love this blog!! But thank you to everyone who's been reading all this time and hopefully, I'll be back!!

In the meantime, if you're curious to see what's going on with me in baby land, check out my baby blog - http://threecheersforbabies.blogspot.com/

Cake Batter Ice Cream

2009-05-06T08:07:00.000-07:00

Now that the weather is finally getting warmer I decided it was time to break out my ice cream maker. I knew that Lauren had been using her ice cream maker all through the winter so she had an arsenal of great recipes for me to choose from. I bookmarked several, but decided to give this cake batter ice cream a whirl first since Joe is a big fan of cake batter ice cream. Like Lauren I used Funfetti cake mix, but heeding her warning about the sprinkles dissolving I added more sprinkles to my ice cream at the very end, just to make it more colorful. This ice cream is SO delicious! And the ice cream came out perfect - creamy and rich and the perfect consistency. In fact, I think it's the best ice cream I've ever made! I highly recommend this!

Cake Batter Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk, well chilled
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy cream, well chilled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup Funfetti cake mix

In a medium bowl, whisk the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved.

Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla.

Stir in cake mix, making sure there are no lumps.

Pour mixture into the freezer bowl of your ice cream maker and let mix until it has thickened (about 25-30 minutes).

Remove ice cream from freezer bowl and place into a separate container.

Place freezer bowl and the ice cream into the freezer to further harden.

Weeknight Paella

2009-05-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

Another winner from my friend Colleen! Joe and I love paella. In fact, Joe loves basically any combination of proteins and rice. This paella uses shrimp and sausage and comes together with the help of some Mexican rice mix and peas. It's incredibly delicious and is perfect for a weeknight, just as Colleen described. I did not have any chorizo so I used turkey sausage and it was still fantastic! I look forward to having this again soon!

Weeknight Paella

2/3 cups yellow rice (Goya)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/2 pound chorizo, sliced
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons chicken broth
1 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1/3 cup frozen peas

Heat olive oil in large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add rice and cook until it begins to toast, about 1-2 minutes.

Add shallot and garlic and continue to saute until garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add shrimp, chorizo, and broth. Cover pan tightly and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for 18 minutes.

Remove lid, add parsley and peas and cook until heated through. Continue cooking uncovered until all liquid is absorbed.

Famous "Ben-chiladas"

2009-05-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

I've heard a lot about these enchiladas on the What's Cooking board - a creation of the awesome Annie. I was inspired to make it though when I saw it on Lauren's blog and she posted that her husband Pat liked them. I had been unsure but Joe and Pat often have similar tastes so hearing that Pat enjoyed it was a good sign. And it was - Joe LOVED this! He raved about it the entire time he was eating it. Plus it was super quick and simple to put together. I made it even simpler by using Perdue pre-cooked Southwestern chicken strips - all I had to do was take the chicken from the package and put it right into the tortillas. I will definitely make this again!

Annie's Ben-chiladas

1 package Perdue Southwestern pre-cooked chicken strips
8 oz. reduced fat sour cream
8 oz. Ranch salad dressing
flour tortillas
jar of salsa
shredded Mexican cheese

In a large mixing bowl, combine half of the sour cream and half of the Ranch dressing. In a small bowl, combine the rest of the sour cream and Ranch dressing. Stir both until well combined. Add the chicken to the large mixing bowl. Mix well with sauce.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Grease a 9 x 13″ pan (and possibly another, smaller pan if needed). Take one tortilla and top with a little less than 1 tbsp. of the sauce from the small bowl. Spread over the tortilla in an even layer. Add some of the chicken mixture to the center of the tortilla. Top with salsa to taste. Sprinkle with shredded cheese, to taste. Roll up tortilla and place, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining ingredients (I only made 4 large enchiladas but you can make as many as you need by increasing the amount of ingredients.)

Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes (30 for a crispier tortilla). Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.

Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi

2009-05-03T07:27:00.000-07:00

Another winner from the My Recipes Dinner Tonight emails that I received. John had offered to cook for us and I had a bag of shrimp in my freezer so I forwarded this recipe to him. It sounded quick and easy - and delicious - and it was! I love orzo and this dish was creamy and buttery and just plain good!

Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi

1 cup uncooked orzo
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
7 teaspoons unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Cook orzo according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Place orzo in a medium bowl. Stir in parsley and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cover and keep warm.

While orzo cooks, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add half of shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer shrimp to a plate. Melt 1 teaspoon butter in pan. Add remaining shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer to plate.

Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in pan. Add garlic to pan; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in shrimp, juice, and pepper; cook 1 minute or until shrimp are done.

An Excuse - Times 3!

2009-04-24T10:47:00.001-07:00

So I've been gone for quite some time now, and I apologize! But I have a good reason - in fact, I have three!! I am expecting triplets in late August! Joe and I are so, so excited and ready to be parents to our beautiful little babies. Needless to say, I've sort of been preoccupied with things other than my food blog. A combination of not having the energy or desire to cook, having had surgery I needed to recover from, and the development of an aversion to chicken breasts (what used to be our main protein) have led Joe and I to live off of takeout (hello, Wendy's) and meals prepared by my wonderful mother-in-law.

Of course, a perk of being pregnant with triplets is that you need to gain a lot of weight and eat a lot of calories daily. Therefore, I have become a close personal friend of Cold Stone Creamery, Carvel, the Chinese delivery guy... Or I should say Joe has become a close personal friend as he is the one who keeps me stocked with treats :)

I do have a few new recipes ready to blog and I hope to get to that soon. In the meantime, if anyone has super fast and easy recipes that are simple enough for a husband to prepare (and 0that don't involve whole chicken breasts) please send them my way! I also accept donations for my daily ice cream habit....

A new post! Tortellini Salad

2009-03-30T08:03:00.001-07:00

Can you believe it? I have a new post! Well, kind of new. This is a modified version of this pasta salad, but it's so good I thought it was worth posting again!

I made this tortellini salad for our most recent girls get together with Lauren, Sarah and Colleen. (Jenn and Katie, you were missed!). We went with a brunch theme this time, so I thought this tortellini salad would fit right in. And it went great with Colleen's awesome chicken salad, Sarah's amazing salad and Lauren's decadent stuffed French toast. (See Lauren's blog post for all the yummy details of our goodies!) This salad is super easy to throw together (it really requires no real cooking - shhhhhh) and is perfect for the soon-to-be-arriving warmer weather!

Tortellini Salad

2 bags frozen tri-color tortellini
1 can sliced black olives
1/2 jar roasted red peppers, chopped
1/2 jar artichoke hearts, chopped
1 ball fresh mozzarella, cubed
2 cups bottled sun-dried tomato dressing

Cook tortellini according to package directions. Place in bowl and toss with 1 cup dressing. Allow to cool. Toss in all other ingredients and additional 1/2 cup of dressing. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, toss with the final 1/2 cup dressing.

I'm still here!

2009-03-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

I need to apologize to my poor neglected blog for the lack of updates. I've had some health issues recently that have prevented me from doing any cooking or baking. I'm hoping though that by next week I'm back on my feet and back in the kitchen. Stay tuned!

Oreo Fudge Bars

2009-03-02T13:14:00.001-08:00

From the moment I saw these bars on Stephanie's blog I knew that I had to make them. They looked SO good. Last Friday John and Rebecca invited us over for dinner so I offered to make these bars for dessert. These are great because they are different. There's no cake to them at all, just Oreos and creamy chocolate. They are rich and delicious and very, very good. John and Rebecca made an awesome chicken chili (which I'll be making soon to post!) and we enjoyed these bars while we played Trivial Pursuit. For a quick and rich dessert, these are perfect!

Oreo Fudge Bars

1 16oz. package of Oreo cookies
1 stick butter, melted
1/4 tsp satl
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (I used another 1/2 cup semi-sweet)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I used regular)

Preheat the oven to 325. Line a 9×13 pan with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray. Set aside 6 Oreo cookies for the toppings. In a small food processor grind the rest of the cookies. If you don’t have a food processor, just pound with a rolling pin until the cookies are fine crumbs. Add the salt to the crumbs and stir to combine. Melt butter and gently stir together with the cookie crumb mixutre. Press firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Coarsely chop the remaining cookies into chunks and set aside.Over a double boiler or in the microwave, melt 3/4 cup semi-sweet and 1/2 cup milk chocoalte chips together with the condensed milk and vanilla. Stir frequently until smooth. Spread evenly over the prepared cookie crust.

Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips and the Oreo cookies chunks over the top of the filling. Press down gently into the chocolate topping. Bake for 20-22 minutes oven. Allow to cool on counter for 1 hour. Chill in fridge until completely cold and set before cutting into bars.

A gift of baked ziti

2009-03-02T13:07:00.000-08:00

Our next door neighbors recently brought home their new baby boy. I wanted to bring them something for the occassion and figured that food would be the most practical gift for the new parents. I decided to make them a pan of baked ziti for a quick and easy dinner, and I also whipped up some chocolate chip muffins. The muffins were from a mix, so no recipe, but this ziti was from scratch. I have tons of ziti recipes floating around, but I decided this time to just use the one on the back of the San Giorgio pasta box. I made one pan for my neighbors and kept one pan for Joe and I to enjoy. This ziti was really good. So gooey and creamy - I just love ricotta! Our neighbors were very happy with the food and I was happy to get to fuss over the cute little baby!

Baked Ziti

1 box ziti, uncooked
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 3/4 cups ricotta cheese (15 oz)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz)
1 Tbsp parsley
1 egg
1 Tsp oregano
1/2 Tsp garlic powder
1/2 Tsp salt
1/4 Tsp black pepper
3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375°F. Cook pasta according to package directions for 9 minutes; drain. In large bowl, stir together hot pasta, 1-1/2 cups spaghetti sauce, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, parsley, egg, oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper. In 13×9 x 2-inch baking dish, spoon pasta mixture; top with remaining 1-1/2 cups sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese; cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Birthday Banana Cake

2009-03-02T12:49:00.000-08:00

It's become a tradition for me to make my dad's birthday cake each year. Last year's German chocolate cake didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked, so I was relieved this year when he asked for something relatively simple - a banana cake. My mom requested that the cake also contain chocolate, so I hit my Google Reader in search of the perfect recipe. I found this one on Cate's blog and it looked perfect - simple and delicious.

This cake was very easy to make. My only issue came with the frosting. It was delicious (I mean, it starts with melted chocolate, how could it be bad?) but I found that it wasn't very spreadable. I got it on the cake, but it wound up getting kind of dry and sort of falling off the cake when it was cut. It did taste great though, so no one minded. Everyone enjoyed this cake - served with a scoop of fudge ripple ice cream it was the perfect birthday treat!

Banana Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting

Cake:
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 ripe bananas
4 tbsp yogurt or sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Grease a 13 x 9 baking dish.
Combine the butter, sugar and vanilla in a stand mixer and mix well.
Mash bananas and add to butter mixture.
Stir in yogurt and eggs, mixing well.
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to the batter, stirring until blended.
Fold in chocolate chips.
Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Set pan on a wire rack to cool.

Frosting:
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp milk
Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave or the top of a double boiler and cool slightly.
Place butter and chocolate in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat for 2 minutes on medium-high speed.
Add powdered sugar and continue mixing.
Add the milk about 1/2 tsp at a time until the frosting is a spreadable consistency.

Pinch Hitting: Buffalo Chicken Dip

2009-02-22T13:18:00.000-08:00

When Joe first met our friend Doug, it was love at first sight. Aside from their mutual enjoyment of baseball, comic books and Wii, Joe was smitten with the Buffalo Chicken Dip that Doug made for our first get together with he and his wife Christina. Joe loved it so much, in fact, that poor Doug now has to make the dip every time he knows he's going to see Joe. We were supposed to get together with Doug and Christina for dinner and Wii on Saturday night, but poor Christina got sick and had to cancel. Upon hearing that our plans were cancelled, Joe (after inquiring about Christina's health, of course...) promptly cried, "No dip?!?!" Followed by "Well, Doug's not sick. He could come over here!" In order to ease the pain of Joe's Doug-less night, I offered to make buffalo chicken dip for him myself. I hit Google and searched for a recipe that sounded about right, and settled on this one from Frank's RedHot. This dip is super easy to put together and is spicy and creamy - pure heaven, in Joe's opinion. He assured me that it was just as good as Doug's dip, but he may have been just sparing my feelings. Feel better Christina - Joe misses your husband! :)

Buffalo Chicken Dip

8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup blue cheese or ranch salad dressing
1/2 cup any flavor hot sauce
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cans (9.75 oz. each) Premium Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained

Heat oven to 350°F. Place cream cheese into deep baking dish. Stir until smooth. Mix in salad dressing, hot sauce and cheese. Stir in chicken. Bake 20 min. or until mixture is heated through; stir. Garnish as desired. Serve with crackers or vegetables.

Microwave Directions: Prepare as above. Place in microwave-safe dish. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 5 min. until hot, stirring halfway through cooking.

Slow Cooker Method: Combine ingredients as directed above. Place mixture into small slow cooker. Cover pot. Heat on HIGH setting for 1 1/2 hours until hot and bubbly or on LOW setting for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Stir.

Happy Birthday Anne! (and piggy cookies!)

2009-02-18T14:38:00.000-08:00

My mother-in-law's birthday is today, and what's a birthday without a cake? I asked her what type she'd like and she just said "something chocolate." Easy enough! I had a bunch of leftover Halloween candy still in my pantry so I decided to utilize that as well. Peanut butter cups...mmmm. To avoid chocolate overload (as if there was such a thing - ha!) I decided to fill the cake layers with our favorite peanut butter frosting. Seriously, this stuff is beyond amazing! I made the cake from a box (I've had some bad luck with cakes from scratch) and stuffed the layers with the peanut butter frosting and chopped up peanut butter cups.

I spread some triple chocolate frosting (courtesy of Betty Crocker) on the top and added more peanut butter cups. The result? Rich, peanut buttery and delicious!

Happy birthday, Anne!

On another note, Joe came home from school yesterday with some cookies that some of his students had made in their home ec class. Aren't they the cutest things?!?

Birthday Mac and Cheese

2009-02-18T14:28:00.001-08:00

My mother-in-law Anne's birthday is today so on Monday evening we had the family over to celebrate. I made thyme-coated pork loin and a salad, my brother-in-law John's girlfriend Rebecca made corn muffins and John and Rebecca made Classic Macaroni and Cheese from Cook's Illustrated. They had made this recipe before and raved about it, so I asked them to recreate it for dinner.

John and Rebecca adding the cheese....mmmm.

This macaroni and cheese was fantastic! It was gooey and creamy with just the right amount of flavor. A definite hit!

Classic Macaroni and Cheese

Bread Crumb Topping:
6 slices white sandwich bread (good-quality, about 6 ounces), torn into rough pieces
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold), cut into 6 pieces

Pasta and Cheese:
1 pound elbow macaroni
1 tablespoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 teaspoons powdered mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
5 cups milk
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese , shredded (2 cups)
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese , shredded (2 cups)
1 teaspoon salt

For the bread crumbs: Pulse bread and butter in food processor until crumbs are no larger than 1/8 inch, ten to fifteen 1-second pulses. Set aside.

For the pasta and cheese: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat broiler. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven over high heat. Add macaroni and 1 tablespoon salt; cook until pasta is tender. Drain pasta and set aside in colander.

In now-empty Dutch oven, heat butter over medium-high heat until foaming. Add flour, mustard, and cayenne (if using) and whisk well to combine. Continue whisking until mixture becomes fragrant and deepens in color, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; bring mixture to boil, whisking constantly (mixture must reach full boil to fully thicken). Reduce heat to medium and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened to consistency of heavy cream, about 5 minutes. Off heat, whisk in cheeses and 1 teaspoon salt until cheeses are fully melted. Add pasta and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is steaming and heated through, about 6 minutes.

Transfer mixture to broiler-safe 9-by 13-inch baking dish and sprinkle evenly with bread crumbs. Broil until crumbs are deep golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes, rotating pan if necessary for even browning. Cool about 5 minutes, then serve.

"Freaking Good" Texas Chicken Quesadillas

2009-02-10T16:29:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago when my friends and I got together for Mexican themed lunch, Jenn made these awesome quesadillas. I'm not a big fan of traditional Mexican food, so in my book these were perfect. I ate way more than my fair share of them during lunch and immediately put them on my menu for dinner this week. Were they a good as I remember? Hell yes! These things are amazing. I think it's the caramelized onion/honey mixture that really makes them - so tangy and sweet. Joe and I were drooling over these while the chicken was still browning in the pan, and all that anticipation was well deserved. These rock - plain and simple. Between just about every bite Joe announced, "These are freaking good!" And they are. I followed the recipe exactly and baked them in the oven since I don't have a quesadilla maker. But these make me want to buy one. Seriously. But for now, I'll just settle for making them again very, very soon!

Texas Chicken Quesadillas

2 TBSP of oil
1-1/2 onions (vidalia is preferred) sliced into rings
1 TBSP honey
2 chicken breasts, diced
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1 Cup shredded Mexican cheese
8 ten inch flour tortillas

Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add the onions and cook until they begin to caramelize. Mix in the honey and stir until it is golden brown. Remove and set aside.Place the remaining oil in the pan and add the chicken. Cook through over a medium high heat. Stir in the BBQ sauce to evenly coat the chicken.Place the chicken, onions and cheese onto a tortilla, top with the other tortilla and cook in your quesadilla maker about 5 minutes. Alternatively, you can cook them in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Seriously...LOOK at that filling!!! Mmmmm.....

Creamy Cajun Shrimp Linguine

2009-02-10T16:17:00.001-08:00

Last week frozen shrimp was on sale at the grocery store so I snagged a bag. My favorite way to enjoy shrimp is with pasta, and I'm always looking for new recipes to try. I saw this one on my friend Colleen's blog and thought it looked perfect. Not only was this pasta delicious but it was very easy to make. I followed Colleen's modifications - I used fat free half and half and roasted red peppers, plus I chose turkey bacon instead of regular. I left out the mushrooms because Joe doesn't like them and I wasn't really in the mood for them.

I found that I really didn't have much sauce after I'd followed the recipe, so I added about another 1/4 cup of half and half and an extra shake of Cajun seasoning. I still would have liked it a little saucier, but it was delicious nonetheless. And Joe preferred it the way it was so it ended up working out just fine. This pasta is creamy and delicious, with just the right amount of kick. I hope shrimp is on sale again soon!

Creamy Cajun Shrimp Linguine

8 ounces uncooked linguine
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
about 6 slices bacon or turkey bacon, cooked and chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 (8 ounce) package presliced mushrooms (I omitted)
7 ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained and sliced or 1 large red pepper, chopped
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Bring medium pot of water to boil. Add linguine and cook 5 minutes. Add shrimp to pot and cook 3 more minutes. Drain and keep warm.Melt butter in large skillet. Add roasted red peppers and mushrooms; saute 4 minutes or until moisture evaporates. Add flour, seasoning, and salt to pan; saute 30 seconds. Stir in half-and-half; cook one minute or more until sauce thickens, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add pasta mixture, bacon, and parsley to pan; stirring to combine.

Chicken Enchiliada Soup

2009-02-07T07:25:00.000-08:00

I've really been enjoying making soup for dinner recently, so I was excited to find this recipe on Deborah's blog. And I was extra excited to see that it used the crock pot - I do love my crock pot! I lessened my work even more by buying a package of Perdue southwestern pre-cooked chicken strips, so all I had to do when I got home from work was toss the chicken into the soup to heat up - no stove top cooking at all! I left out the 2 cups of cheese that the original recipe called for because without it this is a pretty healthy soup! I sprinkled a little cheese on top and it was perfect. (And okay I MAY have served this with cheese quesadillas, but at least the soup is low fat...) I loved this soup! It is incredibly flavorful and hearty and just plain good. I'm looking forward to having the leftovers for lunch today!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1 10-ounce package frozen whole kernel corn
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped yellow, green, or red bell pepper
1 10-ounce can enchilada sauce
1 10.75-ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup
2 cups milk (I used skim)
1 cup shredded Pepperjack cheese (4 ounces)
4 chicken breasts

In a 3 1/2 to 5 quart slow cooker, combine drained beans, drained tomatoes, corn, onion, and bell pepper. In a large bowl, whisk together enchilada sauce and soup. Gradually whisk in milk until smooth. Pour sauce mixture over ingredients in cooker.Cover; cook on low heat for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours. Cut chicken into bite sized cubes. Cook over medium heat until cooked all the way through. Add into soup. Can be topped with avocado, sour cream, or crushed tortilla chips. Sprinkle a little cheese on top before serving.

Crispy Chicken Strips

2009-02-07T07:17:00.000-08:00

This week John's coworker made him a humongous pan of her delicious macaroni and cheese and John was kind enough to share some of it with Joe and I. I wanted to use the mac and cheese as a side dish, so I needed a chicken recipe that would be a good accompaniment. Everyone knows that fried chicken goes well with mac and cheese, but I just do not like fried chicken, plus I have never fried anything in my life - all that oil? No way! So I searched some of my favorite food blogs and found this recipe of Stephanie's for crispy chicken strips. I made just a few changes - I used regular breadcrumbs in place of panko, egg beaters in place of eggs and Dijon mustard in place of honey, as Joe does not like his dinner foods sweet.

These chicken strips were great! Nice and juicy with a delicious crispy crust. I dipped mine in ketchup ;) They were a great match for the gooey mac and cheese and will definitely be making an appearance in my kitchen again! Now I just need more of that mac and cheese! John........?

Crispy Chicken Strips

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1 cup Egg Beaters
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
8 ounces Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a baking pan with aluminum foil to make clean-up quick and easy.Combine flour, onion powder and paprika in a shallow dish. In a second shallow dish, beat 2 eggs, then add honey and stir to combine. In a third shallow dish, add the panko bread crumbs and Italian seasoning, if using it). Dip the chicken strips first, in the flour mixture, then the eggs and finally in the panko bread crumbs. Make sure to press the crumbs into the chicken in order to ensure they adhere to the chicken.Please all chicken strips on prepared baking pan, then spray each strip with cooking spray. Bake for about 20 minutes or until done.

Mexican Chocolate Crunch Brownies

2009-02-01T06:47:00.000-08:00

Last December I got together with my wonderful friends Lauren, Sarah, Jenn and Colleen for a potluck lunch. We had so much fun that we decided to do it again this past Saturday. We chose Mexican for our lunch theme and I was put in charge of dessert. I have to admit I was at a bit of a loss, as there aren't a ton of Mexican desserts to choose from. I didn't want anything too heavy, as Mexican food is so heavy, and I also didn't want anything super complicated. I remembered that Anna of Cookie Madness had posted several Mexican cookies and brownies on her blog, so I ran over there for inspiration. It was there that I found this recipe for Mexican Chocolate Crunch Brownies.

They sounded yummy, plus I had all the ingredients on hand except for the cereal, so they were also convenient. These came together in no time and have a wonderful chocolate/cinnamon aroma. I have to admit, I wasn't sure what I thought of these at first. The crunchy cereal base kind of threw me off, but the more I tasted, the more they grew on me. The girls seemed to like them a bit more than I did, so they couldn't have been too bad. I loved the addition of cinnamon to the brownie batter and the cinnamon sugar topping. They were a nice ending to our wonderful Mexican feast!

As for that feast, we started off with awesome barbecue chicken quesadillas made by Jenn and delicious dip and guacamole from Colleen. For our main course, Lauren made us a Mexican taco bake and Sarah made Mexican rice. Everything was delicious! (I believe Sarah is going to post all the food from our lunch, so check out her blog for all the mouth-watering pics!) Thanks to Jenn for hosting and I can't wait to do it again!

Mexican Chocolate Crunch Brownies

1box (12.8 oz) Cinnamon Toast Crunch® cereal (about 8 cups)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 box (19.5 oz) fudge brownie mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons cinnamon-sugar (from 3.62-oz jar)*

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. Place cereal in food processor bowl with metal blade (crush cereal in 2 batches if necessary). Cover; process until finely crushed (about 4 cups). Or place cereal in large resealable food-storage plastic bag; crush with rolling pin. (I did it in a bowl with a potato masher!) In large bowl, stir butter and corn syrup until well blended. Add crushed cereal; mix thoroughly. Press evenly in pan.

In large bowl, make brownie mix as directed on box, using oil, water and eggs and adding cinnamon. Stir in 2/3 cup of the chocolate chips. Pour brownie batter over cereal mixture. Sprinkle remaining 2/3 cup chocolate chips evenly over batter.
Bake 20 minutes. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar evenly over brownies. Bake 14 to 18 minutes longer or until brownies are set when lightly touched in center. Cool 10 minutes; loosen edges but do not cut. Cool completely, about 2 hours. For brownies, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows.

*Three tablespoons sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon can be substituted for the cinnamon sugar.

Hamburger Noodle Casserole

2009-01-29T15:57:00.000-08:00

Tonight's dinner was another yummy recipe from the Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet magazine. This lightened hamburger noodle casserole is sort of a homemade hamburger helper, but much tastier! The addition of ricotta, sour cream and cream cheese make it nice and gooey and the egg noodles keep it from being too much like a baked ziti. I made a few changes to the recipe - I used only 4 ounces of cream cheese but a cup and half of ricotta (I used fat free), omitted the onion, used whole wheat egg noodles and used shredded mozzarella in place of the cheddar. This was a nice, simple comforting recipe - and it makes a ton so you can enjoy the leftovers another a night!

Hamburger Noodle Casserole

5 cups uncooked egg noodles
1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cans (8 ounces each) tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 package (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese
1 cup reduced-fat ricotta cheese
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
3 green onions, thinly sliced, divided
2/3 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, cook beef and garlic until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomato sauce, sugar, salt and pepper; heat through. Drain noodles; stir into beef mixture. In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, ricotta cheese and sour cream until blended. Stir in half of the onions. Spoon half of the noodle mixture into a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with cheese mixture and remaining noodle mixture. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through and cheese is melted. Sprinkle with remaining onions.

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie

2009-01-28T16:54:00.001-08:00

Today was a snow day for Joe and I, and what better to do on a day like this than bake cookies? These Best, Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies definitely get a lot of face time on cooking blogs. Some people adore them and some find them overrated. I fall into the former category - I LOVE these cookies. They are by far my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. They come out just the way I like them - big and sturdy, soft in the middle and crisp on the edges. And loaded with chocolate! Two tips for making these cookies turn out fantastic - chill the dough for at least 2 hours in the fridge before baking and let the cookies cool completely on the cookie sheets. I think it's a combination of these two things that makes the cookies nice and chewy. Oh okay, and a third tip - make them big! They definitely lose something if you try to portion them smaller. I used my 1/4 cup ice cream scoop and recommend something similar! Definitely give these a try - even if they don't turn out to be your new favorites, you'll still have some kick-ass cookies!

Best, Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Cover dough and chill for 2 hours.
Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool completely on baking sheet.

Spicy Pork Sandwiches

2009-01-28T16:40:00.000-08:00

My experiments with pork continue! This sandwich marks my first attempt at using ground pork. I spotted this recipe on kmay's blog and thought it looked like a nice throwback to summertime. What were supposed to be po'-boys morphed into plain old sandwiches when a yucky snow storm kept me from wanting to go to the store and get a baguette and lettuce. Instead I grilled these babies up and put "naked" the on wheat hamburger rolls. And they were delicious! The variety of seasonings make them nice and spicy, but the heat is nicely balanced by the mayo/mustard spread. I'll definitely make these again when the weather gets warmer - I know they'll be even better on the grill as opposed to on the stove top.

Spicy Pork Po-Boys

1 1/2 pounds ground pork
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/4 teaspoons dried thyme
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 medium kosher dill pickles, very finely chopped
1/2 small shallot, minced
Four 8-inch soft baguettes, split
2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce (I used green leaf lettuce.)
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
Hot sauce, for serving

Preheat a grill pan. In a large bowl, using your hands, mix the ground pork with the paprika, thyme, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Form the pork into twelve 1/2-inch-thick patties. Grill the pork patties over moderate heat, turning once, until they are cooked through, about 8 minutes total.
Meanwhile, mix the mayonnaise with the Dijon mustard, pickles and shallot and season with salt and pepper. Spread the mayonnaise on both sides of the baguettes.
Place 3 pork patties on the bottom of each baguette and top with the lettuce, tomato and a few splashes of hot sauce. Close the sandwiches and serve.

Lentil Sausage Soup

2009-01-25T16:27:00.000-08:00

Joe and I eat lentils once a year - on New Year's Eve. Joe's grandmother Lucy believes that eating lentils at midnight on New Year's Eve will bring one luck and prosperity in the coming year. Each New Year's Eve Joe and I buy a can of lentil soup (Lucy used to make her own before her arthritis got the better of her) and dutifully eat a spoonful (and feed some to Roy, Roger and Tucker too) when the clock strikes 12 on January 1st. Each year we take our bite of lentil soup and say, "Mmmm, that's not bad. I'd eat that." But then we never do.

So when I spotted this recipe for sausage and lentil soup on Tara's blog I thought it was the perfect opportunity to try lentils on another occasion. And I'm glad I did - this soup is fantastic! I halved the recipe (the full version appears below) because it seemed like it would make a lot of soup. That was the right decision - Joe and I each had a nice big bowl and there are still a lot of leftovers! The only other changes I made was to sub spinach for the leeks (I stirred in a few cups of spinach right before I added the kielbasa) and to use turkey kielbasa for a little less fat and calories.

I was definitely happy with the way this turned out. It was the perfect cold Sunday evening supper. I wonder if eating lentils after New Year's Eve is also good luck? I hope so, because I could use some this week! :)

Lentil Sausage Soup

1 pound French green lentils (recommended: du Puy)
1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra for serving
4 cups diced yellow onions (3 large)
4 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts only (2 leeks)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (2 large cloves)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 cups medium diced celery (8 stalks)
3 cups medium diced carrots (4 to 6 carrots)
3 quarts chicken stock or broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 pound kielbasa, cut in 1/2 lengthwise and sliced 1/3-inch thick
2 tablespoons dry red wine or red wine vinegar
Freshly grated Parmesan, for serving

In a large bowl, cover the lentils with boiling water and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drain.
In a large stockpot over medium heat, heat the olive oil and saute the onions, leeks, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, and cumin for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are translucent and tender. Add the celery and carrots and saute for another 10 minutes. Add the chicken stock, tomato paste, and drained lentils, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, or until the lentils are cooked through and tender. Check the seasonings. Add the kielbasa and red wine and simmer until the kielbasa is hot. Serve drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with grated Parmesan.

Must Make Chicken

2009-01-19T16:50:00.000-08:00

You need to make this chicken. Now. Right now. What are you waiting for? Seriously - go make this chicken! I loooooved this dish (in case you couldn't tell)! I've had this recipe in my files for a long time and for some reason I had never made it. In fact, I don't even know where I got it, but I did track it down on Recipezaar. I selected it sort of spur of the moment last night and am so glad I did! The flavor of this is wonderful and the melty cheese and crunchy stuffing topping are a great contrast. I added about a cup of sliced mushrooms and and 2 cups of spinach to the sauce before pouring it over the chicken and I really liked this edition, plus it added some nutrients. I will most definitely be making this again - I was practically licking my plate!

Swiss Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 slices Swiss cheese
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup herb seasoned stuffing mix
1/4 cup butter, melted (I used cooking spray)

Arrange chicken in a lightly greased 13x9 inch baking dish. Top chicken with Swiss cheese. Combine soup and wine and stir until well mixed and spoon soup mixture evenly over chicken. Sprinkle with crumbled stuffing mix and drizzle melted butter over crumbs. Bake at 325° for one hour.

Honey Yeast Rolls

2009-01-19T16:39:00.000-08:00

It's been way too long since I posted some bread, so here you go! I love, love, love making fresh bread and rolls, and mixing the dough in the bread machine makes it so much simpler. I did that with the dough for these amazing honey yeast rolls - I put all the ingredients (through the flour) in the bread machine on the dough cycle, then picked up the recipe in the third paragraph when my dough was done. So easy and so awesome! These rolls, courtesy of Amber, are delicious! Slightly sweet and soft and yeasty - yum! I followed Amber's suggestion and baked the rolls in a 9 x 13" baking dish and I recommend you do the same - I can't imagine all these big fluffy rolls fitting in a 9-inch pan. Joe and I gobbled up more than our share of these babies and are looking forward to polishing the rest off tomorrow!

Honey Yeast Rolls

2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 cup warm water (105°-115° F)
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoon canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 cups bread flour, separated
vegetable cooking spray
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon honey

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the yeast and warm water. Add the honey, oil, salt, and egg and mix well. Add 3 cups of the flour and mix until the dough comes together in a sticky mass. With the mixer on low speed, add the remaining 1 cup flour and mix until it is incorporated into the dough. Switch to the dough hook, and continue kneading on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.

Form the dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in bulk, about 2 hours.*

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 30 seconds. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.Punch the dough down and divide into 12 equal portions. Shape each portion into a ball and place into a round, lightly greased baking dish, spacing evenly. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 20 minutes. Mix together the melted butter and honey, and brush lightly over the tops of the rolls. Bake at 400° for 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*To utilize your bread machine, put all ingredients (through flour) into the machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer and select the dough cycle. Once dough is done, proceed with paragraph 3 of the recipe.

Parmesan Potato Balls

2009-01-18T07:24:00.000-08:00

I've mentioned before that my side dishes are often lacking in the creativity department. Rice, roasted potatoes, cheesy pasta - that's pretty much my repertoire. So when I spotted this recipe for Parmesan potato balls in the Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet magazine (a really great purchase, by the way!) I knew I had to give them a try. I'm going to link to the original recipe here, but I made a lot of changes so I'm posting my modified version below. First off, I'm lazy when it comes to mashed potatoes. DH and I are both perfectly content with instant mashed potatoes so I just can't be bothered going through the process of boiling and mashing potatoes. Plus, while I had cornflakes in my pantry for the crust, I didn't feel like crushing them up (hey, it was Friday night, what can I say?) so I used breadcrumbs instead.

These potato balls were really good! They had a nice crunchy exterior with a warm, creamy interior - very comforting. Plus, they had great flavor from the onion soup mix and hot sauce. Joe and I both liked these and I'll definitely be adding them to my side dish rotation!

Parmesan Potato Balls

3 cups prepared mashed potatoes
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 1/2 teaspoons onion soup mix
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 dash pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs

In a large mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese into the potatoes until smooth. Stir in Parmesan cheese, soup mix, salt, hot pepper sauce and pepper. Shape into 1 1/2 inch balls. Place the egg and breadcrumbs in separate shallow bowls. Dip potato balls in egg, then roll in crumbs. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.

Mini Cheseburger Meatloaves

2009-01-16T11:49:00.000-08:00

This is one of those recipes that is so good you honestly can't believe how simple it was. I've actually made these before, but for some reason they have yet to make it on the blog -probably because they're hard to get a nice picture of! They may not be pretty, but they are delicious! This is an Everyday Food recipe that I found on the Joy Through Cooking blog and made just a few modifications to. These little meatloaves take all of five minutes to assemble and bake in 20 minutes, so they're a perfect weeknight meal. And they're full of flavor! It's amazing that a simple glaze of ketchup and mustard can be so tasty, but it is - like eating a juicy cheeseburger without the bun. I definitely recommend these for a family-pleasing meal!

Mini Cheeseburger Meatloaves

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 pound extra lean ground beef
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons mustard and ketchup. In a medium bowl, combine beef, egg, breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup cheddar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and teaspoon pepper. Form into four 2-by-4-inch loaves; place on baking sheet. Brush with mustard mixture; top with remaining 1/2 cup cheddar.

Transfer meatloaves to upper rack of oven. Bake until loaves are cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating sheets after 10 minutes. Remove loaves from oven.

Marble-ous Peanut Butter Dessert

2009-01-12T14:29:00.000-08:00

This dessert is frozen chocolate peanut butter perfection! My mother-in-law called this past Saturday to invite Joe and I over for dinner on Sunday and I offered to bring a dessert. I had plans during the day on Sunday, so I was going to need to make whatever it was I decided to make on Saturday. I didn't want to have to go to the store, so I perused my cookbooks to find a dessert that I already had all the ingredients for. It didn't take me long to select this one, from the Best of Pillsbury Bake-Off Desserts cookbook. I'd actually been eyeing this recipe for awhile and I had everything on hand, plus it sounded light and refreshing, which would be a good compliment to the gnocchi my mother-in-law was serving for our meal.

This dessert is super simple to put together. I made only a few changes. I used fat free cool whip in place of the whipping cream and since I was feeling lazy and didn't want to bother melting chocolate I swirled in a few tablespoons of hot fudge sauce.

This was a big hit! Everyone loved it. It's the perfect mix of creamy and crunchy, with just the right amount of peanut butter and hints of chocolate. I think I'll make sure to always have the ingredients on hand for this one!

Marble-ous Peanut Butter Dessert

1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. butter, softened
1 c. flour
1 c. (6 oz. pkg.) chocolate chips

FILLING:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 c. (1/2 pt.) whipping cream, whipped & sweetened

In small mixer bowl, cream brown sugar, peanut butter and butter until light and fluffy. Add flour; blend until crumbly. Sprinkle into ungreased 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Set aside half of crumb mixture (about 1 cup) for topping. Lightly press remaining crumb mixture over bottom of pan.Prepare filling. Pour over crumb mixture in pan. Melt chocolate chips; drizzle over filling. Gently cut through to marble.

Sprinkle with reserved crumbs; press in slightly. Freeze at least 2 hours or until serving. Remove from freezer 1 minutes before serving.Filling: In small mixture bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, peanut butter and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. By hand, fold in whipping cream.

Cheesy Tomato Chicken Skillet

2009-01-10T16:43:00.000-08:00

Joe and I are typically fans of chicken pasta dishes, so this Kraft recipe from Julie's blog caught my eye immediately. It looked delicious and seemed quick and easy. I whipped this up for dinner Friday night and we weren't disappointed with it all! I made a few modifications (reflected below) to the original recipe. I added sliced baby portabella mushrooms for reason other than I like mushrooms and liked the idea of adding another veggie to the dish, and, like Julie, I used a 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes instead of fresh. To lighten it up a bit I used skim milk, Healthy Request soup and just a small handful of mozzarella as opposed to a full cup, and I added a variety of seasonings to liven it up. I cooked this in a deep pasta pot rather than a skillet to avoid splatter so mine was a little saucier than I think was intended, but we like a lot of sauce so it was good - all the better to dip breadsticks in ;) Joe and I both really liked this - it's a great hearty and comforting meal in a snap.

Cheesy Tomato Chicken Skillet

2 cups of pasta
3/4 lbs chicken, cut into pieces
1 can Healthy Request cream of chicken soup
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cup of milk
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella

Cook the pasta as directed. Heat 10 inch skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken & cook thoroughly. Reduce heat to medium; stir in soup, tomatoes, milk and seasonings. Stir in cooked pasta. Cook about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally until bubbly & heated through. Sprinkle with cheese. Reduce heat, cover & let stand about 5 minutes.

Happy Birthday Joe!

2009-01-08T11:30:00.000-08:00

Today my wonderful husband turns the big 3-0! I was lucky enough to be by side the day he turned 18, and I plan to be by his side the day he turns 80 as well. He's the best husband that a girl could ever ask for and I am thankful each and every day that he belongs to me. But I am not the only person who thinks so highly of him, as evidenced by the huge outpouring of love for his 30th! 45 of his friends and family gathered last Sunday for a surprise party in his honor, and today at work he was showered with gifts, cards, balloons and home-baked treats from his students. See, turning 30 isn't so bad! Happy birthday, baby!

The surprise party:

I think I got him ;)

Baked Potato Soup

2009-01-06T16:50:00.000-08:00

Soup is the perfect winter food, yet I hardly ever make it. In fact, in the past 16 months that I've had this blog I've only made soup twice. But this recipe from Rachel's blog made me want soup a lot more often! This soup rocks! It's rich and creamy and pretty close to perfect. In an attempt to lighten the recipe a bit I used skim milk and turkey bacon, but you certainly couldn't notice the lighter ingredients in this delicious soup - it tastes like super creamy mashed potatoes. I'll definitely make this again soon!

Baked Potato Soup

4 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces)
6 cups 2% reduced-fat milk (I used skim)
1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 teaspoon salt (I used more)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (I used more)
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided (I omitted)
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled (I used turkey bacon)
Cracked black pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°.
Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash. (I microwaved the potatoes for about 20 minutes, then scooped out the insides.)
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Place flour in a large Dutch oven; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.
Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 8 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon. Garnish with cracked pepper, if desired.

Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Chicken

2009-01-02T09:16:00.000-08:00

Everything's better with bacon, right? I found this recipe on my friend's Sarah's blog, A Taste of Home Cooking, and knew right away that I had to try it. Like Sarah's husband, Joe isn't a fan of blue cheese so I took Sarah's substitution of cream cheese, and I used turkey bacon since that's what Joe bought at the store. I also left out the arugula because I'm not a fan, and used two slices of bacon per chicken breast. This chicken is soooo good! Juicy and gooey and creamy, and the bacon adds a great flavor. We liked this a LOT!

Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Chicken

4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Black pepper
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
A handful baby arugula, chopped (I omitted)
A handful baby spinach leaves, chopped
8 slices bacon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Using a small sharp knife cut into the thick end of the chicken and make an incision reaching 2/3 the way down the breast. Loosen up the incision with your fingers to make a hole. Combine the cream cheese with arugula and baby spinach, season with salt and pepper and stuff into the breasts. Wrap the breasts with the bacon tightly to cover the meat evenly. Place chicken on a nonstick baking sheet and roast 20 to 25 minutes until bacon is crispy and chicken is firm.

Waffles!

2009-01-02T09:06:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year my wonderful bosses gave me a ton of cooking and baking stuff - including a waffle iron. I very rarely cook breakfast, but Joe and I couldn't let our winter break slide by without breaking in the waffle iron and today we finally got the chance to use it. Nothing fancy our first time out of the gate - I used Aunt Jemima pancake and waffle mix. Joe fried up some turkey bacon while I manned the waffle iron. I found that overfilling the iron just a tad made the best waffles - nice and full and fluffy. Joe's waffles were plain and topped with strawberries, bananas and whipped cream. I put chocolate chips in mine and ate them topped with a little margarine and sugar-free syrup. Mmmmm....

Roger enjoyed watching us make waffles - and protected Joe's whipped cream!

Chicken Stew with Cornmeal Dumplings

2008-12-29T11:57:00.000-08:00

Hey look - a post that's about something besides dessert! I DID make one or two meals this month - and this is one of them. I came across this recipe on Maryanna's blog and thought it looked like the perfect winter meal. It was very easy to make and turned out to be hearty and comforting. We really liked the "stew" part of this meal but thought the dumplings left something to be desired. It may have been the cornmeal element, they seemed a little gritty. I think next time I make this I will do it with regular dumplings instead of the the cornmeal ones. But it was a good meal for a cold winter evening and a nice change from all the cookies, candies and other sweets of the month.

Chicken Stew with Cornmeal Dumplings

1 (14-ounce) can chicken broth
1 (10-ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup frozen small whole onions (I omitted)
1/2 cup water
2 tsp snipped fresh basil, oregano, or dill, or 1/2 tsp dried basil, oregano, or dill, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 cup milk
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups cubed cooked chicken or turkey
1 recipe Cornmeal Dumplings (below)

In a large saucepan combine broth, frozen vegetables, onions, water, dried herb (if using), salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Bring to boiling.Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine milk and flour; stir into vegetable mixture. Stir in chicken. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in fresh herb, if using.Drop dumpling dough from a tablespoon into 4 to 8 mounds on top of the bubbling stew. Simmer, covered (do not lift cover), over low heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in a dumpling comes out clean.

Cornmeal Dumplings:In a medium bowl stir together 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1/3 cup yellow cornmeal, 1 tsp baking powder, and a dash black pepper. In a small bowl combine 1 beaten egg, 2 TBSP milk, and 2 TBSP cooking oil; add to flour mixture, stirring with a fork just until combined.

Merry Minty Christmas

2008-12-26T15:04:00.000-08:00

My favorite night of the year is probably Christmas Eve. Joe's aunt Linda hosts the family at her house for dinner and Santa gifts. Everything about the night is just plain fun, from the big spread of food to the ridiculous gifts that come out of Santa's grab bag. Linda asked me to bring some desserts to the party this year and I was happy to oblige. I knew right away I wanted to reprise the pumpkin gingerbread trifle that I made earlier this month - it's perfect for Christmas! But I also wanted to bring something chocolatey as well. I recalled this recipe for chocolate-mint bars that was on the cover of the March issue of Cooking Light. I've had the recipe since then but hadn't gotten around to making it, so I thought Christmas Eve would be the perfect opportunity to try it out. After all, you need a little mint at Christmas!

These bars are very easy to make, although I feel as if I may have done exactly what the recipe warns against and baked the bottom layer a tad too long - they were more cake -ike than fudgey, but in the end that was okay! The mint layer is sweet with just the right amount of mint flavor and the chocolate glaze is a great topper. Everyone enjoyed these bars and they made a sweet ending to a wonderful Christmas Eve.

Chocolate-Mint Bars

Bottom layer:
1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, beaten
1 (16-ounce) can chocolate syrup
Cooking spray

Mint layer:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons fat-free milk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 drops green food coloring

Glaze:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare bottom layer, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and salt; stir with a whisk. Combine granulated sugar, egg substitute, 1/4 cup melted butter, 2 tablespoons water, vanilla, eggs, and chocolate syrup in a medium bowl; stir until smooth. Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture, stirring until blended. Pour batter into a 13 x 9–inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
To prepare mint layer, combine powdered sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter, and next 3 ingredients (through food coloring) in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer until smooth. Spread mint mixture over cooled cake.
To prepare the glaze, combine the chocolate chips and 3 tablespoons butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until melted, stirring after 30 seconds. Let stand 2 minutes. Spread chocolate mixture evenly over top. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Cut into 20 pieces.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you a fantastic new year! Happy Holidays!

A Gingerbread Tree for Christmas

2008-12-26T11:58:00.000-08:00

Last Christmas Eve my cousin Adam came over in the afternoon and we decorated a gingerbread house. He must have enjoyed it because he asked if we would be doing it again this year. I told him sure, but that we should mix things up a little and do something besides a house. I picked up a gingerbread tree kit instead - it came with pre-baked gingerbread stars, icing mix, candy presents and a candy star and some little candies for decorating. I also bought a tube of sparkly red icing gel that I thought would make good garland.

The tree was fun to assemble if not a little messy. I blame the foggy headed-ness of my nasty cold on the fact that I did not assemble the little pastry bags correctly and ended up having to Scotch tape the nozzles onto the bags. Whoops. Still, in the hands of a 9-year-old boy it was bound to get a little messy anyway. With Tucker's help, Adam and I make a pretty nice looking gingerbread tree to kick off Christmas!

Pumpkin Pie Dip

2008-12-21T18:25:00.000-08:00

After my whirlwind weekend of cookie baking and candy making, I wasn't really in the mood to bake yet another treat for the pre-holiday get together being held at Joe's aunt's house. However, I didn't want to show up empty handed so I started thinking of alternatives to baked goods. I remembered my friend Lauren mentioning a pumpkin pie dip when she was getting ready for her son's birthday party last month and I thought that sounded like a great idea, especially since I had two big cans of pumpkin in my pantry. I hit Google and came up with this recipe on RecipeZaar. This mixes up in no time at all, and let me tell you, it is good! It tastes just like the center of a pumpkin pie - I could have eaten it with a spoon! Instead, I did the civilized thing and served it with gingersnaps and graham cracker sticks for dipping. This was a hit for sure - I definitely plan on making this again. It's a great dessert alternative to the usual cakes and brownies.

Pumpkin Pie Dip

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar
15 ounces canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed of an electric mixer until smooth.
Add pumpkin, cinnamon, and ginger, beating well.
Cover and chill up to 5 days.

Hazelnut Fudge

2008-12-21T18:23:00.001-08:00

I never really thought about making fudge. It always seemed like quite the effort, plus I don't own a candy thermometer. However a few weeks ago while I was watching Food Network on the elliptical at the gym (yes, I watch food while I exercise) I saw Nigella make this super easy fudge and decided to give it a go for my holiday treat bags. This could not be easier. It literally took about 3 minutes to make from start to finish. And it SO good! Creamy and chocolatey - yum! Nigella used pistachios in her fudge but I chose hazelnuts for mine - any nut would work fine. This is a wonderful simple treat and makes a great gift. I packaged mine with Oreo truffles - that says "Happy Holidays" to me!

Hazelnut Fudge

12 ounces 70 percent dark chocolate, chopped or 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 (14-ounce) can condensed milk
Pinch salt

1 cup chopped hazelnuts

Melt the chopped chocolate, condensed milk and salt in a heavy based pan on a low heat.
Add the nuts to the melted chocolate and condensed milk and stir well to mix.
Pour this mixture into a 9-inch square foil tray, smoothing the top.
Let the fudge cool and then refrigerate until set. You can then cut into small pieces approximately 3/4 by 1 3/4 inches or cutting 8 by 8 lines in the tin to give 64 pieces.
Once cut you can keep it in the freezer, no need to thaw just eat straight away. (I stored mine in the fridge.)

Oreo Truffles

2008-12-21T18:20:00.000-08:00

So by now, almost everyone has either heard of, tasted or made Oreo truffles. Still, they seem to be a big favorite so I decided to make them this year for my holiday treat bags. I had it in my head that these were going to be messy and time consuming, so I was pleasantly surprised when they turned out to be neither! I made the filling on Friday afternoon, rolled it into balls and put them in the fridge on cookie trays to set. I left them in there for about 24 hours so they were nice and firm by the time I got to dipping them in the chocolate. Joe helped me with this part, and I'm glad I did. We made a good team and the whole process went more quickly with two people. Joe stuck toothpicks in each truffle and then we dipped them in the chocolate. Joe then went to work drizzling chocolate over the little toothpick holes to make sure they were completely enrobed in chocolate. Tucker helped too!

We finished them off with some red and green sprinkles then stuck them back in the fridge to harden. I was thrilled with how nice they looked, and of course they tasted fantastic! If you're one of the few people who have not tried these awesome treats, you better get in the kitchen! You don't know what you're missing!

Easy Oreo Truffles

1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) Oreo Cookies, finely crushed, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 pkg. (8 squares each) Baker's semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Mix the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.
Dip balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.) Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

Chocolate Chubbies

2008-12-21T07:19:00.001-08:00

Chocolate and nuts - it's one of the greatest taste combinations, so you know these cookies have to be good. They are so loaded with goodies - chocolate chips, pecans and walnuts - that there are more mix-ins than dough. And that's okay! Speaking of dough, the dough for these cookies seemed awfully thin when I was done mixing it - it looked more like cake batter than cookie dough. So I added about 1/4 cup more flour and that seemed to help a bit. Plus I froze the dough and defrosted it about 2 weeks later to bake these, so that may have helped firm it up a bit.

These came out great - chewy and dense and full of all those delicious extras. I made them on the small side so they are like little brownie bites. They'll make a great chocolatey addition to your Christmas baking!

Chocolate Chubbies

6 (1-ounce) semisweet chocolate squares, chopped
2 (1-ounce) unsweetened chocolate squares, chopped
1/3 cup butter
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate morsels
2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

Combine first 3 ingredients in a heavy saucepan; cook, stirring often, over low heat until chocolate melts. Remove from heat; cool slightly.
Beat eggs and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth; add chocolate mixture, beating well.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add to chocolate mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in chocolate morsels, pecans, and walnuts.
Drop batter by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheets.
Bake at 325° for 12 to 15 minutes or until done. Cool cookies on baking sheet 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool.

Revised Recipe: Peanut Butter Fiber One Bars

2008-12-21T07:12:00.000-08:00

Don't get me wrong, I loved these the old way, but this revised recipe version is even better! The former version of this recipe made bars that were crumbly and didn't hold together very well. Still delicious, but more like trail mix than bars. The recipe's creator at Must Love Chutney recently revised the recipe, and now it's spot on! Have I mentioned I love these? Cause I do! The recipe has been revised in my original post. Do yourself a favor this gluttonous holiday season and make up a few of these healthy goodies for breakfast. Then make more cookies ;)

Butterscotch Gingerbread

2008-12-17T18:03:00.001-08:00

I posted about these last Christmas, but I decided to feature them again because they are a unique addition to a cookie tray - something different from all the chocolate, mint and peanut butter that often dominates. These cookies are soft and spicy with the perfect balance of sweetness from the butterscotch chips. And they fill your kitchen with the most wonderful holiday-ish smell while baking. Give them a try!

Butterscotch Gingerbread

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup light molasses
1 (11 ounce) package butterscotch morsels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, egg and molasses in large mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in flour mixture until well blended. Stir in morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Mint Chippers

2008-12-17T17:52:00.000-08:00

It seems as if year after year I make the same cookies come Christmas time (see last year's Christmas cookie post for the usual suspects). They are all great cookies and I will be making some of them again this year, but I decided to give few new types a try as well. These mint chippers came to me by way of the My Recipes Cookie Countdown emails. Who doesn't like mint at Christmas time? Unfortunately, these didn't really live up to my expectations. They're okay, but definitely not minty enough. I would recommend upping the peppermint extract to at least a full teaspoon. The mint flavor is there, but it's a subtle background flavor. Definitely not what I was going for. These are okay, but not as exciting as I'd hoped. I used regular chocolate chips instead of the minis, but otherwise I stuck to the recipe. Aside from wishing there was more mint flavor, I also wish I had used some green food coloring - I feel like these are so plain looking! I guess I like my cookies with more pizazz.

Mint Chippers

1 cup (1/2 lb.) butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 large egg whites
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup miniature chocolate chips or 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

In a bowl, with a mixer on high speed, beat butter, powdered sugar, peppermint extract, and vanilla until well blended. Beat in egg whites until incorporated. Reduce speed and mix in flour, salt, and chocolate chips. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill until dough is firm but pliable, about 30 minutes.
With powdered sugar-dusted hands, shape dough into 1 1/2-inch balls, flattening each slightly between your palms to about 2 1/2 inches wide. Place 1 inch apart on buttered 12- by 15-inch baking sheets.
Bake in a 300° regular or convection oven until cookies feel firm to touch and are barely beginning to turn golden on the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. If baking more than one sheet at a time in one oven, switch positions halfway through baking. Transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.

Pumpkin Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake

2008-12-16T08:23:00.001-08:00

I know this is the season for peppermint and gingerbread, but I still have pumpkin in my pantry! So when we were invited to a potluck Christmas party I decided to put that pumpkin to good use and make this bundt cake from Cate's blog. The cake was super easy to put together. The only change I made was to stir in a bunch of dark chocolate chips to make it a little more decadent. The cake smelled awesome in the oven and looked beautiful, which was a relief after my last experience with making a bundt cake. But I buttered and floured my cake pan really well this time so there were no issues. I wish I had put my glaze on a little thicker - and I wish I hadn't been lazy and skipped sifting my powdered sugar. I ended up with clumps that I needed to smooth out with a pastry brush. Sift, people, sift! My only other regret is that I didn't get to taste my creation! We left the party I brought this to before dessert was served. But it couldn't' be bad - just look at it!

Pumpkin Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice (I used pumpkin pie spice because I thought I didn't have allspice - I naturally found the allspice immediately AFTER I used pumpkin pie spice)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15-oz can; not pie filling)
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups dark chocoalte chips

For glaze:
2 T butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1-3 T cream or milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour bundt pan. Combine together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl.Beat butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, then add eggs and beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth. Stir in chocoalte chips. Spoon batter into pan. Shake a few times to be sure to remove any bumps then bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 15 minutes, then invert rack over cake and reinvert cake onto rack. Cool 10 minutes more.To make glaze, heat butter until melted. Stir in sifted powdered sugar. Mix in cream or milk 1 Tablespoon at a time until desired consistency. Drizzle over cake while it is on a wire rack so excess falls through.

Southwestern Potatoes

2008-12-12T17:27:00.001-08:00

It's all too easy to get into a rut with side dishes. I find I make the same main dish accompaniments over and over again. This is not your same old side dish though! I found these little goodies on Melissa's blog and am officially in love with them. They're awesome! The flavor is fantastic thanks to the barbecue sauce and they're the perfect mix of slightly soft and crispy. Yum! The only change I made was to use less cheese then called for to make them less fattening. I just sprinkled a little bit of cheese on top and they were good to go. If you're in need of something different to spice up your dinner plate, these babies are it!

Southwestern Potatoes

2 unpeeled large potatoes, scrubbed
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used more like 1/4 cup)
bacon bits
1/2 sour cream, optional (for dipping)

Line 2 large baking sheets with foil and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut potatoes into 1/4 inch slices. Toss the potatoes, olive oil, garlic salt and pepper in a big ziploc bag to coat the potatoes. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on the baking sheets. Bake until lightly browned, about 15-20 minutes. Brush with barbecue sauce, then top with the shredded cheese and bacon bits. Bake until the cheese melts, about 3-5 minutes. Top with sour cream, if desired.

Baked Shrimp and Scallops

2008-12-12T17:20:00.000-08:00

Last week at the grocery store frozen shrimp was on sale so I happily snagged a bag. I love shrimp! I tend to mainly use it in pasta, so I was happy to find a recipe on Colleen's blog that would let the shrimp stand alone. I was a bit worried that this would not be filling enough as a main course, but I was wrong! It's suprisingly hearty and very, very good! The only change I made was to use fat-free half and half instead of regular. I also add two packs of tiny little frozen scallops in the freezer so I threw those in as well. Oh, and because I was worried that it would be bland I threw in some Old Bay seasoning, but it really didn't need it! We really enjoyed this! It was a different way to enjoy our favorite shelfish.

Baked Shrimp

1 pound shrimp, peeled and devined with tails removed (or bay or sea scallops)
2 tablespoons white wine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup half and half
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine wine, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Add scallops and stir.Pour in half and half.Melt butter, add bread crumbs and crumble over scallop mixture. Bake 15 minutes until brown and bubbly.

Taco Pasta Bake

2008-12-12T17:11:00.000-08:00

Okay, now I'm starting to feel like kind of a stalker. This is another recipe from my friend Colleen's blog. What can I say, we like the same types of food! This one has actually been on my menu for a few weeks now but for one reason or another kept getting bumped off. I finally got to make it tonight and I'm glad I did. Joe LOVED this. He's definitely a "simpler is better" kind of guy when it comes to dinner, so this was right up his alley. Simple or not, this is a yummy dinner. Nice and creamy and comforting. As with all my meals, I did my best to make this a little healthier. I used extra lean ground beef, whole wheat penne, reduced fat sour cream, about half of the cheddar cheese called for and fat-free cream cheese. (I firmly believe that fat-free cream cheese should never be eaten on its own or used in a dip, but mixed with sour cream in a dish like this it's acceptable!) Joe, John and I ate almost the entire pan of this, so you know it was good! Give it a try when you need an easy and comforting dinner.

Taco Bake

servings1 lb ground beef or turkey
1 packet taco seasoning
15-ounce can tomato sauce
8 ounces medium shell pasta (I used a full lb of penne)
8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef, drain. Add taco seasoning and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.In the meantime, cook pasta according to directions. Drain.Mix softened cream cheese and sour cream in separate bowl. Spray bottom of 9x13 pan. Put pasta in bottom of pan. Spread cream cheese mixture over pasta. Spoon ground meat mixture over this. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top.Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before serving.

Thyme-Coated Pork Loin

2008-12-10T08:13:00.000-08:00

Ever since my successful foray into pork loin a few weeks ago I've been eager to try out some new recipes. When I spotted this one on Julie's blog I printed it immediately. I made this for Sunday dinner and it was an excellent choice - so delicious! I'm not even a huge fan of pork and I loved it. The meat was tender and juicy, and the crispy crust on the outside was full of flavor. My only issue was with the cook time - I cooked mine for closer to 45 minute because it just didn't look done after 30. I was actually still concerned after 45 minutes, but my brother-in-law whipped out his digital meat thermometor and proved that the pork was fully cooked.

I made a few changes based on Julie's recommendations and subbed an onion soup packet for the onion flakes called for in the original recipe. I definitely recommend this swap as the flavor was great! I also used canned bread crumbs because I just don't see the point in grinding my own when someone else has already done the work for me :)

I served the pork with macaroni and cheese, roasted veggies and rolls - it was a delicious Sunday meal!

Thyme-Coated Pork Tenderloin

1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 packet dry onion soup mix
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400°. Combine thyme, onion soup mix and breadcrumbs in a shallow dish. Place egg whites in a shallow dish. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Dip pork in egg whites; dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place pork on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until a thermometer registers 155°. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

Creamy Stove-Top Macaroni and Cheese

2008-12-10T08:04:00.000-08:00

Only a few months ago I was celebrating the fact that I finally found an awesome, creamy mac and cheese recipe. Yet for some reason, on Sunday I felt inclined to try out yet another macaroni and cheese recipe that I had in my recipe binder. This one comes from Cooking Light and I've had it for so long that I felt it was time to give it a shot. This was okay, but I wish I had stuck with the other recipe. The mac and cheese was creamy, but tasted bland to me. Which was surprising, since it had Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and garlic in it - plus I also added some red pepper flakes. The mustard and cream cheese flavors seemed to be the most prominent. While this wasn't bad, I wasn't in love with it either - it was just missing something. It's good to try new things, but I think I'll be sticking with the other mac and cheese from now on!

Creamy Stove-Top Macaroni and Cheese

4 cups uncooked medium elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 1/4 cups fat-free milk
1/4 cup (2 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and set aside.
While pasta cooks, place flour, salt, and pepper in a large saucepan. Add milk, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Drop cream cheese by teaspoonfuls into milk mixture; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat; simmer 2 minutes or until thick and cream cheese melts, stirring occasionally. Stir in mustard, Worcestershire, and garlic; simmer 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add cheddar cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Combine pasta and cheese sauce in a large bowl; toss well.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

2008-12-06T18:56:00.000-08:00

I spend a lot of time on the What's Cooking message board on The Nest. And on this board I've met a lot of great women and made some great friends. Five of us are from central NJ so we decided to get together for a potluck lunch and spend some time together in person. Everyone made a dish and we gathered at my house to eat, drink and be merry. Colleen brought the pizza pockets appetizer (and a delicious loaf of pumpkin chocolate chip bread as a hostess gift for me - thanks, Colleen!), Jenn brought the entree of chicken marsala, Lauren brought a marsala orzo and Sarah delivered a broccoli casserole. Everything was so good! My contribution to the meal was hot apple toddies and dessert. I tossed around many dessert ideas before settling on this pumpkin gingerbread trifle that I found on Melissa's blog. I liked that it had seasonal flavors and could be made the night before. Plus it looked delicious!

I put this dessert together Friday night, and it attracted a lot of attention from the get-go from Joe and my brother-in-law John. They were fascinated seeing it come together, but then ultimately disappointed when I told them they couldn't dig in. (Well, and John was fascinated by my trifle bowl, because when he first walked in the house he thought it was a giant wine glass and got excited.) Not only is this trifle easy to put together, it makes a really pretty presentation. Oh - and it tastes awesome! I followed the directions fairly closely, except I used fat free pudding and fat free Cool Whip. I also omitted the brown sugar. I realized once I started making the dessert that I was out of brown sugar, but after tasting the pudding/pumpkin mixture I realized you would never miss it! It's definitely sweet enough without it.

I really, really liked this! The flavors are perfect together and I love the cool and creamy texture of the pudding and Cool Whip. I had a helping of this after lunch, then another (slightly larger) helping after dinner tonight. This dessert is a winner - and it makes a TON so it's perfect to bring to a party or potluck. Or a nice afternoon with friends - thanks, ladies! Let's do it again soon!

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

2 (14-ounce) packages gingerbread mix
1 (5.1-ounce) box cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix (I used instant)
1 (30-ounce) can pumpkin pie filling
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I omitted)
1/3 teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon
1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping
1/2 cup gingersnaps, optional (I used pecans)

Bake the gingerbread according to the package directions; cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the pudding and set aside to cool. Stir the pumpkin pie filling, sugar, and cardamom into the pudding. Crumble 1 batch of gingerbread into the bottom of a large, pretty bowl. Pour 1/2 of the pudding mixture over the gingerbread, then add a layer of whipped topping. Repeat with the remaining gingerbread, pudding, and whipped topping. Sprinkle of the top with crushed gingersnaps, if desired. Refrigerate overnight. Trifle can be layered in a punch bowl.

Hot Apple Toddies

2008-12-06T18:43:00.000-08:00

I'm not much of a drinker, but I wanted a nice cocktail to serve at our get together. So I turned to the queen of cocktails, Sandra Lee. I was looking for something sweet and preferably warm, since the weather had turned bitterly cold. This recipe for hot apple toddies caught my eye since I actually had spiced rum in the house. All I needed to purchase was the cider and the cinnamon schnapps. However, once at the liquor store I realized that I was really unwilling to spend $25 on a bottle of Goldschlager and opted for a much less expensive bottle of butterscotch schnapps instead. The swap seemed to work out just fine - the toddies were great. I thought they were a tad too sweet, but everyone else assured me that they were only as sweet as apple cider typically is - I guess I'm just not used to cider! Still, it was great drink to enjoy with friends on a cold day!

Hot Apple Toddies

3 cups apple cider
4 cinnamon sticks
½ cup spiced rum, Captain Morgan's
½ cup cinnamon schnapps, Goldschlager (I used butterscotch schnapps)
Cinnamon sticks, for garnish

In a 4-quart slow cooker combine apple cider, four cinnamon sticks, spiced rum and cinnamon schnapps. Cover; cook over high-heat setting for 1 hour. Ladle into glasses. Garnish with cinnamon sticks (or kumquats).

Turkey-Spinach Lasagna

2008-11-30T12:53:00.000-08:00

There are many versions of turkey-spinach lasagna floating around, but this is the one that found its way into my recipe binder. I printed this recipe a few years ago from the Cooking Light website MyRecipes.com and last night was the second time I've made the dish. Our friends Jamie and Dave were coming over for dinner and I wanted something warm and comforting for a cold November night. Plus Jamie and Dave are both fans of turkey and spinach, so I knew this would be perfect. I made a few changes to the original recipe. I used fat free ricotta in place of the cottage cheese because, while I love cottage cheese on its own I find it strange in pasta dishes. I also added some more spices - red pepper flakes to the turkey as it browned and garlic powder and oregano to the cheese and spinach mixture. I used no-boil lasagna noodles and they were perfect. The lasagna came out perfectly set, creamy and delicious. A great comfort food meal!

Turkey-Spinach Lasagna

Cooking spray
1 pound ground turkey breast
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 (26-ounce) jars low-fat marinara sauce
1 (16-ounce) carton fat-free ricotta
1/4 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup (1 ounce) preshredded fresh Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
8 cooked lasagna noodles
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350°.
Coat a large skillet with cooking spray, and place over medium-high heat until hot. Add turkey, onion,red pepper flakes and garlic; cook until meat is browned, stirring to crumble. Add 5 3/4 cups marinara sauce; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
Combine ricotta cheese, egg substitute, Parmesan, parsley, pepper, garlic powder, oregano and spinach; stir well. Spread remaining marinara sauce in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 noodles over marinara; top with cottage cheese mixture and half of the mozzarella.

Spoon half of the turkey mixture over the mozzarella. Arrange the remaining noodles over turkey mixture. Top with remaining turkey mixture and mozzarella.
Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until cheese melts and sauce is bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

2008-11-27T06:04:00.000-08:00

Being a baker, I'd of course heard about Paula Deen's famous gooey butter cake recipe, although I had never tried it. I had never heard about gooey butter cookies, however, until I spotted this recipe on my friend Colleen's blog. My mom makes Thanksgiving dinner every year and never needs me to bring anything, but I always like to make a little something to add to the feast - usually a dessert. The only dessert my mom serves at our little Thanksgiving dinner is pumpkin pie, and since it's the only time of year I eat pumpkin pie, I don't mind that it's the only option. However, since I wanted to bake something, my mom asked for "something chocolate."

Side story: My sister LOVES pumpkin pie. Loves it. So my mom always makes a pie for us all to eat after dinner and a pie just for my sister. Each Black Friday morning you can find my sister staggering back up to her bedroom in her pjs carrying a whole pie, a fork and a can of whipped cream. I look forward to seeing it each year :)

Anyhow, back to the cookies. When my mom asked for her "something chocolate" I immediately thought of these cookies. I put the dough together Wednesday afternoon when I got home from work and baked them in them that night after dinner. These are SO easy - one bowl and five ingredients.

It is important to chill the dough for at least two hours, since it's very soft and you need to be able to roll them into balls. Mine rolled just fine and I covered some in powdered sugar as per the recipe, but I also rolled some in walnuts and some in coconut, since my mom and Nana are big coconut fans. These cookies also allowed me to use my the new sugar sifter I got from Jenny in the last What's Cooking gift exchange - thanks Jenny!

These are great cookies. Super chocolatey, soft and moist. Joe said they tasted like "pudding in cookie form." Give these a try when you're looking for a simple chocolate treat. Happy Thanksgiving!

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

1 (8 ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature

1 stick butter, room temperature

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (18 ounce) moist chocolate cake mix

confectioners'/powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix.Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner's sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and "gooey." Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Pork and Vegetable Stir-Fry with Cashew Rice

2008-11-25T08:09:00.000-08:00

Pork may be the other white meat, but it's not one I cook with very often. Aside from the occassional use of deli ham or my standard pork roast/pulled pork dinner, I usually stick to poultry, ground beef and seafood when I cook. However when this recipe popped into my inbox from MyRecipes.com I decided to give it a whirl. (I think I've mentioned it before, but the MyRecipes.com Dinner Tonight emails are great and definitely worth signing up for! I've made many of their recipes and they've really gotten me to try new things. Case in point.) I considered subbing chicken for the pork, but then decided to just bite the bullet and try something new. This recipe is great! It's super fast and full of flavor. I doubled the sauce since we like a lot, and I also make extra rice. I made a few changes based on our personal tastes, but otherwise followed the recipe. This was a delicious dinner, and perfect for someone who is not a huge fan of pork. (However, if you are really opposed to pork you could easily substitute chicken or shrimp). I served this with some pork and vegetable dumplings I picked up at the supermarket and everyone was happy. Joe asked that this be made again soon, and also that I start making more pork!

Pork and Vegetable Stir-Fry with Cashew Rice

3/4 cup uncooked long-grain rice (I used brown)
1/3 cup chopped green onions (I omitted)
1/4 cup dry-roasted cashews, salted and coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, divided
2 tablespoons honey
1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
2 cups sliced mushrooms (about 4 ounces)
1 cup chopped onion (I omitted)
1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger (I used ground)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups sugar snap peas, trimmed (about 6 ounces)
1 cup chopped red bell pepper (about 1) (I omitted)

Cook the rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Stir in 1/3 cup chopped green onions, chopped dry-roasted cashews, and salt; set aside, and keep warm.
Combine 2/3 cup chicken broth, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, and honey in a small bowl, and set aside.
Combine pork, remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch, and the remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce in a bowl, tossing well to coat. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork; sauté 4 minutes or until browned. Remove from pan.
Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to pan. Add mushrooms and 1 cup onion; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in ginger and garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Add peas and bell pepper to pan; sauté 1 minute. Stir in pork; sauté 1 minute. Add reserved broth mixture to pan. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Serve over cashew rice.

Vanishing Act

2008-11-24T07:34:00.001-08:00

The first thing I ever baked for Joe, way back in high school when we first started dating, were Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from the recipe on the side of the Quaker Oats container. Joe and his father LOVED those cookies and asked for them all the time. Eventually I branched out and started baking a variety of different things, and those oatmeal cookies sort of fell by the wayside. They popped into my head this past Sunday morning, however, and I decided to take a trip down memory lane and make Joe this treat. I wasn't feeling patient enough though to make batch after batch of cookies, so I visited the Quaker website and saw that the cookies could easily be made into bars, which is what I did. The bars are thick and moist with all the same fantastic flavor of their cookie counterparts. The house smelled amazing while they baked and Joe thoroughly enjoyed the bars. Sometimes you can't beat the "classics!"

Vanishing Oatmeal Cookie Bars

1/2 pound (2 sticks) margarine or butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well. Press dough onto bottom of ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered. Makes 24 bars.

Pasta e Fagioli

2008-11-24T07:24:00.000-08:00

With the bitterly cold weather we've been having this week, soup seemed like the perfect choice for dinner this past Sunday. I had found this recipe on Tricia's blog and knowing that Joe likes pasta e fagioli it easily found a spot on my menu. And I'm glad it did - this soup was delicious! It's super easy to make and just requires about an hour total of simmering time. Be warned though - this makes a TON of soup. Joe and I each had a large bowl but ended up with two giant tupperwares full of leftovers. I shared some with my parents, but we are more than happy to eat the remainder for dinner again this week. Warm, hearty and full of flavor, this is just a great soup, especially when served with some crusty bread. I followed the recipe almost exactly, but found that I didn't have much liquid. I even added an extra can of beef broth and still had a very thick soup. Not a bad thing, but if you prefer more liquid in your soup you may want to cook the pasta separate and add it into the soup to prevent it from absorbing too much liquid. But don't wait to make this - especially on a cold evening!

Pasta e Fagioli (copy cat Olive Garden)

Cooking spray
1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1/2 of a small 1 lb. bag of baby carrots, chopped
5 stalks of celery, diced (I omitted)
2 (14.5 oz.) cans of diced tomatoes
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (32 oz.) carton + 1 (14.5 oz.) can of beef broth (I also used an additional can of beef broth)
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 1/4 tsp pepper
2 1/2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped (I used dry)
3/4 tsp tabasco sauce
1 jar (1 lb. 10 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 cup dry small pasta (such as ditalini or elbow macaroni)
salt to taste

Brown ground beef in oil. Drain if necessary.
Add onion, carrot, celery and diced tomatoes. Simmer 10 minutes.
Add beans, beef broth, oregano, pepper, parsley, tabasco sauce and spaghetti sauce.
Simmer soup on low for about 30-45 minutes until carrots are almost tender.
Add pasta to pot and simmer on low for about 15-30 minutes until pasta is just shy of al dente. As the soup cools, the pasta will absorb the broth. You can cook the pasta separate and add it to the soup after the soup has cooled.

Thanksgiving Meatloaf

2008-11-23T07:28:00.001-08:00

Joe is always happy to have meatloaf for dinner, so I was happy to see this recipe for stuffed meatloaf on my friend Lauren's blog. I had originally planned on following the recipe exactly
(except I had no intention of making my own stuffing - I'm a Stove Top girl) however when dinner time rolled around I find myself not really feeling the Italian flavors of the original recipe. Instead, my mind was on Thanksgiving - all the T-Day themed Food Network I've been watching had taken it's toll, I guess. So I decided to change the recipe to incorporate some Thanksgiving flavors. I used ground turkey for the meat and topped the meatloaf with turkey gravy and cheddar cheese. Joe and I both really enjoyed this, and now we are totally ready for Thanksgiving dinner!

Thanksgiving Meatloaf

1 small onion, grated
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried parsley
2 large eggs
1/4 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2/3 cup dried bread crumbs
3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 lb lean ground turkey
2 cups (packed) of your favorite stuffing
1/2 cup turkey gravy, plus more for serving

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk the first 7 ingredients in a large bowl to blend. Stir in 1/2 cup cheddar cheese and bread crumbs. Mix in the turkey. Pack half of the meat mixture into a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan. Spoon the stuffing over the meat in the pan, leaving a 1-inch border around the edges. Top with the remaining meat mixture, enclosing the stuffing completely and pressing firmly. Spoon the turkey gravy over the meatloaf, then sprinkle with the remaining cheddar cheese.

Bake, uncovered, until the meat loaf is firm to the touch in the center and has pulled away from the sides of the pan, about 45 minutes. Cut crosswise into slices and serve with additional gravy.

Basil Chicken Pasta

2008-11-20T06:12:00.000-08:00

Last week my brother-in-law John came home with a pack of frozen basil that he was pretty pumped about. Just a few days later I came across this recipe on Jaime's blog, Good Eats n' Sweet Treats, and I forwarded it right to John. He cooked this up for our dinner on Monday night. This was a very simple and quick recipe, however ours could have used more flavor. John omitted the hot sauce because he didn't realize we had any, but the dish could have benefited from a little kick. It also didn't have too much basil flavor, as John wasn't sure of just how strong his frozen basil was and didn't want to overwhelm the dish. He did follow Jaime's suggestion though to make the sauce creamy by adding 1/4 cup fat free half and half. Over all, this was a good dinner but I recommend that you don't skimp on the basil and do add a little hot sauce or red pepper flake for some punch!

Basil Chicken Pasta

1 (8 ounce) package angel hair pasta
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with garlic and basil
2 cups boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cubed
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/4 cup fat free half and half
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook angel hair pasta until it is al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and set aside. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Saute the onions and garlic. Stir in the tomatoes, chicken, basil, salt and hot pepper sauce. Reduce heat to medium, and cover skillet. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until mixture is hot and tomatoes are soft.Toss sauce with hot cooked angel hair pasta to coat. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Tucker, for one, was quite impressed with this dinner. He wanted some in the worst way. Sorry, Tuck, there were actually no leftovers ;)

Celebrate Bread!

2008-11-17T06:12:00.001-08:00

Today is National Homemade Bread Day. Technically I made this bread yesterday, but I'm posting it today in honor of the "holiday." I found this recipe on Lovestoeat's blog and printed it out immediately. I love my bread maker and am always looking for new recipes to try out in it. My in-laws invited us for a pasta dinner yesterday so I volunteered to make this bread to bring. It's delicious - nice and light with a good nutty flavor. It's yummy with butter and would be delicious as a sandwich bread. Make some today to celebrate! :)

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

1/2 cup water , plus 1 tablespoon
1 large egg
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk , plus 2 teaspoons
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast

Add ingredients in order suggested in owner’s manual; continue process with machine on basic/standard or whole-wheat bread setting.

Shrimp Crab-inara

2008-11-17T06:02:00.001-08:00

No real recipe here, just a product review! I was at a local craft show the other weekend and came across a table where a woman was selling Crabi-inara pasta sauces - basically marinara sauce with bits of crab meat in it. After tasting the sample and finding it yummy, I purchased two jars - regular and spicy. Last week I decided to try the sauce out for dinner - I simply grilled up some shrimp and tossed them with the sauce and some whole wheat angel hair pasta. This sauce is delicious - it has a great crab flavor, plus it's low in fat and calories. Joe and I both loved it! The sauce is available in several ShopRite's in the NJ area - if you're local, pick some up!

Cheesy Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

2008-11-11T05:21:00.001-08:00

Joe is a big fan of chicken cordon bleu, so when I spotted this casserole on Picky Palate I immediately put it on the menu. Ham, chicken, cheese...yum! My brother-in-law and I sort of made this together. I got home first so I did the prep work - cutting the chicken, shredding the cheese, chopping the ham, etc. Then John came home and put it all together. We didn't have any pre-cooked chicken, so John just browned up some before moving on to cooking the onions. We also omitted the red pepper and used cooking spray in place of olive oil to save a few calories. We also used slightly less cheese than as called for, but still a good amount.

Our only issue was with the rice measurements. Can anyone tell me the ratio of uncooked brown rice to cooked brown rice? The recipe calls for 3 cups of cooked rice. The little measurement cheat sheet I have on my fridge told me that 1 cup of uncooked rice equals 3 1/2 cups cooked. That seemed crazy, and my box of brown rice said 1/2 cup uncooked equaled 2/3 cups cooked. So John went with that but still ended up with too little rice and had to make another batch. Regardless, it all came together in the end. Joe and John loved this, and I enjoyed it, but not quite as much as they did. They were both just happy with the large quantities of cheese on their plates ;) I know Joe will be requesting this again!

Cheesy Chicken Cordon Bleu Rice Casserole

Cooking spray
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
½ lb diced ham
2 Cups cooked shredded chicken breast
4 Tablespoons butter
¼ Cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
14 oz can chicken broth
3 Cups cooked rice of choice (I used brown rice)
1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 Cup shredded mozzarella or swiss cheese (I used 4 cheese blend)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat cooking spray in a large 5 qt rimmed skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, ham and chicken. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Melt butter then stir in flour, salt and pepper until combined. Slowly stir in chicken broth until well combined. Stir in cooked rice then transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish. Top with cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cover the dish with foil the last 10 minutes for oozing cheese.

Orzo with Sausage, Peppers and Tomatoes

2008-11-08T06:59:00.001-08:00

There's just something about orzo that I love. I only recently started cooking with it, but now I find myself searching for recipes that incorporate it. I found this one on Sarah's blog, A Taste of Home Cooking and was drawn right in. I took some of Sarah's remarks on the recipe into consideration while cooking and made some changes. Instead of fresh chopped tomatoes I used a can of Italian-flavored diced tomatoes to give it a stronger tomato flavor. I also used two types of sausage - two links of spicy Italian turkey sausage and two links of Parmesan pecorino romano chicken sausage. I recommend using the red pepper - the little kick is nice. I really liked this dish! It was creamy and a little spicy and just plain good.

Orzo with Sausage, Peppers, and Tomatoes

3 cups chicken broth
1 pound orzo pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 links (7 ounces total) mild Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
1 garlic clove, minced
2 jarred roasted red bell peppers, cut into 1/4-inch strips
2 plum tomatoes, chopped (I used a can of diced tomatoes)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan, bring the chicken broth and 3 cups of water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes.
While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the turkey sausage and sauté until cooked through, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the bell peppers, tomatoes, and red pepper flakes (if using) to the pan and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.
Drain the pasta, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, and transfer it to a large serving bowl. Add the sausage mixture, 1 tablespoon of the parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss well to combine, adding the reserved cooking liquid if needed to loosen the pasta. Top with the Parmesan and sprinkle with the remaining parsley.