Made with love...

And even more Christmas recipes.....

2010-01-24T09:16:00.005-05:00

Christmas was my first real "big" turkey dinner. It was just me & my 17 pound bird early on Christmas morning as I let my hubby sleep in a little. Of course knowing I was going to be making a turkey dinner, I knew I needed to make stuffing but I had never made bread stuffing before (well, except for from a box and no boxed stuff for the holidays!). I'd made French meat stuffing (called Forr) before but never bread stuffing, so I commenced my search for the perfect recipe a few weeks in advance of Santa's arrival.

A lot of bread stuffing recipes call for sausage. My sister-in-law doesn't like sausage so I immediately threw out any thought of making any recipes that called for such. Then some of them just didn't seem appealing to me for one reason or another. Finally after many hours of research I landed on Paula Deen's website and settled on this version of bread stuffing. Wow! I must say it came out AWESOME. I cooked it in the loaf pan as suggested and cut down the amount of celery. Next time I might cut down the celery a wee bit more as it still seemed like a good amount and my husband's only complaint was that there was a tad too much of it. I also used a good amount of turkey stock in this recipe because it took me awhile to achieve the desired level of moistness I was looking for. (I used the Kitchen Basics brand of turkey stock, very good!). But still a great recipe that I will bring out again most likely next holiday season!

Below that is a recipe I used for carrots (from my friend Pam). One of the many side dishes to our Christmas turkey dinner. Let's face it, a turkey dinner is just as much about the side dishes as it is about the turkey itself! I used baby carrots that I just steamed off in one of those convenient Glad steam microwave bags and followed the rest of the recipe (I upped all amounts since I was making a lot more carrots than the original recipe called for). They came out very tasty and just a little something extra than your run of the mill everyday carrot side dish - which was the goal!

Turkey/Chicken Stuffing

(from PaulaDeen.com)

1 loaf of fresh white bread (3 for a turkey)

1 small celery bunch diced (2 with turkey)

1 large onion diced (3 for turkey)

2 large eggs (up to 8 for turkey)

1 large pinch of salt

¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

½ pound unsalted butter (add ½ pound for turkey)

¼ to ½ cup fresh turkey stock (optional)

Preheat oven to 350º F ( if cooking in loaf pan)

In large stockpot, melt butter. Stir in chopped onions, salt and pepper and cook until onions are translucent.

Add celery and cook over low heat until just tender. Tear loaf of bread into pieces and add to stockpot with onion mixture and toss well until mixed.

Turn off heat and allow to cool, 15 to 20 minutes.

Crack eggs into mixture and use hands to toss well. Make sure the mixture is wet. Add more eggs if needed.

Pack cooled mixture tightly if stuffing a bird. A loaf pan can be used. After packing dressing into loaf pan pierce with a knife and pour chicken or turkey stock over dressing ¼ to ½ cup per loaf pan.

Bake at 350º F for 30 minutes.

Notes from Paula’s test kitchen: This dressing works well in a loaf pan. We found the dressing much more flavorful if you took the time to separate the oil from the stock before adding to the pan. We also added 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary to kick up the flavor. Serves 6 in loaf pan and 12 for turkey.

Carrots with Rosemary Butter

1 1/2 Cups julienned carrot (I used baby carrots

1 Tablespoon softened butter

3/4 Teaspoon minced fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dry rosemary

3/4 Teaspoon minced fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley

3/4 Teaspoon brown sugar

1/4 Teaspoon salt

1/8 Teaspoon garlic powder

Place carrots in a steamer basket; place in a small saucepan over 1" of water. Bring to a boil; cover & steam for 4-6 minutes or until crisp-tender.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Add carrots & toss to coat.

Back to some more Christmas recipes.....

2010-01-24T09:03:00.003-05:00

So as I mentioned earlier, we hosted both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Besides French meat pies, and the Mac 'n Cheese, I served a nice spinach salad with homemade dressing that I found on MyRecipes.com and also a savory Herbed Monkey Bread courtesy of Paula Deen's website. Both were great, something different than the usual old bread & salad! And on top of that, they were both pretty easy recipes, which was something I needed with 2 straight days of cooking!!!

Herbed Monkey Bread

(from PaulaDeen.com)

1 stick butter melted, plus 1/4 cup melted butter, plus more for pan

1 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for sprinkling

2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

2 packages biscuits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a 12-cup Bundt pan; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine cheese and Italian seasoning.

Roll each individual biscuit into a ball. Dip each piece in the 1 stick of melted butter, then coat with the cheese mixture. Place dough into prepared pan; overlapping will occur. Bake bread, 30 to 35 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil during the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent excess browning, if needed.

Let cool in pan, 10 minutes; invert bread onto a serving plate. Drizzle remaining 1/4 cup melted butter on top and sprinkle with grated Parmesan.

Spinach & Mixed Greens Salad

(from MyRecipes.com)

1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions

Greens:

6 cups torn spinach

4 cups gourmet salad greens

2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves or 2 teaspoons dried tarragon

To prepare dressing, combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Stir in onions.

To prepare greens, combine spinach, salad greens, and tarragon in a large bowl; add the dressing, and toss well. Serve salad immediately.

"Whoa. This is GREAT."

2010-01-24T08:40:00.003-05:00

Those were the exact words out of my husband's mouth upon putting the first bite of this dish in his mouth. I had to agree with him. This dish is also every easy to put together. I actually used pre-cookied frozen shrimp (that I unthawed before cooking obviously) and that made it even easier! Just delicious - no other way to describe it! This will definitely make its way into our meal rotations. Thanks to my friend Lindsay for this one!

Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi with Orzo

1 Cup uncooked orzo

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1/2 Teaspoon divided salt

7 Teaspoons divided butter

1 1/2 Pound peeled deveined jumbo shrimp

1 -2 dashes garlic powder

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 Teaspoon black pepper

14 1/2 Ounces chicken broth

1 tsp for topping grated Parmesan cheese

Spray a small sauce pan with cooking spray. Add the orzo, stirring frequently until slightly toasted. Pour in the chicken broth. Cook until almost all of the broth is absorbed. 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 powder to pan; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in shrimp, juice, and pepper; cook 1 minute or until shrimp are done. Stir the orzo back into the skillet. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Speaking of the cookie exchange....

2010-01-24T08:30:00.004-05:00

For my annual cookie exchange I usually serve other foods, depending on when I have it. This year, it being on a Sunday afternoon, I served a luncheon. I made lasagna, sweet & sour chicken, heavenly potatoes, and served that along with some fresh rolls from a local bakery and bakery pizza (it's a Rhode Island thing - pizza you eat cold & cheeseless, it's good, just trust me!). I also made a couple of dips for enjoyment - buffalo chicken dip and a new dip recipe I tried out - White Pizza Dip.

You'll never guess where I found this one - the back of a Lipton dried soup mix box! Hey, I don't care WHERE I find them, as long as they are good that is all that matters to me. This was one was full of flavor and I would definitely make it again!

White Pizza Dip

(from Lipton)

1 envelope Lipton® Recipe Secrets® Savory Herb with Garlic Soup Mix

1 container (16 oz.) sour cream

1 cup (8 oz.) ricotta cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (about 4 oz.)

1/4 cup (1 oz.) chopped pepperoni (optional)

1 loaf Italian or French bread, sliced

Preheat oven to 350°. In shallow 1-quart casserole, combine Lipton® Recipe Secrets® Savory Herb with Garlic Soup Mix, sour cream, ricotta cheese, 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese and pepperoni.

Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese.

Bake uncovered 30 minutes or until heated through. Serve with bread.

Cookie Exchange!

2010-01-24T08:21:00.004-05:00

So I just realized I never updated for my annual Christmas Cookie exchange! It is a tradition I started Christmas 2006 - each of my guests brings a big batch of cookies to share. The ladies each send me their recipes so I can collect them all and make recipe "books" so anyone can head home and make any of the delicious concoctions they just had. Oh and of course everyone gets to take home a huge tray of a variety of cookies to share (or to not share) with their husbands, families, etc.

This was the 4th annual exchange and my friends always continue to amaze me with the delicious goodies they make. Everyone always seems excited to come, hang out with each other, chat and celebrate the season! It is always a good time!

Per usual, I make at least two recipes. I always feel as hostess I should provide more than one cookie. Both recipes were from the Martha Stewart Cookies cookbook, which I'd received from my Aunt as a Christmas gift the year before and both recipes were delicious!!!

Gingerbread White Chocolate Blondies

(from Martha Stewart Cookies)

2 ¼ cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda

1 ¼ teaspoons salt

1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1 ¼ cups (2 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 ¼ cups packed light brown sugar

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk

1 ¼ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup unsulfered molasses

1 ¾ cups coarsely chopped white chocolate (10oz)

Nonstick spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13 x 9 inch baking sheet with nonstick spray and line the bottom with parchment paper and set aside.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars on medium high speed until creamy and pale, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and yolk one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add vanilla and molasses and mix on medium speed until combined. Add flour mixture on low speed until combined. Stir in white chocolate.

Spread batter evenly into prepared pan and bake until golden on edges, about 35 – 40 minutes. Let cool completely in pan, cut into 2 inch squares. Blondies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

(from Martha Stewart Cookies)

1 cup all purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon course salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

½ cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 large)

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1 12oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts (about 2 ounces), toasted.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together both flours, salt, and baking soda in bowl.

Put butter and both sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add egg and vanilla; mix until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in oats, chocolate chips, and walnuts

Using 1 ½ inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper., spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 12 to 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Catching up

2010-01-24T08:14:00.004-05:00

I'm going to attempt to catch up to several weeks of missed blogging. I know I'm going to miss some recipe, somewhere along the way....but here goes nothing!

First off, I hosted both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year for our families. I had 8 people for Christmas Eve, 9 for Christmas Day. It was a lot of work but good times.

Traditionally, on Christmas Eve, the food is pretty low key in my family. French meat pies, and then another stand-alone dish (i.e. not a "meat and potatoes" dish, more of a casserole-ish dish). This year I opted for Mac 'n Cheese. But it wasn't your grandma's mac 'n cheese, this one was kicked up a few notches in the cheese & flavor department. It was quite good! I thank my friend Janine for passing this one along to me!

Mac 'n Cheese

6 slices good-quality white bread, crusts removed, torn into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for dish
5 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 1/2 cups (about 18 ounces) grated sharp white cheddar
2 cups (about 8 ounces) grated Gruyere or 1 1/4 cups (about 5 ounces) grated pecorino Romano
1 pound elbow macaroni

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside. Place bread pieces in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Pour butter into the bowl with bread, and toss. Set the breadcrumbs aside. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, heat milk. Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When butter bubbles, add flour. Cook, stirring, 1 minute.

Slowly pour hot milk into flour-butter mixture while whisking. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick.Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar, and 1 1/2 cups Gruyere or 1 cup pecorino Romano. Set cheese sauce aside.

Fill a large saucepan with water. Bring to a boil. Add macaroni; cook 2 to 3 fewer minutes than manufacturer's directions, until outside of pasta is cooked and inside is underdone. (Different brands of macaroni cook at different rates; be sure to read the instructions.) Transfer the macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Stir macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce.

Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar and 1/2 cup Gruyere or 1/4 cup pecorino Romano; scatter breadcrumbs over the top. Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes. Transfer dish to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes; serve

Busy day = crockpot!

2009-12-05T15:18:00.002-05:00

I really think there is nothing better than having a great meal without slaving over it all day. This past Sunday we had big plans - we had to run and errand, put up our outdoor Christmas lights, and get our tree up and house decorated. I knew I wouldn't be in the mood to put a lot of effort into dinner so I gave this recipe I found on the Crock Pot website a whirl. Delicious!

Sweet & Saucy Pork Chops

(from www.crock-pot.com)

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 pork chops, bone in

2 cups onions, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup water

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 cup brown sugar

Heat olive oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

Add pork chops and brown for 3 minutes on each side.

Remove pork chops and place in slow cooker. Add onion to skillet and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.

Reduce heat to low. Add garlic, water, ketchup, cider vinegar, soy sauce, mustard, and brown sugar. Stir until the brown sugar is dissolved. Pour sauce over pork chops.

Cook on Low for 8-10 hours.

For the love of Pioneer Woman!

2009-11-17T08:32:00.005-05:00

I am positive every food blogger knows about Pioneer Woman and venerates her as the top dog of the food blogging world. I've made several of her recipes in the past months or so, just been on a Pioneer Woman kick so I wanted to rave about some of the out-of-this-world goodness I have tried lately.

First up, her Baked Lemon Pasta. Run, don't walk, to your nearest store and pick up the ingredients for this! It was delicious and even better as leftovers, if you could imagine that! I actually cut this recipe down and made it as a side dish to tilapia for dinner one night. I would, however, happily make this as a main dish as filed on her site. Yum, yum, YUM!

Next up, I tried her Crash Hot Potatoes. Hello, easy potato insane goodness! Best part of this recipe? It's insanely versatile and would go with anything. I made this as a side to chicken but had extra so I saved them and used them as breakfast potatoes when I made "brinner"(aka breakfast-for-dinner) later that week.

Of course I caved and got Pioneer Woman's cookbook. I couldn't help myself. I also got a copy for my sister-in-law who is really trying to get more into cooking and baking. The pictures and the great stories make it great for someone just getting started.

So far I've tried two recipes from the cookbook: PW's Potato Skins & Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes. If you have the book I highly recommend both! My husband said the potato skins were better than from a restaurant! Not a bad compliment whatsoever.

Sweet potatoes. Oh how I love thee!

2009-11-17T08:20:00.003-05:00

I wish I could tell you why I never liked sweet potatoes up until about 3 or 4 years ago. I just didn't. Maybe it was the color, or some crazy pre-conceived notion from when I tried them when I was younger. Perhaps it was because my mother never made them, not being a sweet potato lover herself. Or even because probably most of the sweet potato recipes I'd tasted were very sweet - maybe TOO sweet?

I can't tell you when or where my love for sweet potatoes began but I can tell you my husband fell in love with them around the same time. So now it's nothing out of the ordinary to have sweet potatoes as a side dish to dinner. The other day I decided I wanted to try something a little different than my usual roasted sweet potatoes or my run of the mill mashed sweet potatoes. That's when I came across this little diddy on MyRecipes.com. I love it because it can be easily put together in very little time with ingredients I already have in the house. And I also love it because it's a little sweet and a little savory. As I mentioned above, I think one thing that had turned me off to sweet potatoes in the past were those uber sweet, marshmallow topped casseroles. I'm more of a sweet and savory sweet potato gal, and so is my hubby.

This recipe was seriously delicious and will make it into my typical rotation for all of the reasons mentioned above Also to save time, I just took out my potato masher instead of putting the potatoes through my food processor. I guess that means my potatoes ended up more mashed and less "whipped" but nonetheless they were out of this world!

Honey Mustard Whipped Sweet Potatoes
(from MyRecipes.com)

1 tablespoon margarine
1/2 cup sliced onion
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup low-salt chicken broth

Melt margarine in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sweet potatoes; sauté 5 minutes. Add mustard and remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are very tender.

Place sweet potato mixture in a food processor; process until smooth.

Super soup!

2009-11-10T07:08:00.004-05:00

I've never made it a secret in this blog that I love my crockpot. Nothing better than throwing a bunch of stuff in it and hours later a great meal being all ready for you.

This time of the year I also love soup so when I came across this particular recipe for a crockpot soup I couldn't wait to make it! I am so glad I did, this came out delicious. The only thing I would suggest is using bigger than a 4.0 - 4.5 quart crockpot, I used mine and the soup came nearly to the top of it while cooking, and I feel this made the cook time longer than indicated in the recipe. Next time if I chose to do this full recipe again I would make it in my larger 5.5 quart crockpot instead. But, this was still delicious! I also made bread bowls as mentioned in the recipe. Nothing better than hearty soup & crusty bread!

Hearty Potato Soup
(from MyRecipes.com)

6 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (2 1/2 pounds)
2 medium onions, diced
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans low-sodium fat-free chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups fat-free half-and-half
Italian Bread Bowls
Garnish: fresh celery leaves

Combine first 8 ingredients in a 4 1/2-quart slow cooker.

Cook, covered, at HIGH 3 hours or until vegetables are tender.

Stir together flour and half-and-half; stir into soup. Cover and cook 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve in Italian Bread Bowls, and garnish, if desired

Chicken Rollatini

2009-11-10T07:00:00.005-05:00

I was watching the Food Network a couple of weeks ago when Robin Miller came on and made this delicious recipe. My husband and I love spinach and we LOVE goat cheese. This could not have been a better match!

For this recipe I used whole wheat seasoned bread crumbs for the first time. I had bought a cannister a couple of weeks ago when they were on sale and I had a coupon specifically for the whole wheat variety! Quite tasty actually, and aside from the color, one would never know they were whole wheat!

Chicken Rollatini with Ditalini
(from FoodNetwork.com)

Cooking spray
2 pounds ditalini pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/4-inch thickness
8 ounces thinly sliced ham
1 cup baby spinach leaves, chopped
4 ounces goat cheese
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

Cook ditalini according to package directions. Drain and toss with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper.

Arrange chicken breasts on a flat surface. Top each piece of chicken with ham. Mix together spinach and goat cheese and spread over ham. Starting from the shorter end, roll up chicken and secure with wooden picks. Brush mustard all over chicken rolls and then roll in bread crumbs.

Heat remaining oil in a large oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken rolls and cook until golden brown on all sides.

Transfer chicken to oven and bake 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

Serve chicken with half of the ditalini. Reserve extra ditalini for another dish

Chicken, let me count the ways....

2009-10-12T08:51:00.003-04:00

Chicken is the universal meat when you think about it. Everything "tastes like chicken." Chicken is most people's "go to" meal when faced with picky eaters. At weddings there is always an option for chicken as a meal. Chicken is a crowd pleaser so why is it so easy to get stuck in a rut when cooking it? Is it just me or does anyone else feel like you sometimes start relying on the same recipes, or same style of recipes when it comes to chicken?

A few weeks ago I had bought a whole chicken on sale and didn't want to reach for my usual method of seasoning/marinating so I did a little searching on myrecipes.com, which, by the way, has really become one of my favorite food websites to use. I found this recipe for Baked Curry Chicken. It called for a whole chicken cut up, but, I skipped that part and cooked the chicken whole making sure to make sure the marinade covered the bird well.

The reviews on the website for this recipe were high on praise and I had to agree! The chicken came out so moist and very tasty. Most importantly it was different from my usual whole chicken recipe. I later made chicken stock from the bones and with some of that leftover marinade added in to flavor it. Delicious!

Baked Curry Chicken

(from MyRecipes.com)

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup yellow mustard

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 (3 1/2- to 4-lb.) whole chicken, cut up

Stir together first 5 ingredients in a shallow dish until blended. Dip chicken in honey mixture, 1 piece at a time, thoroughly coating all sides. Arrange chicken, skin side up, in a single layer in a 15- x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; pour remaining honey mixture over chicken.

Bake at 375° for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until done.

Sangria!!!!

2009-10-12T08:43:00.004-04:00

A few weeks back I was watching an episode of "Grill It!" with Bobby Flay. I love Bobby Flay with his unique flavor offerings and combinations but ironically this time the recipe that caught my attention the most was one for a Rose Sangria Spritzer.

My sister-in-law was coming over later that week and we were going to have some girlie time together. I had planned on grilling some pizzas for dinner and thought this sangria would be a nice addition to our dinner since we both enjoy rose wine. There was really no way of going wrong.

We both loved this and it was so easy to make. I did not add club soda to it since it was optional and kept the recipe as is. Delicious! I knew Bobby would never steer me in a wrong direction!!

Rose Sangria Spritzer

(from FoodNetwork.com)

2 bottles cold rose wine

1 green apple, thinly sliced

1 orange, halved and thinly sliced

1 pint fresh raspberries

Simple syrup, to taste

Ice cubes

Fresh mint leaves, for garnish

Club soda, cold, optional

Combine wine, apple, orange, raspberries in a pitcher, add simple syrup, to taste. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day. Serve over ice, garnish with mint and top with a few splashes of club soda, if desired.

This recipe should just be named....

2009-09-19T15:48:00.002-04:00

FABULOUS!

My friend Danielle of Make No Little Meals emailed me this recipe a couple weeks ago saying I HAD to try it. Right she was! If you are into the sweet/salty combo this is the recipe for you! I will make these again....and again....and again!

Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bars

(from Food and Wine)

2 cups all-purpose flour

2. 1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

One 12-ounce bag bittersweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups mini pretzels, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 9-by-13-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper, allowing overhang on the 2 long ends.

2. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter with both sugars at medium speed until light, 1 minute. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. At low speed, beat in the dry ingredients. Stir in the chips and pretzels.

3. Spread the batter in the pan and top with the sprinkles. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden; the center will still be a little gooey. Transfer the pan to a rack and let cool completely.

4. Run the tip of a knife around the side of the pan and lift the bar out using the parchment paper. Cut into 24 squares and serve.

Our summer '09 potato side dish staple

2009-09-19T15:42:00.004-04:00

This year I made my grilled potatoes time and time again as a side dish to meals. I've even served these to company! So I finally decided to write down the recipe and document it for the blog!!!

The olive oil mixture is - in essence - what my mixture is for my breakfast homefries. But that's another recipe I need to write down one of these days.

I actually got the idea for these potatoes after my aunt cooked some on the grill with some olive oil on them. I decided to take things one step further and, as Emeril would say, "kick things up a notch." They are so delicious and easy. Microwaving the potatoes in advance cuts down on the cook time on the grill so things don't overcook. But in my opinion, you want to get a little grilled crust on these - it's amazing what a great taste grilling can give any sort of food!

I've made this recipe with white potatoes and red potatoes. There are merits to either type so I suggest them both equally if you are going to give these a try!

Robin’s Grilled Potatoes

4 medium sized potatoes (I’ve done this with both white & red potatoes, comes out great with either type)

3 – 4 tablespoons olive oil

1 ½ - 2 tablespoons yellow mustard

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Dash of salt

¼ teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon garlic powder

Scrub potatoes clean, leaving skin on. Pierce each potato several times with a fork and place in microwave for 5-8 minutes or until potatoes are nearly fully cooked (time in microwave will depend on the size & type of potato you use). Let potatoes cool down a bit.

In the meantime, combine the remainder of ingredients in a small bowl.

When potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut each potato lengthwise down the middle. Coat each potato generously in olive oil mixture, saving any remaining mixture. Let potatoes “marinate” with mixture on for 10-15 minutes.

Preheat grill to medium heat. Place potatoes on grill, cut side down on grates for 3-4 minutes, then flip over (to skin side). While skin side is cooking, baste cut side of the potatoes with any remaining olive oil mixture. After 3-4 minutes, flip potatoes back over to cut side down on grill grates, baste skin side again if there is any remaining olive oil mixture. Close grill cover and cook for another 2-4 minutes until cut side of the potato is nice and crusty.

Grilling season may be winding down...

2009-09-19T15:39:00.002-04:00

...but we're still "getting our grill on."

I watched Giada make this recipe on her show the week before last. It just sounded TOO good not to try, and also perfect timing. I'd just taken chicken breasts out of the freezer that morning to make in a couple of nights for dinner.

We loved this BBQ sauce. I wish I had made extra so I could bottle it or something! It was delicious and I can't wait to try it on steak!

Chicken or Steak with Balsamic BBQ Sauce

(from FoodNetwork.com)

For the Balsamic BBQ sauce:

1 cup balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup ketchup

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the chicken or steak:

4 pieces chicken (any combination of breast or leg-and-thigh pieces) or 4 pieces of New York strip or Club strip steak

Salt and freshly ground pepper

For the BBQ sauce:

Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and stir until all the ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Simmer over medium heat until reduced by 1/3, about 15 to 20 minutes.

For the chicken or steak:

Place a grill pan over medium heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Lightly coat with some of the BBQ sauce using a pastry brush. Place the meat on the grill. Place the remaining BBQ sauce, still in the small saucepan, over low heat or on the edge of a gas or charcoal grill and allow to gently simmer while the meat cooks.

Cook the chicken about 8 minutes per side. Cook the steaks starting at about 4 minutes per side until a meat thermometer reads the desired temperature, 120 degrees F for medium rare, 135 degrees F for medium (about 6 minutes per side), 155 degrees F for well done (about 9 minutes per side). Continually brush the meat with BBQ sauce every few minutes. Remove the meat from the grill and let rest for at least 5 minutes. Serve with the heated BBQ sauce alongside.

Alternately, the chicken can be baked in the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the chicken skin side up in a baking dish and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the baking dish from the oven and spoon the BBQ sauce all over the top of the chicken. Return the baking dish to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes.

Kabob time!

2009-09-10T08:50:00.004-04:00

This past Labor Day weekend we had some very good friends over for an afternoon/evening of fun. It was just a small crowd of us (5 people) and I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather and definitely do something on the grill. It may be September but we grill here well into October as long s the weather cooperates!

I'd mentioned to my husband a couple weeks earlier how we hadn't done any kind of kabobs on the grill this season at all. When we made plans with our friends to come over this past weekend I looked at it as the perfect opportunity to have grilled kabobs. Any bigger of a crowd I'd question the amount of skewering time (I'd rather be socializing with our friends) but for that many people I could handle it!

I decided to do beef and chicken, alternating with green peppers, yellow summer squash, tomatoes, and onions. They were a thing of beauty and I will eventually have some really fantastic pictures of them for you as our good friend Matt has gotten into photography the past few months and was kind enough to take some before and after pictures for me.

I used two different marinades - a light one for the chicken, tomatoes, and squash and a little bolder flavored one for the beef, onions and peppers. It was a nice mix when all of the food was together. So here are the respective marinades I used, both courtesy of MyRecipes.com.

Chicken Vegetable Kabobs
(from MyRecipes.com)

4 skinned and boned chicken breast halves
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon garlic powder
8 (8-inch) wooden or metal skewers

Cut chicken into 2- x 1-inch strips.

Whisk together 1/4 cup white wine, orange juice, olive oil, and next 4 ingredients, reserving 1/4 cup for basting. Pour remaining marinade into a shallow dish or large heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; add chicken strips. Cover or seal, and chill 2 hours, turning chicken occasionally.

Soak wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes to prevent burning.

Remove chicken from marinade, discarding marinade.

Thread chicken and vegetables onto 8 (8-inch) skewers.

Grill chicken, covered with grill lid, over medium-high heat (350° to 400°) 15 to 20 minutes or until done, turning occasionally and basting with reserved marinade.

Marinated Beef Kabobs with Vegetables
(from MyRecipes.com)

1 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 (3 1/2-pound) eye of round roast, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
12 small whole onions
1 pound large whole mushrooms
2 green bell peppers, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

Stir together first 10 ingredients; reserve 1/2 cup marinade, and chill. Pour remaining marinade into a large heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag. Add meat cubes; seal and chill 8 hours. Drain, discarding marinade.

Thread meat and vegetables onto 12-inch skewers.

Grill, covered with grill lid, over medium-high heat 16 minutes, basting with reserved marinade and turning often

Way behind, once again

2009-09-10T08:43:00.002-04:00

Well I'm just going to stop apologizing and just admit that yes, I made this recipe well over a month ago and am only blogging about it now....

This was a recipe shared by one of the lovely ladies on my Nest board. The ingredients sounded unique and I wasn't sold on it until one of the other ladies tried the recipe and LOVED it. Between a rave review and my curiousity I just had to try this.

And let me just say, I am SO glad I did! This is one fabulous marinade. My pork chops came out so juicy and tender and flavorful! Anyone who did not know the contents of the marinade would never guess coffee and molasses were two of the key ingredients! I highly recommend this one!

Molasses-Coffee Marinated Pork Chops

1 Cup cooled strong coffee
6 Ounces molasses
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 Cloves minced garlic
1 Teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 Teaspoon ground ginger
6 sprigs - 8 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 Teaspoon black pepper
4 (1" thick each) bone in pork chop

Place all of the ingredients into a 1 gallon zip top bag, seal, and shake to combine. Place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

Preheat grill to medium-high.

Remove the pork chops from the marinade. Transfer the marinade to a small saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-high, and boil gently, stirring often, until reduced to about 1/2 cup liquid, 12-15 minutes. Remove the thyme stems after the glaze has reduced.

Meanwhile, grill pork chops 3-4 minutes per side or until they reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Allow the pork chops to rest 4-5 minutes before serving with the glaze.

Warning: Crazy lady baking in 90+ degree weather

2009-08-20T17:11:00.002-04:00

Yeah. That would be me.

I don't know what came over me the other day. We have had quite an odd summer in New England, a lot of rain, and the typical hot humid summer days only really began coming with frequency the past two weeks or so.

So the hot weather is finally here, we are struggling to keep our 1st floor of the house cool with one window a/c unit and what do I decide I would like to do? You got it: bake a batch of cookies!

In my defense, I only baked half a batch so it was 1 pan and done. Also I threw these right in when I started to preheat and adjusted the cooking time slightly to make up for it (it really was not a huge adjustment either). The urge could not be controlled and I'm glad it couldn't because these suckers came out GREAT!

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chips Cookies
(from Hersheyskitchens.com)

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2-1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1-2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S Cinnamon Chips
3/4 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350°F.

Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in bowl until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Combine flour and baking soda; add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in oats, cinnamon chips and raisins (batter will be stiff). Drop by heaping teaspoons unto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes on until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. About 4 dozen.

BAR VARIATION: Spread batter into lightly greased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Bake at 350°F. for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool; cut into bars. About 3 dozen bars.

Bacon? Did you say bacon?

2009-08-20T16:54:00.002-04:00

I just mentioned in my previous post that last week we had my sister-in-law and her boyfriend over for dinner. Her boyfriend LOVES bacon, and, for the record - so does my husband. He says I don't make enough bacon. I, on the other hand, can take or leave bacon so he's probably right that I don't make it enough!

When I decided on a BBQ themed dinner, I thought cornbread was in order but then I thought about how to incorporate bacon into the meal as well. The beans in my previous post took care of that to an extent, but I figured I'd search for a bacon cornbread recipe just to mix things up. Lo and behold I found this incredibly quick & easy recipe which was a hit. Between the 4 of us all but 1 piece was eaten by the end of the night!

Cheese & Bacon Cornbread
(from about.com)

:
1 package corn muffin mix (i.e., Jiffy)
1/2 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
6 slices crisply cooked and crumbled bacon
1 egg
Milk, as label directs

Empty corn muffin mix into a medium mixing bowl. Save about 1 tablespoon of shredded cheese and bacon for topping; stir remaining cheese and bacon into muffin mix. Mis in egg and milk, following label directions.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square baking dish. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes; sprinkle reserved cheese and bacon over top and bake 10 minutes longer, or until cornbread browned and firm.

Yes. I'm a slacker.

2009-08-17T19:03:00.004-04:00

At least I admit it!!!

Summer 2009 has been a fairly busy one, not as busy as last summer when I was a bridesmaid in 2 weddings, a matron of honor in another - that meant 3 bridal showers, 2 bachelorette parties, 3 rehearsal nights. Oh and did I mention there were 3 baby showers last summer too?

This summer has been decidedly more quiet as far as "big events" like those go, but we've been consistently busy on the weekends. I've been sticking to a lot of tried and true recipes and other meals I just know how to make, but I have been trying new things here and there. The frequency of new recipes though, has definitely decreased as we've been on a tighter budget. I love to cook and bake, but it can get pricey. But make no mistake about it - I still love to cook and bake, I'm just trying to do it more frugally than before!

Anyway that's enough of my ramblings - now onto the recipe! Last week we had my sister-in-law and her boyfriend over for dinner. I made a BBQ themed dinner - pulled pork, corn on the cob, cornbread, and baked beans.

The baked bean recipe below is a great "shortcut" recipe. It uses canned beans rather than dried ones which cuts down on a lot of prep time, and for the most part includes a lot of "run of the mill" ingredients you probably have in your house already. I left out the chipotle in this recipe and I know that probably takes out the "blazin'" part of this recipe. But it was a great recipe nonetheless!

Blazin' Baked Beans
(from MyRecipes.com)

1/4 pound finely diced bacon slices (raw)
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons finely chopped chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
5 (16-ounce) cans navy beans, rinsed and drained
1 (18-ounce) jar low-sodium barbecue sauce
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.
Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings in pan, and set bacon aside. Add onion to drippings in pan; sauté 3 minutes.
Combine bacon, onion, and remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a large bowl; toss well. Spoon the bean mixture into a 13 x 9-inch or 2 1/2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.

Hamming it up!!

2009-07-10T09:53:00.002-04:00

I'm beginning to realize I'm pretty behind on blogging about recipes these days.

This is one I made, well, over a month ago! I had bought a small ham at the market at a great price. Ham's not something I really think to cook unless it's a holiday or special occasion but this little guy was good for a nice meal for my husband & I and enough for some yummy leftovers. We love leftovers here at this house!

Anyway I'm leaving this recipe in tact with the original measurements. Obviously I scaled it down since my ham was not that large. This was a fantastic recipe - so flavorful, easy to make, and the ham was so moist when it came out of the oven. It's a definite keeper!

Fresh Baked Ham with Whisky and Cola Glaze
(from FoodNetwork.com)

1 (8-pound) fresh ham (shank and leg of pork)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon Essence, recipe follows
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Whole cloves
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup whisky
4 cups cola drink
Wild Pecan Rice, Bacon, and Tasso Dressing, recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

With a sharp knife, puncture and score the skin of the ham, making parallel 1/2-inch-deep incisions. Turn the ham and score again to make a grid-like pattern.

In a small bowl combine the salt, Essence, pepper, and cayenne. Rub evenly all over the ham. Place the ham, fatty side up, in a large roasting pan. Place 1 clove where the lines intersect on the ham. Rub the sugar evenly over the ham, pressing to pack. Pour 2 cups of cola into the bottom of the roasting pan and bake for 1 hour. In a container, combine the whisky and the remaining 2 cups of cola.

Baste the ham with the whiskey and cola and continue to bake, basting every 15 minutes with the whisky and coke mixture and pan juices, until the ham is cooked through, the skin is crisp and dark, and a meat thermometer registers 165 degrees F, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Remove from the oven and let rest at least 20 minutes before carving. To serve, slice the meat thinly across the grain and arrange on a platter.

Essence (Emeril's Creole Seasoning):

* 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
* 2 tablespoons salt
* 2 tablespoons garlic powder
* 1 tablespoon black pepper
* 1 tablespoon onion powder
* 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
* 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
* 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.

Yield: about 2/3 cup

Steak - it's what was for dinner

2009-07-10T09:45:00.004-04:00

I don't buy a lot of steak here, typically because it's pricier and also because red meat isn't the healthiest thing out there. But every now and again when it's on sale I'll buy us some nice hearty steaks.

Given that it's the summer time I of course wanted to grill these and am always looking for a new marinade recipe to try. This is an Applebee's copycat recipe that I do have to say came out great. The only thing I would change next time is to marinate it a bit longer. I had it marinating about 5 hours and I think I'd prefer to do it at least 8 hours or even overnight just so the steaks soaked up more of that delicious flavor.

Applebee’s Bourbon Street Steak

1/2 Cup steak sauce
1/4 Cup bourbon whiskey
1 Tablespoon honey
2 Teaspoon mustard
4 (10 oz. each) steak

Combine all the ingredients except the steaks in a baking dish or resealable plastic storage bag; mix well. Add the steaks; cover (or seal) and refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight.

Preheat the grill to medium−high heat. Grill the steaks for 12-15 minutes, or until desired doneness, turning them over halfway through the grilling.

S'more please!!!

2009-07-07T20:32:00.003-04:00

As many of us do at this time of year, we had multiple 4th of July cookouts to hit this past weekend. I always like to have something in hand to bring from house to house and usually it is something in a dessert form because, well, dessert is one of the major food groups. Right?

My friend Cathy actually had made these a few weeks back and I had fallen in love with these while at her house one day. That's when I realized it was the perfect dessert to bring to one of the cookouts!

We were not there at the end of the night, however, I was told the last piece of this dessert was fodder for bickering over who would get it. Ha!

Warm Toasted Marshmallow S'more Bars
(from BettyCrocker.com)

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 cups milk chocolate chips (18 oz) (I used semi-sweet here)
4 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix and crumbs. Stir in melted butter until soft dough forms. Press into ungreased 13x9-inch pan.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until set. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Let stand 3 to 5 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt. Spread chocolate evenly over crust.

Set oven control to broil. Sprinkle marshmallows over melted chocolate. Broil with top 4 to 5 inches from heat 20 to 30 seconds or until marshmallows are toasted. (Watch closely; marshmallows will brown quickly.) Cool 10 minutes. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Serve warm. Store any remaining bars tightly covered.

An old standby

2009-06-18T12:23:00.001-04:00

Here's an old standby recipe I made recently that I've made several times by now because it's just so darn easy and a nice twist on a typical from-the-box brownie.

I don't know where the recipe originated as it was given to me by a friend a few years ago, however, I have seen it in several different variations on different websites since, like AllRecipes.com.

And sorry, no picture again. I'm beginning to feel like the reason I am not taking pictures is that I have an inferiority complex. Some of you take amazing food pictures and I'm probably a bit envious of that!

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

1 Package brownie mix
1/4 Cup vegetable oil
3 Tablespoon water
1 egg
20 miniature peanut butter cups

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Combine brownie mix, oil, water, and egg in large bowl. Stir 50 strokes w/ a spoon.

Place paper cupcake cups in pan. Fill each cup to about 3/4 full. Then place peanut butter cup in center of each cupcake. Bake 30-35 minutes. Let peanut butter cup cool and re-harden before serving.

Bad blogger

2009-06-10T06:59:00.003-04:00

Yes, I am horrible blogger who has been cooking and baking and trying new recipes and not blogging about them. Or taking pictures for that matter. Here's one a tried a few weeks ago. It was good, not great, but good enough to make these again. They were easy and the Fiber One cereal made me not feel so bad about eating them.

Double-Chocolate Muffins
(from FiberOne.com)

Prep Time:15 min
Start to Finish:35 min
Makes:12 muffins

1 cup Fiber One® original bran cereal
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 egg
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Gold Medal® whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 12 regular-size muffin cups. Place cereal in resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag and crush with rolling pin or meat mallet (or crush in food processor).

In medium bowl, mix cereal and buttermilk; let stand 5 minutes. Stir in oil and egg. Stir in remaining ingredients except chocolate chips. Stir in chocolate chips. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately remove from pan. Serve warm

One more Easter straggler - dessert!

2009-05-21T13:28:00.004-04:00

With all of the cooking and cleaning and general preparation I do for Easter, I'm all about finding a simple dessert and letting my mom make the others.

I have found you can really never go wrong with a cheesecake. Cheesecake is always a big hit with my husband, nevermind eeryone else. And when you are short on time and focusing on serving 10 guests a huge brunch, there's nothing better than a 3-step cheesecake!

This cheesecake was easy....delicious....and addicting. I can't be held responsible if you want to make this over and over again!

Philadelphia 3-Step Toffee Crunch Cheesecake
(from KraftFoods.com)

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
4 chocolate-covered English toffee bars (1.4 oz. each), chopped (about 1 cup), divided
1 HONEY MAID Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs; mix just until blended. Stir in 3/4 cup of the chopped toffee bars.

Pour into crust. Sprinkle with remaining chopped toffee bars.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

2009-05-21T12:57:00.003-04:00

This is an easy one from KraftFoods.com but one that even my tomato-hating hubby enjoyed. Sometimes I can sneak that kind of stuff into his meals and he'll like it! Can't beat when that happens!

If you are looking for a quick one dish meal for a weeknight, this is it!

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

(from KraftFoods.com)

1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken
1/2 cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray a 11x7-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.

Place the chicken in a layer into the bottom of the baking dish. Stir together tomatoes, water, garlic, and stuffing mix in a large bowl; set aside to soften. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the chicken, then sprinkle with dried basil. Spread the softened stuffing mixture on top.

Bake uncovered until the chicken cubes have turned white and are no longer pink in the center, about 30 minutes.

Still catching up on Easter recipes....

2009-04-27T08:10:00.003-04:00

Every Easter for our Easter brunch I make a French Toast casserole of some sort. You would not believe how many French toast casserole recipes there are out there. As a lover of French toast I have no problem with trying out a new one from time to time.

This recipe, from MyRecipes.com, is defintely a keeper. I used cinnamon swirl bread instead of cinnamon raisin bread since I had some non-raisin lovers in our crowd of guests but the end result was delicious. Everyone really seemed to enjoy it.

I used regular eggs in this recipe and just online to figure out the conversion of egg substitute to real eggs. I also replaced the sugar with Splenda.

Stuffed French Toast
(from MyRecipes.com)

24 (1-ounce) slices cinnamon-raisin bread
Cooking spray
3 cups 1% low-fat milk
2 cups egg substitute, divided
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup sugar, divided
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 (8-ounce) block fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
Bottled cinnamon-sugar (optional)

Trim crusts from bread. Arrange half of the bread in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Combine milk, 1 1/2 cups egg substitute, half-and-half, and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Pour half of milk mixture over bread in dish.

Combine 1/2 cup egg substitute, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, and cheeses in a food processor or blender; process until smooth. Pour cream cheese mixture over moist bread in dish. Top with remaining bread; pour remaining milk mixture over bread. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Uncover and bake at 350° for 55 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before

Grilin' & Chillin'

2009-04-27T07:53:00.004-04:00

It's that time of year again - the nice weather is here and that means one thing. It's time to grill!!!

My husband and I officially broke out the grill again for the season this past weekend. Saturday night we had burgers, there is really nothing like burger hot off the grill!

Last night we had pork tenderloin on the grill and it was fabulous! I swear this must be one of the best marinades on the planet. I actually have used this recipe in the past, prior to my blogging days, and dug it back up out of the woodwork because I remembered it being so good.

The pork was tender, moist, and flavorful. The irony of it all? This recipe is from the Betty Crocker website!

Grilled Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin

(from BettyCrocker.com)

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 pork tenderloins (about 3/4 pound each)

Mix all ingredients except pork. Place pork in resealable plastic food-storage bag or shallow glass or plastic dish. Pour marinade over pork; turn pork to coat with marinade. Seal bag or cover dish and refrigerate at least 8 hours but no longer than 24 hours, turning pork occasionally.

Brush grill rack with vegetable oil. If using charcoal grill, place drip pan directly under grilling area, and arrange coals around edge of firebox. Heat coals or gas grill for indirect heat.

Remove pork from marinade; reserve marinade. Cover and grill pork over drip pan or over unheated side of gas grill and 4 to 5 inches from medium heat 25 to 30 minutes, brushing occasionally with marinade and turning once, until pork is slightly pink in center. Cut pork across grain into thin slices.

Easter potatoes

2009-04-22T08:13:00.003-04:00

This year, for the 3rd year in a row, my husband and I hosted Easter brunch. I love how Easter lends itself to a brunch since, well, our families love them some brunch! There were 10 of us this year.

I made this recipe 2 Easters ago and it was hit. I've made it since then in a non-brunch setting as well. It's always been a hit. To be honest I'm not sure why I haven't blogged this recipe before now....

I use low fat everything in this (sour cream, cream of chicken soup, shredded cheese) and it's still ridiculously rich - so you can save yourself a few calories if you'd like! Also the goldfish cracker topping was my idea. While I'm sure the breadcrumb topping (as the original recipe called for) would be fabulous in this recipe, one time I was low on breadcrumbs and decided a cracker topping would be just as delicious. I used some goldfish crackers and let me tell you, it's a nice compliment of flavors! The original recipe also calls for just cheddar cheese, I used a combination of cheddar & mozzarella, just my personal preference

Heavenly Potatoes
(original recipe from AllRecipes.com)

5 Pounds cut into 6 pieces each red potato
16 Ounces sour cream
1/2 Cup plus 1/4 cup melted butter
1 Can cream of chicken soup
1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 Cups shredded mozzarella
1/4 Cup chopped green onion (scallions)
1 Dash to taste salt
1 Dash to taste black pepper
1 1/2 Cups finely crushed parmesan flavored goldfish crackers Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease 9x13 baking dish. Place potatoes in large pot of water, and bring to a boil. Boil until slightly tender, about 12 minutes. Drain and transfer to large bowl. Mix sour cream, butter, cream of chicken soup, cheese, green onions, salt, and pepper with the potatoes. Spread mixture in baking dish and sprinkle with Goldfish

Yummy & healthy...

2009-04-20T14:34:00.002-04:00

That combo isn't one that goes together 100% of the time, but this recipe fits the bill. I found this recipe on KraftFoods.com and it is delicious and easy.

Creamy Chicken & Pasta Bake
(from KraftFoods.com)

1-1/2 cups multigrain rotini pasta, uncooked
1 small bunch broccoli, cut into florets (about 3 cups)
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 oz. (1/4 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese, cubed
1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
2 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

Heat oven to 375ºF. Cook pasta in large saucepan as directed on package, adding broccoli for the last 3 min.

Meanwhile, heat large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 min. or until no longer pink, stirring frequently. Stir in broth; simmer 3 min. or until chicken is done. Add cream cheese; cook and stir on low heat 1 min. or until cream cheese is melted. Stir in 1/2 cup mozzarella.

Drain pasta and broccoli. Add to chicken mixture; mix lightly. Spoon into 8-inch sq. baking dish; cover.

Bake 15 min. or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake, uncovered, 3 min. or until melted. Let stand 5 min.

Super shrimp

2009-04-20T14:27:00.002-04:00

And super simple!

I don't cook with fish or seafood a lot, but I'm trying to get better. Lately I've ventured into shrimp, making my own version of paella about a month and 1/2 ago (the synthesization of 3 different recipes) and then about 2 weeks ago I made this dish that I found on MyRecipes.com. The best part about this recipe was not only that it was easy, but that it had simple tastes that altogether were fantastic together. This will definitely continue to make it on the meal rotation at our house.

Lemon-Shrimp Couscous Risotto
(from MyRecipes.com)

2 1/2 cups water
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped green onions
1 cup uncooked couscous
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 ounces medium shrimp, cooked and peeled
1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Simmer 2 1/2 cups water and broth; keep warm. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Sauté onions 2 minutes. Add couscous. Cook 2 minutes; stir constantly. Stir in 1 cup broth mixture, rind, salt, and pepper; cook, stirring constantly, until liquid is nearly absorbed.

Add remaining broth mixture, 1/2 cup at a time; stir constantly until each portion is absorbed before adding next. Add shrimp. Cook 2 minutes; stir constantly. Remove from heat; stir in cheese and parsley.

Coming out of hiding

2009-04-20T14:23:00.002-04:00

Well I have obviously been in hiding, and even I didn't realize it's been well over a month since I last posted. Time really does fly. I have no good excuse for my lack of blogging, in fact I have been cooking and baking and trying new recipes. I just haven't been motivated to take pictures of my food, or blog.

But I do have some recipes to share, unfortunately sans pictures. But maybe a few new entries is what I need to get back on the proverbial horse!

Another Carb-tastic blog entry....

2009-03-13T10:49:00.006-04:00

I've noticed a pattern with my last few blog posts - CARBS! Oh well, I love carbs and make no bones about it, one of these days I'll actually post something besides cookies, muffins, and breads but for now I'm still on this carb merry-go-round.

This past weekend I tried my hand at another recipe from my Food Network Magazine - "Almost-Famous Soft Pretzels" which the article touted were the closest you would get to an Auntie Anne pretzel! I just had to try it.

All I can say is, wow, these came out pretty darn good! My husband and I don't like salt on the outside of our pretzels so I skipped that step and dramatically reduced the butter on top of the pretzels after baking and they were still great. I just wish I had better pretzel making technique (example below) but hey, they could have come out looking worse I figure, plus the taste made up it anyway!

Almost-Famous Soft Pretzels
(from Food Network Magazine)

1 cup milk
1 pkg active dry yeast
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 1/4 cups AP flour, plus more for kneading
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
1 teaspoon fine salt
1/3 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons coarse salt

Warm the milk in a saucepan until it's about 110 degrees; pour into a medium bowl and sprinkle in yeast. Let the yeast sofen, about 2 minutes; stir in brown sugar and 1 cup flour with wooden spoon. Dice 2 tablespoons butter and soften; stir into the mix. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and fine salt to make a sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and grease large baking sheet. Punch the dough to deflate t, then turn out ontolightly floured surface. Divide dough into 6 pieces. Roll and stretch each piece with the palms fo your hands into a 30 inch rope holing the ends and slapping the middle of the rope on the counter as you stretch. Form each rope into a pretzel shape.

Dissolve 3 baking soda in 3 cups of warm water in a shallow baking dish. Gently dip each pretzel in the soda solution then arrange onthe prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake until golden 10-12 minutes.

Melt the remaining 8 tablespoons of butter in a shallow dish. Dip hot pretzels in the butter, turning to coat; place on a warm wire rack to let excess butter drip of. Serve the pretzels warm.

Irish Soda Bread

2009-03-13T10:40:00.004-04:00

I've always wanted to make an Irish Soda bread and with St. Patrick's Day approaching I thought there was really no better time. I've had this recipe from AllRecipes.com bookmarked for quite some time and finally decided to use it! I thought it came out great! I used 2 9x5 inch pans and cut the bake time down to about 45 minutes.

Irish Soda Bread I
(from AllRecipes.com)

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 pint sour cream
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease two 8x4 inch loaf pans.

Mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, sour cream and raisins and mix until just combined. Distribute batter evenly between the two pans.

Bake loaves at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 1 hour.

Not a good memory lately....

2009-03-11T11:07:00.003-04:00

...but I still have a recipe.

I yet again have tried a new recipe and failed to take a picture of it. Sometimes I think I get so excited with how well something comes out that taking a picture is the last thing on my mind, all I want to do is eat!

Despite not having a picture, I am going to blog about this recipe because it was great! I loved the little crumb topping on these muffins. The only change I made was to add a splash or so of extra milk because the batter seemed a tad too thick, this may be because I was using 1% milk so I figured an extra splash wouldn't hurt!

Chocolate Chip Muffins
(from AllRecipes.com)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Heat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease bottoms only of 12 muffin cups or line with baking cups.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, chocolate chips, and salt; mix well. In a small bowl, combine milk, oil and egg; blend well. Add dry ingredients all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened (batter will be lumpy).

Fill cups 2/3 full. Sprinkle tops of muffins before baking with a combination of 3 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoon brown sugar.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 1 minute before removing from pan. Serve warm.

Sausage & Vegetable Stew

2009-02-25T10:33:00.002-05:00

I recently received my first issue of the Food Network Magazine in the mail, courtesy of Joelen of Joelen's Culinary Adventures and one of her blog giveaways. I must say this magazine is fabulous and there are so many recipes in it that I want to try, as well as many helpful and informative articles.

One of the first recipes that really caught my eye was the one for Sausage & Vegetable Stew, it seems like such a fun twist on stew but also just a great comfort food for cold winter weather. I was really happy with the results of this recipe and this recipe also introduced me to parsnips for the first time ever! Gotta love trying something new!

I pretty much followed this recipe to the T, except I used regular potatoes instead of red, and turkey kielbasa to help with the healthiness factor. Overall a great recipe that I cannot wait to make again!

(Sorry, another recipe with no picture - I am really dropping the ball these days!)

Sausage & Vegetable Stew
(from FoodNetwork.com)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large red onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tablespoon paprika, plus more for garnish
Kosher salt
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 ounces kielbasa, cut into small chunks
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into large chunks
14 ounces small red-skinned or new potatoes (6 to 8), quartered
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
3/4 cup sour cream
Crusty bread, for serving

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and glistening, about 6 minutes. Add the paprika and 1 teaspoon salt; cook until the oil >> turns deep red, about 1 minute. Add the flour and cook until just toasted, 30 more seconds. Immediately whisk in 4 cups water. Add the kielbasa, carrots, parsnips, potatoes and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt.

Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to a simmer; cover and cook until the vegetables are tender and the broth has thickened, about 20 minutes. Add the vinegar and season with pepper.

Combine about half of the parsley with the sour cream in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Ladle the stew into bowls; top with the remaining parsley, a dollop of herbed sour cream and a sprinkle of paprika. Serve with bread.

Who doesn't love a turkey brine?

2009-02-25T10:13:00.001-05:00

I have to confess, I've never made a turkey of any sort, but have always wanted to. When turkey breasts were on sale this week at the supermarket I figured I should give it a whirl and I figured I could also try it in my crockpot (I got the smallest one they had at my market and it just about fit).

I wanted to brine the turkey first, if there's one thing I know, it's that a turkey brine sure does make turkey that much more delicious! So I found this recipe on my favorite site of all - myrecipes.com. It was simple, easy, and the best part - I had all of the ingredients already in the house!

I also have to say it was a success making this turkey in my crockpot, I put it on for about 9 hours and it came out delicious!

Honey & Thyme Brined Turkey
(from MyRecipes.com)

7 cups water, divided
3 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper, divided
6 thyme sprigs
1/2 cup kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups ice cubes
1 (6-pound) whole bone-in turkey breast, skinned
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
Cooking spray
Fresh thyme sprigs (optional)

Combine 1 cup of water, 2 tablespoons pepper, and thyme sprigs in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, and remove from heat. Pour into a large bowl; cool to room temperature. Add remaining 6 cups water, salt, honey, and sugar, stirring until salt and sugar dissolve. Pour salt mixture into a 2-gallon zip-top plastic bag. Add ice and turkey; seal. Refrigerate 24 hours, turning the bag occasionally. Remove turkey from bag, and discard brine. Pat turkey dry with paper towels.

Rub turkey with oil. Combine 1 tablespoon pepper and chopped thyme; rub over turkey.

Preheat oven to 400°.

Place the turkey on a roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 1 hour or until thermometer inserted into thickest portion of the breast registers 180°. Place turkey on a platter. Cover with foil; let stand 15 minutes. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.

Bread - the great New England staple

2009-02-25T10:01:00.003-05:00

Ever since I got my "Barefoot Contess at Home" cookbook, I have wante to try the Honey White Bread recipe in there. Since overcoming my fear of making bread and using that once-scary thing called yeast, I have bee wanting to make breads more often but always have found some kind of excuse not to.

A couple of weekends ago, I finally decided to dedicate the time to make Ina's recipe - I figured I really should know how to make a basic bread such as this one, especially living in New England - maybe I can avoid running out to the market everytime snow is predicted to get my bread and milk (I kid, I kid).

My end result was a tad dry but I think I know exactly what happened. In the end, where Ina specifically says do not add too much flour....I did. All in all the bread was still very tasty and we used it for sandwiches and toast all week and at least I know what I did wrong so that next time mine comes out as perfect looking as hers does in her cookbook!

Honey White Bread

(from Barefoot Contessa at Home)

1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees)
2 packages dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cups warm whole milk (110 degrees)
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 Tbsp honey
2 extra-large egg yolks
5-6 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Place warm water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Add yeast and sugar; stir and allow them to dissolve for 5 minutes.

Add the milk, butter, and honey. Mix on medium speed until blended. Add the egg yolks, 3 cups of flour and the salt. Mix on low speed for about 5 minutes. With the mixer still on low speed, add 2 more cups of flour. Raise the speed to medium and slowly add just enough of the remaining flour so the dough doesn’t stick to the bowl. Knead on medium speed for about 8 minutes, adding flour as necessary.

Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead by hand for a minute, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Grease a bowl with butter, put the dough in the bowl, then turn it over so the top is lightly buttered. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and allow to rise for 1 hour, until doubled in volume.

Grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans with butter. Divide the dough in half, roll each half into a loaf shape and place each in a prepared pan. Cover again with the damp towel and allow to rise again for an hour, until doubled in volume.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. When the dough is ready, brush the tops with egg white and bake for 40-45 minutes, until they sound hollow when tapped. Turn them out of the pans and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

More cookies!

2009-02-25T09:57:00.003-05:00

If you read this blog, you know that a cookie recipe is never far away....and more leftover chocolate chips from Christmas equals more cookies. This time I had chips to use of the mini variety!

I found this quick & easy recipe on Nestle's website, I had everything in the house, includding pudding mix so I was able to whip these up pretty quickly. Sorry for the lack of a picture!

Pudding Chip Cookies
(from VeryBestBaking.com)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 pkg. (4 serving size) instant vanilla, butterscotch or chocolate pudding mix
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg
1 large egg white
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Morsels

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Combine flour and pudding mix in small bowl. Beat butter in large mixing bowl on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Beat in brown sugar and baking soda until well combined. Beat in egg and egg white. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop dough by rounded teaspoon 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Cool on baking sheets 2 to 3 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

2009-02-12T22:57:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you want an easy recipe that just looks a little on the fancier side for guests - this recipe fits that bill!

We recently had my parents and my husband's parents over for dinner to celebrate some birthdays. I got the idea for chicken cordon bleu but wanted an easy version of it due to the lack of time, and I found this one.

Instead of crushed croutons I just used seasoned bread crumbs which I already had in the house (saved me a trip to the market!) but I think it would be great with crushed croutons as well! I also used Provolone cheese instead of Swiss. That was a selfish decision on my part, I can't stand Swiss cheese but love Provolone. Either way this was a big hit and I'll definitely be making it again!

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu
(from MyRecipes.com)

Yield
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 skinned and boned chicken breast halves
1 (5.5-ounce) box seasoned croutons, crushed
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons water
12 thinly sliced smoked ham slices
6 Swiss cheese slices
Honey mustard dressing (optional)
Preparation
Sprinkle salt and pepper evenly over chicken; set aside.

Combine seasoned crouton crumbs and Parmesan cheese in a large zip-top plastic bag. Whisk together egg whites and 2 tablespoons water in a shallow bowl.

Dip chicken in egg white mixture, and drain. Place 1 breast half in bag; seal and shake to coat. Remove to a lightly greased aluminum foil-lined baking sheet, and repeat with remaining chicken.

Bake at 450° for 20 minutes or until chicken is done. Top each breast half with 2 ham slices and 1 Swiss cheese slice. Bake 5 more minutes or until cheese melts. Serve with honey mustard dressing, if desired.

Sinfully delicious

2009-02-12T22:39:00.005-05:00

That is how I would describe this pie.

I did not really do as much baking as I intended this Christmas, that coupled with the fact that I sometimes have trouble resisting a good sale, meant that I've had a lot of extra chocolate chips in the house. I did not want to bake cookies, I wanted to bake something similar, but different.

Off to the Very Best Baking website (powered by Nestle) where I found the below recipe, which is one my mom used to make often. By chance I also had a leftover frozen pie crust, that has gone unused, so it was perfect all around.

This is so delicious, it's sinful, and it should be with 1 1/2 sticks of butter in the recipe! But... sometimes one just has to live it up a little!

NESTLE Toll House Chocolate Chip Pie

(from VeryBestBaking.com)

1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell *
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup (6 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 cup chopped nuts
Sweetened whipped cream or ice cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into pie shell.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm with whipped cream, if desired.

Crispy Ranch Chicken

2009-01-27T23:09:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I made this recipe and it makes me laugh since "Ranch" is part of the title yet I kind of left the ranch part out!

As you will notice this recipe calls for 1 envelope of ranch salad dressing mix. I am not the biggest fan of ranch flavors so instead I just added some salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and dried Italian seasoning to my cripsy rice cereal / parmesan cheese mix. The result? It may have been "ranchless" but it sure was tasty, and fun to make!

Crispy Ranch Chicken

(from Great American Recipes)

2 cups crispy rice cereal
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 envelope (1 oz.) ranch salad dressing mix
2 egg whites, beaten
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (I used chicken breast)

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Combine rice cereal, Parmesan cheese, and ranch salad dressing mix in a large bowl.

Place beaten egg whites in a medium bowl. Dip each chicken thigh into the egg whites and then in the cereal mixture to coat evenly.

Arrange the coated chicken on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden and juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a knife, 20-25 minutes. Serve hot.

Parchment Paper Cooking

2009-01-27T22:50:00.002-05:00

Lately I have been fascinated by a few shows I've caught on the Food Network where the FN star is using parchment paper as a cooking method - namely for fish. I saw this on Rachael Ray's show first and then shortly after on a Giada episode. I wanted to try it for myself, but wasn't super keen on either of the flavor palates of the recipes on those two shows.

So I turned to myrecipes.com, one of my favorite sites, and found this great recipe! I made it for dinner guests this weekend. We had our best friends over to celebrate one couple's recent engagemet. I thought the parchment paper idea was kind of fun to see everyone open up their individual packages of fish!

The only change I made to the recipe was to use green beans instead of asparagus (I made asparagus the last time we had a dinner party with these friends, so I wanted to mix it up!), and fresh rosemary instead of tarragon since there was no tarragon at my local market.

I apologize for the lack of a picture, when we have company I seem to becom absent minded when it comes to picture taking!

Steamed Salmon and Asparagus in Parchment
(from MyRecipes.com)

1 1/2 pounds small new potatoes
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced
4 salmon fillets (about 6 ounces each)
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
4 scallions, trimmed and sliced
4 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 lemons, halved

Preheat oven to 400° F. Place a piece of parchment paper on a 13-by-12-inch baking sheet. Put the potatoes on the sheet and season with 1 teaspoon of the salt and ½ teaspoon of the pepper. Distribute the butter over the potatoes. Roast in top of oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until done. Meanwhile, lay out 4 sheets of parchment (at least 13 by 13 inches) and place 1 fillet on each. Top with the asparagus, scallions, and tarragon. Drizzle with the oil and season with the remaining salt and pepper. Top each fillet with a lemon half, after first squeezing on the juice. Pull the sides of the paper over each fillet, folding several times to seal. Fold and twist the ends to form rectangular parcels. Place them on a sheet pan. Bake on lower rack of over for 20 to 25 minutes while the potatoes finish cooking. Place a salmon parcel on each plate and cut open. Serve with the potatoes.

Creamy Italian Dressing

2009-01-18T10:06:00.000-05:00

Last night we went to my friend Melanie's house for a couples night filled with good food, good friends, good fun and the Nintendo Wii! I volunteered to bring a salad to the gathering and for some reason I felt compelled to make my own homemade salad dressing.

After a quick search on MyRecipes.com, I found this recipe for Creamy Italian Dressing - which is one of my favorite salad dressings of all time. This was easy and pretty much all of the ingredients were items I had in my house, except for the heavy cream. I substituted half and half for the heavy cream and it came out fine. I'll defintely be making this again, it seemed to be a hit!

Creamy Italian Dressing
(from MyRecipes.com)

1/3 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Pinch pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
Preparation

In a mayonnaise jar, combine the mayonnaise, vinegar, cream, sugar, oregano, basil, parsley, and pepper; shake well. Transfer to a bowl and, whisking constantly, slowly add the olive oil.

Like little mini-carrot cakes

2009-01-17T13:17:00.000-05:00

For Christmas, my Aunt & Uncle gave me Martha Stewart's Cookies cookbook. They had no idea that I've been wanting the book for awhie so it really was the perfect gift. It is chock full of great recipes and the cookies are split out by different types - crispy, chewy, cakey, etc. And every recipe has a picture, you gotta love that!

I made my first cookie out of the book this week - Carrot Cake cookies. The picture of these little sandwich guys was just calling my name! The finshed product was delicious and I could not help but think that they were like eating a little hand held piece of carrot cake, especially since I baked mine to the point of only being soft. Yum! I cannot wait to make more recipes from this book soon!

Carrot Cake Cookies
(from Martha Stewart's Cookies)

1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots, (about 3 large carrots)
1 cup raisins
Cream Cheese Frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugars and butter; beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until well combined.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger; stir to combine. Gradually add flour to butter mixture; mix on a low speed until just blended. Mix in oats, carrots, and raisins. Chill dough in refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour.

Using a 1/2-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Transfer to oven, and bake until browned and crisped, rotating pan halfway through baking to ensure even color, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat baking process with remaining dough. Once cooled completely, use an offset spatula to spread about 2 teaspoons of cream-cheese filling onto a cookie. Sandwich together with a second cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes about 2 cups

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners' sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine.

Going bananas!

2009-01-17T12:39:00.000-05:00

I have been craving banana bread all week. I am not sure why, maybe because I've been the victim of a nasty cold and banana bread is a comfort food to me. Who knows? Either way I wanted to make banana bread, and after scoring some dramatically-reduced-in-price browning bananas from the market, the banana bread fate was sealed. I've made a few different banana breads which I've posted to this blog before (Apple Banana Bread and Marbled-Chocolate Banana Bread) but I just wanted some down home, traditional banana bread.

This is actually a recipe shared by one of the ladies on my local nest board. It's easy and quick and most importantly, delicious! I actually used 4 bananas in my batter, only because my bananas were a bit short in stature, and oh, I stole a few bites from the first three bananas before I put them in the batter. So 4 bananas it was! I omitted the nuts from this recipe since I prefer my banana bread sans nuts, but I'm sure they would be a great addition for those who love banana nut bread.

Sour Cream Banana Bread

1/2 Cup softened butter
1 Cup sugar
2 Cup flour
1/2 Cup sour cream
2 beaten egg
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Teaspoon baking powder
3 mashed banana
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1 for topping chopped pecans or walnuts

Blend the soft butter and sugar until creamy. Add sour cream, bananas, eggs, vanilla and mix well.

Combine all dry ingredients and add that to wet mixture and mix.

Pour into 9x5 inch loaf pan, sprayed with nonstick spray. Top with walnuts or pecans and bake at 350 for about 55 minutes.

Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon

2009-01-07T12:09:00.000-05:00

My husband and I are embarking on a healthier eating for 2009 trek fueled by my desire to lose a few pounds and his cholesterol results coming back a wee bit too high for his doctor's liking.

Fish is one of the recommended foods on his list so the other day I picked up a nice salmon filet that was on sale at the market. I used this recipe from my most recent Taste of Home magazine. The only change I made was to not use butter in the first part of the recipe and just substitute it with olive oil instead (in turn I used less olive oil later in the recipe). Olive oil is on my husband's approved lists of foods so I knew that would be alright. I also used reduced sodium soy sauce in this recipe. All in all this came out quite tasty and I can't wait to make it again!

Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon

(from Taste of Home Magazine)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tsp butter (I replaced with olive oil)

1 tsp honey

1 tablespoon olive oil (I reduced this a bit)

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon soy sauce (I used reduced sodium)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 salmon filet

In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook and stir brown sugar, butter, and honey until melted. Remove from heat; whisk in the oil, mustard, soy sauce, salt, & pepper. Cool for 5 minutes.

Place salmon in foil-lined baking pan; brush with brown sugar mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with fork.

Let's mull it over....

2009-01-04T21:18:00.000-05:00

I have always, always wanted to try mulled wine so I decided that the time to try it would be New Year's Eve. I've certainly heard a lot about it but never actually tried it. And for me, anything + wine usually = a good thing! I went on Food Network's site and found this easy Ina Garten recipe and boy was it delicious!!!! I'll definitely be making this again for the next holiday season!

Mulled Wine
(from FoodNetwork.com)

4 cups apple cider
1 (750-ml) bottle red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
1/4 cup honey
2 cinnamon sticks
1 orange, zested and juiced
4 whole cloves
3 star anise
4 oranges, peeled, for garnish

Combine the cider, wine, honey, cinnamon sticks, zest, juice, cloves and star anise in a large saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Pour into mugs, add an orange peel to each and serve.

A New Year's Eve app

2009-01-04T20:57:00.002-05:00

We had just a couple of friends over for New Year's Eve. I made these little guys (sorry no picture) which were so fast and easy. I made these using the variation suggested on Kraft's website to use pepperoni in place of red peppers - delicious!

Savory Parmesan Bites
(from KraftFoods.com)

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
2 cans (8 oz. each) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 cup chopped red peppers
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Heat oven to 350°F. Beat cream cheese and 3/4 cup Parmesan with mixer until well blended.
Separate crescent rolls into 8 rectangles; press perforations together to seal. Spread each with 3 Tbsp. cream cheese mixture. Top with peppers and parsley. Fold 1 long side of each dough rectangle over filling to center; fold again to enclose filling. Cut each into 4 squares. Place, seam-sides down, on baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan.
Bake 13 to 15 min. or until golden brown.
Variation
Substitute 1 jar (13-1/4 oz.) sliced mushrooms or 1 pkg. (3 oz.) pepperoni slices for the red peppers and parsley.

Pecan Powder Puffs

2008-12-28T08:07:00.001-05:00

Pecan Powder Puffs.....say that three times fast!

Trying to decide what I would make for Christmas dessert to bring to my parents' house, I was flipping through some of my cookbooks. While going through my "Baking from My Home to Yours" by Dorie Greenspan, I came across the recipe for Pecan Powder Puffs. Upon reading this I realized it was pretty darn close to sounding like my husband's grandmother's "pecan puffs" that she made often at the holidays.

I had full intentions of making these for Christmas but time got away from me and the dough sat in the refirgerator for 2 days (which is ok per the recipe) before I made them the day after Christmas. All in all, this recipe is a keeper. My husband said they were pretty close to his grandmother's (not that I expected it could compete). I have to say they are pretty tasty and just the right size to pop in your mouth for a quick treat. Next time though, I hope to get this recipe baked in time for its intended destination. Oh well, it's not like my husband is complaining about having extra goodies in the house!

Pecan Powder Puffs
(from "Baking from My Home to Yours")

1 cup pecans
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup minus 1 tablespooon all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of ground cinnamon (optional)
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Confectioner's sugar, sifted, for rolling

Put pecans and 1 tablespoon of sugar in food processor and process in very short pulses until the nuts are pulverized. Scrape the nuts into a bowl, add the flour, salt, and cinnamon (if you're using it), and whisk to combine.

Put the butter in the processor and process, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until the butter is smooth and creamy. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and the vanilla and process for 30 seconds or so to blend. Pour in the pecan and flour mixture and, using short pulses, process only until it is worked into the dough. You want to process the dough as little as possible - the less you work the dough, the lighter and more appealing crumbly the cookies will be. Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto plastic wrap, gather it together and form it into a ball. Wrap and chill for at least 2 hours, or, for up to 2 days.

Getting ready to bake: Center rack in oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Remove dough from fridge. Using a small spoon break off marble-size pieces, then roll each piece of dough between your palms to form a smooth ball and place them on baking sheets; there's no need to leave much space between balls.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are lightly golden and almost firm. Gently transfer them to a rack to cool to room temperature.

Just before serving, roll cookies in confectioner's sugar and toss them gently from hand to hand to shake off excess sugar.

White Chip Caramel Bars

2008-12-26T07:17:00.002-05:00

For Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners we were heading to my parents' house on both occassions. Being a little "baked out" from all of my cookie adventures the past couple of weeks, I decided to find a bar cookie option to bring to their house for dessert. I always find bar cookies are a nice, easy to way to have a cookie but cut down on the prep time!

These were a hit with everyone. I really enjoyed them myself, very easy, delicious, moist, etc. I'll definitely be making these again! I apologize there's no picture, I thought I had taken one but apparently it completely slipped my mind during all of the holiday excitement.

White Chip-Caramel Bars
(from BettyCrocker.com)

2 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup white vanilla baking chips
1/2 cup white vanilla baking chips, melted

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with shortening or cooking spray.

In large bowl, beat brown sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour and baking powder until well blended. Stir in walnuts and 1 cup baking chips. Spread in pan.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown and center is set. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Drizzle with melted chips. Let stand until set. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 6 rows.

Basil Chicken

2008-12-24T07:57:00.002-05:00

So the week of any holiday, I usually take the easy way out with dinner. Let's face it, you are going to stuff your face with food, desserts, and those leftovers, for at least a few days so why go all crazy making special dinners in that same week.

Lo and behold though, yesterday morning I was in disbelief, I didn't have anything to really offer for dinner and takeout was not an option. I had already used my grilled cheese & soup dinner night on Monday night. What was I going to do? All of my meat was frozen.

Crockpot to the rescue! Nothing like pulling out a hunk of frozen chicken breasts all stuck together at 10am and knowing that they'll be all cooked and ready by 5:30 without the annoying unthawing process. This recipe comes from my friend Pam who I have "met" on my local knot board. It was so easy and I had everything in the house of course. I added about 1/4 of white wine to this recipe and let it cook. I served the chicken and "gravy" over white rice, yummy!

Basil Chicken

4 skinless chicken breast, whole
1/2 Teaspoon black pepper
1/2 Teaspoon dried basil
1 Can cream of celery soup
1/2 sliced green bell pepper
¼ cup white wine (optional)

Place chicken breasts in slow cooker. Sprinkle with pepper and basil. Spread soup (and wine if you are using) on top of chicken. Arrange slices of green pepper on top of soup. Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours.

And since it is Christmas Eve....a Merry Christmas to all!!!!! Have a safe & happy holiday!

Quick Gnocchi

2008-12-22T07:50:00.000-05:00

My husband and I love gnocchi. More often than not when we actually do go out to dinner, and if it is to an Italian place, gnocchi is what I order. Mostly because it's not something I'd ever make myself - until now at least!

I've actually had this recipe bookmarked for ages and stumbled upon it while I was going through my recipe file on allrecipes.com. Since I had everything in the house, this seemed like a perfect warm-you-up-from-the-inside dinner for our snowy, snowy weekend. And yes, I proudly admit I keep instant mashed potatoes on hand in my house - they are always good in a pinch or when time is not on your side!

For this recipe I used garlic flavored instant mashed potato mix and doubled the recipe so we'd have plenty of leftovers (we are big on leftovers in this house). I added a little salt, pepper, and onion powder to the instant mashed potato mix since many of these reviews, while raving for the recipe, all said to add a little something extra to the mashed potato flakes. I also figured using garlic mashed potato flakes would definitely up the taste factor.

These were easy and fun to make. I wouldn't call it quick, it does take a little bit of time, but definitely a lot quicker of a solution than the more authentic totally from scratch gnocchi. This also doesn't necessarily compete with the taste and texture of the real thing, but it comes awfully close considering it's made from instant potatoes! I'll definitely be making this again.

To serve I quickly cooked up some ground turkey and tossed with marinara and poured over the already cooked gnocchi in an 11x7 baking dish, and then covered with grated Parmesan and shredded Mozarella cheeses and baked for about 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Delicious!

Quick Gnocchi

(from AllRecipes.com)

1 cup dry potato flakes
1 cup boiling water
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Place potato flakes in a medium-size bowl. Pour in boiling water; stir until blended. Let cool.

Stir in egg, salt, and pepper. Blend in enough flour to make a fairly stiff dough. Turn dough out on a well floured board. Knead lightly.

Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a long thin roll, the thickness of a breadstick. With a knife dipped in flour, cut into bite-size pieces.

Place a few gnocchi in boiling water. As the gnocchi rise to the top of the pot, remove them with a slotted spoon. Repeat until all are cooked.

Pioneer Woman greatness

2008-12-21T19:03:00.006-05:00

There's no doubt that the Pioneer Woman has terrific recipes. When the snowstorm hit on Friday afternoon in my area, I was just itching to do something since it felt like cabin fever was setting in instantly.

For some reason the little lightbulb in my head turned on (and sometimes it doesn't turn on all the time, thank goodness it did this time) and I remembered her recipe for Onion Strings that I've been wanting to try for forever. Home alone without my onion-hating hubby who was at work, I decided this would be a fantastic lunch treat for me (yes lunch), at least it involved veggies!

I must confess when Ruby Tuesday did away with the onion strings on their menu a few years back, I was devastated. Those things were a big reason Ruby Tuesday was one of my favorite chain restaurants! I know they briefly made a comeback but now I'm not sure if they are on the menu or not since we rarely go out to eat anymore. Either way, it's a comfort to know I can make these wonderful little gems in my own home!

I busted these beauties out easily and quickly (after the soaking process) and while mine do not look as gorgeous as hers, well, none of my food pictures or recipes look much like the website sometimes, but these were delicious and oh so easy. I should mention that this picture was from my first batch which I already had started to gobble up before even thinking to take a picture.

Anyway, I love that they can be a side dish (all to myself obviously) or even an appetizer. You can find Pioneer Woman's printable recipe here.

Cookie trays / Friday's Frugal Fun

2008-12-19T11:16:00.000-05:00

This week I have been busy putting together some cookie trays. My husband brought a tray into work for his holiday gathering and I made 2 trays - one each for the neighbors on either side of our house. I found this recipe for Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies from "...And a Cookie for Dessert" and figured this fit very well into my cookie baking and would help boost up the variety of my trays.

These are so easy to make and only 5 ingredients, all of which I had in my house. Let me just say that these came out so tasty (of course I had to sample some!) and while they look a lot like the Chocolate Crinkles I made for my cookie exchange (in fact my husband thought that's what they are), I can ensure you they are not. And...well...were a lot easier and quicker to make! Mine didn't stay in a ball shape like Bridget's and rather flattened out a bit like a cookie, but they were still delicious! I might be making another batch of these for Christmas.

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies
(from And a Cookie for Dessert)

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.

And on a random side note - a little bit of Friday's Frugal Fun for you! Check out this free sample! (I love Free samples). This one is for Dunkin Donuts Dark Roast!

Ham & Shells....errr...Ziti Casserole

2008-12-17T07:11:00.003-05:00

I recently received my first issue of Taste of Home magazine which I had ordered from a co-worker's daughter who was having a magazine drive fundraiser for her school. Knowing all too well the ins and outs of a magazine drive fundraiser considering I did the same for years in grammar school/junior high, I was happy to pick out a subscription. My Everyday Food subscription is running out soon so I decided it's time for a change and Taste of Home caught my eye.

Flipping through the magazine I already have several recipes I want to try, the first of which I made last night for dinner - a Ham & Shells Casserole. I used ziti since, well, that's what I had in the house and obviously it worked out just fine.

I would describe this dish as a fancy mac 'n cheese recipe with a twist. We love goat cheese so that drew me at first glance, but the combination of flavors is fantastic. We really enjoyed this dish and I think the leftovers will be that much better! The only change I made to this recipe was that I did not use 3 onions. My husband is not a fan of onions so I knew I'd be pushing my luck with that one - plus 3 onions seems like a little much. Instead I just used one onion which in turn meant Greg didn't even notice they were in there! He also had no clue there is Ricotta cheese in this recipe, something he claims he hates, yet I've used it in recipes without his knowledge and he's never batted an eye. Sometimes what you don't know, doesn't hurt ya!

I am also submitting this recipe to the Presto Pasta Nights weekly collection of pasta recipes. This was started by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast. This week's host is C of Foodie Tots - check out that link on Friday for her roundup!

Ham & Shells Casserole

(Taste of Home magazine)

1 pkg medium pasta shells (I used ziti)
3 large onions, halved & sliced (I only used 1 onion)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pkg fresh spinach, torn
1 tablespoon minched fresh rosemary or 1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed (I used dried Italian seasoning blend)
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp pepper
3 1/2 cups fat free milk (I used 1%)
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup (4oz) crumbled goat cheese

2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in large skillet over medium heat, cook and stir onions in oil for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Add spinach & rosemary; cook 1-2 minutes longer or until spinach is wilted.

Meanwhile in a large saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in ricotta andgoat cheeses until blended.

Drain pasta; place in large bowl. Add the hand, onion mixture, and sauce; toss to coat. Transfer to a greased 9x13 bakind dish; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (I also sprinkled with more pepper on top). Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.

Blogging as I bake....

2008-12-16T16:55:00.002-05:00

So I have started a little baking adventure for this week. I am sending my husband into work with a huge tray of cookies on Thursday since his holiday get together is then. I have made cookies for his co-workers in the past usually to their delight so why not do so for the Christmas season? And while I am at it, I am also making some smaller trays for our neighbors on either side of our house.

I got started today, baking a batch of Grandma Bennet's Sour Cream Cookies which were a huge hit when I made them last, so much so they were requested for me to make them yet again by one of my husband's co-workers.

The other recipe I made today was for Katie's Cheesecake Delights from the Betty Crocker website. I got this recipe in a Betty Crocker email a couple of weeks back and immediately bookmarked it for trying at another time. I made these using apricot jam and they came out delicious in my opinion. I can't wait for others to try them!

I am also submitting this to Joelen's Tasty Tools event for December - which features baking sheets. Every month, Joelen's event featurs a different culinary item. It's been a little while since I have participated in this one so I am pretty excited to try to get back in the swing of things as far as blog events go. Thanks, Joelen, for hosting this event - the timing could not be better with the holdiays fast approaching because it seems like I am always baking this time of year!

Katie's Cheesecake Delights
(from BettyCrocker.com)

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1 box (4-serving size) cheesecake-flavor instant pudding and pie filling mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
3 oz white chocolate baking bar, coarsely grated

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, dry pudding mix, oil and egg until soft dough forms.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart. Using thumb or handle of wooden spoon, make indentation in center of each ball. Spoon about 1/4 teaspoon jam into each indentation.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool 10 minutes; sprinkle with white chocolate.

Operation Baking GALS - Round 5

2008-12-16T11:17:00.002-05:00

Operation Baking GALS is already in its 5th round believe it or not! I am on my 3rd round with the cause. As you have seen in my previous blog entries, I have participated in Operation Baking GALS which is a now very large group of ladies who "adopt" a soldier and send him or her tons of goodies for them and for sharing. These goodies are a taste of home for these soldiers, especially at this time of the year when they are away from their families for the holidays. My friend Dani of Make No Little Meals hosted again this round. She has 14 bakers as part of her - team Dani's Delightful Darlings this round!!

I was very excited to participate in this round and to help our soldier get a little taste of home. That soldier is SSgt McElyea who is stationed in Iraq. He is my age with a child at home, so it really made me realize how very lucky we are to live our lives of freedom because of the sacrifices these men and women are making on our behalf. I just can't imagine being away from my family for the hoidays, nevermind a young child.

My friends Amy & Melanie participated again and helped me fill up a box to SSgt McElyea. Nothing like good friends to help out a good cause! A box full of sugary goodness was mailed today to SSgt McElyea: Amy made sugar cookies, Melanie made an extra batch she had made of her Cherry Chocolate cookies (that she had brought to my cookie exchange), and I sent a batch of Chocolate Crinkles. I also sent a batch of Butterscotch blondies to round everything out (recipe appears below).

We also sent along some candy, trail mix, a small book of puzzles, and some candy canes to SSgt McElyea. We really hope he and his friends enjoy the goodies. The least we could do is send them a little holiday spirit as our thanks for their sacrifices.

<-- Melanie, me, Amy (and Amy's sister) @ Amy's wedding September '08

If you haven't already checked out the site, I encourage you to head over to the Operation Baking GALS website for more information and hope to see some of you join Dani's team for Round 6 which will likely be starting after the holidays! I will post information as I know it.

Butterscotch Blondies
(from Hershey's)

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-3/4 cups (11-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S Butterscotch Chips
1 cup chopped nuts(optional)

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large bowl until creamy. Add eggs; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in butterscotch chips and nuts, if desired. Spread in prepared pan.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until top is golden brown and center is set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. About 36 bars.

Sometimes inspiration pops up in the oddest places...

2008-12-09T06:58:00.002-05:00

I'm a coupon clipper - the Sunday paper, websites, flyers, you name it. This past weekend on was on Smart Source printing some grocery coupons. I printed a coupon for No Yolks Egg Noodles among others. When the coupon came out of my printer, there was a recipe below the actual coupon. It sounded pretty delicious, and easy. And I happened to have some chicken ready to use in the fridge. I also had some Italian sausage, which probably had no business being in this dish, but I didn't care to be honest! It was my dinner, right? So I took about 3 links out of the casing and broke the sausage meat apart while I sauteed it.

Rather than serving the teriyaki mixture over the egg noodles, I added the egg noodles to my wok and mixed everything together. This was really delicious and easy - full of meat, carbs, and veggies all in one dish. I like that - especially on a weeknight! I'm looking forward to the leftovers!

NO YOLKS Chicken Skillet
(from noyolks.com)

2/3 package cooked NO YOLKS
1 bag (16 oz.) broccoli slaw (found near the coleslaw in the produce section)
1 tablespoon canola oil
8 oz. lean chicken or boneless pork chops, in bite-sized pieces
2 green onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or 2 teaspoons jarred minced garlic
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
2 teaspoons corn starch
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Cook NO YOLKS according to package directions, adding broccoli slaw at the 4 minute mark. Drain and keep warm. Stir fry chicken or pork in oil in a large skillet until lightly browned, about 5 min. Push meat to one side. Add onion and garlic, cook for 1 min.

In the meantime, mix 2 tablespoons chicken broth and the cornstarch in a small bowl until smooth. To the skillet, add remaining broth, teriyaki sauce, red pepper flakes and cornstarch mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Serve immediately over NO YOLKS broccoli mixture. Serves 4.

Soup-er Stars!

2008-12-07T17:24:00.000-05:00

As I have mentioned previously, my best friend Michelle & I are trying to get together and make it appoint to try out new soup recipes - due to her fear of making soup. A couple of weeks ago we got together to do this and she picked out a chicken noodle soup recipe from the "Soup Bowl" cookbook I gave her for her bridal shower this past summer.

She figured we should try a simple, go-to recipe out of the book first. So chicken noodle it was! This recipe called for us to make our own soup stock, which I was leery about, since while I have no fear of making soup - I've never made my own stock. After our night of soup merriment I discovered that not only was making your own soup stock easy, but it was super tasty too!

So armed with my soup stock making savvy, I made the below recipe which called for canned chicken broth. I, however, walked on the wild side and used the bones from a whole chicken I'd made earlier in the week to bust out some very tasty chicken stock instead. The result I think was a much more robust soup than this original recipe would have yielded.

By the way, I got this recipe from a co-worker and it was delicious and obviously easy. I diced up some carrots and celery and threw that in there as well. Basically this soup was a great twist on a typical chicken soup! The corn flavor is just a delicious addition!

PREMIUM® Chicken Corn Chowder
(from NabiscoWorld.com)

1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium red pepper, chopped
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 cans (14-1/2 oz. each) chicken broth
1 can (14-3/4 oz.) cream-style corn

Spray large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Add onion; cook and stir 5 minutes. Add peppers; cook and stir an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add chicken; cook 6 to 8 minutes or until cooked through, stirring frequently.

Add broth and corn; cover. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 25 minutes.
Serve with crackers.

More Cookie Goodness

2008-12-06T17:17:00.002-05:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, I just hosted my 3rd Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange. I posted my own recipes that I made for the exchange here. But here are all of the rest! I apologize for not having pictures for all of them, I thought I snapped one of each cookie but obviously I was too distracted by all of the sugary sweets in my house that I missed some!

I should mention that my friends are incredible people. I mentioned in my invitation that I would love for everyone to bring one canned good to donate to the local food bank and they came through - 15 canned goods were donated!

Almond Chocolate Chip Fudge Snowtops
Made by: Liz

1 pkg (18.25 oz) plain devil's food cake mix
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups thawed frozen whipped topping
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 miniature chocolate chips
1/4 cup finely chopped almonds
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

Place the cake mix, eggs, whipped topping and almond extract into a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 second. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 1 to 2 minutes more, or until dough is smooth and thick. Fold in the chocolate chips and chopped almonds until well incorporated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Set aside two ungreased cookie sheets.

Spoon the confectioners' sugar into a shallow dish. Remove the dough from the refrigerator.

Spoon out teaspoonfuls of the batter and gently roll them into balls between your palms. Place the balls in the dish of confectioners' sugar and rol them around with your fingertips until they are coated with sugar. Coat only as many balls as you'll bake at one time. Place the balls 2 inches apart on the ungreased cookie sheets. Place the sheets in the oven.

Bake the cookies until they puff up and are firm around the edgesbut still soft in the middle, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven. Let cookies rest on cookie sheets for 2 minutes. Then, use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to wire racksand allow them to cool completely, 15 minutes.

Repeat the porcess with the remaining dough. Makes 5 dozen 2 inch cookies

Black Beauties
Made by: Katie

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® double chocolate chunk cookie mix
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water
1 egg
3/4 cup white chocolate chunks
1/2 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, 3 tablespoons oil, the water, egg, white chocolate and nuts until soft dough forms. Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.

In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon oil on High 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth. Dip half of each cookie into melted chocolate. Place on waxed paper until set, about 10 minutes. Makes: 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Keep cookies chewy and soft by storing them tightly covered. Resealable plastic bags, plastic food containers with tight-fitting lids and metal tins work best.

Butterscotch Raisin Cookies
Made by: Michelle
1 cup butter softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 package (3.4 ounce) instant butterscotch pudding

Mix1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 cup raisins, 1/2 cup butterscotch chips. In a large bowl cream butter and sugars. Add eggs, beat well. Combine the oats, flour, dry pudding mix and baking soda; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in the raisins and butterscotch chips (dough will be stiff.

Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 9-11 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yields 3-1/2 dozen

Cherry Chocolate Cookies
Made by: Melanie

2 1/2 cups butter (no substitutes), softened
4 cups sugar
4 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 (12 ounce) package miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1 (16 ounce) jar maraschino cherries, drained and halved

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls 3 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Top each with a cherry half. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until edges are firm. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Date Rolls
Made by: Denice

½ cup butter
1 8oz package of chopped dates
¾ cup sugar
1 egg beaten
3 cups rice crispies
½ cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 pkg coconut

In a saucepan, combine butter, dates, sugar, & egg. Bring to boil and turn down and simmer for 8 minutes stirring constantly. Will become a taffy consistency. Remove from heat and stir in the rice crispies & nuts. Let cool a couple minutes.

Butter your hands and then spoon a teaspoon of the date mixture and roll into a small ball and then roll in coconut. Place on waxed paper to cool completely.

*Coconut won’t stick if the mixture is too cool. If this happens just warm up mixture in microwave.

Quebec Maple Drops
Made by: Denise (my mom!)

Cookies
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons maple-flavored syrup
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup uncooked quick oats (not old-fashioned oats)
¼ cup packaged chopped pitted dates

Frosting (optional)
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons maple-flavored syrup
1 ½ cups sifted powdered sugar

For cookies, preheat oven to 350○F. Beat ½ cup butter and granulated sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Beat in 3 tablespoons syrup. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into butter mixture. On low speed, beat in oats, and dates.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased coolie sheets. Bake 12 minutes or until cookies are golden brown. Let stand on collie sheets 2 minutes; transfer to wire racks and cool completely.

For frosting, beat cream cheese and 2 tablespoons butter in small bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in 2 tablespoons syrup. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until smooth. Spread frosting over cooled cookies. Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Santa’s Sandwiches
Made by: Cathy

1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon mint extract
Filling:
2 ½ cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon mint extract
Red, green food coloring

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into bowl; set aside. In large bowl, beat sugar and butter until smooth. Beat in egg, then vanilla & mint extract. On low speed, beat flour mixture into butter mixture. Divide in half; shape each into a log about 1 ½ inches in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Cut each log into slices, about 1/8 of an inch thick; place onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes or until almost firm. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

Filling: Beat confectioner’s sugar, butter, milk, and mint extract in bowl until spreading consistency. Tint half with red food coloring and other half with green. Spread flat side of one quarter of cookies with red filling, another quarter with green. Top each with a plain cookie. Chill.

My 3rd Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange!

2008-12-04T05:34:00.002-05:00

Last night I hosted my 3rd annual Christmas cookie exchange with friends. As usual it was a fun night of getting together with some of my favorite ladies and trying out some delectable cookie creations with plenty left for everyone to take home with them!

This year I made 2 recipes to share - Chocolate Crinkles and Irish Creme Delights. Both cookie recipes came from the special Better Homes & Gardens Christmas Cookies magazine. I was very happy with both recipes. Both are a little more labor intensive since both involve rolling the dough before placing on the cookie sheet, and the second recipe calls for an icing - but I think the end result is well worth the extra work! My husband joked, upon taste testing each cookie, that he may have to eat them all to "save everyone else from such horrible cookies." He cracks me up somedays.

I will be sharing everyone else's recipes and adventures soon, but for the time being I only have time to post mine so they will be forthcoming! In the meantime I am still basking of the sugary glow of all of these wonderfully outrageously good cookies in my house (the good time shared with friends last night wasn't too shabby either!)

I am also submitting these recipes to Joelen's Culinary Adventures blogging event: Holiday Cookie Swap Blogging Adventure. Good timing on this event, Joelen, because both of these recipes fit the bill!

Chocolate Crinkles
(from Better Homes & Gardens - Christmas Cookies)

4 eggs
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted, and cooled slightly
1/2 cup cooking oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup powdered sugar

In a large bowl, combine eggs, granulated sugar, melted chocolate, oil, baking powder and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined, scraping bowl occassionally. Gradually beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours or until dough is easy enough to handle.

Prehat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a large cookie sheet, set aside. Place powdered sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in powdered sugar and place 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake cookies in preheated oven for 10 minutes or until edges are set and tops are dry (do not overbake). Transfer cookies to a wire rack, let cool. (Cookies will deflate slightly upon cooling).

Irish Creme Delights
(from Better Homes & Gardens - Christmas Cookies)

1/4 butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon coffee liquer
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly betaen
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Irish Creme Frosting
Ground cinnamon (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, combine butter & shortening. Beat with electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the 1 cup of sugar, the coffee liquer, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping bowl occassionally. Beat in egg & vanilla. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in remaining flour.

In a small bowl, combine the 1/4 cup sugar, and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar to coat. Place balls 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer cookies onto wire rack; let cool.

Spread Irish Creme frosting over cookies. If desired sprinkle with additional cinnamon. Makes about 48 cookies.

Irish Creme Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine 3 tablespoons softened butter and 1 tablespoon coffee liquer. Beat with an electric mixer on medium to high speed until combined. Gradually beat in 3 cups powdered sugar. Beat in enough half-and-half or whipping cream (1 to 3 tablespoons) to make frosting a spreading consistency.

Quick, easy appetizer

2008-12-04T05:16:00.001-05:00

Last night I hosted my 3rd annual Christmas Cookie Exchange but before we broke into the sweet stuff, I of course served up some savory snacking for my guests. A veggie tray, beer bread with a garlic dip (thank you Tastefully Simple!), bakery pizza, chips and salsa and then....

....Well, here's the story. I had bought cocktail wieners on sale at the supermarket over the weekend but was not in the mood to do the typical pigs in a blanket thing I would normally make. So I searched for a little cocktail weiner recipe that did not involve grape jelly, as most do, since I was out of that - oops! I found this little number on about.com - so easy and all things I already had in the house which was nice since going back out to the store was really not an option as the cookie exchange drew nearer. I am going to keep this recipe in my back pocket for sure!

Spicy Franks
(from About.com)

1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pound hot dogs, cut into bite-size pieces, or cocktail wieners, smoked sausage, etc.

Combine everything but hot dogs in the slow cooker; cover and cook on high 1 to 2 hours, until well heated. Add hot dogs, stir, and cook another 1 to 2 hours, until heated through. Turn to low to keep warm; serve from

Thanksgiving Dessert - Part II

2008-11-29T13:02:00.002-05:00

Ok, so, as promised here is the second dessert I made this Thanksgiving.

For what it's worth, I had a hard time choosing what to make besides the chocolate chip pecan pie. My husband is not a big pecan pie fan, so I felt the need to make something else he would like. Well, as I have mentioned previously, he loves cheesecake. So I decided on yet another recipe from my "Cooking with Mickey" cookbook for Fantasia Cheesecake.

I decided to leave this cheesecake plain with just the sour cream topping. Simple tastes, yet so delicious and relatively easy. I am posting the recipe below as is, but I basically had to double the graham cracker crust recipe because I just didn't have enough it seemed to cover my springform pan up the sides.

Either way, this was a huge hit on Turkey day, and I have a feeling my hubby will be requesting I make this again...and again...and again....

Fantasia Cheesecake

(from "Cooking with Mickey Volume II")

Graham Cracker Crust*

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tablespoon sugar

4 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Grease bottom and sides of 9 inch springform pan.

Combine all ingredients and blend well. Press crumb mixture into bottom of pan, set aside.

*I doubled this recipe

Filling

4 8 ounce packages cream cheese

2 cups sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix cream cheese, sugar, salt, and lemon extract until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Do not overmix batter. Pour into prepared cake pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until cheesecake is set. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Refrigerate for several hours before removing from springform pan.

Sour Cream Topping

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons sugar

Fresh fruit or fruit pie filling, if desired

Mix sour cream and sugar together and spoon over cheesecake. Decorate with slices of fruit, canned fruith topping, or fresh whipped cream if desired.

Thanksgiving Dessert - Part I

2008-11-29T07:14:00.003-05:00

Well since I don't have time right now to post both desserts I made for turkey day, so here's just one!

I made a Chocolate Chip Pecan pie recipe from my "Cooking with Mickey" cookbook that I picked up in Disney this past summer. This actually wasn't the first time I made this recipe. My BFF Michelle had made this awhile back and I loved it so much she sent me the recipe (from the same cookbook) so I did make it probably 2 Christmases ago now. I was definitely in the mood for pecan pie this Thanksgiving and could not wait to make (and eat) this!

Beware though, this is a super rich dessert - but in my mind - worth every single calorie!

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie
(From "Cooking with Mickey Volume II")

3 lightly beaten egg
1 Cup light corn syrup
1 Tablespoon melted butter
1/2 Cup sugar
1 Pinch salt
1/2 Cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 Cup (heaping) pecans
1 unbaked pastry shell

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In mixing bowl, combine ingredients in order given. Mix well and pour into unbaked pie shell.

Bake for 5 minutes. Reduce heat after 5 minutes to 300 degrees and continue to bake for 1 hour or until fill is thick.

Cool on wire rack and serve at room temperature.

Operation Baking GALS - Round 5

2008-11-26T21:16:00.003-05:00

As you may have noticed in my prior blog entries, I have participated in the past 2 rounds of Operation Baking GALS and will again be participating for Round 5!

My friend Danielle of Make No Little Meals is once againg hosting. I encourage you to check out her blog entry for more details on the cause and how to join her team!

Maple Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-11-25T23:06:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was seriously craving something sweet and maple flavored. I believe it all stemmed from a conversation I had with some friends this weekend about how I will never have maple syrups in my fridge like Aunt Jemima or Mrs. Butterwoth. No, I buy the good stuff....the expensive stuff...but I digress.

I found this recipe for Lighter Maple Chocolate Chip cookies online. I had all of the ingredients at home so I figured, why not? All in all these cookies taste good but were not 100% what I expected. The maple flavor was not as strong as I thought it would be. Also they did not really get a nice golden brown as I expected them to and they are a tad chewier than I thought they would be. I am not sure if I did something wrong or if this was all part and parcel of them being "Lighter" cookies (which by the way I have a hard time calling them "Lighter" when they still have a full stick of butter in them!). Either way, not a bad cookie, but if I make them again I might make some tweaks.

Lighter Maple Cookies

(from recipezaar.com)

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon maple extract or vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 (12 ounce) bag chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F, line 1 or two cookie sheets with none stick foil, or lightly greaced foil.

In a medium bowl, vigorously stir together the butter, sugar, and sour cream. Add the maple syrup and extract.

Gently fold in the flour, salt, baking powder, and chips (do not over mix!). Spoon 1 tablespoon of the dough onto the cookie sheet (s) and press them down to about 1/4 inch thinkness.

Bake for 8-10 minutes of until golden

Italian Pot Pies....and my 200th post!

2008-11-25T07:04:00.004-05:00

Yes, indeed, 200 posts later I am still a faithful blogger. When I started doing this I had some trouble keeping up, and remembering to take pictures, and just lacked patience for itl. Since then this blog has served probably as more motivation than anything else to always try out some new things in the kitchen, to not get stuck in a rut, and hopefully along the way discover some totally yummy recipes!

This recipe was in my most recent issue of Martha Stewart's Everyday Living. Since I was planning my next week's dinner menu caught my attention for 2 reasons: 1) I had been looking for something to do with the leftover sauce from pizza I made the week before last and, 2) I also had ground beef in the freezer. So all of the conveniences were there!

At first glance this recipe seems like it is a lot of steps but really is quite easily put together. My husband loved the crust part, as did I, but overall said these weren't his "thing."

Have I ever mentioned the tragedy that my husband really is not a fan of red sauce/marinara at all??? If we have pasta for a meal he typically has to decimate it beyond belief with large amounts of parmesan cheese. He will tolerate pizza because, well, it's loaded with cheese. This doesn't stop me from serving up a meal with some red sauce occassionally though, because I like red sauce! And of coures I have heard all about the health benefits of tomatoes. So he just has to deal sometimes. I, however, can see that while he ate it, and continually raved about the crust part of this meal that this was just not his "thing." But it was definitely my "thing!" And so that just means the leftovers will be all for MY enjoyment - yippee!

Italian Pot Pies
(from Martha Stewart Everyday Food)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound ground beef sirloin, thawed if frozen
2 cups homemade or best-quality store-bought tomato sauce 1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with rack in lowest position. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add onion and carrots; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add beef, and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce; bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until meat mixture has thickened, 8 to 10 minutes; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, Parmesan, baking powder, rosemary, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; make a well in center, and add butter and milk. Stir just until dough comes together.

Spoon meat mixture into four 8-ounce ramekins; mound dough on top. Place on a large rimmed baking sheet; bake until topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in topping comes out clean, 10 to 12 minutes.

Third time's a charm!

2008-11-24T18:37:00.000-05:00

My best friend, Michelle, and her husband, Jay, came over for dinner on Friday night - after our 3rd time rescheduling this dinner (starting in August) we finally got the timing right! I made a great chicken recipe that I had had in my "to try" pile for quite some time so I pulled it out for this occassion. I let it marinate all day while I was at work (as opposed to the 2 hours suggested below) and used canola oil instead of vegetable oil.

The side dish recipe below, a baked orzo, came from one of my co-workers, the same one who handed me this recipe in the hallway a couple of weeks ago. She said she had made it recently for company and that it was a perfect recipe for when you have dinner guests. I thought it sounded kind of fun and different from the typical starch side of some kind of potatoes so I went for it. De-li-cious! My best friend even asked for the recipe after and I think we all had seconds on it! I would definitely serve this again, and much to the request of my husband and Michelle, I would make it with mushrooms this time. Yes, I was being a selfish cook who left out the mushrooms for the sheer fact that I don't really like them haha!

Chicken in Lemon Marinade

(from myrecipes.com)

2/3 Cup vegetable oil
1/2 Cup lemon juice
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/8 Teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 small grated onion
1 Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon black pepper
1 Teaspoon celery salt
6 chicken breast, boneless skinless

Process 1st 8 ingredients in a blender until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides. Reserve 1/4 cup lemon mixture, and chill.

Place chicken in a shallow dish or zip-top plastic bag; pour remaining lemon mixture over chicken. Cover or seal, and chill 2 hours, turning chicken occasionally.

Remove chicken from marinade, discarding marinade; place chicken on a lightly greased rack in a broiler pan.

Broil 7" from heat (with electric oven door partially open) 11-12 minutes on each side or until tender, basting chicken frequently with reserved 1/4 cup lemon mixture.

Baked Orzo with Fontina and Peas

(from FoodNetwork.com)

4 cups chicken broth
1 pound orzo pasta
3 tablespoons butter, plus more to grease the baking dish
1 onion, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 cup Marsala wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 ounces shredded fontina cheese (about 1 cup)
4 ounces diced fresh mozzarella cheese (about 1 cup)
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 9 by 13-inch baking dish.
Bring the chicken broth to a boil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the orzo and cook until almost tender, about 7 minutes. Pour the orzo and the broth into a large bowl. Set aside.

Meanwhile, melt the butter over medium heat in a medium skillet. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue to saute until the mushrooms are beginning to turn golden around the edges, about 7 minutes. Add the Marsala. Scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan and cook until the Marsala has reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the mushroom mixture to the orzo in the large bowl. Add the cream, fontina, mozzarella, peas, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

In a small bowl combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and dried thyme. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on top of the pasta. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes.

Friday's Frugal Fun - Part III

2008-11-21T23:39:00.000-05:00

Time for more frugality! Sorry for no post last week, I was out of steam!

With the holidays coming up, who couldn't use a few more ways to save money?

Another free sample site I like - Free Stuff Finder. I've gotten some neat stuff on here!

Recently I also discovered Ebates - a site that gives you rebates on your online purchases. I simply shop through their site and you get a percentage back on your purchases. I've already earned a decent amount of money back on some of my purchases for Christmas. They also have a ton of coupon codes for online shopping.

And speaking of coupon codes, Coupon Cabin is my #1 destination to find a coupon code whenever I am buying something online. Check it out!

Yum.

2008-11-17T21:16:00.005-05:00

The title of this post pretty much explains how my husband and I feel about this recipe.

A lovely lady on my local nest board, Sam, shared this recipe last week, and it caught my attention. The next day, a co-worker of mine handed me a printout of this recipe saying she had tried it and it was a huge hit in her house. 2 endorsements in less than 24 hours of the same recipe? Yeah. At that point I just had to try it!

Tonight was the night. These were easy to make, not too many ingredients and of course fun. I always have fun dipping and/or breading food. This obviously isn't the healthiest of recipes. It is a Paula Deen recipe after all (it is baked though!). But I attempted to balance out the unhealthiness of this with a baked potato and some steamed carrots (because that was going to help...hahaha).

The only change I made to this recipe was that I upped the temp to 375 degrees and then to finish them off broiled them for a minute or two on each side to get a nice brown color to them.

My husband made sure to compliment this meal more than once tonight, so I think that means it will make it back into my rotation of meals very soon. Chicken is a healthy meat....but tonight's dinner proved that sometimes it's good to be bad! ;-)

Chicken Nuggets
(from FoodNetwork.com)

2 cups crushed sour-cream-and-onion-flavored potato chips
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
6 chicken breast fillets, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1/3 cup butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the crushed potato chips in a shallow dish. Beat together the egg and milk in a shallow bowl. Dip the chicken cubes into the egg mixture and then dredge them in the chips. Place the chicken nuggets on a baking sheet and drizzle with melted butter. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. The chicken nuggets can be frozen after baking. Serve with your favorite sauce, such as honey mustard or ranch dressing.

(This recipe also included a recipe for Honey Mustard Dipping sauce, I did not use that one but rather used this one which was even easier to prepare)

A cheese ball....for dessert?

2008-11-17T21:01:00.004-05:00

Yup, that's right, dessert. This is not your typical cheeseball.

I have had this recipe bookmarked on allrecipes.com since December 12, 2007. You read that right, 2007. But I had never made it yet. I would look at it from time to time, thinking of a good time to make it but I always forgot about it. My best friend Michelle had a little hostess party this weekend for some reason the lightbulb went on - I could make it for that!

This is delicious, and addictive. I brought over both chocolate graham crackers and regular honey graham crackers. What a combo! The only thing I didn't do was roll the ball in nuts. Frankly as much as I do like pecans, I just didn't see a need for them. Maybe next time!

And I lucked out because the only reason I got a picture of this is because I got to take some back home. Since I made the original recipe times 1.5 I had plenty extra to take home to reshape into another ball and share with my husband (who is currently devouring it as I type).

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Ball

(from AllRecipes.com)

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans

In a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in confectioners' sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover, and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Shape chilled cream cheese mixture into a ball. Wrap with plastic, and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Roll the cheese ball in finely chopped pecans before serving.

Corn Muffins

2008-11-15T04:24:00.006-05:00

The other night I just felt like baking. but I had nothing particular in mind to bake. So, I started going through my cabinet for inspiration and when I saw my bag of cornmeal I decided to make muffins. And what better recipe to use than the one on the back of the bag?

I made these in jumbo muffin tins and extended the baking time to 25 minutes. I'm not sure if that was for too long because these came out a bit dry. Although, I tend to find corn muffins to be on the drier side as far as muffins go typically. They tasted alright though and I think that next time I'd just watch the baking time more closely.

Golden Yellow Corn Muffins
(from Indian Head cornmeal)

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup sifted flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup soft shortening
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, ans alt in a bowl. Cut in shortening. Mix egg and milk together and add to dry ingredients with a few swift strokes.

Fill greated muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes, makes 12 muffins.*
(*for jumbo muffins I baked for 25 minutes which I would reduce next time; made 5 muffins)

Making dinner with my Sister-in-Law

2008-11-11T22:46:00.005-05:00

My sister-in-law, Heather, has been asking me to teach her cook for a little while now. She's gained an interest in learning but it was just a matter of us setting aside the time to do it. I see my sister-in-law all of the time, but extra time can be hard to come by somedays!

For her birthday I got her a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook - Anyone Can Cook and since then she's wanted to get together even more. I asked her and her boyfriend Rob over Sunday and told her we should cook something from the book. So 2 nights prior we looked through the book, she'd picked out a Cheese-Stuffed Chicken recipe. (By the way, this book is fabulous, great pictures, great recipes, and lots of instructional information - like the differences in taste between yellow, white, and red onions, to what knives to use for what, and what different cuts of meat are, etc.).

We flipped through the book looking for side dishes when I asked her if she'd ever made mashed potatoes, the answer was no....that's something I wanted her to learn, pronto, so that settled one side. I was going to suggest a veggie of some sort when she asked if I'd teach her how to make a garlic bread I'd made once when we had her and Rob over for dinner. I said ok and decided not to push the veggie. I for one could live off of starches all my life - bread and potatoes ROCK - and secondly, I didn't want to overwhelm her with too much to learn in one day.

Sunday arrived and I decided we should get the apple crisp we agreed to make for dessert made and in the oven. So that was first. Then we went to the store to pick up what I didn't have in the house for dinner while we left my husband and Rob watched the Patriots came. When we got back to my house we immediately got to work on the chicken. Heather asked lots of questions all along which I thought was great - it showed how much she really wanted to learn. And of course we had a really fun time through it all. While we "slaved" in the kitchen, Greg & Rob smoked cigars on our deck....ahh...the life!

I would say our dinner was a raging success. The chicken came out fabulous. We made a few minor changes which is how the recipe will appear below. I also taught Heather the "fine art" of "winging it" (as I like to call it!) with the mashed potatoes (so no recipe below) and the garlic bread was absolutely awesome. The recipe that appears the below is my adjustment for cooking it in the oven rather than on the grill (which I did the first few times I made it), and also a few other changes to reflect our preferences.

I can't wait until we do this again. Heather was even so excited about how easy the apple crisp recipe is that she is going ot make it for Thanksgiving dessert! We had a blast overall on Sunday - as an only child I've been lucky to be blessed with such a great sister-in-law and, really, is there any better combination than cooking and/or baking with one of your favorite people in the world? I think not.

Cheese-Stuffed Chicken
(from BHG "Anyone Can Cook")

4 chicken breast halves (2 to 2 1/2 pounds total)
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
4 slices of bacon, crisp cooked and crumbled
Salt & pepper
Paprika
Italian Seasoning

Preheat oven to 350F. Using a sharp knife, make a pocket in each breast half by cutting horizontally from side to side, cutting to but not through the opposite side and leaving the edges in tact.

In a medium bowl, combine mozzarella, feta, and bacon. Pack cheese mixture lightly into pockets. Place chicken in 3 quart rectangular baking dish. Light sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, paprika, and Italian seasoning.

Bake, uncovered, in preheated oven for 50-55 minutes or until internal temperature of chicken registers at 170 degrees on an instant read thermometer. Makes 4 servings.

Unbelievable Grilled Garlic Bread
(adapated from AllRecipes.com)

1 cup mayonnaise
6 teapsoons minced garlic
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, halved lengthwise

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients except bread.

Place the French bread on baking pan, cut side up and put in preheated oven 5-7 minutes or until slightly toasted.
(The picture at the above right is garlic bread in process, see chicken picture for not-so-great picture of finished product)

NILLA Apple Crisp
(from KraftFoods.com)

4 large Granny Smith apples (2 lb.), peeled, thinly sliced (we used 5 apples)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar, divided
2 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided
1/3 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold margarine
25 Reduced Fat NILLA Wafers, crushed (about 1 cup crumbs)

Heat oven to 350°F. Toss apples with 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Spoon into 8- or 9-inch sq. baking dish.

Combine oats, remaining brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl. Cut in margarine with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in wafer crumbs; sprinkle over apples.

Bake 30 to 35 min. or until apples are tender. Serve topped with COOL WHIP. (Or Vanilla Ice Cream in our case!

The two of us with our finished dinner product. I swear we only broke out our ridiculously highly filled glasses of wine once dinner was already in the oven!

A little late but - Blanching Vegetables

2008-11-11T21:54:00.001-05:00

I mentioned in a prior blog entry, that due to my best friend and her husband not being able to make it to our house (for good reason) for dinner I had tons of extra fresh veggies on hand, more than my husband and I would be able to eat before we went on vacation the week following. Coming home to veggies going bad is really not my idea of fun. Neither is wasting money on good food. I am the queen of freezing foods - I can't stand letting anything go to waste!

When I was a kid, my father used to blanch excess vegetables from his garden - most often zucchini and green beans. I used to tease him for it, but suddenly I was seeing the wisdom of his ways - an easy way to safely preserve vegetables in the freezer. I had to give it a try. But what is the best way to do it? My mom and I used to complain that my dad's vegetables seemed so watery when they came out of the freezer. I did a search online to make sure that didn't happen to me when I gave it a go.

I found this site, which gives great instructions as well as varying methods depending on the type of vegetable you blaching. I higly recommend checking it out. The night I undertook this as my project I blanched cauliflower, zucchini, and broccoli. I am happy to report I have used most of the vegetables by now except the broccoli (I've only used some of it) and all have survived their trip to the freezer and into our stomachs. The blanching really helps preserve the taste, I did not notice a difference really between the blanched veggies and how a fresh veggie would taste. I am glad to have added this method to my bag of tricks, especially since it often seems some of the vegetables I buy end up not getting used. This is a perfect way to save those vegetables for a later time.

Something's fishy....

2008-11-09T09:55:00.000-05:00

....in a good way of course!

This week the mood struck me that I was really in the mood for fish, tilapia to be exact. I still have not done a lot of cooking of any kind of fish, at least relative to other meats, so I really needed a good recipe. I visited some of my favorite recipe sites but nothing was grabbing me so I googled and came upon a recipe from Whole Foods which is a store I tend not to ever shop at because of the prices but, this recipe sounded delicious, and easy. And it was, on both accounts! And to boot, Whole Foods has an excellent recipe site. I found a bunch I want to make in the future!

My husband and I really liked how this came out but both agreed next time I will either cut down on the lemon zest or the lemon juice, it was a tad too overpowering for us, but still very tasty. Alongside I made parmesan roasted cauliflower, an Ina Garten recipe. Might as well make it a parmesan kind of night, right? Served with a salad, this was a very satisfying meal indeed!

Broiled Tilapia with Yogurt and Parmesan Cheese

(from Whole Foods)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 tablespoons low fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Greek style yogurt or sour cream (I used sour cream)
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
Juice and zest of one small lemon (about 2 tablespoons juice)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 (6 to 8 ounce) farm-raised tilapia fillets

Combine 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese with remaining ingredients (except fish). Coat fillets with mixture and place in baking dish or shallow platter and let marinate for 15–20 minutes. Preheat broiler.

Place fillets on a foil-lined broiler pan. Spoon a few tablespoons marinade on top and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. Broil 4–6 inches from heat for 5–8 minutes or until topping is lightly browned. The fish is ready when it flakes easily with a fork.

Parmesan-Roasted Cauliflower

(from "Barefoot Contessa at Home")

1 large head cauliflower

3 tablespoons good olive oil

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup freshly grated Gruyere cheese (I omitted and used extra Parmesan)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Remove outer green leaves from cauliflower and cut the head into florets, discarding stems. Place florets on sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Toss well. Bake for 30 minutes, tossing once, until cauliflower is tender and starts to brown. Sprinkle with Parmesan and Gruyere and bake for 1 to 2 minutes, just until cheese melts. Season to taste and serve hot or warm.

Friday's Frugal Fun - Part II

2008-11-07T15:12:00.004-05:00

It's Friday already? Where has the time gone? That means it's time for part II - check out my first Friday's Frugal Fun post if you are lost!

Anyway, time for another round of money-saving goodness. First up is a site I just discovered this week called Your Coupon Buddy. It lays out some of the best deals based on sales & coupons out there. Since I just found it, I haven't gotten to use it to its potential yet but the concept is great. I love that all the homework is done for me!

Another website I use is InboxDollars. You get a $5 bonus for signing up. They are largely a click-to-earn website - in other words you are often sent emails from them and when you click, you earn a few cents per email. You also earn money back on online purchases (they have a large list on their site of vendors and you can also sign up for free offers that will pay you perhaps anywhere from 25 cents to $1. To check it out, visit the link below

Want more free samples? Another site I use is Free Samples Blog. I find it's not updated as often as it used to be, but when it is the free samples are usually good ones! Also, Walmart's website is another place where you can also find some great freebies!

Soup + Friendship = Heartwarming!

2008-11-05T20:37:00.003-05:00

So, my best friend, Michelle...she's afraid of soup. Yeah, you read that right. Soup.

Well, not to eat soup, but of making it. Because I am so not afraid of making soup and have been known to make up my own from time to time, I got her a big ole soup cookbook for her bridal shower, a ladle, and soup crocks (among other gifts) to help her along the way. After all, Michelle is an excellent cook and baker, soup should not be standing in her way to culinary greatness!

At Michelle's wedding - Courtesy Potter Photography

This week we decided to have our first "soup night" - i.e. we just get together, hang out, and make some soup. We used to have "bake nights" at some point where we just got together and baked up some new, fun recipes but for the time being conquering soup fears are much higher on the list than baked goods. I let her choose the recipe and she picked a Tomato & White Bean Soup from myrecipes.com.

It came out delicious, and, we both agreed, even better reheated the next day! I think our first tryout was a success and at least has seemed to alleviate Michelle's soup fears for now. Next time, we'll try something a little more difficult perhaps! And in the meantime I not only did my friendly duty of helping her cook her first soup, I also introduced her to Smiles french Fries....because, what's better than soup and french fries? Especially "Smiles" fries!

Tomato-and-White-Bean Soup
(from MyRecipes.com)

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 (14.5-ounce) cans no-salt-added whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
2 (16-ounce) cans cannellini or other white beans, drained
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can fat-free chicken broth
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add tomatoes and next 5 ingredients (tomatoes through pepper), and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Ladle into bowls, and sprinkle with cheese.

Operation Baking GALS - Part 2!

2008-11-05T19:59:00.004-05:00

As you may know, in September I participated in Operation Baking GALS (which stands for "Give A Little Support") for the first time. It is a small way to show our appreciation towards soldiers who are making many sacrifices to be serving our country - by giving them a taste of home. This time around, my friend Danielle, who got us all going on this great cause in September, hosted her own team - Dani's Delightful Darlings!

Obviously I signed right back up to take part of this and this tiem of course as a member of Dani's team! I also recruited some friends to join in on the fun! I got some of my best friends in the world - Michelle, Amy, & Melanie to lend a hand in the baking action. While finding a mutually agreeable time to get together for baking festivities would have been fun, it was near impossible, so basically they all brought me their goodies and I packed them up and shipped them to our marine, Corporal Jason Manley yesterday. (Below is me attempting to figure out how to fit everything in there!)

As part of Dani's 18 person team, we really put together a great package of goodies! And a lot of them - had I not used the Flat-Rate postal box they told me it would have cost $29 to ship them! That's a lot of goodies packed into one package! Amy, Melanie, and Michelle each made a batch of chocolate chip cookies...and how can you ever really go wrong with chocolate chip cookies? That will be sure to please our Marine and his buddies! Melanie also made a batch of peanut butter cookies, yummy! And I made Potato Chip Cookies, Peanut Butter Blossoms, and Oatmeal Raisin Squares. The latter 2 recipes appear below.

Thanks again to Dani for putting the time and effort into hosting this team! And thank you to Michelle, Melanie, & Amy (who appear in the picture below at my '04 MBA graduation) for joining me in this cause!

Peanut Butter Blossoms
(from Hershey's)

48 HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Granulated sugar

Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.
Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 dozen cookies.

Quaker's Best Oatmeal Cookies
(from Quaker Oats & Prepared as noted in the "variations" section)

1-1/4 cups (2-1/2 sticks) margarine or butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugars until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg; mix well. Add oats; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 9 minutes for a chewy cookie or 10 to 11 minutes for a crisp cookie. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Servings – about 3 dozen.

Variation - Bar Cookies: Press dough onto bottom of ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered. 24 Bars.

Variation: Stir in 1 cup raisins or chopped nuts.

Pork Chops with Stuffing & Curry

2008-11-05T19:20:00.005-05:00

I got this recipe from my "Fix It & Forget It" cookbook and threw all in the crockpot on the fly one morning before I left for work. Of course I know this recipe is full of things many food bloggers shun...pre-prepared stuffing, cream of whatever soup, etc. Well, guess what? I don't care hehehe....sometimes easy is still good!

Anyway, I added a couple of things to the recipe, about a 1/4 apple juice to the bottom of the crockpot, used cream of celery soup instead of cream of mushroom, and some diced onion & celery.

All in all, this came out pretty good! I actually cut down the curry a tad from the original recipe (which called for 1 teaspoon of curry powder) which I think was good. While I like curry, there is only so much of it I can tolerate too.

Also I threw these chops in frozen since I completely spaced on taking any meat at all out of the freezer for dinner. It all worked out well though, 8 hours later the chops were fully cooked, moist, and tasty! The stuffing seemed a little crunchy on top of the chops, but I have to admit, I kind of liked that it ended up a little crunchy ;-)

Oh, and I will completely admit that this picture looks totally un-appetizing, please don't let it deter you!

Pork Chops with Stuffing & Curry
(from Fix It & Forget It)

1 box stufing mix (I used whole wheat stuffing)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup apple juice
3/4 teaspoon curry powder
2 finely diced stalks of celery
1/2 finely diced small yellow onion
3-4 pork chops

Combine stuffing mix and water. Pour apple juice in bottom of crockpot. Place pork chops in pot.

Combine soup, and curry powder and then combine with stuffing. Place on top of pork chops.

Cover, cook on low 6-7 hours (8 hours for my frozen pork chops).

Savory Cheese Soup

2008-11-02T20:11:00.004-05:00

In cold weather, there isn't much better than a bowl of soup. Lo and behold, we've been having some cold weather here in New England (who would have thunk it?) so today soup sounded like a perfect meal.

I busted out an old recipe that I haven't made in awhile, I don't even remember where I got it (sorry! I think it may have been a magazine) but I just had to make it today. Soup on a cold day is wonderful. Cheesy soup on a cold day is even better!

I made some changes to this recipe this time around (recipe appears written to include my modifications). I did not use a bell pepper as originally called for an added a few frozen broccoli florets. I also doubled the amount of cream cheese, and since the soup just wasn't at the consistency I wanted it to be (I also subbed lowfat cream cheese for regular cream cheese). I doubled the amount of onion as well. I used minced garlic instead of garlic powder. Something else I did to jazz this up was use Sargento's bistro selections cheddar cheese that also had bacon bits in it. Bacon and cheese? How can you really go wrong with that???

(p.s. I just used Bud Light for the beer here, didn't have anything else in the house we thought would work, but I imagine you could really have fun with some flavors depending on the type of beer you use)

Savory Cheese Soup

1 Can chicken broth
1/4 Cup chopped carrot
1/4 Cup chopped celery
2 Tablespoons chopped onion
5 frozen broccoli florets
1 Teaspoon butter
1/8 Teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/8 Teaspoon dried oregano
1 Pinch salt
2 Tablespoons flour
3 Tablespoons water
6 ounces softened, cubed lowfat cream cheese
1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 Cup beer

In a 1 1/2 quart slow cooker combine first 10 ingredients, cover & cook on low for 5 hours.

Combine flour & water until smooth, stir into soup. Cover & cook on high for 30 minutes or until thickened. Stir in cream cheese & cheddar cheese until blended. Stir in beer.

Cover & cook on low for 10 minutes or until heated

Chocolate overload!

2008-11-02T19:43:00.005-05:00

Last night we had dinner with friends. I asked what I could bring over and the response was dessert! I was going to make an apple pie but I got a request for something chocolatey and so I decided to flip through some of my cookooks that I haven't used in awhile for inspiration.

I came upon a recipe for "Beatty's Chocolate Cake" from my Barefood Contessa at Home cookbook. It definitely fit the chocolatey bill! I decided to make the cake but not the frosting recipe that goes along with it because it called for an uncooked egg yolk. Something about that just didn't seem right. I searched on allrecipes.com and found an easy recipe for Mocha Frosting on there. The recipe for that will appear as written, I, however, found the original recipe's frosting was a bit too thin for my taste and so I added more confectioner's sugar to achieve the consistency I wanted. I garnished the cake with mini-chocolate chips, just to up the chocolate factor a tad.

But, long story short, this cake was tasty, rich, and just really great and really easy too! The addition of coffee to the cake, and obviously the frosting (duh! That's why it's "mocha") were a great combination. I think it was a hit with our friends Matt & Alexis! My friend Melanie was over today and I gave her a piece and she loved it too.

Beatty's Chocolate Cake

(from Barefoot Contess at Home)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans*

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup good cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt (I used regular salt)

1 cup buttermilk, shaken

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 extra large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans. (*I skippted this process and just used "PAM" for baking and sprayed that generously on my cake pans - they came out perfectly)

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, andsalt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With the mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pans for 30 minutes, then turn them onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place one layer, flat side up on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting eveny on the top and sides of the cake.

Mocha Frosting

(from AllRecipes.com)

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup strong, hot, brewed coffee
3 cups confectioners' sugar*
1/3 cup melted butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine coffee and cocoa in small bowl of electric mixer. Beat until blended. Add sugar, butter or margarine, salt, and vanilla. Beat until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat icing until it has a spreading consistency. Frost the cake. (*I added at least a 1/2 cup more confectioner's sugar to achieve a thicker consistency)

Friday's Frugal Fun

2008-10-31T22:08:00.001-04:00

If you know me, you know I like to save money. I love a good bargain, an awesome sale, or a butt kicking coupon.

I've recently been reading more "frugal living" blogs lately. While I, by no stretch of the imagination, have saving money down to a science like some ladies do (and probably never will) - I at least appreciate what I've read and learned.

I have decided that every Friday (or every other Friday depending on how much time I have) I'm going to share with you either cool blogs I've discovered along the way, any pointers and tips I have myself, money savings websites, or any other information I've picked up along the way in my readings. and just in life Don't worry, this blog will still be 99% about food, you can be assured of that since I could never compete with some of the money-saving blogs out there. I just thought a little deviation, once a week, is sometimes a nice breath of fresh air!

Like free samples? Then you'll love Mommy Saves Big. This is one I've been using for awhile because I really, really love free samples. I can be picky about which ones I sign up for though so some days with this site can be hit or miss - for me at least. But when it's a hit it's usually a pretty big hit! This blog is a great central location for capturing all that is available about there whether it's for free samples of coffee, shampoo, or food products. Best thing I've discovered about free samples is that generally they almost always come with a money saving coupon (typically a better than one you'd find in your weekly Sunday paper too!).

Speaking of coupons, I am an avid user of Coupons.com. This website has a lot of similar coupons to what you will find in your Sunday circular, however, I find sometimes the money-off deals are off a lesser quantity of items sometimes, etc. Since it's only my husband and I at home, I really hate some of those coupons that are $1 off of 5 items, or something crazy like that.

Last is a site I've been a member of for awhile called MySurvey. MySurvey sends you emails when you may qualify for a survey. I usually get 2 -3 survey offers per week in my inbox, sometimes less, occassionally more. The qualifying part of the survey usually never takes more than 10 minutes most of the time less than that. If you qualify, well, the time to take the survey can vary but with that also comes a variation in how much each survey is worth - usually between 200 - 750 points if you qualify for a survey (100 points = $1). You can redeem your points, for cash or prizes, once you reach 1,000 points (which is equivalent to $10). You can click on the banner below for more information and to sign up.

Cookies that just scream FALL!

2008-10-27T22:37:00.000-04:00

As much as I do love to cook, baking is one of my favorite things to do. I really consider myself more of a baker than a cook. I don't know why, but I just love filling the house up with the oven's warmth and the cozy smells of something fabulous brewing behind that oven door. There is just something so cozy and homey about baking. This is one of the biggest reasons I love the fall. After baking very little all summer due to not wanting to heat up the house, it's a relief for me when cooler weather comes and my baking adventures can resume.

Last week I did quite a bit of baking, for the reasons mentioned above and to a great extent to really keep some warmth in the house since we were holding off as long as possible trying not to turn our furnace on! Long story short, we turned it on last Wednesday but the baked goods were of course worth it. One of the things I baked last week was the Glazed Apple Cookie recipe below.

Apples are my favorite fruit. I love apple pie, apple crisp, apple bread, apple sauce - but a cookie? That's definitely "outside the box." My discovery with this recipe is that it is absolutely awesome to have apples in a cookie!!! These cookies are definitely staying on my list of favorites!

Glazed Apple Cookies

(from AllRecipes.com)

1/2 cup shortening
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 cup apples - peeled, cored and finely diced
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 tablespoons half-and-half cream

Beat shortening and brown sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and blend thoroughly.

Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

Stir half the dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Stir in nuts, apple and raisins, then stir in remaining half of dry ingredients and milk. Mix well.

Drop from tablespoon 1 1/2 inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove cookies to racks and while still warm, spread with glaze.

To make Glaze: Combine powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and enough cream to make glaze of spreading consistency. Beat until smooth. Spread on warm cookies.

A bit negligent with my picture taking these days...

2008-10-27T22:03:00.001-04:00

Yet again I've neglected to take a picture for this blog of something new I've made. Sometimes we start eating and I remember and figure I'll take a picture when we have leftovers. Well I forgot then too! I guess you will just have to take my word for it that this recipe is fabulous, easy, and wonderful. Nothing better than a crockpot recipe....but nothing better than a crockpot recipe with very few ingredients!

This pork came out moist, tender, and flavorful. It wasn't dry at all - I was a little skeptical it might be. I left my roast whole and cooked it about 7 hours. I also threw some potatoes and baby carrots in with it and they came out super tasty. A thanks to my friend Pam M. for this recipe!

Apple-Dijon Pork Roast

2 Pound(s) - 3 pound pork loin
1 Can chicken broth
1 Cup apple juice
1/2 Cup(s) Dijon mustard
6 Tablespoon cornstarch
6 Tablespoon cold water
Cut roast in half; place in a 5 quart slow cooker. Combine the broth, apple juice & mustard; pour over roast. Cover & cook on low for 4-4 1/2 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160°.

Remove roast & keep warm. For gravy, strain cooking juices & skim fat. Pour juices into a small saucepan. Combine cornstarch & water until smooth; gradually stir into juices. Bring to a boil; cook & stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with pork.

Apple-Pear Crumble Pie

2008-10-23T21:13:00.006-04:00

I love fall for many reasons - leaves turning color on the trees, the sites, the smells, Halloween, Thanksgiving and of course for the pure reason that my favorite fruit - the apple - which is in its best season in our area.

In following my love of apples, I have tried out yet another apple pie type recipe - this time an Apple-Pear Crumble Pie from KratFoods.com. It was dessert for the other night when our parents came over dor dinner. It was certainly easy to make and of course incorporated apples so that's always a plus in my book.

Everyone said it was good. My verdict? It is just ok - not bad, but not spectacular. It's a good recipe to keep around but I probaby won't be running out to make it again anytime soon. Idid make it using Splenda & Splenda Brown Sugar blends as substitutes where possible so that may have affected the taste a bit.

Apple-Pear Crumble Pie
(from KraftFoods.com)

3/4 cup crushed NILLA Wafers (about 24 wafers)
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1 ready-to-use refrigerated pie crust (1/2 of 15-oz. pkg.)
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
2 large baking apples, peeled, sliced
1 large fresh pear, peeled, sliced
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
1-1/4 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Mix wafer crumbs, brown sugar and butter until well blended; set aside.
Place pie crust in greased 9-inch pie plate. Spread cream cheese carefully onto bottom of crust; sprinkle with half of the crumb mixture. Set aside. Combine fruit in large bowl. Add granulated sugar, flour and cinnamon; toss to coat. Spoon over crumb layer in pie crust; sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.
Bake 35 min. or until fruit is tender and crust is lightly browned, covering loosely with foil after 25 min. if necessary to prevent crust from overbrowning. Cool on wire rack. Serve topped with the whipped topping. Store any leftover pie in refrigerator.

Creamy Stove-Top Macaroni & Cheese

2008-10-21T22:09:00.005-04:00

I started coming down with a cold this week and being that it's the time of the year it is, nothing sounded better than some good old comfort food for dinner - mac 'n cheese to the rescue. I've tried a few versions of macaroni & cheese and I was a big fan of this one, it was quick, easy, and delicious. I added about a dash of paprika to this to bring out a little bit of a smoky taste. I also used a combo of cheddar and mozarella shredded cheeses since I had both in the house and rotini pasta since I didn't have elbow but even after those minor changes all I can say is: Yum!

Creamy Stove-Top Macaroni and Cheese
(from myrecipes.com)

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 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
Dash of paprika
1 1/4 cups (5 oz) 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, paprika, 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.

More crockpot action

2008-10-20T21:38:00.000-04:00

I really love the fact that my crockpot is versatile that you can make a down home comfort food type of meal in it, but you can also make a really nice meal that is serve-to-company-worthy. I did just that on Sunday making my friend Janine's crockpot chicken marsala recipe to serve when my parents and in-laws came over for dinner!

Sorry for the lack of a picture with this, I really need to do better with this when we have company over since most of the time I just plain ole forget!

Crockpot Chicken Marsala

4 - 6 chicken breast, boneless skinless
2 Cup fresh button mushrooms
2 Clove minced garlic
1/2 Teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1/2 Teaspoon black pepper
1/2 Cup chicken broth
1/4 Cup marsala cooking wine
1/2 Cup half and half or light cream
1/4 Cup chopped fresh parsley

Place all ingredients except cream & parsley in your slow cooker. Cover & cook for 8 hours. Half an hour before serving add cream to slow cooker. Serve with parsley

Say....CHEESE....cake that is!!!

2008-10-18T19:53:00.005-04:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, my husband and I stayed in for a quiet night at home on his birthday rather than going out to eat. But since it was his birthday, I of course I had to make him a special dessert!

There are a few dessert elements I know are a hit with my husband at almost any given time:
- Peanut butter
- Mint
- Cheesecake
Obviously not all together though!

With that said, I decided to make a cheesecake, but to celebrate this wonderful fall season I decided on an apple cheesecake. It was delicious and easy...can't go wrong with that! I definitey would not hesitate to make this one again!

As usual I made a couple of changes which I've done below. Also even though the directions say to sprinkle cinnamon & sugar on teh apples after you place them on the cheesecake I actually tossed my apples in the cinnamon and sugar and then placed them on the top of the cheesecake. I thought this was an easier way to ensure an even coating on all of the apples.

Fall Apple Bavarian Cheesecake
(from KraftFoods.com)

1/3 cup butter, melted
1-1/4 cups HONEY MAID Graham Cracker Crumbs
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup plus 3 Tbsp. sugar, divided
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced (I had to use 2 medium-to-large sized apples to cover cheesecake)
1/4 cup Sliced Almonds (I omitted)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix butter and crumbs; press firmly onto bottom and up side of 9-inch pie plate.

Beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Pour into crust; top with apple slices and almonds. Combine 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and remaining 3 Tbsp. sugar; sprinkle over cheesecake.

Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on wire rack. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

More reasons I love my crockpot

2008-10-18T19:42:00.007-04:00

Getting home from work and having a full dinner sitting there waiting for you, filling your house with great smells is another reason I love my crockpot so darn much.

This week was my husband's birthday. We just returned from a weeklong cruise to Bermuda and while on the cruise ate....we ate a lot. Going out to dinner this week to celebrate his birthday wasn't at the top of either of our lists after all that food we stuffed in ourselves last week so a quiet dinner at home it was. I decided to make a comfort food classic and finally whip out my crockpot for the first time this season.

I followed a recipe shared by someone else on my local nest board - a lovely nestie by the name of Erin who got a ton of raves from other girls who tried this recipe. I can see why! This recipe came out fabulous - the meat was tender and flavorful and practially just fell apart it was so tender. Just plain ole delicious.

I added a little more liquid to the recipe (a full cup of red wine and about a 1/4 to 1/3 cup of water) because I wanted to have ample gravy when it was done. I also added 3 potatoes cut in half to the veggie cast. I cooked mine for about 9 hours on low and it was perfect. This evidenced by the fact that the leftovers did not last long in our house!

Pot Roast

3 Pound beef pot roast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp steak seasoning or seasoned pepper (I used black pepper & Montreal steak seasoning)
1/2 bag baby carrot
4 Cloves smashed garlic
1 packet mushroom onion soup mix
1/4 Cup - 1/2 cup wine, beer or vermouth (I used a full cup of red wine)
1/4 Cup - 1/2 cup water (I used 1/4 cup of water)
2 peeled & quartered onion
3 potatoes cut in half
1 tablespoon flour or cornstarch to thicken (I used about a tablespoon cornstarch and 1/2 and made a slurry with water before adding to the crockpot)

Coat all sides of roast with salt and seasoned pepper. Brown in dry skillet on all sides. Toss all the veggies and garlic in the bottom of the Crockpot, top with meat, then add soup mix, top with liquids. Cover and cook on low for the longest time your Crockpot allows (I cooked it for about 9 hours or so). When it's done cooking, take the meat out and stir in a little bit of flour or cornstarch to thicken up the sauce put the meat back in and serve straight out of the pot.

How about some cake? I'll have it ready in a minute!

2008-10-02T21:19:00.000-04:00

Well, 3 minutes, but still this is the fastest recipe for cake - ever.

A couple of weeks ago on my local nest board, a lovely lady by the name of Lesa shared this little gem with us that had been passed along to her. She had not tried it yet but really - cake in a minute - how can that not be good, right?

Some of the ladies on my board have tried it and there have been mixed reviews. Of course me, being me, I just had to try it. What better night than to try on when my husband has "guys night" and I can make it all for myself?

The result? It was good but not as chocolate-y and gooey as I had hoped. I did not use a full 3 tablespoons of chocolate chips, I highly recommend just going for it and dumping them all in. Also I think 3 minutes was a little too long in my microwave and next time I will try 2 1/2 minutes instead...it just seemed a wee bit overdone to me. Not burnt, not dry, but just slightly overdone.

And yes, don't be alarmed when the cake rises above the mug as the recipe indicates. Holey moley did that thing take on a life of its own!!! (p.s. Don't you love my Disney mug????)

Minute Mug Cake

4 Tablespoons flour
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 Tablespoons milk
3 Tablespoons oil
1 small splash vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips (optional)

Add dry ingredients to coffee mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.

Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

More veggies than I knew what to do with...

2008-09-30T21:00:00.003-04:00

So you know my previous post where I said my friends were not able to come over for dinner?

Well the other result of that was a an overabundance of fresh veggies in my house. For the Asian themed dinner I'd planned I was going to make tempura vegetables. And well now I had a lot of veggies!

I thought that I really needed to make some all of those veggies before they went bad. It would take 2 of us alone too long to get through them. I blanched some of the veggies but for my zucchini I decided to try to make a Zucchini bread. I tried to make this recipe I found a little healthier since there was a lot of oil in the recipe (and no applesauce for me at home to sub with) so I used 1 cup of white sugar & 1 cup of splenda, then used 2 cups all purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour. I also added some nutmeg ane extra cinnamon for more flavor. I also added about an extra 1/4 cup of zucchini due to me getting a little grater happy, but I figured the extra moisture did not hurt.

I forgot something though - baking powder - and realized it too late in the game - OOPS! So these loaves ended up a little dense and flatter but still very much edible and tasty. I brought one loaf into work where it was quickly devoured by my co-workers.

Next time I would add some brown sugar maybe, or even more cinnamon. I still felt like it needed a little more oomph (however the wheat flour and splenda may have cut the oomph factor a tad so I will blame it on me and not the original recipe). Either way, still a keeper!

Zucchini Bread IV
(from AllRecipes.com)

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar (I subbed and used 1 cup sugar, 1 cup splenda)
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour (I used 2 cups AP flour, and 1 cup whole wheat flour)
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I added an additional 1/2 teaspoon)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I omitted)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil and sugar. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, soda, baking powder, salt and nuts; stir into the egg mixture.

Divide batter into prepared pans. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until done. (I used 2, 9x5 inch loaf pans and only needed about 40 minutes of baking time)

Orange Beef

2008-09-29T15:26:00.004-04:00

Sunday night we had plans to have my BFF and her husband over for dinner. I had an Asian themed dinner night planned. I should mention that the original date for this dinner was early last month, just under 2 weeks before their wedding. I basically un-invited them the day before because I was the proud new owner of a nasty summer cold and didn't want to get either sick right before their big day.

Yesterday was the make-up date, unfortunately it was their turn to have a snafu courtesy of the weekend long after effects of yet another Tropical Storm here in New England - i.e. they had some not so fun water in the basement.

Since I had already planned on my menu, I decided to make a scaled down version of what I had planned to serve for my husband and I. One of those things was Orange Beef - a recipe from my "Cooking with Mickey" cookbook that I picked up when we were in Disney World this past July, but hadn't made anything out of yet.

This was good, my husband loved it, but to me it wasn't out of this world. I'd make it again though, just not as flavorful as I had imagined it would be.

To cut down on costs, I actually bought some thicker cut shaved steak instead of using flank steak as the recipe calls for, which also cuts down on time since everything was pre-sliced. Anything that saves me time and money is a good thing.

I am not sure what I would do to change this recipe for the next time to give it a little more oomph though....probably adding the optional chili peppers would help. I guess we'll just see what happens when I try it again next!

Orange Beef
(from "Cooking with Mickey")

8 oz flank steak
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup oil
2 scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup water
2 chili peppers, dry (optional)

Slice flank steak into 1/2 inch strips. Combine cornstartch and flour. Dip steak first into cornstarch/flour mixture, then in beaten egg. Allow to stand for 5 minutes while oil heats in heavy skillet. Brown a few pieces of meat at a time unitl all meat has been cooked. Set aside and keep warm.

In another clean skillet or wok, saute scallions (and chili peppers if used) in a small amount of oil for about 2 minutes. Combine soy sauce, orange juice, sugar, and water and slowly pour into skillet. Cook 2 to 3 minute sor until mixture thickens. Pour over warm beef.

Caramel Apple Pie

2008-09-28T23:58:00.002-04:00

Yup, it's that time of year again - fall - and what does that mean? You got it - apples GALORE! I have not yet made it to an orchard for apple picking but I bought some nice looking Granny smith and MacIntosh apples at the store today. I have to make at least one apple pie per season! And that particular apple pie recipe that I wanted to try out this year was something I had bookmarked about a month ago in anticipation for an occassion just like this. The recipe comes from myrecipes.com but is sponsored by Argo Cornstarch.

The result was fabulously delicious! Lucky for us I have plenty of apples to make a second one later in the week! The only change I made was not using pumpkin pie spice (I don't like pumpkin pie, and neither does my hubby so it's not something I would have on hand) and rather substituted a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger (noted below).

You know what else is great about this recipe? It calls for a prepared pie crust so I don't have to feel like a schmuck because I am too lazy to make my own from scratch...

Did I mention this was Deeeeeeelicious??

Caramel Apple Pie
(from myrecipes.com & Argo Cornstarch)

1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon Spice Islands® Pumpkin Pie Spice*
1 tablespoon Argo® Corn Starch
5 to 6 McIntosh or Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon rum or imitation rum flavoring
1 (9-inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons prepared caramel sauce
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine

Mix sugar, pumpkin pie spice and corn starch in a large bowl. Cut apples into 1/4-inch thick slices and place in a separate bowl. Sprinkle apples with lemon juice and rum; add to dry ingredients. Stir to combine. Place in pie crust. Dot with 2 tablespoons of butter. Drizzle with caramel sauce.

Stir flour and brown sugar together in small bowl. Cut in 1/4 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle evenly over top of pie.

Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F and bake an additional 40 to 50 minutes, until golden brown (I needed only another 35 minutes to obtain a golden brown color). Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Yield: 8 servings

*I substitued pumpkin pie spice with about 3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, and a pinch of ground ginger

Operation Baking GALS

2008-09-28T23:21:00.000-04:00

Operation Baking GALS began as one baker's request for help to send baked goods to her cousin in Iraq and the rest of his division and has grown into many, many bakers joining in on the cause and sending loads of baked goods to soldiers who are defending our freedom on a daily basis. The full story of its inception can be found here.

My friend Danielle of Make No Little Meals approached me and a few other mutual friends about participating in this worthy cause and we agreed of course! So this past week we, as members of Team Adrienne's House, Danielle, myself, and our friends Lindsay and Nikki got together at Nikki's house (due to her having the fabbest kitchen among the 4 of us! Thanks, Nik, for hosting!) to bake our little hearts out for Sgt Mark Martin of Chatswort, Georgia stationed at Camp Victory in Iraq and on his THIRD tour.

Yes, I said his third tour. Did I mention yet that he is a father of 3? If we can do nothing else to thank Sgt. Martin but to send him some baked goods, why wouldn't we? He obviously is making so many sacrifices for his country and this is one way we can show our appreciation.

So what did we make?

Danielle made chocolate rice crispy treats, and 2 kinds of biscotti, Nikki made banana walnut bread, Lindsay made oatmeal raisin & craisin cookies, and pumpkin chocolate chip clusters, and I made quick chocolate softies, and oatmeal brownie gems (well, Lindsay helped me a lot with these since she did some pre-baking - thank you, Linds!). My two recipes come out of my favorite cookie book "Best Loved Cookies" straight out of the "Almost Homemade" section. Since we were going to have a lot going in on the kitchen I wanted to try to have my recipes be as simple and speedy as possible.

My two recipes follow, along with some pictures of our adventures in the kitchen. We had a fun time together but the most important thing is that we got together for this really great cause. We hope Sgt. Martin and his guys enjoy what we made for them!

Here we are! Members of "Team Adrienne's House" - me, Lindsay, Nikki, & Dani - a big thanks to Dani for getting us all together to do this!

Quick Chocolate Softies
(from "Best Loved Cookies")

1 pkg devil's food cake mix
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (I omitted)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. Combine cake mix, water, butter, and egg in a large bowl. Beat with electric mixer at low speed until moistened. Increase speed to medium; beat 1 minute (dough will be thick). Stir in chips and nuts; mix until well blended.

Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets.

Bake 10 - 12 minutes or until set. Let cookies stand on cookie sheets 1 minute, remove to wire racks and cool completely.

Oatmeal Brownie Gems
(from “Best Loved Cookies”)

2 ¼ cups quick cooking oats, uncooked
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (I omitted)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 ¾ cup M&M’s mini baking bits (I used regular M&Ms)
1 (19-21oz) pkg fudge brownie mix, prepared according to package directions for fudge-like brownies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large bowl combine oats, flour, sugar, nuts, and baking soda; add butter until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Toss in M&M’s until evenly distributed. Reserve 3 cups mixture (we just eyed it and put about ½ of the mixture aside).

Pat remaining mixture onto the bottom of a 15x10x1 inch pan to form crust. Pour prepared brownie mix over crust, carefully spreading into thin layer. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over top of brownie batter; pat down lightly.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs. Cool completely; cut into bars.

Dani packing up

our goodies!

Looks at all that yumminess - ready to get boxed up

& sent to Sgt Martin!!

Thank you!

2008-09-25T11:10:00.002-04:00

A great, big, ginormous thank you goes out to Diana of D.S. Brenna Photography who gave my blog a very flattering review on her own blog. Diana, you are far too kind and am honored you featured me on your blog.

For those of you who have not checked out Diana's incredible photography work, I highly suggest you click on her blog link above or check out her fabulous Etsy shop!

Good things come in small packages!

2008-09-21T22:10:00.000-04:00

I recently bought 3 tubes of crescent roll dough, they were on sale and I had a coupon. Sometimes a good deal is hard for me to pass up! Pilsbury has unlimited ideas for the uses of a of their products so I decided to go look for some unique uses for their crescent roll dough and ran across this little gem - mini cinnamon crescents.

So easy, so good, and so adorably cute - these are going to become a regular at our house!

I made most of them sans raisins for my husband and unfortunately was not able to glaze these since I apparently am out of confectioner's sugar. Even sans the glaze, these were definitely a cute little breakfast treat!

Mini Cinnamon Crescents

(from Pilsbury.com)

1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations™ refrigerated flaky dough sheet
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
4 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon apple juice or milk

Heat oven to 375°F.

If using crescent rolls: Unroll dough; separate dough into 4 rectangles. Firmly press perforations to seal. If using dough sheet: Unroll dough; cut into 4 rectangles.

Spread 1 tablespoon butter evenly over each dough rectangle. In small bowl, mix granulated sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly over rectangles. Sprinkle each with raisins. Starting with short side of each rectangle, roll up; pinch edges to seal. With serrated knife, cut each roll into 5 slices. Place slices, cut side down, in ungreased 8- or 9-inch square pan.

Bake 17 to 23 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix powdered sugar and apple juice until smooth. Drizzle over rolls. Serve warm.