Pumpkin Butterscotch Mini Muffins

My poor Roger has an ulcer in his eye :( He's going to be fine, but in addition to the eye drops, ointments and antibiotics he needs to visit the vet once a week. Luckily, my sister is a vet tech and Roger receives awesome (and discounted) care while he's at the office. The staff gives him lots of attention and cuddles and makes him forget that he's there for unpleasant reasons. To thank the staff (Princeton Animal Hospital rocks!) and to make sure that they continue to feel inclined to give my Roger special treatment, I show up for each visit with Roger and some kind of baked good. Since I drop Roger off around 7:30 AM I thought a breakfast treat would be appropriate this week, and since it is fall I decided to make something pumpkiny. I found this recipe for pumpkin butterscotch mini muffins on All Recipes and decided to give it a try. I was a little leery of the butterscotch chips since they can sometimes be overpoweringly sweet, but in this case they are perfect. The muffins themselves aren't too sweet and have just the right amount of pumpkin spice and the butterscotch really pulls it all together - they're delicious! I think they should earn Roger a few extra snuggles tomorrow :)

Pumpkin Butterscotch Mini Muffins

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 (6 ounce) package butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease mini-muffin pan with cooking spray.
Sift together the flour, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk together the eggs, butter, and pumpkin in a separate bowl. Mix the flour mixture with the egg mixture. Stir in the butterscotch chips; pour into each cup of the muffin pan to about 3/4 full.
Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 10 to 12 minutes.

Hooray! Creamy Mac and Cheese

Thank you, Cate! You've finally helped me overcome one of my culinary challenges - my inability to make creamy macaroni and cheese. I've tried before, more than once, but my macaroni and cheese was always lacking that creamy gooeyness that I love. So when I saw this recipe on Cate's blog I decided to give it one more try and - success! Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that this mac and cheese is made on the stove and not baked, or maybe it's just the simplicity of the ingredients, but this came out perfect! Like Cate I used a full-fat cheese (white cheddar, to be exact) and I used 3/4 cup of skim milk and 1/4 cup fat free half and half. I also used whole wheat elbow macaroni (I didn't know that elbow macaroni came in whole wheat. It's practically health food now!). Have I mentioned that this was good? Just look at that creamy sauce! I served this alongside my favorite teriyaki turkey burgers and some roasted green beans and it made for a delicious dinner.

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

1 1/4 cups uncooked macaroni
1 cup 1% milk
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp salt
a few grinds of a pepper mill

Cook pasta in a medium saucepan according to package directions.
Transfer to a colander.
In the same saucepan, combine the milk and flour over medium heat, stirring with a whisk.
Cook, stirring constantly until thickened (about 2 minutes).
Add cheese, salt, and pepper, and continue whisking until all the cheese is melted.
Turn off heat, stir in the pasta, and let sit for a few minutes before serving.

Awesome Tuna Casserole. Really!

I don't know about you, but for me, the words "tuna casserole" don't typically make me think "Yum!" They typically make me picture some gloppy, tasteless mess in a baking dish. So I'm not sure what inspired me to bookmark this Rachael Ray recipe for tuna casserole, but I'm really glad I did! John made this for us last night and it was awesome. Really! The spinach, the white beans, the tuna, the cheese - all so good! Even Joe, whose not really a fan of spinach or tuna (unless it's in his grandmother's tuna pasta), really liked this. I can't wait to eat the leftovers tonight. Trust me, put aside your stigma of tuna casserole and make this dish - it's a winner!

Tuna Casserole

Salt
1 box whole wheat penne
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken stock (we used chicken broth)
1 cup half-and-half (we used fat free)
Ground black pepper
A pinch of nutmeg
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus some for passing at the table
1 can cannellini beans (15 ounces), drained
2 boxes frozen spinach (10 ounces each), thawed and squeezed in a kitchen towel to remove excess moisture
2 cans tuna in water (6 ounces each), drained

Pre-heat the oven to 400°F.Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring up to a boil to cook the pasta. Once at a boil, add some salt and the pasta and cook until al dente, according to the package directions. Drain the pasta thoroughly, return it to the pot and reserve.In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon EVOO, one turn of the pan, and the butter. Cook the garlic and onion until tender, about 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and cook for another minute, then whisk in the chicken stock and half-and-half and season with salt, ground black pepper and nutmeg. Bring it up to a bubble and thicken.Turn off the heat, then fold in the parsley, grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, cannellini beans, spinach, tuna and penne. Pour the mixture into a 13-inch x 9-inch baking dish and top with the remaining cheese. Place in the oven to brown the topping, about 10 minutes. (John used the broiler for about 1 minute also to get a nice crust on top.)

Rolling Towards Thanksgiving

Joe's favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. Why? Because his favorite meal is Thanksgiving dinner. Each Thanksgiving we go to my mom's house for dinner and have all the traditional foods - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, etc. My mom calls it her "signature meal" and since Joe enjoys it so much you usually makes it for him at least one or two other times throughout the year. I'm not quite so ambitious (I've never made a whole turkey) but I do try to incorporate Joe's favorite flavors into various meals throughout the year. So when I saw these turkey and stuffing rolls on Ashlee's blog I knew they'd be a hit with Joe. Ashlee's a superstar and did these up right, making her own stuffing and gravy. Me? Well I was too busy cutting antibodies out of sugar cookie dough to have time to make stuffing and gravy, so I cheated! I made up a box of Stove Top and rolled the stuffing inside my thick-sliced deli turkey. I put the rolls in a 9 x 13" baking dish and covered them with some jarred turkey gravy, then covered it all up and baked for 15 minutes. Done! Joe really loved these and they couldn't have been easier! Be sure to see Ashlee's blog for the non-cheater version of this recipe!

Does a body good

For those of you unfamiliar with biotechnology (what, you're NOT familiar with biotechnology?), the funny little "Y" symbol above represents an antibody. It's also my company's logo. And for those of you unfamiliar with township zoning laws, it is really, really, really hard to get approval to put something as simple as a little Y-shaped antibody on the side of a building. I should know, because I've been working for months to get approval for my company to put that little sucker up. Yesterday I managed to score a meeting with the township officials to review my application and decided that I would try to win their favor with cookies. Anybody who knows me knows that if they want to win me over (or apologize to me, cheer me up, express their love, etc.) they should give me some cookies - right Joe? So I figure that all people can be bought with cookies.

I didn't want to bring just any cookies to my meeting though - I wanted to be memorable! So I spent Sunday making antibody shaped sugar cookies to bring to my meeting. And I have to say, I'm quite proud of how they turned out:


I made an antibody-shaped template from an index card and cut the shape out of Pillsbury sugar cookie dough. For the frosting, I wanted something that would harden nicely so I could transport my cookies easily. I found this recipe on All Recipes and it was perfect. I halved it since I only had about 15 cookies to ice (the below is for the full recipe). I used M&Ms to complete the treats - teal ones that I had left over from my company holiday party and black ones that I picked from a bag of Halloween M&Ms. I like to think that the township people were impressed with my creativity and wit - I was! ;)

Sugar Cookie Frosting

4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup shortening
5 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
food coloring (I left it white)

In a large bowl, cream together the confectioners' sugar and shortening until smooth. Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, about 5 minutes. Color with food coloring if desired.

More Ruined Food. And Creamy Ham Fusseli

Sigh. I officially dub this the week of ruined food. This creamy pasta from Rachel's blog came out fantastic. It was the contents of our spare basement fridge/freezer that lost the battle. I came home from work excited to make this delicious-sounding pasta. I got cooking and then ran down to the basement to get a bag of frozen peas. I opened the freezer and discovered that at some point in the last few days we'd blown a fuse down there and the refrigerator has been off. EVERYTHING inside was ruined. And there was a lot - a 6 lb bag of chicken breasts, two dozen Lean Cuisines, bags of frozen veggies, butter and cream cheese, coffee creamer, yogurt...oh the humanity.

While silently weeping over the huge amount of money that was just wasted, Joe and John tossed everything while I went back upstairs to try to modify our dinner that was simmering away on the stove. I was sad to lose the peas (I LOVE peas) and I had no other green veggies on hand. I did have some of John's homegrown tomatoes on the counter though so I chopped those up and tossed them in with the ham. We sat down to eat still depressed about the loss of all that food, but this pasta definitely lifted our spirits. It is SO good - light and creamy but so full of flavor. The ham is a great addition and a nice change from our usual chicken or beef. We enjoyed this with a loaf of oatmeal bread I got from Whole Foods and ate our troubles away.

And no one minded that there were no peas, especially Roger. He thought it was irresistible anyway!


Creamy Ham Fusseli

1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp butter, cut into 8 pieces
1 lb thick sliced ham, diced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb pasta (I used whole wheat fusseli)
1 large tomato, diced (or 2 cups frozen peas if your freezer is working!)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (half of one lemon squeezed)

Bring 4 quarts of water to boil for the pasta. Combine the ricotta, Parmesan, butter, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, in a serving bowl large enough to hold the pasta. Cook the ham in the oil in a 12 inch skillet until the ham is cooked through and browned. Drain onto a plate lined with paper towels, reserving the oil. Cook the onions in the oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds.

(I cooked the onions first in just a tiny bit of olive oil and some cooking spray, then added in the ham and garlic. The tomatoes went in last for just a few minutes to soften them up. If you're using peas, follow the directions as written.)

Remove from heat and add to the ricotta mixture, stir to mix well. When the water is boiling, stir in 1 tbsp salt and the pasta. Cook stirring often, until the pasta is almost tender, but still a little firm to the bite. Add the peas during the final 30 seconds of the pasta cooking. Reserve 3/4 cup of the pasta cooking water and then drain the pasta and peas. Whisk the lemon juice and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta cooking water into the ricotta mixture until smooth. Add the pasta and peas and toss to coat. Add the reserved ham, and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Save the remaining 1/4 cup pasta cooking water to loosen the sauce before serving.

Ole! Taco Soup

After Wednesday night's crockpot disaster I needed to get back on the horse. Luckily I had all the ingredients for this yummy taco soup ready to go. I found this recipe on Emily's blog and I starred it right away. It seemed perfect for fall, plus Joe and I love tacos so putting the flavors in a soup seemed like a great twist. This can be made on the stove as well, but I opted for the crockpot so it could simmer all day while we worked. We played racquetball after work (um, if anyone has any tips to teach me how to be even a little bit good, I'd appreciate it!) and came home to this delicious spicy soup. I made a few changes to Emily's recipe - I added about a cup of beef broth to ensure that it stayed "soupy" all day in the crockpot, reduced the amount of ingredients, etc. and it came out great! It was like tacos in a bowl! I served these with cheese quesadillas for dipping - yum! AND I remembered to take the plastic of the beef this time - score one for me!

Taco Soup

1 pound ground beef
1 cup diced onions
1 (15 1/2-ounce) cans pinto beans
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can pink kidney beans
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes with chiles
1(4 1/2-ounce) can diced green chiles
1 (4.6-ounce) can sliced black olives, drained
1 (1 1/4-ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 (1-ounce) package ranch salad dressing mix
Garnish of choice for serving - cheese, sour cream, corn chips, etc.

Brown the ground beef and onions in a large skillet; drain the excess fat, then transfer the browned beef and onions to a large slow cooker. Add the beans, tomatoes, green chiles, olives, taco seasoning, and ranch dressing mix. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.