Penny-Pinching Provisions

Millionaire's Shortbread

2012-02-13T12:00:00.005-05:00

For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned to an English blog. I was a little discouraged at first because of the differences in measurements. Grams do not convert exactly to cups or tablespoons, so there is a lot of guesswork and rounding. I found a website that made this "translation" relatively easy. Knowing I could make any recipe on the site, I was on a mission to find the perfect one.
With a name like "Millionaire's Shortbread:" this recipe instantly intrigued me. When I read the description on Corina's blog Searching for Spice, I knew I would love it. Really, how could you go wrong with shortbread topped with caramel and dark chocolate? Apparently these bars are very popular in the UK and in Canada, but not so much in the States. This should change, because they are delicious! This was my other contribution to the Superbowl party we attended last weekend. They were a huge hit, and several people asked me for the recipe.
After reading Corina's description and intro to the recipe, I opted to go the less sugary route by making Dulce de Leche basically the way the recipe on the side of the can of sweetened condensed milk details. I was so glad I did. The bars came out with just the right amount of sweetness, and of course I added a little saltiness because of my recent obsession with salted caramel.

2/3 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1-1/3 cup flour
(egg?)
1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
4-5 oz dark chocolate (I used squares from a dark chocolate candy bar)

Preheat the oven to 350*
Line an 8x8 baking dish with foil leaving a little overhang. Butter or spray the foiled pan.
Cream the sugar and butter together for the base layer. Then add the flour and mix until it forms a dough. I had to add an egg too. The dough was very crumbly (before egg), which is probably due to the translation from English to American measurements not being exact. Egg helps hold things together, so I thought it was a good choice.
Put the dough into the prepared dish, and press down so it covers the bottom.
Bake 20-25 minutes until a very light golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely.
To make the caramel: Pour sweetened condensed milk into a medium microwave safe bowl. Cook on medium (50% power) for 4 minutes, stirring well halfway through. Continue to cook on medium-low (30-40% power) for another 12-15 minutes until the milk has turned into thick, golden, caramel. Stir every couple of minutes.
Stir in the salt and vanilla.
Pour the caramel over the cooled shortbread and spread evenly.
Let the caramel firm up for about an hour in the refrigerator (or less in the freezer)
For the chocolate layer: Melt some chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water (or in a double boiler---which I don't own).
Pour onto the caramel and spread evenly.
Sprinkle with more sea salt or kosher salt.
Put in the refrigerator to set.
Cut into small squares to serve.

Crock Pot Potato Soup

2012-02-09T13:04:00.001-05:00

I have a love-hate relationship with Pinterest. Sometimes I just pin things that I see as I ~~waste time on the computer~~ research. And, sometimes I sit and pin, and pin, and pin...Well, you can see where this is going. I didn't know what I was missing until I saw it on Pinterest. My husband laughed when I told him this soup recipe was from the site...which he is starting to hate and he isn't even a member. He said it's funny how our lives have changed as a result of social networking sites.
Anyway, on to the recipe. My mom actually found this recipe and printed it out. I saw it when we were down there last week, and bought the stuff to make it. When you see the ingredients you will think that is too easy to taste that good. And, if you are like me you will think, "Why didn't I think of using hashbrowns instead of chunks of potatoes in soup?" The person who posted the recipe originally claims it tastes better than the soup at Outback, but I've never had their potato soup so I wouldn't know. I know it's good. So good. Even J, who isn't usually a soup lover (especially a soup with no meat!), loved this soup.
We enjoyed our soup with a hunk of Asiago Cheese Batard and a fruit salad.

1 30oz. bag of frozen, shredded hash browns
3 14oz. cans of chicken broth
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
1 pkg. cream cheese {don’t use fat free. It WON’T melt!!!}

Put everything in the crock pot except the cream cheese!
Cook 6-8 hours on low
About an hour before serving, add the cream cheese.
Top with cheese, green onions, sour cream, bacon bits, etc

Pumpkin Nutella Cream Cheese Muffins

2012-02-08T08:47:00.004-05:00

A self-frosting muffin: could this be too good to be true? I thought this sounded fantastic. How much time could I save if this were true? I would say, this is the only "failure" about these muffins. They didn't frost themselves, but they were insanely delicious. It must have just been me, because as I was planning to make these I looked all around for these mythical self frosting muffins (or cupcakes). I found recipes everywhere. I'm not sure what I did different, but it didn't work out for me. My "frosting" was a lump of Nutella that sort of stayed in a lump....which was like a special treat in the middle of your muffin. Self-frosting or not, these were a winner at my house.
My idea was to make this pumpkin nutella self frosting muffin, and add a vanilla cream cheese filling to the middle. Brilliant right? I have my days. They turned out different than expected, but delicious all the same. I wonder if my pumpkin wasn't as thick as it should be....It seemed thinner than normal canned pumpkin. That could have made all the difference. I added some healthiness like flax seed and whole wheat flour in so that we could call these "muffins" and eat them for breakfast. However, I think it just depends on the time of day. If you eat them after dinner, I would call them dessert.

Cream Cheese Filling:
8oz cream cheese, room temp
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla

Muffins:
15oz pumpkin puree
1/2 cup oil (or 6Tbl milled flax seed + 6 Tbl oil)
2 eggs
1 Tbl vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup minus 2 Tbl whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cocoa powder
nutella

Preheat oven to 375* and line a muffin tin.
Whisk together flours, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa.
In a separate bowl, stir pumpkin puree, oil, (flax seed), eggs, and vanilla.
Pour wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Scoop batter into the prepared muffin cups. Add a tablespoon of cream cheese mixture, and top with another tablespoon of pumpkin batter. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of Nutella onto the top of each muffin. Use a toothpick to swirl the Nutella around the top of the batter.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Linked up to

sweet tooth friday
sweets for saturday
a theme baker sunday

Veggie Tray Pizza

2012-02-07T12:02:00.000-05:00

I think I originally got his recipe from one of my students. When I taught third grade, we would have them bring in a recipe of their favorite thing their mom made and they each typed it for a class cookbook for Mother's Day. I have made this pizza several times, and it's always a hit. Even people who don't really like raw veggies, like this. It's great for a light meal or snack and to take as an appetizer to a party. This was one of my contributions to the Superbowl party we attended last weekend, but I've also taken it to church picnics and reunions. The best part about it is that it's like a veggie tray, only better because it has a crust. Anything is better with bread. You can use crescent rolls or pizza dough for the crust, and they both taste great. Another good thing is that you can mix and match your toppings according to your preferences. It's easy, quick, and tasty. My kind of cooking.
This time, we had some garden vegetable cream cheese that we bought for the cordon bleu braid last week. I used this spread in place of the cream cheese/mayo/seasoning mixture in the recipe.

2 cans crescent rolls or refrigerated pizza crust
8 oz cream cheese, room temp
1/2 cup mayo
1 pkg dry ranch dressing mix (or garlic salt and onion salt)
Topping ideas:
broccoli florets, shredded carrots, diced bell peppers, diced tomatoes-seeds removed, olives, onion, celery, mushrooms, bacon bits, shredded cheese

Press crescent rolls or pizza crust into 17x11 jelly roll pan (or cookie sheet) to form a crust. Bake as directed until done and slightly browned on top.
Cool completely.
Mix cream cheese, mayo, and ranch seasoning (or garlic and onion salt). Spread on cooled crust.
Press finely chopped vegetables into cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and bacon bits, if desired.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving time.

Menu Plan Feb 5-11

2012-02-06T09:13:00.000-05:00

Well, it's all over now. I never did go downtown to see all the Superbowl excitement in Indy. We decided than an extra 500,000 people in our city might be a little too crazy for a two year old. Somehow, through all the news coverage of the upcoming big day, Peyton Manning was still the one who stole the spotlight each day. I'm sure he didn't want that to happen, and I wondered if that is the way it was for people in other cities.
We ended up at a Superbowl party this year, rather than hosting our own commercial watching showdown. We had a great time and a lot of great food. I learned that some things just taste better if you own a deep-fryer. I didn't know I needed one of these, but I may have to consider after having these deep fried cheese wontons our friend found on pinterest. I'll have a recipe coming up for veggie tray pizza and a secret recipe to be posted next Monday.

Dinners:
BLT Wraps I've been craving these lately
BBQ Chicken, Veggies, Biscuits
Pizza RollUPs, Green Beans
Crock Pot Potato Soup (I found on Pinterest)
Chicken Dumpling Casserole
Pizza

Linked up to Menu Plan Monday

Triple Salted Caramel Cupcakes

2012-02-03T21:19:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Groundhog's Day. What a strange holiday. It's also my husband's birthday, and according to my facebook page, I have three other friend's who share his birthday. Besides considering what special dessert to make for J's birthday, I was thinking of the movie Groundhog's Day. I guess the point or lesson of the movie could be to be better than you were the day before. Unfortunately, we can't go back and redo the things that stink in our days (but that is for another type of blog isn't it?). That made me think of last year's birthday trifle that E and I made for his birthday. It sure would be hard to beat that! Then I found this recipe. Brown sugar cupcakes with salted caramel filling, caramel buttercream frosting, and caramel sauce drizzle. Are you kidding me? My obsession with salted caramel started around Christmas when my mom gave me a salted caramel chocolate from Crate and Barrel. I just can't get enough.

I wasn't even going to attempt that fancy caramel flourish that Sprinkle Bakes did. The caramel drizzle would have to suffice...as if caramel drizzle isn't good enough anyhow. Besides some caramel filling fiasco, that was completely my fault (I tried to do things a different way and should have just followed directions), these were pretty easy to make. They took some time, but they are so worth it! We ended up eating dinner and having these at a friend's house, and we didn't even bring any home. Everyone loved them!

The main change I made from the original recipe was to use only salted butter. I just don't buy unsalted because I don't like the flavor as much. I couldn't believe how much butter I used...but that is why they were so good, right? But it's not like I ate all 16 cupcakes. I shared them with friends!

Cupcakes:

1-1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 stick butter, room temp

1 cup plus 2 Tbl brown sugar

2 eggs, room temp

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbl buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325*. Line muffin tins with papers. Combine flour, baking powder, and sea salt.
In a separate bowl, cream butter and brown sugar (Med-high) until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two batches of the buttermilk.
Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling about halfway full. Bake for 25 minutes. When done, transfer to wire rack and cool for 10 minutes. Turn out cupcakes and let cool completely.

Salted Caramel Filling:

1/2 cup sugar

3 Tbl butter, cubed

1/4 cup plus 1 Tbl heavy cream, room temp

Melt sugar in saucepan (Med-high). Whisk sugar as it melts and cook until it becomes deep amber colored. Add butter and stir until melted. Pour in heavy cream and whisk until you get a smooth sauce. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
Cut a small round piece out of the top of each cooled cupcake and pour in 1tsp of caramel. Don't be tempted to use a cupcake filler/decorator bag . I had caramel everywhere!
Replace the cake piece and set cupcakes aside. Save the rest of the caramel filling for drizzle on finished cupcakes

Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting:

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tbl water

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 sticks butter

1/2 tsp sea salt

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

In saucepan, stir sugar and water. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Cook without stirring until mixture turns deep amber colored. Remove from heat and slowly add in cream and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Let caramel cook for 20 minutes until barely warm but still pourable. It should be pretty thick.
In a mixer, beat butter and salt until fluffy.Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar.
Scrape down sides of bowl, and add caramel. Beat on medium high until light and airy and completely mixed. If your icing is runny, refrigerate 15-20 minutes to thicken it up.
Top caramel filled cupcakes with frosting
Use leftover caramel filling to drizzle over frosting.

linked up to

Sweet Tooth Friday

and

Sweets for Saturday

Chicken Cordon Bleu Braid

2012-01-31T13:55:00.000-05:00

Chicken Cordon Bleu is one of those things I see at restaurants, but I have never actually tried. I don't know if it's because I didn't really know what it was, or if I was afraid I wouldn't like it. When I saw this recipe in a Pillsbury Halloween periodical (you know the ones they suck you into buying near the cash registers?), I thought I might give it a try. Now I have to warn you, I learned from looking up other recipes for the "real" chicken cordon bleu, this is a very simplified version...and I didn't have to mess with raw meat, which in my book makes it a winner. We loved it! I was pleasantly surprised at how well the flavors blended together, and now I feel like I have been missing out all these years.
Miss E loved that she got to help make it. She's two, so that should tell you how easy this is to make. She helped use the baby roller, spread the cream cheese and layer on the toppings. The original recipe called for a jar of roasted red peppers, but we left those off. It just didn't seem right to put it inside the braid.

1 can refrigerated pizza crust
garden vegetable cream cheese spread
4 oz deli ham (We used black forest)
6 oz deli chicken
4 slices provolone cheese
1 egg
Parmesan cheese

Heat the oven to 400* and spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Unroll dough onto cookie sheet, stretch the dough into an 11x14 rectangle.
Spread the cream cheese in a wide strip down the center of the dough.
Alternate ham and chicken on top of the cream cheese. Top with cheese.
Using a pizza cutter or knife, make slits at an angle about one inch apart down the sides of the dough. To form braid, alternately cross strips over filling, folding up the bottom and the top before crossing the end strips over (to keep filling from spilling out)
In a small bowl, beat egg and brush over dough. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.
Bake 15-20 minutes or until deep golden brown.
Cut into slices to serve.

Menu Plan Jan 29-Feb 4

2012-01-30T10:39:00.001-05:00

Are you ready for some....food and commercials? I bet you thought I would say football, didn't you? I may be in Indianapolis, but it's not because the Superbowl is here. I'm trying to stay away from the 150,000 extra people that have invaded my city. While all the excitement seems to be fun for some, I prefer the warmth of my home over brushing up against a bunch of people I don't know and walking through shoulder to shoulder crowds trying to see over people who are at least 4 inches taller than me. I plan on a nice evening at home or maybe with friends. Either way, there is sure to be food and a good time.
In honor of the big game and all the coinciding parties, I'm going to post some ideas for food and snacks to make your bash a huge success. It seems like most parties have chili and appetizers, so I have some of those as well as some other ideas. I only included one cookie, my favorite, but any cookie would be great for a party since most recipes make a lot and are easy to pick up during breaks. (The numbers in the collage correspond with the link to the recipe below)

1- Meatballs-a classic party food. Stick them in the crock pot to keep them warm
2- Pizza Roll Ups-not so classic, but slice into small rolls and it's the perfect snack
3- Pulled Pork- yum!
4- Spicy Chicken Stromboli-These are great because they are sliced into smaller pieces
5- Taco Stuffed Shells-These seem almost appetizer like, but could be a main dish too
6- Taco Soup-if you don't want chili, this would be a great alternative
7- Tailgate Chili--an Indiana classic
8- Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers-What's a party without these?
9- Party Pizzas--These are expected at our house every New Year's
10-Pepperoni Pizza Roll ups (from Bo's Bowl)--I've made these twice since he posted them last week!
11-Texas Caviar--Dip and Chips: you can't go wrong
12-Punk Love's Baked Beans-A summer classic is great for the Superbowl too!
13-Minnie's Cookies--My very favorite cookie
14-Fruit Salad--Something a little lighter...the "sauce" is amazing

Menu Plan
snacks:
birthday cupcakes for J

Dinners:
Chicken Cordon Bleu braid
E's friend: Birthday Party
Quinoa and black beans
J's birthday (out)
pizza
Chicken and Dumpling Casserole
Pizza Roll Ups

linked up to Menu Plan Monday

Hashbrowns and Apples

2012-01-26T18:57:00.000-05:00

This reminds me of the movie, "Cinderella Man." Braddack's stomach is growling and his manager brings him a bowl of hash right before he fights. After he wins he says, " I did this on hash, Joe. Imagine what I could do on steak." Hash is a dish of chopped meat with potatoes or a finely chopped mixture. That pretty much sums up what is in this meal.
I know this sounds like a weird combination, but apples and hashbrowns are really good together. I think it's because of the sweet and savory mixture. Add in some ham and eggs and it's really the perfect meal. Well, it's perfect for me because I could eat breakfast any time of day.
The pictured meal is with my first ever attempt at a fried egg. It's not pretty. The last time I made this I made up a batch of scrambled eggs and put those on top. Either way, it tasted good. Make your eggs the way you like them.
Adapted from David Zinczenko

Butter or oil for pan
package of hashbrowns (or diced potatoes)
chopped ham
large apple, chopped
pepper
paprika
Egg: fried, scrambled, whatever you like

Melt butter or heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium heat.
Dump in potatoes and brown. Sprinkle with pepper and paprika.
Add in ham and chopped apple. Stir to mix. Cook til heated through.
To serve, spoon onto plate and top with egg.

Cheesy Garlic Bread

2012-01-25T13:12:00.001-05:00

I titled my blog "Penny Pinching Provisions" because I wanted to focus on making good food on a budget. I have succeeded with that for the most part, although I feel like my blog is a little more focused on the food than the budget. I'm ok with that...and if I could think of a better name for the blog, I might even change it.
For today, I really do have a "penny pinching" tip for you. I can't stand to throw things out, and a lot of times if I know I won't use all of something; I use a replacement that I will use. A couple of weeks ago, I bought hamburger buns for our sloppy joes. I usually just use toasted bread, but we were having company over...then we all got sick and ended up eating them on our own. So I had leftover buns which turned into this delicious, cheesy garlic bread. And, if you are wondering about the chili in the picture...it's basically this chili recipe with some leftover spaghetti (marinara sauce and all) mixed in. This was truly a penny-pinching meal that turned into something delicious!

bread (french bread if making it for other people)
butter
garlic salt
cheese
optional toppings: basil, Italian seasoning, oregano, paprika, chili powder, red pepper...

Spread butter on each piece of bread.
Sprinkle with garlic salt.
Top with your favorite cheese. Provolone or mozzarella is good.
Broil until toasty. Watch it, broiling is very fast!

Menu Plan Jan 22-28

2012-01-23T13:02:00.000-05:00

I've been losing things like crazy lately. It's driving me crazy! I lost my menu plan after I already went to the store. You would think I would remember my plans, but I don't. I was using some things from the freezer and making some new things. I've been trying to recreate it all morning. I don't know if it's the same, but I have a plan now. Hopefully your starting your week off better than mine.

Breakfasts:
cereal
fruit and yogurt
pancakes
breakfast sandwich

Snacks:
yogurt
cheese sticks and fruit

Dinners/leftovers for Lunch:
baked chicken, broccoli, oatmeal rolls
Red beans and rice
Grilled Cheese, chips, apple slices
Meatloaf, mashed potatoes (with cauliflower), veggies
BBQ chicken, veggies, oatmeal rolls
southwest lasagna
Pigs in blanket or Breakfast scramble

linked up to Menu Plan Monday

Brownie Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

2012-01-19T19:07:00.002-05:00

Last weekend I made cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting. For some reason, we had way too much frosting. You can't let that stuff just go to waste...so I made cupcakes...brownie cupcakes. It was just that kind of day. I mentioned to J, when we were eating our cinnamon rolls, that I would probably use that frosting (recipe) for my daughter's birthday party, so I thought it would be a great time to see if it piped on well. It did great. It also complimented the brownie cupcakes well too. They tasted a little like ding dongs...but much healthier than ding dongs. I think every chocolate cake with white icing tastes a little like that though. The only change I would make the next time is to fill the cupcakes with something (like more frosting or strawberry jam or peanut butter or nutella or...)because cupcakes are always better with a filling. I just wasn't thinking straight since I was talking on the phone to a high school friend while I was frosting my cupcakes.

4 Tbl butter, softened
1/2 cup prunes
1 cup pureed sweet potatoes
1 c whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350*. Line muffin tin with cups.
Put prunes in water and boil for about 15 minutes or until soft.
Combine flour and dry ingredients in a large bowl.
When prunes are ready, drain and add 4 oz of the chocolate. Stir until chocolate begins to melt. Transfer to food processor and puree. Add the butter, sweet potatoes, eggs, and vanilla. Process until smooth and creamy.
Add prune mix to the flour and just combine.
Pour into muffin cups and bake until set...about 20 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 oz cream cheese
1 stick (4oz) butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp lemon juice
2-3 c powdered sugar

Add cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and lemon juice to mixing bowl. Blend until smooth and combined. Add powdered sugar 1/2 c at a time, blending in between until well mixed and desired consistency. I used a little more than 2 cups.
Frost cupcakes. Store in refrigerator.

Linked up to
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for Saturday

Indiana Chili

2012-01-19T12:56:00.001-05:00

When my husbands office had a chili cook-off to ring in winter, I went to work to find the perfect recipe. I searched and searched, but I couldn't find any that included my husbands requested "secret" ingredients. He really wanted to use beer and pepperoncini's. I think this stems from the amazing pot roast using those ingredients. I was going to have to change some things around.
I based the recipe loosely on this one that is rumored to be the official Purdue tailgate party chili recipe. I'm not sure if I told J that, because he would loose his mind. He has been a die-hard Indiana fan since birth. We'll say that I made it better. Anyhow, he made it himself. He mostly followed the recipe, then took the crock pot to work the next day and won three of the four awards at the cook-off including best chili!
Since the Superbowl is coming up...and it's in Indiana, give this chili a try. Everyone will love it! But be warned...it's hot! I almost titled it "ring of fire" chili, but thought the Superbowl in Indiana warranted a more fitting name.

1 lb ground beef
1 lb sausage
1 can chili beans, drained
1 can spicy chili beans (don't drain)
1 can (28oz) dice tomatoes with juice
1 can tomato paste (2 if you want it a little thicker)
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 jar pepperoncini
4 slices bacon, cooked
2 cubes beef bouillon
1 bottle beer
3 Tbl chili powder
1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbl minced garlic
1 Tbl oregano
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp basil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp sugar
corn chips
shredded cheddar

Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the beef and sausage into the hot pan and cook. Drain off grease.
Pour in beans, tomatoes, and tomato paste. Add in everything else except the corn chips and cheddar.
Cover and simmer over low for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer it simmers, the better it will taste.
Remove from heat. For best taste, serve the next day...we use the crock pot to heat it back up (4 hours on low should do it)
Ladle into bowls, and top with corn chips and cheddar.

Menu Plan Jan 15-21

2012-01-16T20:43:00.000-05:00

It actually felt like winter here in Indiana last week. Today it rained, they are calling for some snow Thursday, and it should be 60* by the end of the weekend. This weather is so strange. It was hard to plan meals for this week because of the weather. I want chili on cold days and burgers on warm days...well, I doubt if we actually fire up the grill, but it's tempting! Here is the plan...

Breakfasts:
waffles
banana berry oatmeal
cereal
fruit, yogurt, and toast
breakfast sandwiches

Snacks:
Smoothies
Granola bars
kidmix: teddy grahams, mini marshmallows, raisins
cheese stick, olives

Dinner:
Baked Chicken Parmesan
Chili
Chicken Fajitas
Red beans and rice
lasagna
ham, veggies, rolls
Meatloaf, veggies

Linked up to Menu Plan Monday

Chicken Caesar with Bacon Herb Parmesan Crumbles

2012-01-12T14:26:00.001-05:00

It's January, and that means it's time to eat salads right? Well, I'm not exactly following that logic. I did buy lettuce for tacos earlier this week, and I didn't want to throw out the rest. Logically, we had to have salad for dinner the next night. I would say, if you are going to have salad, make your own dressing too! It's so much better than bottled dressings...and these Parmesan crumbles really add a lot of flavor to an otherwise boring dish.

From

Rachael Ray

Chicken (grilled, I used raw breaded chicken) cut into pieces and cooked
1/2 cup olive oil
2 slices bacon, finely chopped
1-1/2 cups Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 Tbl fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, chopped
juice of one lemon
salt
fresh ground pepper
2 Tbl Dijon mustard
1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce

Heat a small skillet with 1 Tbl of olive oil. Add chopped bacon and cook until really crispy. Remove from pan and allow to drain and cool.
In small bowl, combine 1 cup grated cheese with parsley and bacon. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, and pour cheese mixture onto the sheet. Place in oven (400*) for 3-4 minutes, turning the pan about halfway through. Once cheese has melted and is golden, remove and cool completely.
Prepare dressing: Combine the garlic, mustard, Worcestershire, lemon juice and ground pepper. Whisk in about 1/3 cup olive oil. Add 1/2 cup Parmigiano and stir to combine. Pour over salad.
To serve: crack the baked cheese into crumbles and put on top of salad along with the chicken.

Taco Stuffed Shells

2012-01-11T18:50:00.000-05:00

Picture from blogchef.net

This is my favorite recipe that I have found, so far, on Pinterest. Normally, I wouldn't think of using taco stuff with pasta, but this was so good. I may never eat regular taco meat again. The addition of cream cheese to the filling really made this something special. Speaking of filling, I waited a while before making this because the thought of filling little shells with crumbly meat seemed like it might be more work than I wanted to put in. It's totally worth it! If you are still turned off by the idea, I was thinking you could make another type of pasta, like macaroni or rotini, and just mix it all together before baking....so it would be more like a casserole I guess. It just sounds so 1950s to say "casserole" doesn't it?
By the way, I forgot to take a picture of this...that is why I used the image from blogchef. There picture is much better than mine would have been anyhow. Also, I used ground turkey. I almost always used lean ground turkey instead of beef (except for burgers!).

1lb ground beef (or turkey or whatever)
1 package taco seasoning
1 4 once package cream cheese
12 large pasta shells
1 cup salsa
1 cup taco sauce
1 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)
1 cup Monterey jack cheese (shredded)
1 ½ cups tortilla chips (crushed)
3 green onions (chopped)
1 cup sour cream

In a fry pan cook ground beef and add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions. Add cream cheese cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and allow to fully cool. While burger is cooking cook the pasta shells, drain and toss well with butter.
Pour salsa in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place the stuffed shells in the baking dish and cover the tops of the shells with taco sauce.
Cover and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, uncover, and sprinkle crushed chips and shredded cheddar and Monterey jack cheeses on top. Cook for about 15 more minutes. Serve with sour cream, additional salsa, black olives or whatever you think goes good with tacos!

Menu Jan 8-14

2012-01-09T09:45:00.000-05:00

What a way to ring in the new year...being sick. I think someone brought the plague to our house for New Years Eve, because almost all of our friends were sick last week too! I had really high hopes for getting back into posting, but I couldn't do anything.
So, we'll start over. Welcome to 2012. This is my menu plan for this week.

Breakfasts:
turkey sausage,egg, and cheese sandwiches
blueberry crumble toast
cinnamon rolls
yogurt with fruit, toast
cereal
granola bars

Snacks
Smoothies
cheese sticks, olives or raisins
crackers, olives or raisins

Dinners
Tacos and corn
Chicken Caesar Salad with homemade dressing
Red beans and Rice
Sloppy Joe sandwiches, green beans, mac n' cheese
Grilled chicken Parm, broccoli
homemade pizza

Linked up to

Menu Plan Monday

My Favorite's of 2011

2011-12-31T08:54:00.000-05:00

A couple of days ago I posted the Top 10 of '12. This list was made up of the most viewed recipes by you. There are lots of other recipes that I made this year that didn't make that list, but I thought they were amazing. So, now I'm going to share my favorite breakfasts, appetizers, dinners, breads, and desserts of the year.

Breakfast:
Braided Sausage Bread
This savory breakfast is perfect for breakfast or dinner. You can make the meat filling the night before and stuff and cook to save some time in the morning.

Strawbery Crepes
These almost seemed like they should be served at a bed and breakfast!

Blueberry Cheesecake Pancakes
These were my mom's idea, and they were amazing!

Appetizers/Snacks:
Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers
I love these and they aren't as hard as you might think!

Dinners:
Burgers
This recipe comes close to our favorite burger joint in town!

Bruschetta Pasta
I craved this for days after we had it! I think I ended up making it three times in two weeks.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza with Spinach, Bacon, and Sun-dried Tomato
This is so flavorful and a nice change from traditional pizza toppings

Creole Black Beans and Rice
This is one of my favorite meatfree dishes. Served with a side of garlic bread, it's very filling!

Mac N Cheese
Mac N Cheese is a staple at our house, and this is our favorite recipe.

Breads:
Blueberry Pull Apart Bread
This tasted like warm gooey blueberry cinnamon rolls.

Strawberry White Chocolate Chip Muffins
These are my very favorite muffins(or bread). Ever.

Nutella Babka
Nutella with anything can't be bad...

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins
I guess I should have made a separate section for muffins and bread! These take the classic combination to a whole new level and they are healthier than you would think.

Desserts:
Paper Bag Apple Pie
This is my mom's award winning recipe....my favorite apple pie!

Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes
You would never believe there is a secret ingredient in these!

Blueberry Cream Cheese Strudel
This is a dessert (or breakfast?) that is not super sweet and loaded with fresh blueberries.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Trifle
I thought this was going to be on the top 10 of '11 post, but it just got kicked off last week!

Happy New Year!

Top 10 of '11

2011-12-28T18:44:00.000-05:00

New Year's is just around the corner, so I thought I'd take a moment to review the top recipes of the year.

10. Cinnamon Buns with a Secret
These cinnamon rolls are sure to please and have a secret ingredient that makes them a little more guilt free!

9. Lettuce Wraps

A mock recipe from PF Changs. It's pretty close; Try it and see!

8. Pretzel Rolls & Beer Bread

These pretzel rolls might be my favorite bread. Ever.

7. Vanilla Buttermilk Cake with Buttercream

This was for my sister's birthday, and she still talks about this cake! Yes, it really was that good.

6. Baked Blueberry French Toast

A great recipe for guests!

5. Homemade Poptarts

I actually prefer these to the overly sweet store bought brand.

4. Sour Cream Coffee Cake Muffins

Even though I didn't actually use sour cream, these were pretty good!

3. Old Fashioned Bread Pudding w/ Apples and Cinnamon Sauce

A new take on an old favorite...

2. Cinnamon Chip Pancakes

We love pancakes!

1. Homemade Tagalongs

These were so good. They really did taste like the Girl Scouts version!

These recipes were selected based on the top viewed posts of the year. Keep your eye out for another post on my personal favorites that didn't make this list!

Christmas Cookies

2011-12-23T09:02:00.000-05:00

My mom used to make these cookies for my high school swim team when we would go to sectionals or other big meet. They were always a favorite because they taste very similar to smiley face cookies from a certain bakery in town (This is for you, Kelli!). She would make them with a star cookie cutter since the star was our mascot. Since I'm all grown up now, if I want these cookies I have to make them myself. It's a once a year deal, folks. I just don't like to roll cookies, which is why J does that part. That is part of the deal, I'll make the cookies if he rolls them out.
These are pretty much my favorite cookies. Ever.

3/4 cup shortening mixed with butter (about half and half)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
2-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Icing:
powdered sugar
vanilla
water
food coloring

Mix shortening/butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until creamy.
Sift and stir in flour, baking powder, and salt.
Chill dough for at least an hour.
Roll to about 1/4 inch thick.
Cut as desired.
Bake 7-10 minutes @ 350* til the edges barely turn.
Cool completely
For the icing: Put about 1/4 bag of powdered sugar in a bowl. Add 1/2 tsp vanilla, then a small amount of water til it's the right consistency. If you want several colors, separate icing into individual bowls now. Add food coloring one drop at a time.

Egg Nog Waffles

2011-12-23T08:35:00.001-05:00

Sorry it's been so long! We have finished all our holiday travel, and we are ready to hibernate until Spring! Hopefully, I'll be more regular on posting from now on. I've been trying to keep up on all your posts, but I know I have missed so many good recipes!
Because Christmas is coming up, we always have egg nog in the house. It's just not Christmas without it! For this mornings waffles, I thought I'd see what egg nog did to waffle batter. Besides adding a delicious, Christmasy (I'm sure that is a word) taste, it made the waffles super fluffy.

Waffles:
1-3/4 c flour (take out 3-1/2Tbl if using whole wheat)
1 Tbl baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg yolks
2 c egg nog
1/2 c canola oil (I use 3 Tbl flax seed + 7 Tbl oil)
2 egg whites

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
In another bowl, beat egg yolk slightly. Add in egg nog and oil.
Add egg yolks mixture to flour mixture all at once.
Stir until just combined, but still slightly lumpy.
Beat/Whisk egg whites till stiff peaks form. I do this in the Kitchen-Aid while I'm combining all the other stuff.
Gently fold beaten egg whites into batter, leaving a few fluffs of egg white. Do not over mix.
Pour onto waffle iron according to your manufacturers directions. For me, it's 1/2 cup and this recipe makes 9 waffles.

Linked up to

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Menu Plan November 20-24

2011-11-20T18:09:00.001-05:00

I guess it's been a while since I've made a menu plan. I'm not really sure how I've been forgetting as I read so many of your blogs that post a plan each week. It has been crazy around here. October we were out of town every weekend and November didn't bring the relaxation we thought it would have. We have had things to do in November too. I fear it will only get worse until the New Year when we will never go anywhere because I was made to live somewhere warm. Not Indiana! I dread even thinking of it.
Of course our plan will be short, since it's Thanksgiving. Only last week, I realized that it was this week. I thought I still had two weeks to prepare my belly. We are eating light for the few days heading up to Turkey Day, especially after eating at Fogo De Meat Coma this weekend! If you've never been, and you have a chance you should go. I warn you in advance, "Salad Bar" in Brazil apparently means a couple vegetables, cheese, and a whole lot of cured meats! That's not even the half of the meat you will consume. In light of that, a couple of vegatarian options for this week.
Also, there will be no Meatfree Monday until the New Year! I'm so sorry if you look forward to that each week. With all the upcoming travel, there is no way I can commit to regular posting.

Dinners:
Red Beans and Rice
Wonton Soup
Oatmeal and Mixed Fruit
omelet and mixed fruit

linked up to Menu Plan Monday

Apple Butterscotch Babka

2011-11-17T20:21:00.002-05:00

I love babka. It takes a long time, but it's totally worth it. This particular babka was melt in your mouth good. Apples and butterscotch. The yeasty-ness of a bread, the sweetness of a coffeecake, to struesal of an apple muffin, and the richness of butterscotch all in one. I don't know how else to describe it. It's just good.
Other good babka's include: Easter Babka, Nutella Babka, Caramel Apple Babka, Chocolate Cinnamon Babka, and Apple Cinnamon Babka

Dough
4 oz warm milk
1-1/2 tsp yeast
1/4 c sugar
1 egg, plus 1 yolk
2-1/4 c flour (I part whole wheat)
1/4 tsp salt
5 Tbl butter, cut into pieces, room temp
Filling
2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 cup butterscotch chips
Streusal Topping
1/4 c butter
1/2 c flour
1/2 c brown sugar

Dissolve yeast in warm milk. Let stand until creamy.
Whisk eggs, sugar, and yeast mixture until combined.
In bowl of stand mixer, combine flour and salt. Add egg mixture and beat until flour is incorporated.
Add butter and knead 10 minutes until a smooth dough forms.
Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour

Butter a 9x5 loaf pan. Add parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper.
Punch down the dough and let rest 5 minutes.
Roll dough into a 16inch square. Brush edges of the dough with egg wash.
Spread apples and butterscotch chips over dough leaving about a half inch around edges.
Roll dough up, pinching sides to seal as you go.
Twist the rolled dough 5-6 times to make it longer, then fold into a horseshoe shape.
Cross the ends to form a figure eight and twist a couple more times. Fit the twisted dough into the prepared pan.
Let rise 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350*
To make streusel, combine butter, flour, and brown sugar. Using fork (or pastry cutter), cut into butter until mixture is about the texture of coarse bread crumbs.
Sprinkle on top of loaf.
Bake 50 minutes, rotating pan after 25 minutes.
Turn temperature down to 325* and bake 20-30 more minutes, until golden and knife comes out clean.
Don't underbake. Cool on wire rack.

linked up to

Sweet Treats Thursday

Sweet Tooth Friday

Sweets for Saturday

Homemade Poptarts

2011-11-14T08:00:00.001-05:00

I've seen a lot of homemade poptarts recipes coming up all over pinterest and the recipe blogs, so when I was assigned Emily Jane's blog, Six Kilos of Pumpkin, for this month's Secret Recipe Club I knew this was the recipe to try.
I followed the recipe, pretty much as stated except for the fillings. I did make some with strawberry fruit spread, some with a generous smear of Nutella, and some with a sweetened cream cheese mixture. All were delicious. I don't think I could pick a favorite if I had to. Just a warning, the jam spilled out the sides of my poptarts, but the other fillings did not. Protect your oven and pans with foil or something if you want to try jam!
As for the process, the crust was relatively easy to make. It's pretty time consuming though. If you were in a hurry, you could use the rolled crust from the store. That never seems to taste as good as homemade though.

2-1/2 cups flour
1 Tbl sugar
1 tsp salt
2 sticks butter, very cold
1 cup water and some ice cubes
fillings: jam, Nutella, sweet cream cheese (1/2 cup cream cheese, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1Tbl+1tsp agave)

Put ice cubes in the 1 cup of water. The water needs to be very cold to make the crust.
Combine flour, sugar, and salt in large bowl.
Cut butter into cubes and add them to the flour mixture. Use a pastry cutter to combine until it looks like peas. I don't have a pastry cutter, so I used my kitchen-aid mixer for a few seconds.
Add about half of the water (not the ice cubes!).when you mix this, the dough should stick together in a ball pretty well. I think I used about 3/4 of the cup of water to make this happen.
Divide the dough in half. Place each half in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350*
Break off a piece of dough, about 1/3 cup size and roll it into a rectangle.
Smear filling on one side of the rectangle, fold in half, press edges down with fork to seal, and use a pizza cutter to make them look straight (if you care about that kind of thing). You will need to cut an air vent in the top of your poptart, so I cut an 'N' for nutella, or 'C' for cheese, etc.
Place on a cookie sheet in the refrigerator until your pan is filled up. (Keeping the dough cold is what makes it so flaky!)
Just before baking, smear with an egg wash (beat up egg white) to help the crust turn golden.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until the edges are starting to brown.

Meatfree Monday:Lentil Soup

2011-11-13T13:53:00.000-05:00

I've never had lentil soup until now. I didn't know what to expect when I started looking up recipes. I didn't find one that I thought I would like every ingredient, so I combined a few (they are all so similar anyhow) and made my own. The result was a warm you up on a cold rainy day kind of soup, which was just what we needed since it was a cold rainy day.
I thought it tasted a lot like vegetable soup. I served this up with some warm crusty bread, and it was very filling!

1 Tbl olive oil
1 large carrot, chopped
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups vegetable broth (I will use chicken or beef next time!)
1 cup dried lentils
1 can green chiles, drained
2 Tbl red wine vinegar

Heat the oil in soup pot (medium heat). Toss in the carrot, onion, and garlic. Cook for about 3-5 minutes.
Add the broth, lentils, and chiles. Season to taste with salt and pepper
Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Stir in the vinegar and simmer 2 more minutes.

Apple Baklava with Honeyed Apple Syrup

2011-11-10T20:55:00.002-05:00

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we got a ton of apples at the orchard. Well, not a ton. But 24 pounds is close to a ton, right? This was the last big thing I made with apples.
I had never made baklava before. In fact, I've only had it one other time in my life. The only thing I was worried about was using Phyllo dough. Me and Phyllo have not been friends in the past. We seemed to have reconciled our differences after this experience though. You really have to be careful to keep the phyllo covered so it doesn't dry out. And generously soak it with butter as you use it.
I was so impressed that this came out as well as it did. It makes a ton, so my husband go to share with his co-workers. It was gone by lunchtime, which is always a good sign.

1/2 cup walnuts (I used pecans!)
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2-1/2 lbs apples, pared and chopped
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 of 16-oz pkg phyllo, thawed
1 Tbl water
1/2 cup apple juice/cider
1/2 cup sugar
2-3 Tbl honey

Place nuts and bread crumbs in food processor. Set aside in small bowl.
Combine apples, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in large bowl.
Brush bottom of 13x9x2 pan with melted butter.
Place a phyllo leaf in the pan and brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with about a tablespoon of the nut mixture. Repeat 6-7 times or until half the phyllo is used.
Spread apple mixture into pan.
Top with remaining phyllo, brushing with butter and sprinkling nut mixture between each layer. Brush the top leaf with remaining butter.
Preheat oven to 400*
With a very sharp knife, make cuts through the top 3-4 layers to mark pastry. Make one cut lengthwise and five across. Sprinkle with water.
Place in preheated oven. Then immediately turn heat down to 350* and bake 50 minutes or until pastry is golden and apples are tender.
Meanwhile, make honeyed apple syrup: Combine 1/2 cup apple juice and 1/2 cup sugar in small saucepan. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add 2-3 Tbl honey. Cool.
Remove pan and cut all the way through markings.
Pour cooled Honeyed apple syrup over baklava. Cool in pan on wire rack.

check out some of the other recipes I made with all those apples!

apple spice cake with maple buttercream

bread pudding with apples and cinnamon sauce

apple cinnamon muffins

paper bag apple pie

cream cheese and apple crescents

cinnamon apple breakfast pockets

black cherry baked apples

open faced apple turkey and cheese

cinnamon maple quinoa with apple

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and
Sweets for Saturday

Meatfree Monday: Crock Pot Refried Beans

2011-11-07T00:00:00.002-05:00

I love refried beans from a restaurant. I don't love canned refried beans. It's like they aren't even the same food. If the canned version is even food...it makes that weird canned dog food sound when you dump it out. So naturally, when I came across this recipe for homemade refried beans, I had to try it. It had to be better than the canned kind, right? Yes. just agree.
It is better! I think it's about as close to restaurant style beans as you can get. I was impressed with how easy these were to make and how delicious they were when they were done. I don't think I'll be able to buy canned refried beans again.

3 cups pinto beans
water
5 chicken bouillon cubes (use vegetable for vegetarian!)
1 Tbl garlic salt
1/2 onion, big slices

Cook on high until beans are soft(about 3 hours?), stirring occasionally. Add more water as needed.
Strain beans and save juice.
Add 1 cube of butter and a little juice.
Blend to mash beans. Add juice to obtain desired consistancy. Leave the beans runny because they will set up more than you think!

linked up to Sunday Funday

Apple Spice Cake w/ Maple Buttercream

2011-11-03T19:44:00.001-04:00

I volunteer to bake things for the children at church, so that I don't have to work in the ________. You fill in the blank. There. I admitted it. I know I used to teach third grade. Wouldn't I be so good at _______. Well, maybe. But, I'd rather bake things. That is where I am in my life right now.
This baked thing was for the cake walk at the Fall Festival last week. I basically took a recipe for carrot cake, and used apples instead. Since refrigeration was not an option, I opted for maple buttercream in place of the normal cream cheese icing. It was fabulous, if I do say so myself. (I made a couple cupcakes, so I would know how it tasted.)

Cake:
8 Tbl butter, softened
3 lbs apples/peel, core, chop
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
4 Tbl oil
4 eggs
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 cup flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
Icing:
1 cup shortening (or butter)
1/2 tsp maple flavoring
1/2 tsp butter flavoring
7-8 tsp water
4 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbl meringue powder
pinch of salt

Heat oven to 350* Grease 2 8-inch round pans with butter. Place wax paper in the bottom and grease the wax paper too.
Put the apples in a food processor.
Put 4 Tbl butter in skillet over Medium. When melted, add apples and brown sugar. Cook until soft and mostly dry. Let cool for a few minutes, then transfer to blender and puree.
Add 4 Tbl butter, sugar, and oil and pulse til combined. Add eggs one at a time.
Combine flours and other dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the flour mixture to the apples. Add the milk. Process until it just evens out.
Pour into pans and bake til middle is set, about 45 minutes.
Cool slightly and take out of pan to cool completely.

For the icing: Cream shortening, flavoring and water. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium until all is combined. Blend until creamy. (makes about 2-1/2 cups). To make thin consistency (for icing cake and putting between layers)Add 5 tsp water and gel coloring.
For decorations: make another batch of icing in medium consistency. Add all ingredients until smooth, then add in 2-1/2 tsp water and gel color. Use this to pipe on decorations

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Sweets for Saturday

Beef-Stuffed French Bread

2011-11-01T13:12:00.000-04:00

I love stroganoff. I love bread. This recipe is like stroganoff stuffed in bread. It's perfect.
I found this recipe in one of those books you pick up by the cashier at the grocery: Taste of Home's Ground Beef Recipe Cards. I love that cookbook because most of the recipes are easy to make and reasonable budget-wise. I love Taste of Home because they always have recipes that real, normal people can make. Things that don't have crazy ingredients that I've never heard of or won't be able to find at the store. Anyway, let's get on to the recipe. It's so good.

1 lb ground beef (or turkey or chicken or...)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 large baked potato, peeled & cubed
1 can cream of mushroom (or chicken) soup
1 can mushrooms, drained
1 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp pepper
Dash hot pepper sauce
1 loaf French bread (or Italian)
1 cup shredded cheese

In a large skillet, cook the beef and onion. Drain. Add the potato, soup, mushrooms, parsley, garlic powder, pepper, and hot pepper sauce. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Cut the loaf of bread in half lengthwise. Hollow out the bottom of the loaf, leaving a 3/4 inch shell. Set aside. Place the removed bread in a blender, cover and process until crumbled. Add 1 cup of the crumbs to the beef mixture. Stir in cheese.
Spoon beef mixture into the bread shell. Replace bread top. Wrap in heavy duty foil.
Bake at 350* for 20 minutes. Let stand about 5 minutes before slicing.

Baked Zucchini Fries

2011-11-01T12:52:00.000-04:00

I know, another zucchini recipe. It's almost winter. The farmer's market still is still selling it, so I say you can still eat it. I think the first time I like zucchini was when I ate it fried. While fried foods usually always taste good, I don't recommend eating them regularly...even it if is a fried vegetable!
These zucchini fries give you a little fried feel, without the guilt. Basically pieces of zucchini dipped in butter, breadcrumbs, and parmesan cheese are baked until crunchy and golden. These "fries" are delicious and the perfect side to any meat.

3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp seasoned salt
1 (about 9 inch) zucchini
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425* and line baking sheet with parchment paper or greased foil
Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Slice into 1/2in x 4 in fries
Combine bread crumbs, cheese, and seasoned salt in a zipper bag.
Dip the zucchini fries into the melted butter, then toss into the zipper bag.
Place the fries onto your prepared baking sheet.
Bake until golden and tender, about 15 minutes

Meatfree Monday: Pizza Dough

2011-10-31T08:23:00.000-04:00

What an month! There were five weekends in October, and we were out of town all of those but the wedding weekend. We are so tired and ready for some good food again. My body always feels so gross when I eat out all the time.
For this meatfree post, I'm sharing a new pizza crust recipe. I really, really love my beer batter pizza dough, but sometimes I can't make it to Trader Joe's to get the beer I like to use for it. I found this recipe to use those times. I wasn't expecting a lot really. The recipe is so plain, but as we were eating it, there is just something special about it. I think it's light and complex. The longer you let it rise, the more complex the flavors become. I will definitely be making it again. I also must explain, the picture has pepperoni in it. I know it's a meatfree post. But we really have made garden vegetable pizza and lots of other meatfree toppings since this first one, but for some reason I don't have a picture of those. This recipe is really for the dough, top with your choice of toppings.

from one of my new favorite cookbooks: Mark Bittman's
The Food Matters Cookbook: 500 Revolutionary Recipes for Better Living

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
2 Tbl olive oil

Combine dry ingredients. Stir in 1-1/2 cups water, The dough should be sticky and wet.
Place in a warm spot, and set 6-12 hours. the longer the better.
Heat oven to 500*. Oil a baking sheet and spread on the dough.
Drizzle with 2 Tbl olive oil and add pizza toppings.
Bake 8-12 minutes or until cheese melts and crust is golden.

Meatfree Monday

2011-10-24T08:47:00.000-04:00

This October has been crazy for us. We have been out of town or very busy every weekend, and most weeks too. I was in the wedding of one of my very good friends this weekend. It was lovely and perfectly Jenn. I was home about 2 hours the whole weekend between dropping off daughter, rehearsals, hair, girl time, wedding, and picking up daughter.
What I'm trying to say is....there is no Meatfree Monday today. I hope to be back next week! Have a great week.

Cheesy Chicken Pasta

2011-10-18T18:56:00.000-04:00

I love cheese dip. The Velveeta & Rotel dip is probably my favorite homemade dip. It's fast and easy. In five minutes, you have a snack for unexpected guests. Or a side for your tacos. Or a sauce for your pasta. I know Velveeta isn't healthy. At all. But, every once in a while it's ok to splurge.

I made this cheesy delicacy last night as a topping to our build your own bean taco or nacho bar. I knew we would have a lot left over so I had to come up with a way to use it up. This turned out even better than I had hoped. J said I could make it every week if I wanted to. I don't think I'll do that, although I wish I could eat things like that every week and not have to worry about it.

Like I said, we used what we left from our dinner last night, so if you want to snack on the dip before or after dinner it would be ok. Also I used garden delight penne to add in some veggies to this otherwise unhealthy dish, but you could use any kind you like.

1 lb Velveeta

1 can rotel

1/2 lb chicken, cubed

1/2 box penne

Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning

Boil pasta according to package directions.
Saute chicken sprinkled with Mrs. Dash.
Cube Velveeta and dump rotel on top. Microwave for 5 minutes, stirring after 3.
Drain pasta and combine with chicken. Pour cheese dip over the top. Stir to combine.

Old Fashioned Bread Pudding with Apples & Cinnamon Sauce

2011-10-17T08:00:00.066-04:00

For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned Gloria's blog: Canela Kitchen. I looked up canela and it means "cinnamon." I love cinnamon, so I knew right away that I was going to have a hard time deciding which recipe to pick. There were so many good recipes, especially dessert recipes! After I looked through the archives, and reading through most of the blog, I decided on a bread pudding. I had some old bread that I wanted to use up, and my grandpa always made bread pudding when he had old bread, so it held a bit of nostalgia for me.
I mentioned in some earlier posts that we visited the local apple orchard and ended up with 24 pounds of apples. I thought I could use a couple up by adding some chopped apples to the bread pudding, and what goes better with apples than cinnamon? Not much I think. So, I changed the vanilla sauce to a cinnamon sauce. I think maybe Gloria would like this change since she likes cinnamon enough to put it in her blog title. Another change I made was to reduce the liquids in the recipe, thus taking away the need to bake with a water bath.

3 cups bread in 1 inch pieces (or use enough to fill up your 9x13 pan)
2 chopped apples
2 cups hot milk
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbl butter
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Sauce:
1 cup sugar
2 Tbl butter
3/4 cup water
1-1/4 Tbl cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 - 1 tsp cinnamon (to taste)

Put bread and apples into 9x13 baking dish. (Use an 8x8 dish if you like a thick pudding)
Mix eggs, milk, butter, sugar, honey, vanilla, and nutmeg.
Pour egg mixture over the bread and apples.
Bake @ 350* for about 40 minutes or until golden brown.
For the sauce: Mix sugar, butter, water, and cornstarch in a heavy saucepan. Heat and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and cinnamon.
Cool before pouring over pudding.

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Meatfree Monday: Peanut Butter & Jelly with Bananas

2011-10-17T00:00:00.015-04:00

This isn't much of a recipe really. It's one of our favorite lunches when we don't have leftovers. We always have the ingredients on hand. It's just and improvement on an old favorite.
Sometimes we change it up a bit and have peanut butter/nutella/banana or peanut butter/apple/honey sandwiches.

2 slices whole wheat bread
all fruit preserves (we like strawberry or raspberry the best)
natural peanut butter
sliced banana

Spread peanut butter on one slice of bread. Spread jelly on the other. Top one side with slices of banana. Add the the other slice on top to form sandwich.

Meatfree features of the week...
a small collection of my favorite meat free recipes that I come across as I search the web each week. All the recipes that I post from various blogs will be stumbled to bring a little extra love to their posts...and if you happen to be one of my featured recipes you can grab my "I was featured on Meat Free Monday" button for your post.

40 Cloves of Garlic Spaghetti from Cinnamon Girl
MMMM....Garlic!

Honey Pumpkin Bran Muffins from Sugar Plum
These look like a great fall breakfast, don't they?

Burger or Hot Dog Buns

2011-10-16T09:32:00.000-04:00

I know this is a little late. We are still grilling here, in spite of the cooler temperatures. I just love grilled foods. For a long time, I wanted to try my hand at homemade burger and hot dog buns. I love homemade breads, and I knew this would be no different. The recipe is originally from allrecipes and had so many good reviews, so I figured this would be a good place to start. These buns were fairly easy to make (for yeast bread) and added that homemade roll taste to our otherwise boring grilled hot dogs. I used white whole wheat flour instead of of all purpose flour.
These buns freeze well too. We ended up with 16 hot dog buns, and we only needed 8 for the meal. We froze them and had them again a couple weeks later, and they tasted great.

1 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup butter
4-1/2 cups flour (take out 1/2 cup + 1 Tbl if using whole wheat)
2-1/4 tsp yeast (or 1 pkg)
2 Tbl sugar
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 egg

In a small saucepan, heat milk, water, and butter until very warm.
In a large bowl, mix 1-3/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Mix milk mixture into flour mixture, and then mix in the egg. Stir in remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, or about 8 minutes.
For burger buns:Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape into smooth balls (for burger buns) and place on a greased baking sheet. Flatten slightly. Cover and rise for 30-35 minutes.
For hot dog buns: Divide dough into 16 pieces. shape each piece into a 6x4 rectangle. Starting with the longer side, roll up tightly and pinch edges to seal. Let rise about 20-25 minutes.
Bake at 400* for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

2011-10-15T09:37:00.001-04:00

anyone know how to get those stupid white corners off?

These apple muffins with a crumbly cinnamon sugar topping will make your house smell so good. A perfect breakfast on a crisp, Fall morning. I enjoyed mine with my favorite Black Magic coffee from our local coffee shop. They are moist and cinnamony (That's a word, right? Well, it should be) and irresistible. I kept thinking that they remind me of something, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
I actually used both whole wheat and white flour this time around. If you prefer to use all whole wheat, just use 1/2 cup minus 1Tbl instead of 1/2 cup white.

2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
2 apples, finely chopped
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
4 Tbl butter, melted
4 Tbl brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Place muffin cups in pan.
Combine flours, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
Stir in apples and sugar.
Place milk, eggs, and butter in a separate bowl and mix.
Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently stir until just combined.
Divide batter evenly into muffin cups.
To make the topping, mix brown sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle over the muffins.
Bake in 400* for 20-25 minutes or until risen and golden.

Grilled Scotch Chops

2011-10-14T15:39:00.000-04:00

When I decided to make this recipe, I thought we had bourbon. That is what David Zinczenko said to use in his recipe. The day came to make it, and I found that we only had scotch but no bourbon (I feel like that should be some kind of country song). I guess the hubs was feeling a little crazy that day. So, the recipe became scotch chops instead. I think they would be great with bourbon, but they are amazing with scotch!
I wish I would have made some different sides. The mac n' cheese just didn't seem to fit with such a "fancy" meat. This is what it means to live and eat with a two year old...fancy meat for mom and dad; mac n' cheese for everyone.

1/3 cup scotch (or bourbon)
1/4 cup honey
3 Tbl soy sauce
1 Tbl brown sugar
1 Tbl olive oil
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp black pepper
pork chops (or chicken)

Mix the booze, honey, soy sauce, sugar, oil, ginger, and peppers in a large bowl. Set aside about 1/4 cup of the marinade.
Add chops to the rest of the marinade and toss to coat.
Grill.
Nuke the remaining marinade on high for about 90 seconds and spoon over the chops.

Braided Sausage Bread

2011-10-14T10:51:00.000-04:00

I love breakfast for dinner. Actually, I love breakfast for any time of day. There is just something about sausage, eggs, or bacon. That is just my kind of food, I guess. A couple of weeks ago, I decided that we should have breakfast for dinner once a week. We don't always get to have a good hot breakfast during the week, so if we have it at dinner, I can still eat the foods I love.
I loved how this turned out. It reminded me of my favorite bakery's sausage rolls, but without the time and commitment of a yeast roll. Actually, for the amount needed you need to have two packages of crescent rolls, but for some reason I only bought one. So we had one sausage braid and one phyllo wrapped roll. Both were delicious, but I just hate working with phyllo. I'm pretty sure when package in my freezer is gone, I'll never buy it again. That's for another post though.

1-lb turkey sausage
4 cups mozzarella cheese
1 tsp hot sauce
1 Tbl parsley flakes
1 egg
2 pkgs crescent rolls

Brown sausage. Mix in cheese, hot sauce, parsley, and egg. Stir and heat until cheese is melted.
Unroll both packages of crescent rolls and press together making a long rectangle. (If your baking sheet isn't long enough, make two shorter rectangles instead) On the long edges of the rectangle, make two inch slices every two inches. These slices will make the top braid.
Place sausage mixture down the middle of the rectangle.
Criss-cross your sliced edges to make a braid.
Bake according to crescent roll package directions.

Snickerdoodle Cookies

2011-10-13T22:12:00.002-04:00

When I was younger, my mom always made snickerdoodle cookies. She says they are the easiest to make with little notice, because you pretty much always have the ingredients on hand. It's true. For something that is so easy to make with what you already have, these sure do taste great.
I've made them for many different occasions. This particular batch...well double batch...was for all the kiddos at my church. The cookie bakers don't have to be the little old ladies. I don't want to be in charge of all of the kiddos (I'm retired from teaching after all), but I will bake them cookies and send them home. Your welcome.
I've also tried some variations, such as adding in toffee chips. That has been my favorite addition.

1 cup shortening(or part butter/part shortening)
1-1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2-3/4 cup flour
1 tsp soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbl brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

combine shortening, sugar, and eggs. Mix well.
Add flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.
Roll dough into balls, and then roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture.
Place on cookie sheet.
Bake 8-10 minutes @ 350*. Cookies should just start to crack on top.

Linked up to
Sweet Treats Thursdays
and

Sweet Tooth Friday

and

Sweets for Saturday

Meatfree Monday: Polenta Pizzas

2011-10-10T09:33:00.000-04:00

from Trader Joe's website

This week's recipe is so easy when you use store-bought polenta. You could, of course, make your own too. We enjoyed this pizza with mushrooms and cheese, but you could add any toppings you would like.
We used the recipe and polenta from Trader Joe's. You can view it here: Trader Joe's Polenta Pizzaiola. The only difference I might make in the future would be to add salt or some seasoning to the polenta.

Meatfree features of the week...
a small collection of my favorite meat free recipes that I come across as I search the web each week. All the recipes that I post from various blogs will be stumbled to bring a little extra love to their posts...and if you happen to be one of my featured recipes you can grab my "I was featured on Meat Free Monday" button for your post.

Pizza Margherita from Pennies on a Platter
Follow the link to see the pictures of this amazing looking pizza! YUM!

The Voluminous Oatmeal Trick by Chocolate Covered Katie
This links to a lot of great oatmeal flavoring ideas!

Bento Boxes from Meet the Dubiens
These little lunches are so cute! What a fun way to eat Peanut butter and jelly!

Paper Bag Apple Pie

2011-10-06T21:13:00.001-04:00

Admittedly sticking a paper bag into a hot oven is generally not considered good practice. My mom says she remembers Mamaw making this pie when she was little, and the oven was smoking! It's just the ink burning off the bag. Keep the bag away from the burners, and you'll be fine. My mom has entered this pie into dessert contests and won!
This was my first try at the paper bag pie, and it was so good. My husband, who has just recently decided that he liked apple pie (or any cooked fruit) said it was the best pie. Ever. He described it as "warm crusted apple-y goodness." He's so good with words.
You can "cheat" and use store bought crust, but I strongly encourage you to use the homemade crust below. It's the perfect flakiness and flavor. I guess I can't complain about J's choice of words. Ha!

Crust: (makes 2-freeze one for later or make 2 pies!)
2 cups flour (take out 1/4 cup for whole wheat flour)
2/3 cup shortening
1-1/2 tsp salt
7 Tbl milk

Pie:
7 cups sliced apples (I used a combination)
2 Tbl flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter

Combine apples, sugar, flour, and cinnamon.
Arrange in unbaked 9" pie shell.
Mix ingredients for topping and sprinkle over apples.
Place pie in large brown paper bag, folding the open end of the bag over several times. Secure with paperclips.
Place bag carefully on a cookie sheet and bake in 425* oven for 1 hour.
DO NOT LET PAPER BAG TOUCH THE TOP BURNER!
Split bag from the top when opening.

Linked up to

Sweet Tooth Friday

and

Sweets for Saturday

Cream Cheese and Apple Crescents

2011-10-06T07:39:00.000-04:00

I wondered at the beginning of the week if I would be tired of apples by the time I got to this point. I can happily say that I am not! We have had such a variety of meals and snacks that it's not just a repetition of flavor over and over.
Last night I remembered this blueberry cream cheese danish and I wondered if a similar idea would work with apples. Only I wanted it to be for breakfast, so I made a few changes. These were fabulous! They just melted in your mouth...or maybe that was my mouth melting because I ate them right out of the oven. In any case, they were so good.
I will make these again. The only change I might make when I make these again is that I wouldn't dice up the apples and mix them with the cream cheese. I might spread the cream cheese on, sprinkle with the cinnamon, top with apple slices, then roll up. I don't think this difference would affect the flavor, but it might make the appearance a little better!

4oz cream cheese
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbl + 1 tsp agave nectar
1 Tbl + 1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 apple, diced
1 pkg crescent rolls

Combine cream cheese, vanilla, agave, brown sugar, cinnamon, and apples.
Unroll the crescent dough from tube. Spoon the filling onto each triangle. Wrap the points around the filling.
Bake according to roll directions or until the tops are golden.

Cinnamon Apple Breakfast Pockets

2011-10-05T07:29:00.000-04:00

I have been buying plain yogurt for nearly a year now. It's very versatile, and you can add honey, fruit or whatever you want to flavor it. This week, I splurged a little and bought a big tub of Stonyfield Vanilla yogurt. I'm not sure I will be able to buy another brand again. It's so much creamier and smoother than other brands.
When I was thinking of what to make for breakfast, I wanted to include yogurt and apples. Sometimes, fruit and yogurt just isn't enough to keep me filled up till my next meal, so I needed to have a grain too. Pita Pockets are perfect for this sort of thing. Fill them up with all the good stuff and you have a quick and easy, ready to go snack. When I was in Germany, several years ago, we ate many meals of pita pockets filled with various fruits or vegetables.
I really enjoyed this breakfast. Really, you can't go wrong with fruit and yogurt. The pita just made it easier to eat, and J had the ability to eat a healthier breakfast in the car.

serves 2
2 whole wheat pita, split in half
about 12 Tbl vanilla yogurt
1 apple, cored and thinly sliced
cinnamon

Preheat broiler.
Place pita halves on baking sheet and broil for about a minute on each side. You just want it to be warm and lightly toasted.
Open each pocket and put 3 tablespoons of yogurt in each half. Put 1/4 of the apples in each half and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Black Cherry Baked Apples

2011-10-04T21:26:00.001-04:00

I've started experimenting with apples this week. My idea tonight started with traditional baked apples. I prefer to have sliced apples, so I combined the two into this unusual and delicious treat. This is a fairly healthy apple dessert recipe. There is no added sugar, besides from the cherry Pepsi.

4 baking apples (I used golden delicious and jonathon)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup dried cherries
1 cup cherry cola

Preheat the oven to 375*
Core and slice apples and place in 8x8 dish.
Sprinkle with cinnamon and dried cherries. Drizzle cherry cola on top.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until apples are tender.

Open Faced Turkey, Apple & Cheese

2011-10-04T21:07:00.003-04:00

I love fall, especially the apples. This week is apple themed, not only in my "totschool" with my two year old, but also with most of our meals. We started the week off with this wonderful cinnamon maple quinoa, and this morning we had an old favorite: apple pie oatmeal. We also had my mom's famous brown bag apple pie a couple of days ago, but I'm saving the post for all the sweets link ups later this week.
For lunch today, we didn't have leftovers. I have seen a lot of recipes using apples and cheese, so I thought I'd try my hand at that. I was concerned that I wouldn't like the sweet and savory together, but I really did. In fact, I liked it even more than I had hoped. I plan to make this again! The dijon mustard and muenster were the perfect compliment to the sweetness of the apples.

1 slice whole wheat bread
about 1 tsp dijon mustard
about 1 tsp mayo (with olive oil)
mustard greens
1 onion slice
2 slices deli turkey breast
1/2 an apple
slice of muenster cheese
black pepper

Preheat broiler.
Spread mayo and mustard on bread. Layer on greens, onion, turkey, apple, and cheese.
Broil about 4 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
Sprinkle with fresh ground black pepper.

linked to These Chicks Cooked

Menu Plan: October 2-7

2011-10-04T08:52:00.000-04:00

The menu plan is better late than never as they say. I was working on it, then I threw out the whole thing and started over. I needed to find recipes that included apples since we picked so many last weekend. I don't want to just make desserts, and this is the perfect opportunity to try some different things.

Breakfasts:
Maple Cinnamon Quinoa
granola bar with apple slices
Apple Pie Oatmeal
Baked Apple Pita

Snacks:
Brown Paper Bag Apple Pie (post on Thursday night)
other various apple snacks
not microwave popcorn popcorn

Dinners/Lunches (leftovers):
Vegetable Lasagna
Dinner w/Friends: Lunch: Open Faced Turkey, Apple, and Cheese
Grilled BBQ Chicken and Corn on Cob (from Farmer's Market!)
Apple Home Fries breakfast for Dinner
Stir Fry
Omelets

Linked up to Menu Plan Monday

Meatfree Monday: Cinnamon Maple Quinoa with Apple

2011-10-02T21:16:00.001-04:00

I've been hearing about and seeing a lot of recipes using quinoa lately. It seems to be pretty high in protein and fiber and is gluten free. It pretty much seems like the perfect food. I tried to buy it one time when I made this recipe. It was so expensive at around $10 a pound that I used brown rice instead.
I was at Trader Joe's a couple of weeks ago (Oh, how I wish it were closer!), and I noticed they had 1lb boxes for only $3.99. That is less than half of what the other store was selling it for. Of course, I bought it and that brings us to my Meatfree Monday post for this week.
The original recipe is from Jessica Seinfeld. I did change it quite a bit though. For one thing, we picked about 24 pounds of apples yesterday, so I wanted to use some of them!
I loved this breakfast. This is a great alternative to oatmeal in the mornings, and I'm excited to use quinoa again. My husband's only complaint was the addition of almonds...which he only noticed when he was almost done eating it. I think he should eat blindfolded anyhow.

1-1/4 c water
1 c quinoa
1 Tbl butter
1/2 cup sweet potato puree (or pumpkin)
2 Tbl maple syrup
1 Tbl brown sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
2 Tbl almonds
1 apple
1 Tbl brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Boil water. Add quinoa and reduce to simmer. Cook 12 minutes, uncovered. Remove pot from heat, cover and let sit for about 5 minutes.
Melt butter. Stir in sweet potato (or pumpkin), syrup, milk ,cinnamon, brown sugar, and salt.
Stir the sauce into the quinoa.
Make topping: chop almonds and apple. Combine with brown sugar and cinnamon.
Divide quinoa into bowls and top with the apple mixture.

Meatfree features of the week...
a small collection of my favorite meat free recipes that I come across as I search the web each week. All the recipes that I post from various blogs will be stumbled to bring a little extra love to their posts...and if you happen to be one of my featured recipes you can grab my "I was featured on Meat Free Monday" button for your post.

Pumpkin Mac N Cheese from My Fabulous Recipes
Pumpkin might be my favorite thing about fall...pumpkins and apples!

Caprese Grilled Cheese by Closet Cooking
Well, pretty much anything Kevin makes looks amazing!

Where did I go on Facebook?

2011-10-02T09:36:00.000-04:00

While I'm still mildly annoyed that facebook has yet again changed it format, I've become used to the new design. Although I'm still working out a few things that will make it easier for me to tolerate.
I thought that I had fixed all the things that annoyed me the most, like my news feed not being in chronological order. That's the OCD in me I guess. If you are wondering how I did that: Basically, I created a list of "everyone" and now use that instead of the "news feed." It makes it just like the old facebook.
The problem with my new "everyone" list is that I forgot to add pages in. I wondered why I wasn't getting updates from my favorite pages, so I went back in to make sure the pages were all checked too. If you aren't getting updates from your favorite pages...including Penny Pinching Provisions... then create a list of just pages or make an everyone list like I did.

In food news, I'm working on my menu this week and trying to find a lot of great things to make with the 24 pounds of apples we picked yesterday!

Fruit Salad, Yummy Yummy!

2011-09-29T20:37:00.002-04:00

This is one of my daughter's favorite things that I make. We've taken it to many pitch-ins and everyone always asks what the special "dressing" is. The Sierra Mist helps keep the apples and other fruits from browning.
When Miss E goes through those toddler days or weeks of not wanting to eat at all, we make this because we know she will fill up on good stuff. She could pretty much live solely on fruit.
And, yes in case you were wondering after reading the title, we do watch the Wiggles....I should say E watches the Wiggles, but I hear it as I do other things. I know the day is coming when we will move on to shows with storylines, and I can't wait.

Fruit - your favorites
1 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 can Sierra Mist Natural

Chop up your favorite fruits. We like strawberries, blueberries, (any berries), grapes, bananas, pineapple, honeydew, watermelon, apples, pears, mandarins, peaches, plums...
Pour in marshmallows and Sierra Mist. Toss to coat. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Maple Creme

2011-09-29T19:45:00.002-04:00

Nothing screams fall more than pumpkin! These pancakes were just the right thing for a cool Fall morning. These were so rich and delicious...and seriously, make the maple creme. It makes them even better than they already are!

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tbl whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbl cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
3 egg whites, whipped
3/4 cup pumpkin
3/4 cup plain yogurt
2 Tbl brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla

4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup maple syrup

chopped pecans

Whisk dry ingredients together.
Separately, combine wet ingredients.
Combine wet and dry ingredients and rest for 10 minutes.
Scoop pancakes onto hot griddle using 1/4 cup measure. Flip when edges turn to brown the other side.
Top with maple creme (cream cheese and maple syrup) and chopped pecans

Submitted to

Sweet Tooth Friday

and

Sweets for Saturday

Menu Plan 9/25-10/1

2011-09-27T09:05:00.000-04:00

I used to think Summer was my very favorite season. Now that I'm 'retired' from teaching, I'm finding that I really like fall (although, it might be tied with summer). I love making s'mores in the firepit, apple picking, hayrides, leaves changing, and of course Conner Prairie's Headless Horseman event. After a summer filled with above 90* temps almost every day, I'm glad for slightly cooler weather and hoodies.
I've had my menu plan done since last Friday since I had to go to the store to by the supplies for s'mores and bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers. I was so on top of things. Then, since I was so ahead of my regular schedule, I forgot to post it!

Breakfasts:
french toast w/maple syrup
cereal
chocolate chip bran muffins
yogurt and fruit
toast and eggs

Snacks:
cookies (I can't believe I haven't posted this recipe yet!)
popcorn
yogurt and berry smoothies

Dinners/leftovers for Lunches:
Peanut butter and Jelly w/banana
Chicken Casserole I forgot how much I love this!
Crock Pot Chili
Meatloaf and broccoli
BBQ Chicken Tortilla Pizza
grilled burgers
stir fry
mushroom topped polenta "pizza"

need more Ideas?
Visit OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

2011-09-25T21:55:00.001-04:00

My friend's step mom makes these for every cookout and tailgate party I've ever been to. They are pretty much my favorite things. I finally got up the nerve to make them myself, and I almost couldn't stop eating them! It's a good thing we had several friends over to help me out.
I had a little extra filling left over, and I had a little extra bell peppers left over from my garden. I filled the bell peppers and grilled them the same way, and they were amazing! I almost couldn't decide which I liked better. Either way, I'm sure everyone will love them.

13 jalapeno peppers
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar (optional-I've had them both ways and they are all good!)
turkey bacon (or the real stuff)

Slice the peppers in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds and membranes with a spoon. If you don't want your peppers to be hot, let them sit in cool water for a while. The longer they soak, the more mild they will be. I let mine soak for about an hour.
Combine the cream cheese and cheddar if you are using it.
Spread the cheese to fill the peppers. Wrap it with bacon and secure it with a wet toothpick. Note toothpicks need to be wet so they don't burn on the grill!

Place on grill and cook until bacon is crispy.

Meatfree Monday: Enchilada Casserole

2011-09-25T21:37:00.001-04:00

I found this recipe from McCormick on the back of a seasoning packet. This is another recipe that I just skipped the addition of meat. If you aren't going for a meat free meal, it called for one pound of ground turkey (or beef or pork or chicken). I thought it turned out wonderfully. It was filling and full of flavor. Actually, it reminded me a lot of one of our favorite recipes: Southwest Lasagna. And, since it doesn't have meat or cottage cheese, it's a lot more budget friendly too.

2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (if desired)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
16 oz tomato sauce
15 oz black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained and rinsed
Chopped banana peppers (I used 4)
whole wheat tortillas
shredded cheddar cheese

Heat onion in skillet. Add tomato sauce, beans, corn, and banana peppers. Stir in all the spices (except red pepper) Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Add red pepper if desired.
Spread about 1/2 cup of the bean mixture in a 9x13 pan. Top with a layer of tortillas, overlapping as needed. Layer with half of the remaining bean mixture and half of the cheese. Repeat with more tortillas and the rest of the mixture and cheese.
Bake at 350* for 15 minutes or until heated through. Let stand a couple minutes before serving.

Meatfree features of the week...
a small collection of my favorite meat free recipes that I come across as I search the web each week. All the recipes that I post from various blogs will be stumbled to bring a little extra love to their posts...and if you happen to be one of my featured recipes you can grab my "I was featured on Meat Free Monday" button for your post.

Nutella French Toast from The Kitchen is my Playground
Well, who doesn't love Nutella?

Homemade Apple Butter from the Suburban Settler

I'm pretty sure I'd have a Euro style dinner of biscuits and apple butter if I had this!

Lavish Flatbread Pizzas from SkinnyTaste

Simple and delicious!

Menu Plan Monday: September 18-24

2011-09-19T08:46:00.000-04:00

If you read my menu plan last week, we knew ahead of time that we would be eating out for two dinners. We didn't expect my Meatfree Monday dish I had planned to be a total failure...I mean a go out to eat, there is no fixing it failure. For those of you who were anticipating a Lo-Mein recipe this week...you'll have to wait until I find a better recipe. The one I used wasn't the one. I need to start having a backup plan if this happens. It's not good for your budget, or waistline for that matter, to go out to eat when things don't go as planned.
For this week, we have no anticipated dinners out. We probably need to take it easy anyhow. I don't know about your schedule, but we are busy every weekend through November now! Weddings, apple-picking, pumpkin patches, Fall Festivals. I love Fall.

Breakfasts:
oatmeal
sweet potato muffins (new!)
fruit and yogurt parfaits
cereal
toast and fruit, scrambled eggs

Snacks:
carrot sticks and hummus
apple chips
raisins
Sweet for the week

Dinners:
Grilled Cheese with Smoked Cheddar
Chili
Hot Dogs with homemade buns, chips
Quesadilla Casserole (New meatfree!)
Noodles with Asparagus and Bacon
Stir Fry

Need more menu plan ideas? Head over to OrgJunkie for her weekly link up.

Secret Recipe Club: Sour Cream Coffee Cake Muffins...sort of

2011-09-19T08:00:00.007-04:00

I have the pleasure of participating in the Secret Recipe Club again this month. Haven't heard of it, or want to join in next month? Check out the link back to the site. Basically, you will get assigned a blog (and a secret blogger will be assigned your blog). You have to pick one recipe from their blog and make it, making any changes you like. Then, you blog about it with a blog hop on the assigned day. It's so much fun to see who has your blog and what recipe they pick...and what they think of it. You also get to find a lot of other neat blogs that you may not have found otherwise.
This month I was assigned http://familyfriendsandfood.blogspot.com/ . She has a lot of interesting and delicious looking recipes on her blog, but I finally decided on these sour cream coffee cake muffins. I've really been on a coffee cake kick lately. My previous post for the cinnamon coffee cake was amazing, and I expected no less from these muffins. Coffee cake in muffin form is so much easier to eat and make. It takes much less time too! I don't normally buy sour cream, but we always have plain yogurt on hand so that is what I used to make these muffins. They turned out very moist and my husband claims they are the best muffins I've ever made. I'll have to agree, they are somewhat addictive.
I did make a couple of changes to the recipe including using whole wheat flour and real eggs. I also ground up the pecans because I have a toddler who sometimes has texture issues.

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans (or ground)
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream)
2 Tbl water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-3/4 cup flour (take out 3 Tbl for whole wheat)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 400*
Combine the brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Cream sugar and butter together. Add eggs. Then, beat in yogurt, water, and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center of mixture and add yogurt mixture. Stir until just combined.
Place about 3 Tablespoons of the brown sugar mixture in a small bowl and set aside. Sprinkle the surface of the batter with the remaining brown sugar and gently fold in 4 times.
Place 18 liners in muffin tin. Spoon batter in cups and sprinkle evenly with reserved brown sugar mixture.
Bake @ 400* for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

linked up to
sweet tooth friday
and
sweets for saturday

Meatfree Monday: Pizza Monkey Muffins

2011-09-18T22:40:00.001-04:00

I've been seeing pizza monkey bread popping up all over food blogs lately. I love pizza, and I love monkey bread so naturally I had to try my hand at pizza monkey bread. I decided to take a little bit different spin on this though. Basically, I took my monkey muffin recipe and turned it into pizza monkey muffins.
These were just the perfect size and would be so fun at a party...a small party because they were pretty time consuming. Miss E thought they were fabulous because she could dip them in marinara...and to a toddler, anything that you can dip is the best thing ever.
This time around I used mozzarella and mushrooms, but if you were not going for a meatfree meal you could easily use pepperoni or any other pizza toppings you like. Also, to save a little time you could skip the homemade dough and use store bought biscuits.

3-1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or 4c AP flour)
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1-1/4 cup buttermilk (or 2 Tbl vinegar + enough milk to make 1-1/4c)
sliced mushrooms
mozzarella cheese, cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tbl butter
1-1/2 tsp Italian seasonings

Dough: Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter, and buttermilk. Knead about 20 times.
Pinch off 1 inches pieces of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten the ball with the bottom of a cup.
Place a cheese cube and other toppings on your dough and roll into a ball with the toppings in the middle of the ball.
Plop 3-4 balls into each muffin cup
Heat garlic and butter until garlic just begins to brown. Remove from heat and stir in Italian seasonings.
Pour the melted butter into each muffin cup.
Bake at 350* for 12-15 minutes.
Remove from pan and serve with marinara sauce for dipping.

Chickpea Curry by the Vegan Stoner

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

2011-09-15T15:07:00.004-04:00

I had to take a couple continuing education classes this summer to keep up my teaching license. I got to meet a really neat lady named Kara, who happened to be in both of my classes. During the first week, we were all assigned a day to bring in a snack and she brought in this most amazing coffee cake. She told a story of how her nephews band wrote a song about this coffee cake. It really is that good.
A couple of weeks ago, I convinced my mom that we needed to have this when we all came to visit. It's super easy to make, and tastes just a good as I remember. One lesson I learned from making it at home though...the glaze is really supposed to be a glaze that gets soaked into the cake (Kara's recipe called for a 9x13 pan and we used a bundt pan). We changed it a bit and made a thicker icing by adding more powdered sugar. Our icing almost overpowered the coffee cake. If you like it that way go ahead, but I think next time around I'll stick to Kara's original...which is what is posted below.

2 cups crushed graham crackers
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter, melted
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
yellow or white cake mix
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
1 cup water
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tsp vanilla

Mix the graham crackers, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Beat cake mix, oil, eggs, and water for about 2 minutes.
Grease a 9x13 pan. Pour in half of the cake batter. Top that with about half of the graham cracker mixture. Add another layer of cake and graham mixtures.
Bake @ 350* for about 30-35 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the glaze. Mix the powdered sugar, water, and vanilla.
Pour the glaze over cake immediately after baking.
Enjoy...it freezes well too.

Linking up to

Sweet Treats Thursdays

and

Sweet Tooth Friday

and

Sweets for Saturday

Taco Pizza

2011-09-13T10:50:00.001-04:00

I was inspired to create this by this Taco Pizza recipe. When I saw this, I had just posted a taco salad recipe with the best "dressing." Well, it wasn't really a dressing. It was more like diced tomatoes with some flavoring. Anyhow, it really made the taco salad. When I saw Closet Cooking's recipe, I knew I would change it a bit and use that diced tomato idea.
It turned out so well! I just love how the flavors melted together and the beer batter pizza dough really enhanced the taste too. If you don't have time to do homemade dough, I'm sure the store bought would be fantastic too.

Pizza dough
salsa
taco seasoning
ground turkey
shredded cheese
2 tomatoes
1Tbl olive oil
1 Tbl lime juice
salt and pepper

Brown meat and add taco seasoning.
Spread dough onto pizza pan. Top with salsa, meat, and shredded cheese.
Bake pizza until cheese is melted (or according to crust directions).
Combine tomatoes, olive oil, lime juice, salt, and pepper.
Spread tomato topping on pizza after removing from the oven.

Empanadas

2011-09-12T15:18:00.001-04:00

This quick and easy sandwich is perfect for nights when you don't have a lot of time, but want something delicious. When we were first married, before food blogging, I would make these at least once a week. I had forgotten all about them, until I ran across something similar a few weeks back.

1 lb ground turkey or desired meat
1 cup salsa or Texas Caviar
1 cup shredded cheese
flour or corn tortillas

Cook meat in skillet until browned. Drain.
Stir in salsa or leftover Texas Caviar and cheese. Cook 2-3 minutes.
Spoon about 1/4 cup filling in center of tortilla. Fold tortilla in half, pressing edges to seal.
Heat a pan and cook empanadas a couple minutes to brown .
Serve with additional salsa.

Menu Plan Monday September 11-17

2011-09-12T00:00:00.002-04:00

I hate when you week gets crazy after you already plan everything out. I found out there are two nights this week, we'll be "forced" to eat out...or suffer with peanut butter and jelly. On the topic of peanut butter and jelly...it's really good sandwiched in between banana bread pancakes.

Breakfasts
Sour Cream Muffins
Cereal
Toast
Fruit and yogurt

Snacks
Fruit and yogurt smoothies
pretzel crisps and hummus

Dinners
Sausage Braid (I made this tonight and it's so good!Savory breakfast for dinner)
Out
Chili
LoMein (new Meatfree!)
Out
Omelets and Toast
Fruit and Cheese Danish
Egg Noodles with Asparagus, Egg, and Bacon

Head over to OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday for more menu ideas!

Rice Krispie Treats with Cinnamon

2011-09-11T16:08:00.001-04:00

We bought a fire pit this summer, and we have really enjoyed having smore's whenever we feel like it. One day, I decided to use the leftover marshmallows to make Rice Krispie treats. It seemed like I had everything I needed, but I fell a little short on the cereal. I replaced the Rice Krispie's with some Dora cereal. What's Dora cereal? It's what you end up with when you take your two year old shopping with you. No, really it's a tiny star shaped cinnamon flavored cereal. It's actually pretty good...think churros. I might even buy it even if I didn't have a temper-tantrum throwing, "Mom, I will die if I don't get Dora cereal" toddler in the cereal aisle.
Anyhow, these Krispie treats came out even better than the originals, which is pretty hard to beat in my opinion. It makes me think of other cereals to experiment with in the future. What have I been missing out on all this time?

Only 3 ingredients...How can these be so good?
6 cups Rice Krispies (and Dora cereal)
7oz jar Marshmallow cream or 10.5 oz pkg marshmallows
3 Tbl butter

Melt butter on low. Add marshmallow cream or marshmallows and stir until smooth and melted.
Remove from heat.
Add cereal and stir until well coated.
Spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick spray.
Press mixture evenly into pan. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.
Lick spoon. This is quite possibly the best part...warm Rice Krispies.

Meatfree Monday: Beans and Greens Burrito

2011-09-11T15:18:00.001-04:00

Chili cheeseburger & Chili 3-way @ Blue Ash Chili-Cincinnati

We took a vacation to Cincinnati last week. That is about as far as we thought could go with a toddler who we like to call "Mimi Banshee." Somehow long car trips seem to induce screaming to no end. Two hours is plenty of time in the car.
While we were there we visited Great Wolf Lodge, Ikea, EnterTRAINment Junction, and the Cincinnati Zoo. We had so much fun. I was pleasantly surprised by the train museum. I really thought I wouldn't like it, but we all agreed that we'll be going back. In addition to all of our fun activities, we ate. We did try a few local places...or at least places they don't have here in Indy. A couple of highlights include Quaker Steak & Lube. Be sure to heed their warnings about their hot sauces and order their apple nachos for dessert. Another must-eat is the ice cream at the historic Aglamesis Brothers. The original on Madison Rd is complete with marble, Tiffany lamps, and of course really good ice cream. Finally, you must have chili in Cincinnati. We decided to go to Blue Ash since it had high recommendations and it was featured on a Food Network show. I loved it for the nostalgic feel and of course their chili was awesome. (See picture).
Now that we are back and supposedly on track, it's time for Meatfree Monday. This week's recipe is adapted from Mark Bittman's cookbook Food Matters. I really liked this one and his approach to moderating the meat in your diet. These bean burritos tasted pretty standard the night we ate them, but they were delicious the next day. I almost recommend making the bean filling ahead of time so the seasonings can meld together.

whole wheat tortillas
2 Tbl olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbl garlic, minced
1 Tbl chili powder
salt/pepper
1 lb spinach, chopped
2 cups black beans (I used two cans)
shredded Mexican blend cheese
Pico de Gallo or salsa

Heat oil to medium. Add onion and garlic and saute for a few minutes. Sprinkle with chili powder, salt and pepper. Add spinach until it wilts.
Stir in beans. Add liquid if it seems dry.
Put into a tortilla and top with cheese and a little salsa. Roll up burrito style and place in a panini press to lightly toast the outside.

Pizza Spinach Wraps at Cooking Creation
Don't you think these look awesome?

Caprese Pizza with Pesto at Double Dipped Life
What's my deal with pizza this week? I don't know, but this one looks yummy too.

White Pizza at the Sugar Plum Blog
Well, now I'm I have a pattern that I didn't want to break. This white pizza sounds so good...and a homemade crust to boot!

Double Dipped Oreos

2011-09-08T21:20:00.003-04:00

This week we visited Conner Prairie's Apple store. While we were there, I got my daughter a chocolate covered pretzel rod. As she was eating it I noticed that it was first dipped in caramel, then in chocolate. I tasted it, and it tasted just like a Twix candy bar! Then, I was inspired to try out that dipping combination with Golden Oreos.
I wasn't sure there could be any improvement to Golden Oreos, but I found out there could. These are so good. It's too bad I only ate one since my husband had to take them to work for a pitch in!
I think the combinations are endless...next time I might try dipping in peanut butter and chocolate or using regular oreos.

1 pkg caramel bits
2 Tbl water
4 squares chocolate candy coating
1 pkg golden oreos

Place greased wax paper on a cookie sheet.
Melt the caramel bits and water over medium-low heat. Stir constantly.
Dip the oreos in the melted caramel and place them on the wax paper cookie sheet.
After you dip the oreos, place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator to set for about an hour.
Take out of the refrigerator and let sit for about 5-10 minutes. This will loosen up the wax paper so it won't be stuck to the bottom of the cookies.
Melt the chocolate.
Dip the cookies in the chocolate making sure to cover the caramel on the back side so it won't stick to the wax paper.
Set on wax paper to cool.

linked up to
Sweet Treats Thursday
and

Sweet Tooth Friday

and

Sweets for Saturday

Meatfree Monday: Stir Fry with Teriyaki

2011-09-05T00:00:00.001-04:00

Stir fry is probably one of the easiest ways to go meat free. With all the vegetables, it's so filling and healthy. This time around, I used a frozen stir fry veggie mix and made my own sauce. I prefer this homemade teriyaki to the store bought kind and it has so much less sodium and other preservatives in it. You can also create your own veggie mix too. If you do that, you'll be sure to get all the things you like. This particular one had water chestnuts in it, which I picked around. To each his own.
I recommend serving stir fry's with rice for an even more filling meal.

Stir fry mix or your choice of cut up veggies
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup ground arrowroot (for thickening)
3 Tbl red wine vinegar
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce

Heat about one tablespoon of oil over medium high heat. Add in veggies and cook until just tender. Stir frequently.
For sauce: In a food processor, combine all the ingredients for sauce and pulse until smooth.
Top veggies with sauce and stir.

Amish Bread Cookies

2011-09-01T20:46:00.003-04:00

I wanted to make some muffins the other day, so I turned to Debbi's blog and all her amish bread recipes for help. I ended up making this Bananas Foster Bread into muffins, and they were so good. Since I still had about a half cup left of my frozen starter, I needed to find another recipe. Following Debbi's link, I headed over to the Friendship Bread Kitchen. I could not believe all the recipes and ideas for using the starter! It was hard to decide, but I finally chose to make a half recipe of the basic cookies.
Let me tell you, these things are so addictive! They have the subtle yeasty taste of the starter and the perfect chewiness of a sugar cookie. Classic, but just different enough to stand out. I will definitely make these again!

This is a half recipe and it makes plenty! For the full and original recipe, follow the link to basic cookies above.
1/2 cup Amish Starter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup shortening
1-1/4 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1-1/2 tsp flax seed
1-1/2 Tbl water
1 tsp baking soda
2-1/2 cup flour (take out 5Tbl for whole wheat)
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350° F (176° C).
Cream butter, shortening, eggs and sugars.
Stir in rest of ingredients.
Drop tablespoon size dough onto ungreased baking sheet.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes.
ENJOY!

Linked up to

Sweet Tooth Friday

and

Sweets for Saturday

Meatfree Monday: Banana Berry Oatmeal

2011-08-29T00:00:00.002-04:00

I love breakfast for dinner. In the summer, I also love light dinners. It's just to hot to eat heavy things. This oatmeal was filling, but not like a big greasy hamburger or heavy pasta would be. It was just satisfying and full of fruit which is a good healthy alternative to our normal pancakes for dinner on Sunday nights!
This photo was taken from David Zinczenko's cookbook. My photo turned out totally unappetizing! The berries I used were frozen and ran into the oatmeal making it a funky color. The flavor was fantastic, and this photo shows how delicious the dish really is!

1 egg
1 cup milk
3/4 cup quick oats
1/2 cup mixed berries
1 Tbl chopped pecans or almonds
1 tsp vanilla protein powder
1 tsp ground flaxseed
1/2 banana, sliced
1 Tbl plain or vanilla yogurt

Whisk everything but the banana and yogurt.
Cook until set (or microwave for a couple minutes until set)
Let cool for a minute or two.
Top with banana and yogurt.

Sorry no features of the week this week or next. These posts were schedule to post automatically.

Homemade Tagalongs

2011-08-25T21:53:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure why the Girls Scouts only come to your door with their cookies once a year. I really wish they could come more because I could keep them in business. Those Tagalong cookies are my very favorite. Chocolate, peanut butter, and shortbread all in one. It's pretty much the best thing ever.
I have a friend who shares my love for these cookies. We were both at Dairy Queen about every other day when they had the Tagalong Blizzard. It wasn't pretty...but it was delicious. She sent me this recipe for Tagalongs that you can make at home. I was a bit skeptical that they would be as good, but I have to say I was impressed. These were great the first day, even better the second day, and I nearly made more when they were finished off on the third day. Seriously, they are that addictive!

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 cups flour (take out 6 Tbl if using white whole wheat like I did)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Chocolate candy coating

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat until smooth. Add in the egg. Add vanilla and beat until smooth.
With mixer on low, add in salt and flour.
Shape the dough into a long cylinder, about 2-3 inches in diameter. Wrap in waxed paper and freeze for at least 25 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350*
Slice the dough into thin disks and place on baking sheets, about a half inch apart. They don't spread much while baking.
Once you have made about 30 cookies (or you could make them all---like I said they are amazing!) wrap up the rest of the cookie dough and freeze for another time.
Bake the cookies 8 minutes or until just starting to set.
Place on a cooling rack and cool completely.
Mix together the peanut butter and powdered sugar. Form into small disks and press onto the cookies. I coated my hands with powdered sugar for this step, because it was a little sticky!
Melt the chocolate and coat the cookies. Let set before enjoying.

linking up with

Sweet Tooth Friday

and

Sweets for Saturday

What's in your freezer?

2011-08-24T11:32:00.001-04:00

Our freezer is being overrun by leftovers. I guess you need a week every so often to clean it all out. This is what we'll be having this week...

Empanadas (This is a new recipe that I didn't get to last week)
Black Beans, Corn, and Rice mixed with Chili Con Turkey They're similar and there isn't enough of either for dinners.
Stuffed Shells
Fettuccini
Lunch: Tomato Basil Pizza
Pretzel roll sandwiches with different meats: Mustard Pork or Scotch Pork (I guess I haven't posted that one yet!)

Secret Recipe Club: Pretzel Rolls and Beer Bread

2011-08-22T07:00:00.003-04:00

It's that time of the month again! I'm participating in the Secret Recipe Club. Basically, you sign up and you are assigned a blog. You get to pick a recipe from their blog to try and change at your will. Then you make your post about it on the assigned day. All posts for that day are added to a blog hop, so it's easy to see what everyone else made too. It's so fun to see what people pick from your own website too!
This month, I was assigned to Heather's blog: It's Yummy to My Tummy. There were several recipes I found that I wanted to try....and I'm still going to try the granola bars and the fruit and cheese danish. I ended up choosing two for this post: pretzel rolls and beer bread. I've been wanting to try my own buns for a while now, so the pretzel rolls worked out perfectly. I keep hearing about the Tastefully Simple beer bread, but I've never had it, so when I saw that recipe I had to try that too. Both came out tasting great.
I really love the pretzel rolls. I've actually made them three times now (in a month!). We've eaten them with grilled burgers, chicken and lunchmeat. Chicken salad sandwiches would also taste great, but that is one thing I love and J won't eat! I think everything tastes better with a special bread, and this one wont disappoint. It tastes just like the soft pretzels at a ballpark...but I'm sure it's much healthier since you know all the ingredients in it! It also freezes well too. I froze them after baking them all the way, but you could also freeze them after a couple minutes in the oven (before they brown) then brown them after thawing.
The beer bread is very good too. I recommend it as a sandwich bread or as a dipper bit. Alone, this bread is a good basic bread, but the beer flavor compliments and enhances other toppings or ingredients really well. We made grilled chicken with BBQ sauce sandwiches out of this bread. We used a strong dark beer from Trader Joe's (similar to Guinness), but you could use any beer you like the flavor of. Heather said once she made it with cream soda and sprinkled on cinnamon and sugar. I keep meaning to try that! Yum.
Of course, I changed both recipes just a bit. I substituted white whole wheat flour, which is our family preference. This also means adding in some vital wheat gluten to make sure the yeast works properly.

Pretzel Rolls
1-1/3 cups warm water
2 Tbl warm milk
2-1/2 tsp yeast
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tbl melted butter
3-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tbl + 2 tsp vital wheat gluten
kosher salt
2 quarts cold water
1/2 cup baking soda

Mix 1/3 cup warm water (about 105*) with yeast and some of the brown sugar. Let stand until foamy.
Add the remaining cup of warm water with milk, the rest of the brown sugar, and melted butter and swirl to dissolve. Add flour and mix at medium-low speed. Knead for about 2 minutes. Roll into a 2 foot long log and cut into 12 even pieces. Cover dough with plastic and damp cloth and sit for 10-20 minutes.
Pat dough into rolls or knots (the rolls rose better for me) and arrange on a lightly floured surface about an inch apart. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let pretzels rest for another 30-45 minutes. They should rise quite a bit during this time.
Preheat oven to 425*. Lightly oil baking sheets.
In a large stockpot (seriously-Large! When you add the baking soda it's like a volcanic reaction!) Bring the cold water to a rolling boil and add baking soda.
Drop two rolls into the boiling water and boil no longer than 30 seconds, turning once. carefully remove and place on baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt. Repeat.
Bake rolls for about 8-10 minutes or until browned all over.
Cool about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Beer Bread

12 oz beer

2-1/2 cups + 2Tbl whole wheat flour

1/3 cup sugar

4 Tbl melted butter

4-1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease loaf pan.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in beer.
Pour batter into pan and brush on melted butter.
Bake 50-60 minutes until browned.
Cool slightly and remove from pan.

Meatfree Monday: Fettuccine Alfredo with Veggies

2011-08-21T21:23:00.001-04:00

I'm trying not to get stuck in a pasta or bean rut regarding these meatfree dishes. It just seems like every recipe that has no meat is based around one of those ingredients. Bear with me as I continue the search. I've been pleased with the addition of Meatfree Monday on our pocketbook. I'm also impressed that I don't seem to miss the meat on the days we don't have it. I've always considered myself rather carnivorous.
This fettuccine was so flavorful! At the end of dinner, J said, "Was that our meatfree dish of the week?" He didn't even miss it! His only complaint was the addition of lima beans. I'll have to puree those next time, I suppose. Ha! In addition to the lima beans, the pasta contains broccoli and cauliflower to really kick up the vegetables. My formerly not-so-picky two year old has recently decided she won't eat anything but peanut butter and jelly, so at least I can trick her into eating something healthy for a couple of bites!
Estimated cost: about $3.50
pasta $1, vegetables $1.50, other $1

adapted from Joy Bauer
12 oz whole wheat noodles
2 Tbl butter
2 cloves minced garlic
2 Tbl whole wheat flour
1 cup milk
1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup pureed cauliflower
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
frozen (or fresh) broccoli and/or lima beans

Boil pasta. Save about 1/2 cup of the cooking water.
Heat butter in saucepan. Add garlic and cook 1-2 minutes.
Add flour and cook about 4 minutes until paste forms.
Whisk in milk and stir until it starts to thicken.
Stir in the cheeses, cauliflower, parmesan chese, salt, pepper, and paprika. Mix until smooth.
Add in drained pasta and broccoli. Heat until broccoli is just tender. Add reserved pasta cooking water if needed.

. Granola Banana Sticks from Taste of Home

Blueberry Pull Apart Bread

2011-08-19T08:54:00.003-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I had to go to a family reunion. Of course, we were all supposed to bring one of our favorites, but like a typical food blogger I don't have one favorite. I wanted to make something that would be ok to sit out for a while and something that would be easy to serve. I remembered this pull apart bread that was amazing! When I went to start on it, I realized I didn't have butterscotch chips! This is rare, because I always have butterscotch chips. I was not discouraged. I figured if I could make babka with fruit in it, pull apart bread would work too!
This turned out so good. When I pulled it from the oven I considered drizzling on a powdered sugar glaze, but I'm glad I didn't. It was just sweet enough without putting you into a coma. The blueberries and cinnamon sugar filling really complimented each other. Think blueberries and cinnamon rolls...
As an aside, I apologize for the picture. I didn't get to take the best picture because I was rushing to get this done to take to the reunion...in a disposable loaf pan. That is why the picture is a close up of the bread!

for the dough:
2-3/4 c flour (take away 2T + 2.25 tsp if using whole wheat)
(Add 1 tsp wheat gluten/cup whole wheat flour)
1/4 c brown sugar
2-1/4 tsp salt
2-1/4 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c butter
1/3 c milk
1/4 c cold water
2 eggs, room temp
for the filling:
1 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
8 oz. blueberries
1/4 c butter, melted

Mix 2 cups flour with brown sugar, yeast, and salt.
Warm milk and butter until butter melts. Add cold water. Let stand for 2 minutes.
Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients, and mix at medium speed for about a minute.
Add the eggs and remaining flour, and mix for another minute.
Cover the dough with a wet towel, and rise until doubled. (1 hour?)

For the filling, combine the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Knead dough a couple times. Add a little flour if it's too sticky.
Roll dough into a 12x20 rectangle.
Spread about 2 tablespoons of the melted butter evenly over dough. Add the sugar mixture and sprinkle the blueberries on top of that. Make sure to spread out the bits so they cover the entire surface of the dough.
Cut the dough into 6 equal short strips. Make two stacks of dough with 3 strips in each stack. Then cut each stack into 6 equal parts. (Now you should have 12 stacks of 3)
Layer the dough squares in a greased (I used parchment paper too) loaf pan, like a flip book.
Let the dough rise for 30-45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350*
Pour the rest of the melted butter over the top of your loaf.
Place on a rack in the middle of the oven, and bake for 30-40 minutes. Watch for the bread to turn slightly golden, then cover loosely with foil. This will allow the center to cook, but prevent the top from getting too dark.

linked up to

Sweet Tooth Friday

and

Sweets for Saturday

Chili Mac Cheddar Jack

2011-08-16T10:42:00.001-04:00

This very filling and spicy meal was a hit at our house. Surprisingly, my two year old ate it too. Kid's have such strange tastes buds in that they sometimes love things you think might be too spicy for them. I think if you used plain diced tomatoes instead of those with chiles, the heat would be greatly reduced. Or you could try one can of each.
Estimated cost: about $5.60
pasta $0. 40, lean turkey $2.15, beans $0.55, tomatoes $1.50, other $1

1 lb ground turkey
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans diced tomato with chiles
1 cup pasta of your choice
1 Tbl taco seasoning
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup shredded colby Jack

Cook the meat and garlic powder. When no longer pink, add beans, tomatoes with juices, macaroni, and taco seasoning. Bring to boil.
Reduce heat to love, cover, and simmer for about 25 minutes-stirring occasionally. During the last minute, sprinkle on the cheese and mix so it melts into the dish.

Menu Plan August 14-19

2011-08-15T14:44:00.000-04:00

This menu has a few quick and easy dinners (ie: store bought *gasp*) and a couple of new ones. I meant to try out a new bread recipe today, but I went to make it and saw that it needs to rest in the refrigerator 12-24 hours! I might have to plan another meal for basil bread next week, because it sounded so good and unusual.
This is also the last week of the Indiana state fair. It's one of the most unhealthy state fairs in the country (Aren't we proud?) I'm excited to get some molasses for these cookies. Although, I'm not sure I'll try any delicacies this year. I hear they include an ice cream burger, a french toast burger, and deep fried ice cream....although come to think of it, I might try the deep fried ice cream! I didn't see it mentioned on that link, but I hear there is also deep fried kool-aid. That just sounds gross!
Anyway...Here is the menu for this week...

Breakfasts:
The usual suspects
Cereal
Yogurt, fruit
toast
Sausage Braid (Recipe later!)

Dinners:
Taco pizza on Beer batter pizza dough
Pasta with Alfredo sauce (meatfree for next Monday)
Grilled hot dogs with homemade buns
Frozen Stir Fry
State Fair!
Empanadas (quick and easy recipe to come!)
Omelets and muffins

OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday is a link up with hundreds of other meal plans!

Meatfree Monday: Black Beans, Corn, and Rice

2011-08-15T00:01:00.003-04:00

I really enjoyed this dish, and it was so easy! Originally, the recipe called for quinoa, but when I went to get that at the store, it was about $10 a pound. Delicious as it may be, that doesn't fit into our penny-pinching budget. I decided to substitute brown rice instead.
We all really liked this dish, and we were full afterwards. I think my favorite part was the addition of the corn which really makes it stand out in comparison to other black bean and rice recipes. It just tasted fresher or something. This is really nothing like the black beans and rice I posted a couple of weeks ago!I used a combination of beef and chicken bouillon to make the broth called for in the recipe, but I found a similar recipe by Mark Bittman, that recommended substituting beer for broth instead. Next time around, we may try that and see how the flavors are different...not that they need to be different. I love this dish the way it is!

3/4 cup brown rice
1-1/2 cups broth of choice (or beer)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp red pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup frozen corn kernels
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
fresh or dried cilantro for sprinkling

Put rice, broth, onion, garlic, cumin, red pepper, salt and pepper in a sauce pan. Bring to boil, cover, and reduce to simmer. Simmer until most of the liquid is gone.
Stir in frozen corn and beans. Cook until heated through.
Spoon into bowls and sprinkle with cilantro if desired.

Zucchini Pizza by Crazy for Crust
Now, I need to make this while I still have tons of zucchini!

Homemade Granola from Whole, Fast, and Frugal
I've been meaning to make homemade granola too!

Tortellini Primavera by Hezzi D's Books and Cooks
This reminds me of a dish I had at a restaurant one time

Philly Cheesesteak

2011-08-14T14:32:00.001-04:00

One place we love to eat, but can't go much anymore is Penn Station. They have nothing for our daughter to eat, so it's a necessary sacrifice. I'm sure there are other places that have Cheesesteak's, but I guess I always order something else.
Anyhow, I found this recipe by David Zinczenko and thought I could make it at home. It turned out pretty good. I like that he gives alternatives too...a quick way and a slow way to make this sandwich. I'm sure it saves calories too. It seems like a restaurant can somehow make an egg have 400 calories instead of 70!

1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
1/2 cup beef broth
2 Tbl worcestershire
2 dashes hot sauce
3 Tbl mesquite seasoning
4 thinly sliced top round steaks (about 12 oz)
1 bell pepper, sliced into strips
1 onion, sliced
4 hoagie rolls or hot dog buns
4 slices provolone cheese
banana peppers

mix the tomato sauce, broth, worcestershire, hot sauce, and 1 Tbl of mesquite seasoning in a resealable bag. Marinated the meat in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.
Remove the steaks from the bag and shake teh rest of the mesquite seasoning onto both sides. Save the marinade.
Coat a skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat. Add peppers and onions. Cook, basting with some marinade for about 5 minutes or until soft.
Grill steaks over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes per side. Baste with the marinade. Cut the meat into strips. Boil the rest of the marinade in for about 5 minutes.
Divide the meat, peppers, and onions among the rolls. Top with cheese, a little marinade, and the pepper rings.

For a quicker version, Try this:

1 onion, sliced

2 bell pepper, sliced

2/3 cup hot salsa

4 hoagie rolls

3/4 lb thinly sliced deli roast beef

1/2 cup shredded cheddar

Cook onion and bell pepper until tender. Add salsa and heat until warm.
Put the sandwich together by stacking beef, veggies, and cheese on the rolls. Warm in the microwave for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake Balls

2011-08-11T21:42:00.003-04:00

Do you ever have one of those recipes that just isn't quite right? I think it was my fault really. I should have used a bigger pan. The recipe said to use a sheet cake pan, so I used a 9x13. Apparently, I needed a jelly roll pan or something huge! Anyhow, these "brownies" were very delicious. They were so cake-like, thick and moist that they came apart every time you tried to remove them from the pan. Really, that was the only problem with them. I got so frustrated that I decided to try my hand a cake balls...or truffles...or whatever you want to call them. These things are popping up everywhere.

Basically, I took my moist cake-brownies and put them in my mixer to combine the frosting and cake. Then I scooped them out with a meatball scoop to form balls. I froze them and dipped them in Almond Bark. They were even better this way. They tasted like ding-dongs! Only healthier...since they have zucchini in them. Ha!

4 eggs
1-1/2 cups oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
4 Tbl cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups grated zucchini
1 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
Frosting:
3oz cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 stick butter
2 Tbl cocoa

Beat oil and sugar for 2 minutes. Add flour, soda, cocoa, vanilla, zucchini, salt, and chocolate chips.
Pour into 9x13 (for cake balls) or sheet cake pan (for brownies).
Bake at 350* for 20-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
For frosting: Mix ingredients and frost brownies when they are cool.
For cake balls: Mix cooked/cooled brownies and frosting until well combined. Form into balls, freeze, dip in melting chocolate, decorate as desired.

linked up to

sweets for saturday

and

sweet tooth friday

Other Zucchini Recipes

Oatmeal Butterscotch cookies
Zucchini Enchiladas
Zucchini Banana Craisin Muffins (or bread)
Spaghetti Marinara
Sloppy Joe Meatloaf
Meatballs
Fajitas
Fresh Veggie Skillet
zucchini fries
zucchini bread
Zucchini Gratin

Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes

Ingredient Substitutions

2011-08-08T15:43:00.002-04:00

I find myself substituting ingredients all the time. Sometimes it's to make a recipe more healthy, and sometimes it's to make do with something I don't have. I thought I would start a list here of the things I do, and maybe you have some suggestions too. It will not only help me keep my list all in one place (instead of on 30 post-its!), but it might help you get some ideas too.

Baking powder (Rule of thumb: 1tsp/1cup flour)
1 tsp= 1/4 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp cream of tartar + 1/4 tsp cornstarch

Baking Soda (Rule of thumb: 1/4 tsp /1cup flour)
1/2 tsp =2 tsp baking powder

Bread Crumbs:
1cup= 1 cup crackers, cereal, oats, potato chips

Butter:
Banana can be subbed measure for measure...your food will taste like banana though, so be careful!
Applesauce can be subbed for up to 1/2 of the butter in a recipe
1 cup butter = 1 cup shortening

Chocolate, unsweetened:
3Tbl unsweetened cocoa powder + 1 Tbl oil

Cocoa Powder, Dutch Process:
3Tbl= 3Tbl cocoa powder + 1/8 tsp baking soda

Cornstarch (for thickening)
1Tbl = 2 Tbl flour

Cream, Half &Half
1 cup = 2 Tbl melted butter + enough milk to make 1 cup

Cream, Sour
1 cup= 1 cup plain yogurt

Egg:
1 egg = 1 Tbl milled flaxseed + 3 Tbl water

Flour, Bread:
1 cup = 1 cup all purpose flour

Flour, Cake:
1 cup = 1 cup AP flour + 2Tbl cornstarch

Flour, White to Whole Wheat:
Take out 2 Tbl whole wheat flour per cup substituted (1c white= 1c-2Tbl whole wheat) If using for a yeast recipe, be sure to add 2 tsp vital wheat gluten/cup whole wheat flour used

Herbs:
1 Tbl chopped fresh = 1 tsp dried

Lemon Zest:
1 tsp = 1/2 tsp lemon extract

Mayonnaise:
1 cup = 1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

Milk, Buttermilk:
1 cup = 1 Tbl vinegar + enough milk to make 1 cup ---let stand 5 minutes

Oil:
1Tbl oil = 3 Tbl milled flaxseed
applesauce or fruit puree can be subbed for up to half the oil in a recipe (ie: 1 cup oil = 1/2 cup applesauce + 1/2 cup oil)

Onion:
1 cup chopped = 1/4 cup dried minced or 1/4 cup powdered onion

Shortening:
1 cup = 1 cup butter

Sugar:
honey(or agave, or molasses, or corn syrup) can be subbed measure for measure up to 1/2 cup. Over 1/2 cup, use 2/3-3/4 the amount of sugar called for since honey is sweeter. Reduce other liquids by 1/4 cup for each cup of honey used, add 1/2 tsp baking soda/cup honey used, and lower oven temp.

1 cup sugar = 3/4 cup honey (reduce other liquid by 1/4cup/cup honey used, add pinch of baking soda to neutralize acidity, lower oven temp by 25* to avoid overbrowning)

Vanilla Bean:
1 bean = 2-3 tsp pure vanilla extract

Menu Plan August 7-12

2011-08-08T08:48:00.001-04:00

We are so excited that Jan's Village Pizza is having their pizza bake-off this week. This is one week we mark on our calendars a year ahead of time. Jan's is our favorite pizza place around here. They serve gourmet pizza such as chicken alfredo, buffalo chicken, baked potato pizza, greek pizza, and much more. They do have 'regular' flavors as well, but that is so boring. Anyhow, the pizza bake-off is where the chefs in the kitchen each come up with a new and unique pizza, and we go taste them all, buffet style, and vote on our favorites. The winner gets a spot on the menu and the least sold pizza on the menu from last year gets the boot.

Breakfasts:
eggs, toast and jelly
cereal
yogurt and fruit
pancakes

Snacks:
smoothies
hummus and crackers or veggies

Dinners:
Gorgonzola Ravioli from Trader Joe's
Jan's Bake off
Pretzel Roll deli sandwich
Empanadas
Grilled Chicken and Broccoli
Taco Pizza

http://orgjunkie.com/2011/08/menu-plan-monday-aug-811.html

Meatfree Monday: Stuffed Shells

2011-08-07T09:35:00.000-04:00

I was really excited to try my hand at making stuffed shells last week. I had eaten this at a friend's house another time, and it was delicious. I went the simple and quick route this time and used store bought marinara. I recommend using homemade as it does taste so much better, but if you are pressed for time the store bought works too.
I recently 'stole' a food processor from my mom's house. Apparently, she's had it for quite a while and never used it. Seriously, this is the best kitchen tool. Ever...especially if you like to puree, shred, or hide things in your family's food like I do. I first used the processor to make these stuffed shells. I think I might have over done it a little. In the future I will probably use it to shred the spinach leaves, but I will mix it all up by hand so the texture will not be affected. The taste was not affected, so I'll also be making these shells again!
Like most pasta dishes, this one was very filling and flavorful. I was worried that without meat and adding spinach, my family would rebel. They both ate and got seconds, so I'd say this meal was a success. I think my husband is warming up to the idea of a meatfree dish each week, and maybe I could even sneak in another day here and there too. It sure does save us money!
As a side note: if you can't find jumbo pasta shells, you could substitute any noodle and layer the filling/noodles more like a casserole (or lasagna). I think the flavor would be pretty much the same...and you could use whole wheat noodles (I couldn't find whole wheat pasta shells!)
Estimated cost: $5
Shells $1, Ricotta $1.20, spinach $ 0.75, marinara $1.00, other $1

1 box of jumbo pasta shells
2 cups ricotta
2 cups fresh spinach (shredded)
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup mozzarella
1 egg
1/3 cup fresh basil (chopped)
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
3- 4 cups marinara sauce

Boil pasta until just tender and drain well.
Combine spinach, ricotta, 1/3 cup Parmesan,mozzarella, egg, basil, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.
Spread 1/2 cup marinara in a 9x13 (I used two 8x8, so I could freeze one).
Fill each pasta shell with the spinach mixture. Arrange shells, filling side up, in the dish. Spoon remaining marinara sauce over the shells. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese on top of shells.
Cover loosely with foil and bake @ 350 until heated through (about 30 minutes)
Sprinkle with a little more mozzarella if desired.

White Bean Veggie Burger by Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice

Skillet Lasagna by Creatively Domestic

Jalapeno Popper Quiche by Closet Cooking

Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes

2011-08-04T15:49:00.004-04:00

We still have a lot of zucchini! I have given some away. I have shredded and stored in the freezer. I have baked. I have hidden it in different things. I have grilled it. I have had it...just about. Just when I think I've had enough, I find another recipe I want to try out...or three. This cupcake recipe is actually a combination of three recipes.
Of course there are tons of recipes for chocolate cupcakes...and tons of recipes for cheesecakes...and tons of recipes for zucchini chocolate cupcakes...but none with all three together...until now. The idea was born when I realized that I had quite a bit of ricotta cheese left over from my stuffed shells earlier this week (recipe coming on Meatfree Monday!). I knew you could make cheesecake with ricotta, though I had never tried. I also had a couple zucchini from the garden...and my mind just went from there to here...
These are very moist and rich, especially those smeared with nutella. Isn't everything better with nutella smeared on top? Either way you try it, these cupcakes are delicious.
for other zucchini recipes, see the bottom of this post...

makes 12 (overflowing the mold) cupcakes
1/2 cup + 2Tbl butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1-1/4 cup flour
6 Tbl cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 cup grated zucchini

1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg, separated
3 tsp honey
1 Tbl sugar
3 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla

nutella, optional

Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add egg. Stir in vanilla.
Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture. Add the yogurt.
Fold in the zucchini.
Scoop into greased/lined muffin tins, filling only about half way (I learned my lesson!). Set aside.
For filling: Beat ricotta with egg yolk, honey, sugar, cornstarch and vanilla until smooth.
Whip egg white separately until soft peaks form. Fold whites into the cheese mixture.
Scoop a little of the filling on top of each muffin tin.
Bake @ 350* for about 23 minutes or until set.
Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from muffin tin.
Smear with nutella if desired.

linked up to

Sweet Tooth Friday

and

Sweets for Saturday
and
Muffin Monday

Zucchini Recipes...
Oatmeal Butterscotch cookies
Zucchini Enchiladas
Zucchini Banana Craisin Muffins (or bread)
Spaghetti Marinara
Sloppy Joe Meatloaf
Meatballs
Fajitas
Fresh Veggie Skillet
zucchini fries
zucchini bread
Zucchini Gratin

Taco Salad

2011-08-03T08:01:00.000-04:00

Two salads in one week here at Penny Pinching Provisions! Although, this one doesn't really seem like a salad. It does have lettuce, but the addition of tortilla chips makes it seem more like nachos. Any way you look at it, it's delicious.
My favorite part of this taco salad is the dressing. Basically, it's like a Mexican style bruschetta, and it really makes the dish.
You could definitely make this for less by getting less expensive meat or leaving out the meat and using only beans. I've been trying to get at least 90% lean meat when possible.
Estimated cost: $5.50
spinach $0.25, lean ground beef $2.50, black beans $0.75, multi-grain chips $1, others $1

meat:
1 lb lean ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 Tbl taco seasoning (or 1 pkt or 2 clove garlic +1 Tbl chili powder +1/4 tsp red pepper)
1/3 cup water

dressing:
4 tomatoes, diced (from garden-yum!)
2 Tbl olive oil
2 Tbl lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

salad:
2 cups spinach
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
multi-grain tortilla chips

Cook beef. Add garlic and beans and cook for 2 more minutes. Add seasoning (and water if needed) and stir until well combined and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
Mix the dressing.
Divide the spinach among dinner plates. Top with beef mixture, and sprinkle with cheese. Spoon dressing over each salad and serve with chips on the side or crumbled on top.

Summer Salad

2011-08-03T07:39:00.000-04:00

Sometimes it is so hot, I don't feel like cooking a big, heavy meal. Sometimes, I don't feel like cooking anything at all. Last week I made this salad, and it was just perfect for a hot summer evening. Not only is it beautiful, but it's also healthy, light, and satisfying. We served this with a pumpernickel dinner roll.
My husband was less than thrilled when I told him we were having salad for dinner, but he really enjoyed it. He couldn't believe how well the strawberries and bacon complimented each other. He even liked the dressing, and he is usually strictly a blue cheese guy.
If you want to have this again for lunch the next day, I recommend storing everything separately. The salad may get mushy if you keep in all in one container.
Estimated cost: $4
Spinach $1.20, bacon $0.75, Mandarins $0.40, Strawberries $0.75, Other $1

serves 2-3
6 cups baby spinach (or whatever leaves you like)
6 slices of bacon, chopped
1 cup mandarin oranges
1 cup sliced strawberries
1/4 cup diced red onion
3 Tbl extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbl red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp black pepper

Mix the salad: spinach, bacon, mandarins, strawberries, and onion.
Mix the dressing: oil, vinegar, garlic, and pepper.
Pour dressing over salad.
Serve with a dinner roll.

Menu Plan Monday: August 1-5

2011-08-01T15:25:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in my Meatfree Monday post that I overlooked planning and making a meat free dish last week. This week I was so proud of myself for planning two meat free dishes, so I could be one ahead if this should happen again...and it probably will...but with all my good intentions, one dish has already been put on hold. The first on the list was for a quinoa, corn, and black bean dish. I had never had quinoa before, but I've heard it's really tasty and very healthy. I was even getting a little excited about it...until I got the store. It was $10.69 for a one pound bag! That obviously does not fit into our small grocery budget, especially with the price of everything going up. I think I will still be able to use the recipe, but substitute brown rice for the quinoa.

Breakfasts:
Oatmeal
Fruit, Yogurt, and Granola
Waffles
Cereal

Snacks:
Nuts and berries
Clementines
Yogurt Smoothies

Dinners (leftovers for Lunch)
Beef and Mushroom stuffed French Bread
Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Stuffed Shells w/Spinach (Meatfree)
Ikea (like) meatballs and broccoli
Chili Mac
Rice, corn, and black beans (Meatfree)

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