For The Love of Food

Oh No, not my oven

2011-12-18T18:28:00.000-05:00

That's right folks, I've had an oven malfunction. My oven is caput and unfortunately I'm not going to be able to finish my 12 treats of Christmas series. Lucky for me, I should be back in business just in time for Christmas but not in time to finish my blog series. Please check back in with me in 2012 and see what new and fun recipes I try for the new year. So until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!!!

12 Treats of Christmas Part 1

2011-12-16T09:26:00.000-05:00

So I know that I promised to share my 12 treats of Christmas and now I'm a little behind. Not only is it the Christmas season but in my household it seems like it's the season of sickness. Everyone in my house (except me so far) have had a really bad cold and instead of baking, I've been taking care of my patients. Well now, everyone seems to be back on the mend and I can focus on my treats for Christmas. So here goes.....

Treat 2- The Gingerbread House

I cheated on this treat and it's not actually a treat we give away as a gift in this house. My daughter and I just love to decorate it and put it out for all to see. I picked up a "pre-assembled" house at Target and we got to work. The set game with the house, the frosting, and the candies and we designed it all ourselves. This is a great activity to do with your kids and they will just get a kick out of it!!!!

Treat 3- Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods

This is an easy but beautiful treat to give away to friends and family in a goodie bag. Seriously, who doesn't love the combination of sweet and salty and with a chocolate covered pretzel you get both in one bite. So simple to make, you just need pretzel rods, white and dark chocolate candy melts (I used Wilton) and then whatever type of decoration you want on the pretzel. We used Christmas sprinkles and crushed candy canes. Once you melt down the chocolate, spoon chocolate over the pretzel then place on wax paper until set but not hardened. Once set, drizzle with your decoration of choice and place back on the wax paper and put on the fridge until hardened. Can't get much easier than that can it?

Treat 4- Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes

Again, I cheated a little bit on this one. I used a red velvet cake mix but did make the frosting on my own. These little two bite cupcakes are fun to eat but can be used for an elegant gathering. I used the leftover crushed candy canes to top the cupcakes to give them that holiday feeling. It also gives a nice hint of mint flavoring that takes the dessert to another level.

Treat 5- Dark Chocolate Oreo Fudge

Another easy treat to make,(are you starting to see a pattern here?),fudge. I asked my daughter what would be tasty to put into our fudge mixture and she decided on crushed Oreo's and it really worked. What I like about this fudge recipe is that it isn't overly sweet because of the semi-sweet chocolate. I'm not a big fan of overly sweet desserts but if you prefer a little sweeter fudge, by all means add a little milk chocolate to this recipe to get the desired taste.

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup crushed Oreo cookies

In a saucepan over medium heat, pour the milk in and add the chocolate. Make sure the chocolate is completely coated by the milk. Add the salt and vanilla and cook until chocolate has melted. Take off the heat and add the cookies. Poor into a 9" baking dish covered with foil, making sure there is enough foil to hang over sides. Let mixture come to room temperature before chilling in the fridge for 3hrs. Once chilled, remove foil from pan using the overhang and the peel fudge from the foil. Slice and pack for holiday gifts!!!

Treat 6- Peanut Butter Kisses

Okay, one of my favorite food combinations is the peanut butter and chocolate. Again, I think it's the mix of salty and sweet that I love. So why not top a simple peanut butter cookie with a yummy chocolate kiss. It makes a really pretty cookie and it couldn't be tastier.

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

1 Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.

2 Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

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

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

It's Time For Christmas Cookies!!!

2011-12-01T08:24:00.000-05:00

This truly is the most wonderful time of the year, in my humble opinion of course. I love Christmas movies, Christmas decorations, Christmas cartoons and music, but most of all I love baking goodies for Christmas. Decorated sugar cookies, chocolate dipped wonders, peppermint scented treats, they're all so tasty. So this year, I thought I would write a new installment on the blog. I'm trying for a 12 days of Christmas treats theme. Some might be cake pops, some might be cupcakes but all should be perfect for a holiday treat basket to give as a gift. So here goes.

Treat One: The chocolate chip cookie reboot

I asked my daughter the other day, what would be the perfect cookie to leave for Santa. Her suggestion was a little twist on the chocolate chip cookie. She wanted a cookie with a little bit a peanut butter, chocolate chips and M&M's candies. Lucky for me I had all of the ingredients on hand so I went to work creating a recipe. I took the basic recipe for chocolate chip cookies and added 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and a cup of holiday plain M&M's. They were just what she wanted and she exclaimed they were the best cookies ever!!!! You can't beat that.

Chocolate Chip/M&M Cookie

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks unsalted) softened
2 eggs
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
1 cup plain M&M's

Preheat oven to 375
In a small bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside. Using either a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream butter, sugars, vanilla and peanut butter together. Be careful not to over beat the butter. Add eggs and mix until incorporated. Add flour mixture and mix. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, mix in the chips and M&M's. Scoop dough onto cookie sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Enjoy & stay tuned for the next Christmas treat!!!!

Nutella Cream Pie

2011-09-19T16:04:00.000-04:00

Ever since my mother-in-laws birthday back in August, I have developed an obsession for the chocolate/hazelnut spread, Nutella. I'll spread it on top of a granola bar or have it on a piece of whole wheat toast for breakfast. I've even switched out peanut butter and made Nutella cookies. I've scoured the internet for various recipes involving Nutella just to get my fix in. It's borderlining on crazy. Over the weekend, I asked hubby what kind of pie I should make for the weekend and I gave him some options (peanut butter, pumpkin or chocolate). He suggested a peanut butter cream pie and it's as if a lightbulb went off in my head. What about a Nutella cream pie instead? He loves hazelnuts and wouldn't a Nutella cream pie taste like a little fancier chocolate cream pie? Right then and there I was sold. I got to work writing a recipe and came up with something that is out of this world.

Nutella Cream Pie

For the Crust:

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar

For the Filling:

2/3 cup Nutella spread
1 8oz package of cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of kosher salt
1 egg

For the topping:

1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
additional Nutella for drizzling, warmed in microwave

Preheat oven to 325 degree. In a small bowl, mix together all the crust ingredients and press into the bottom of a 9" pie plate.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the Nutella, cream cheese, chocolate, sugar and salt about 1 minute. Add the egg and mix until glossy and smooth, 1 more minute. Poor filling in your pie crust and bake for 30 minutes until the center is just set. Let cool to room temperature and make your whipped topping. Whip the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Spread the topping over pie and sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts and drizzle with melted Nutella. Enjoy!!!

Caramelized Onion & Goat Cheese Crostata

2011-09-18T08:59:00.000-04:00

So as most of you know I love food. For me cooking is an escape from my world of chaos. It's where I block out the yelling and screaming that I hear throughout the day ( I am the mother of 2 small children after all) and enter a world full of exotic ingredients and enticing aromas. Let me tell you, most days are pretty chaotic in the house. Even as I've trying to type these few sentences, I've been pulled away from my computer for one catastrophe or another. So by week's end I'm usually exhausted, ready for a nice bottle of wine and a night away from the world. I try Sunday through Thursday to make meals that the whole family will enjoy so hubby, kids and I can all sit down and have dinner together but by Friday night I'm ready to have a little bit fancier meal made just for hubby and me. The weekends are usually when my creative juices start flowing and I try out a new recipe and this Friday was no different. I'm not quite sure how the idea of a savory crostata crawled into my brain but sitting on my sofa watching a little "Must See TV" on Thursday, the image just popped into my mind. So I pulled out my trusty computer and starting scouring the internet to get an idea. I stumbled upon something I thought sounded delicious and fairly easy. Caramelized onion & goat cheese crostata and a tossed salad was the perfect light dinner to go with a Friday night date with hubby.

Caramelized Onion & Goat Cheese Crostata
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons cold butter
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup ice water
1 package of Isle de France goat cheese at room temperature
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
cherry or grape tomatoes (about a cup)
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
shredded Parmesan Cheese
salt & pepper

To make crostata dough:
In a food processor, mix the flour, sugar and salt together. Add butter and pulse into mixture is until mixture resembles small pearls. Add the ice water slowly and form the mixture into a ball. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll dough out to 1/8" thickness then place on baking sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper and place back in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes.

While is chilling (for 2nd time), preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a saute pan over medium heat, add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and the onions. Add a little sugar, salt and pepper and let onions cook until they become soft and golden brown. Do not let onions burn This will take about 10-15 minutes. While onions are cooking, add a couple of teaspoons of balsamic vinegar, some olive oil and the tomatoes to another saute pan and cook down the tomatoes until they begin to burst.

Take the dough out of the fridge and spread the goat cheese over dough leaving about a 1" perimeter. Top goat cheese with the onions, tomatoes and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Fold edges of the dough over forming a crust around the crostata. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Serve with a nice salad and enjoy.

Dream Bar Pie

2011-09-15T10:26:00.000-04:00

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite Christmas cookies that my mom made was a dream bar. It was a glorious creation that combined slivered almonds, shredded coconut, an ooey gooey brown mixture all on top of a shortbread cookie. I don't know why my mother only made these at Christmas but somehow that has always made them feel so much more special to me. Well, with fall fast approaching, I had a craving for these dream bars the other day but I also wanted to make a pie. I thought what better pie ingredients then the dream bars. It would be sort of like a pecan pie. I'm not a big pecan fan but I've always thought that pecan pies looked really yummy. So I gave it a try. I took a recipe for pecan pie, tweaked it a little to add the dream bar ingredients and took it one extra step further by adding chocolate chips. Let me tell you, I now have a new favorite pie recipe and this will definitely be on my Thanksgiving menu. Make sure you serve this warm with either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!!!!

Chocolate Dream Bar Pie

9" refrigerated pie crust
5 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs lightly beaten
3/4 cup slivered almonds
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter with brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil and let boil for 1 minute. Take off heat and add nuts, coconut and chocolate chips and vanilla. Let mixture cool for 5 minutes. Quickly stir in the beaten eggs and pour mixture into your pie crust. Place pie on baking sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes. Let cool. Serve pie warm or at room temperature. Top with whipped cream or vanilla cream if desired.

Mmm, Pumpkin Cupcakes

2011-09-13T19:22:00.000-04:00

Every year around this time, I get a craving for all things fall. I can't wait for soups, mugs of hot coffee, light sweaters and anything with pumpkin in it. Nothing says fall food more to me than pumpkin. I start searching frantically for pumpkin bread, cakes, cookies any kind of recipe that I can include pumpkin in. Ever since I was a little kid, I've loved pumpkin. I think it's the combination of the subtle sweetness and the combination of spices that make me just love pumpkin foods. The smells emanating through the house are comforting and just make you want to smile. I started searching my cabinets to see what types of ingredients I had to put together something scrumptious and I came up with pumpkin cupcakes, topped with a cream cheese frosting and a drizzle of caramel. Then end result was just delicious!!!!

Pumpkin Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cupcake:

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground gloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree (I uses organic)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco) plus 2 tablespoons water
4 large eggs
1/4 cup milk

For the frosting:
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

To make the cupcakes, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and all the spices. Set aside. In a the bowl of your stand mixer, blend together pumpkin, sugars, shortening and milk. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions, mixing into incorporated.

Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4's full. Bake until the cupcakes are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 15-18 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack and let cool completely.

While cupcakes are cooling, combine cream cheese and butter in bowl of your stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until well combined and smooth, about 2 minutes. Mix in the vanilla. Gradually beat in the sugar until totally mixed in, increase speed and then beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes and drizzle with caramel sauce (I used a store bought caramel sauce).

Back To School

2011-09-06T09:37:00.000-04:00

This is my daughters first year in "big kid" school as we call it and there have been many adjustments for our little family. While it's not her first time going off to school, it is the first time she will be gone for a majority of the day. When she was in preschool, she was used to not only having her lunch but also having a morning snack and then coming home by 1pm and being able to have an afternoon snack. Now that she is kindergarten, the morning snack is gone and she has lunch so early in her day, that by the time I pick her up from school she is starving. I do try to give her a good breakfast and pack a protein rich lunch so that she doesn't get too hungry during the day, but that hasn't seem to work out for us yet. So now, I spend my mornings trying to anticipate what kind of snack she'll want when we get home. I keep a variety of fresh fruit on hand as well as cheese & crackers, fruit snacks, etc.. but the other day I thought I would make her something fun. She loves rice krispie treats but I didn't happen to have any rice krispie's on hand so I made the next best thing, popcorn treats. I know I've posted about popcorn treats before, but these are different. Instead of binding the popcorn with melted marshmallows, I used a mixture of brown sugar, honey, peanut butter and nutella (a new favorite). It's delicious, a little bit healthier and makes the popcorn taste more like caramel corn. So much fun and everyone in the family loves them (even hubby who hates popcorn). Give these a try for you little one today and they are sure to please!!!!

Popcorn Treats

8 C popped popcorn (preferably the plain, healthy, non-butter-flavored kind, if you can)
1 C roasted peanuts (or any nut)
1/2 cup plain m&m's (or for a healthier version add dried fruit instead)
3/4 C honey
3/4 C brown sugar
1/4 t salt
2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
2 teaspoons nutella

To pop popcorn, add 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels to a saucepan w/lid to 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Heat to medium heat but once kernels start to pop, lower to low heat to avoid burning corn. Season with salt and place in large mixing bowl.

In another saucepan, melt brown sugar, honey, peanut butter and nutella. Once melted add a little sprinkle of salt and let cool slightly. In the mixing bowl with the popcorn, add the nuts, m&m's and poor the honey mixture over the popcorn. Spray a plastic spoon with vegetable spray and toss to coat. Next spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with vegetable spray and poor mixture into dish. Pat down with your hands (spray if needed) and place in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours to make cutting easier.

Sweet Treats

2011-08-29T09:23:00.000-04:00

When you were a kid, did you just love splitting open an Oreo cookie just to eat the creamy middle? Do you remember how exciting it was when cookies & cream ice cream was introduced? That's how I felt the other day when I stumbled upon Bakerella's post about cookies & cream cupcakes. What a fantastic idea and I can't believe I never thought of that. One of my favorite store bought cookie is the Oreo and my absolute favorite milkshake is one composed of cookies and cream. I just knew that as soon as I read her post, that I was going to have to find a reason to make these cupcakes and thankfully this weekend I did. Every year, hubby participates in several fantasy football leagues and each league has a draft. Usually for at least one of these drafts, I make some kind of treat. For the past few years, it's always been my peach cobbler because is my most requested recipe and I guess you could say it's my signature recipe. Well this year I just didn't want to make another cobbler. Don't get me wrong, I love cobbler and I love making it but I was in the mood to come up with something different. Enter the cookies & cream cupcake idea. Perfection!!!! These cupcakes are truly delicious and if you love Oreo's then you will fall in love with this treat. The frosting is made from vegetable shortening instead of butter to give it that pure white color and it also mimics the flavor of the cream filling for the Oreo perfectly. I was a little skeptical at first because when I think of frosting made from shortening, it reminds me of those overly sweet frostings on grocery store cakes. It works well on this cupcake though and you really fell like you're getting the eat the filling first before finishing the rest of the Oreo. Just like when you were a kid, right? If you want a treat that will take you back to being a kid or you looking for something fun to make with your little ones, give this one a try. They are sooooo yummy!!!!

Cookies & Cream Cupcakes
adapted from Bakerella

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup natural unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup hot water
24 Oreos, plus more for crumbs

Frosting:
1 cup shortening
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3-6 Tablespoons milk
2 or more teaspoons Oreo cookie crumbs

For the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line tray with 12 baking cups.
Place one whole cookie in each cup or break apart at least 12 cookies and place the broken pieces into each cup.
Mix the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl using a wire whisk.
Add the eggs, oil, vanilla and milk and mix well until thoroughly combined. Add the hot water and mix until combined.
Transfer the batter (it will be very liquid) to a large measuring cup and then pour batter into each baking cup so it’s about three quarters full. You should have a little left over.
Bake for 16-18 minutes.
Makes at least 12 cupcakes

For the frosting:

Beat the shortening in a mixer until smooth.
Add vanilla and mix until combined.
Add the powdered sugar in three additions, scraping down the sides after each addition.
Add a Tablespoon of milk at a time and mix together until you achieve the consistency you like.
Add the cookie crumbs and mix until completely combined. You can add more if you like, but I just wanted a light speckling to show off the white frosting. Frost cupcakes and top with a mini Oreo or regular sized Oreo.

Enjoy!!!!

Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Harry Potter

2011-07-19T09:34:00.000-04:00

Alas, we have come to the end of the Harry Potter saga and it has been bittersweet for me. When Harry Potter was first released and there was such fervor regarding the books and movies, I was one of those people that swore I would never read a book or see a movie. Well, I have certainly had to eat those words on all accounts. It started when I happened upon "Sorcerer's Stone" on HBO one day and I have been hooked ever since. I have read all the books, seen all the movies. I have cheered, laughed and cried while following Harry on his epic journey. When I first discovered Harry, I hadn't even had my first child yet. Now that she has turned 5, she too has found a love for this story. With the last movie in the series released on Friday, I decided a fitting way to say goodbye to Mr. Potter would be with a few Potter inspired recipes. I scoured the interned and discovered Butterbeer and pumpkin pasties. I took a little liberty myself with the Cornish pastie and made what I like to call the Pizza Pastie. My daughter and I had so much fun creating these dishes and snuggling under a blanket to watch "They Deathly Hallows Pt. 1". It was a family fun night indeed. So to all my friends who are Harry Potter fans, here's a Butterbeer to you and I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I did!!!

Butterbeer
adapted from Bakingdom

Homemade Butterbeer
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

FOR THE BUTTERBEER
6 12-ounce bottles chilled cream soda [I prefer IBC (which is vegan) or Polar Classics Vanilla, but any will work perfectly], substitute diet cream soda for a still yummy sugar-free version
3 teaspoons (1 tablespoon) imitation butter flavor
OPTIONAL – 1 ounce light rum, per serving, for adults only

FOR THE FOAM
2 cups heavy cream
6 tablespoons sugar, or splenda for sugar free version
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons imitation butter (if using clarified butter, double the amount to 3 teaspoons, or 1 tablespoon)

To make the butterbeer: Set out 6 16-ounce glasses. Place 1/2 teaspoon of imitation butter glass. Pour 12 ounces of butterbeer into each glass, over the butter. Lightly stir, if necessary.

To make the foam: In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, whip the heavy cream on medium high speed for 3-4 minutes until it starts to thicken. Add the sugar and continue whipping until very soft peaks begin to form, another 3-4 minutes (if you need to whip more or less, then be sure to do so, the times can vary quite a bit based on environment). Stir in the vanilla and imitation butter, then whip for another 30 seconds or so, until soft peaks form.

Spoon a generous portion of foam on top of each glass of butterbeer, mixing gently, if desired (or spoon the foam into the bottom of the glass and pour the butterbeer over the top). Serve immediately.

Pumpkin Pasties
adapted from Ezra Poundcake

3/4 CUP SUGAR
1 TEASPOON GROUND CINNAMON
1/2 TEASPOON SALT
3/4 TEASPOON GROUND GINGER
1/2 TEASPOON NUTMEG
1/4 TEASPOON GROUND CLOVES
2 LARGE EGGS
1 CAN (15 OUNCES) LIBBY’S® 100% PURE PUMPKIN
1 CAN (12 OUNCES) EVAPORATED MILK
PIE DOUGH, ENOUGH FOR TWO 9-INCH CRUSTS (REFRIGERATED PACKAGED DOUGH OR HOMEMADE)
1 EGG, SEPARATED
1 TABLESPOON CREAM
OPTIONAL: CINNAMON-SUGAR MIXTURE (1/2 CUP SUGAR + 1 TO 2 TABLESPOONS CINNAMON)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a 1 1/2-quart casserole dish or pie plate with butter, and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Set aside.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Stir in the pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture.
Gradually add the evaporated milk, and stir to combine. Transfer the pumpkin filling to your prepared dish, and bake for 15 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake for 30 minutes. Cool the pumpkin filling on a wire rack. Raise the oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

When the filling is cool, lightly dust your counter or another flat surface with flour. Roll out each crust to about 1/16-inch-thick (a little thicker than a tortilla), and cut the dough into 4-inch circles. (You can reroll the trimmings to make additional circles, but only do it once, or they’ll be tough.) Put about 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of each dough circle.
Working with one circle of dough at a time, brush some egg white on the edge of half of each circle to help seal them. Fold the circle in half, and crimp the edges with the tines of a fork. Place the pasty on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and repeat with the rest of the pasties.
Cut three small slits at the top of each pasty, and lightly brush them with egg wash (made by combining the egg yolk and cream). Sprinkle the pasties with sugar. Bake them for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown. If desired, when the pasties come out of the oven, roll them in cinnamon and sugar before placing them on a wire rack to cool.

Pizza Pasties

1 9" refrigerated pie dough cut into 4 medium sized circles (I used a 6" cake pan as a guide when cutting)
1 cup pizza sauce
1 cup mozzarella cheese
Italian seasoning, salt and pepper
egg wash (1 egg beaten with a little cream, water or milk)
your favorite pizza toppings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the four dough circles on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. In each circle, spoon in a tablespoon of pizza sauce and top with a couple tablespoons of cheese. Now you can top with your favorite pizza toppings. With the tip of your finger, rub a little egg wash around the edges of the dough and pull dough over to seal the pocket. With the tines of a fork, mash down the edges. Make two slits in the top of your pizza pocket and brush with egg wash. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning and bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Happy 4th

2011-07-06T09:50:00.000-04:00

Yes, yes. I know. I've been out of the blogging world for quite some time now but I'm back with my 4th of July recipes. So this year I asked hubby what he wanted for our 4th cookout and he very specifically said "Hamburgers, hot dogs & banana pudding". You have to understand that usually when I ask him what he wants, his stock response is "I don't know, whatever you want is fine". I was so thrilled when he actually gave such a definitive answer, I almost fell over. I immediately started scouring the internet for my favorite banana pudding recipe. A few years ago, my sister made Paula Deen's "Not Yo Momma's Banana Pudding" recipe for a family gathering and I absolutely fell in love with it. She uses not only whipped cream and a pudding but adds a mixture of cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk to make the creamiest, richest banana pudding I've ever had. It is fantastic!!! If you are a banana pudding fan, then this is a must try recipe.

Since hubby was so specific with what he wanted, I also decided to throw in his favorite side dish, so I made a corn and black salad. I usually grill fresh sweet yellow corn for this salad but unfortunately couldn't find any at my grocery store. I had to resort to using frozen yellow corn but I think it still turn out pretty tasty. It's a nice alternative to a heavy potato salad and little better for the waistline as well. This has been my "go to" recipe of the summer. It's so easy, affordable and just plain yummy.

Also, keeping the kids in mind, I threw together some fun brownie cupcakes. I love to bake brownies in mini cupcakes tins. It's a great way to get the perfect size brownie. I just picked up a boxed brownie mix, topped them with a little cream cheese frosting and added red, blue and star sprinkles to make them festive. What a fun dessert and the kids loved (an the grown-ups too!!!)

Not Yo Momma's Banana Pudding
adapted from Paula Deen

2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies
6 to 8 bananas, sliced
2 cups milk
1 (5-ounce) box instant French vanilla pudding
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream

Line the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top.

In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth. Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Grilled Corn and Black Bean Salad

3-4 ears of yellow corn (if you can't find fresh then use frozen), grilled and then taken off the cob
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 small red onion, diced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
juice from half of a lime

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Set aside and let flavors marry. You can but it in the fridge or leave it out a room temperature until you are ready to serve. If making a day ahead, make sure it goes in the fridge.

Chicken Vindaloo

2011-05-17T19:09:00.000-04:00

So it was my birthday last week and for a present my mother gave me a Jamie Oliver book I've been dying to having. She gave me Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution". The reason I've wanted this book is his mission behind creating it. I love that he is trying to teach people how simple and quick it can be to throw together a delicious meal for your family. Don't get me wrong. I'm guilty of using quick fix meals from time to time but I really do try to cook more for my family. I like knowing what ingredients are going into the foods.

Anyway, while leafing through the pages of the book, I stumbled upon a chapter that was devoted completely to curries. I love curry and Indian food in general. I love spicy food. That's why I was so excited to find this chapter. I'm constantly scouring the internet to discover new Indian dishes to try. Well now I have a book chalk full of new and exciting recipes. I decided to try his recipe for Vindaloo. It is a very spicy dish but I thought I was up for the challenge. I did, however, alter the recipe slightly by using chicken instead of pork. Also, his recipe called for Patak's hot curry paste. I couldn't track that down so I had to use the mild paste. I did have a difficult time finding it at all. I couldn't find it at any of our local grocery stores and wound up locating it at World Market. Anyway, this dish was plenty spicy for me so I can only imagine what it would be like with the hot curry paste.

Vindaloo
adapted from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

2 medium onions
4 cloves of garlic
1-2 fresh red or green chiles, to your taste
a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger root
a small bunch of fresh cilantro
4 ripe tomatoes
peanut or vegetable oil
a pat of butter
2 chicken breasts, diced
1/2 cup mild curry paste, such as Patak's
salt & freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup natural yogurt
1 lime

To prepare your curry:
Peel, halve and finely slice your onions. Peel and finely slice the garlic. Finely slice the chile and peel and finely slice the ginger. Pick the cilantro leaves and finely chop the stalks. Cut the tomatoes into quarters.

To cook your curry:
Get a large pot with a lid or a dutch oven on medium high heat and add a couple of lugs of oil and the butter. Add the onions, garlic, chile, ginger, and cilantro stalks and cook for 10 minutes, until softened and golden. Add the chicken and the curry paste. Stir well to coat everything with the paste and season with salt & pepper. Add the tomatoes, vinegar, honey and about 1 2/3 cups water, enough to cover everything, and stir again. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 45 minutes with the lid on. Check the curry regularly to make sure it's not sticking to the pan, and add extra water if necessary. Only when the meat is tender and cooked, taste and season with salt and pepper. Please season carefully.

To serve your curry:
Feel free to serve with basmati or jasmine rice, naan bread and with a few spoonfuls of natural yogurt dolloped on top. Sprinkle over the cilantro leaves and serve with some lime wedges for squeezing over.

Chocolate Brownie Bottom Cheesecake... What???

2011-05-15T19:04:00.000-04:00

Okay, okay. I know it's been a few weeks since I posted last and I really don't have an excuse. I'm hoping that this cheesecake recipe will make up for my lack of posts. Back around Cinco De Mayo, I was hunting down recipes. I was hoping to make something new since we were having friends over that night. In the end, I cheated and wound up serving a 7 layer dip and pork in chile verde sauce that I purchased from Costco. Both were delicious and big hits with our guests. I did, however, stumble upon this recipe for a chocolate brownie bottom cheesecake. It was actually called Mexican brownie bottom cheesecake and let me tell you, it was so amazing. It was creamy and just had a subtle hint of spice on the back end of the bite. I changed the recipe up just a bit since I'm trying to lose weight and I used light cream cheese and light sour cream. If you're looking for a new way to make cheesecake, check this recipe out. It will impress even the pickiest cheesecake eater!!!!

Mexican Brownie Bottom Cheesecake
(adapted from Pennies On A Platter)

For the crust:
Boxed brownie mix, family size (for a 9- x 13-inch pan)
Ingredients listed on the brownie box
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

For the cheesecake:
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sour cream
3 eggs
Cayenne pepper for garnish, if desired

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease an 8- or 9-inch springform pan with non-stick spray.

For the crust:
Mix the brownies according to the package directions, mixing in the spices to the dry ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan and bake for the directed time. Allow to cool to room temperature.

For the cheesecake:
Meanwhile, reduce oven heat to 325˚F. In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla until well blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Stir in the sour cream. Mix in the eggs on low speed until just blended. Pour the mixture over the brownie crust.

Place the springform pan on a rimmed cookie sheet and place in the oven. Pour about 3/4-inch of water into the baking sheet, so it surrounds the springform pan. Bake at 325˚F for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until the center is almost set. The center of the cheesecake should jiggle slightly, but the outer 3 inches or so should be firm. (Mine took about 1 hour and 15 minutes.) Turn off the oven and crack open the oven door. Leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven until you are able to pick up the pan without using oven mitts. Transfer the pan to the counter-top and let cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

Run a knife around the rim of the pan to loosen the cake. Remove the outer rim of the pan, slice, and serve with a dusting of cayenne pepper (optional).

A Simple Dinner With The Skinny Girl

2011-04-21T20:12:00.000-04:00

So I have this very funny friend who've I know since we were in middle school who has recently become obsessed with the beverage Skinny Girl Margarita. She keeps a hilarious blog that you just have to check out, The Mommy and The Skinny Girl (http://themommyandtheskinnygirl.blogspot.com) but please make sure you read the lessons in order. Anyway, she has been asking her friends to try this drink for awhile now but some of us have had problems finding the stuff where we live. At least that was the problem I ran into recently. It appears that here in NC, we haven't received a shipment of Skinny Girl Margarita in over a month and the ABC store couldn't tell me when we would have any. Thank goodness for Page and her "rockstar" because she had a bottle shipped to me so I could finally taste the glory of the skinny girl for myself. Now, I'm not exactly a big fan of margaritas or of tequila for that matter but one sip of the Skinny Girl and I may have become a margarita convert. The beauty of this beverage is that it is indeed a low calorie adult drink but with no fake additives. It is made with premium tequila and sweetened with agave nectar instead of fake sugar. There is none of the phony bologna fake after taste that you get with most low cal/diet drinks. It is a smooth and delicious adult treat. I highly recommend checking with your local store to see if you can get Skinny Girl in your area. It is worth the trouble for sure.

Now my dilemma last night was trying to come up with a dinner that would be perfectly tasty with the Skinny Girl. I thought, well if I'm trying to be calorie conscious with my beverage, I should probably try and come up with something equally healthy for dinner. You see recently, I have been trying to get into shape for a trip to Vegas I'm taking in June. It's difficult to do when you one hobby is cooking and baking. As many of you well know, I love my sugar and my butter, two no no's when your trying to lose weight. So I turned to my tried and true favorite site (foodgawker) and stumbled across a recipe for chili mac & cheese. I made a few changes like switching out the ground beef for 93% lean ground turkey and it was so yummy. I know when a recipe has been a true success when my 5yr old goes back for more. This casserole was a perfect accompaniment for the Skinny Girl Margarita and it was both budget and kid friendly.

Turkey Chili Mac
adapted from What's Cooking Chicago

Table salt
1/2 pound elbow macaroni (about 2 cups uncooked pasta)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey (93% lean)
2 medium onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
12 oz Colby Jack cheese, shredded (about 2 1/2 cups)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon salt and add dry macaroni; cook until al dente. Reserve 3/4 cup pasta water and drain pasta. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.

Using the same large pot, wipe dry and heat over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil and heat until shimmering. Add ground turkey and break it up in pieces to brown. Once browned, remove from pot and discard drippings. Set beef aside.

Add remaining oil to the same large pot and return to medium heat until shimmering. Add onions, garlic, red pepper, chili powder, and cumin; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and begin to brown.

Add the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, brown sugar, reserved 3/4 cup pasta water and turkey to the pot. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until flavors have blended.

Stir in the cooked pasta, 1/2 cup of shredded cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer mixture to a 9x13 baking dish and smooth over with a spatula. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until the mixture is hot and bubbling.

Remove from oven and sprinkle the top of the dish with the remaining shredded cheese. Return the dish once again in the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes until the cheese begins to melt and brown. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Chicken Doesn't Have To Be Boring

2011-04-12T10:30:00.000-04:00

We don't really eat a lot of red meat in our house, so I'm always trying to come up with a new way to make chicken breast. I know that the boneless, skinless chicken breast can be a boring cut of meat. Let's face it, most of the time it's dry and bland. There's no skin to give it that nice fatty flavor. A lot of times it's difficult to infuse flavor into the breast. Well I came up with a great way to make a delicious, lower fat way to make a yummy boneless, skinless chicken breast. I turned to my southwestern flavors to make a dish that was actually inspired by Chicken Parmesean. I call mine Chicken Monterey. I replace the breadcrumbs with southwestern seasoned crushed tortilla chips, the tomato sauce with salsa and the mozzarella cheese with Monterey Jack. It was tasty and fun twist on chicken breast. So easy to make, affordable and and a great dish to serve to your family. I served mine with a soutwestern style rice (see empanada recipe) and voila, quick, delicious family meal.

Chicken Monterey (the recipe serves 2 adults and 1 child)

2 medium sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips
1/4 cup salsa
1/4 cup pepper jack cheese
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
salt & pepper
olive oil
egg & a little milk or buttermilk (whichever you have on hand)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat egg with a little milk or buttermilk. In a separate bowl, take the crushed tortilla chips, 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder & cumin, and the salt and pepper and mix. Next, pound the chicken breast so they aren't too thick. Sprinkle with remaining spice mixture, dredge into the egg mixture, then dredge through the tortilla mixture. While you're working on the chicken, have a medium sized skillet warming up with a little bit of olive oil. Take the coated chicken and add to the skillet. Cook on both sides for about 4-5 minutes per side. Now place the browned chicken breasts onto a cookie sheet and top with the salsa and the cheese. Place in the oven and cook for about 10 more minutes until chicken is cooked through. Serve with rice or spanish style rice.

The Perfect Tea Cookie

2011-04-04T14:38:00.001-04:00

When I was a girl growing up, my parents would spend Sunday afternoon with grandparents having afternoon tea. My grandmother is from England and of course afternoon tea is quite an affair. Different types of teas, finger sandwiches, pastries, cookies and of course Devonshire cream. Well, we didn't do anything quite so fancy here stateside, but my grandparents and parents always had some sort of snack at tea. When I saw this Emeril Lagasse recipe on the Food Network website, it just reminded me of those afternoon teas. As most of you know, I've recently become obsessed with cookies and devoted many posts to new cookies recipes I have stumbled upon. The recipe I discovered was for Raspberry Lemon Thumbprint Cookies but I was out of raspberry jam. I substituted the raspberry jam for apricot and the chambord for orange juice. They were simply delicious and truly the perfect cookie for afternoon tea.

Raspberry Lemon Thumbprint Cookies

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2003

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup raspberry jam or jelly
* 1 tablespoon Chambord or kirsch
* 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 sticks (1 cup) butter, at room temperature
* 2/3 cup sugar
* 2 large egg yolks
* 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
* 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets.

In a small bowl, combine the jam and Chambord. Stir to combine.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk to blend.

In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in the egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla. Add the flour mixture in 2 additions and beat just until moist clumps form. Gather the dough together into a ball.

Pinch off the dough to form 1-inch balls. Place on the prepared baking sheets, spacing 1-inch apart. Use your floured index finger or 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon to create depressions in the center of each ball. Fill each indentation with nearly 1/2 teaspoon of the jam mixture. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Leftovers, what to do

2011-03-29T16:44:00.000-04:00

So yesterday, I posted about my tasty empanandas that I made over the weekend and I mentioned how the meat mixture yielded a lot and would leave leftovers. What do you do with that leftover meat you might ask? Well, there are a lot of options you can choose from. I went with a taco salad with a delicious salsa ranch but you could also turn this mixture into tacos, nachos, quesadillas or add a little tomato sauce and make a Mexican sloppy joe. All yummy options that are easy to fix and kid friendly too. For my salad, I just re-heated the meat then I chopped up some tomato and romaine lettuce. I shredded up a little pepper jack cheese and crushed up a few tortilla chips. I tossed all that together with the meat mixture and voila, an easy and scrumptious taco salad made in just under 15 minutes. Next I took about 1/2 cup of ranch with a couple tablespoons of a jarred salsa, mixed it together and added that to my salad. It was yummy for sure and hubby even declared it was the best taco salad he's ever had. What a great way to get rid of leftovers without feeling like you're eating the same thing twice.

Something Different

2011-03-28T11:11:00.002-04:00

So I'm always trying to come up with different foods to serve the family. I am guilty of falling into the same cooking rut from time to time. In order to not lose my zest for food, I tend to turn to international cuisine to snap me back to my passion. This weekend, I decided to try my hand at empanadas and Mexican style rice. Whenever hubby and I venture to our local Fresh Market, he is usually tantalized by their empanadas. I, on the other hand, have never had an empanada. What a better time to try them then now. The weather is just starting to get warm but the nights are still cool. Empanadas & rice just sounded like a comforting meal for a crisp spring evening. I started my filling with ground chuck and then added layers of flavor with red onion, cumin, cayenne pepper, chili powder, paprika, salt, pepper and a pinch of cinnamon, corn and black beans. It was a hearty filling that left a lot of leftovers (check back tomorrow for how I handle those). I used a refrigerator pie dough to package the filling and topped it with a little pepper jack cheese. Served with a side of the Mexican style rice, and you have the perfect Mexican comfort food meal.

Empanada
1 pound ground chuck
1 9" refrigerator pie dough
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 can black beans
1/4 can yellow corn
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
salt & pepper
1/4 cup pepper jack cheese
a squeeze fresh lime juice
olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brown ground beef over medium heat. Drain meat. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil in the pan and add red onions. Cook about 2-3 minutes making sure onions do not brown. Add all the seasonings and then add the tomato paste. If needed, thin out mixture with a little water. Add meat to the onion mixture along with the beans and corn. Squeeze a little fresh lime juice over mixture. The mixture will look something like this.

Cut dough into 4 triangles. Put about 2 tablespoons of filling onto each of the triangles of dough and sprinkle each with cheese. Pull dough over to make a little pocket. Crimp edges with fork and brush pocket with egg wash. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes or until empanadas are golden brown.

Mexican Style Rice adapted from All Recipes
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, chopped
1 1/3 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2/3 cup tomato sauce
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup frozen corn kernels
1/4 cup frozen peas

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and sauté onions, garlic and carrot until softened.

Add rice and cook, stirring constantly, until toasted and golden. Add the garlic powder, salt, cumin, and tomato sauce. Stir until all the rice is coated.

Add the chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Uncover and add frozen corn and peas. Fold in and cover for 3 minutes until warmed through. Fluff with a fork before serving.

Everybody Has Their Off Days

2011-03-26T16:44:00.000-04:00

So in all my years of cooking and baking, I've had many misses in the kitchen. Lately, I've had more than I'd like to. The weird thing about my latest two misses is that they are both recipes I've made many times before. For the life of me, I can't figure out what went wrong but I must say I was very disappointed in the results.

Last week since the weather was so lovely and it was the first day of spring, I had a craving for lemon meringue pie. One of the first recipes I reach for when the weather starts to warm up is something with lemon involved. Lemon is one of my absolute favorite flavors and it lends itself so well to both savory and sweet recipes. To make my pie, I use a Paula Deen recipe that I've always used, put a refrigerator pie dough in the oven to pre-bake, and started on my lemon curd. I follow the recipe exactly but for some reason my curd just doesn't thicken properly. I just know that no matter what I do, once the curd goes into the crust, it will run when it's cut into. That's exactly what happened folks. The pie looked beautiful before being cut into and it tasted okay but it was a runny mess.

Next kitchen goof up was a cupcake concept that I came up with in my sleep. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I even dream about food. Anyway, I came up with a cupcake that was like a "Reeses Peanut Butter Cup". It would be a chocolate cupcake, filled with a peanut butter whipped cream, topped with chocolate ganache and peanut butter cup pieces. Sounds great right. I think it really could be a wonderful cupcake but something went terribly wrong with the recipe I used. It's a recipe I've used on here before (see "Best Chocolate Cupcake Ever"). This time when I made the cupcakes, they came out dry, not very chocolately or very sweet. Again, I followed the recipe exactly, so I just can't figure out where my mistake was. They looked beautiful and I certainly think it's worth giving a try but if you do, maybe try this with a chocolate cake mix instead. I will definitely be trying these again. I'm a perfectionist and I really want to master this idea.

Make Your Own Takeout is Back

2011-03-11T12:12:00.000-05:00

Awhile I ago, I started a series of blog posts titled "Make Your Own Takeout". Well I'm bringing that series back today. With the price of everything on the rise these days, I've realized that it just isn't affordable to eat out a lot. I'm trying to recreate my favorite restaurants meals at home. My daughter loves Jersey Mike's subs. Every time we ask her what she wants for dinner or lunch, she says "Jersey Mike's please". Yesterday I decided I was going to make our favorite sandwiches at home. Pretty simple really. I usually have most of the things you need to make a good sandwich in my fridge anyway. All I had to run to the store for was thinly sliced cheese, really good roast beef and some sub rolls. This is a really fun and budget & family friendly meal. For my sandwich, I wanted a side of onion rings but I wanted a little healthier version. I turned to Cooking Light for a yummy and lower fat version. They were the perfect side to my sub!!!

Club Sub Supreme
Roast Beef
Thinly Sliced Provolone Cheese
Sliced Ham Or Sliced Turkey
3 Bacon Slices
Shredded Lettuce
Sliced Tomato
Pickle Slices
Banana Peppers
Mayo or Mustard
Oregano
Salt, Pepper
Sub Roll
oil, vinegar

Slice roll and top bottom half with beef, ham, cheese, bacon,tomato & lettuce. Drizzle with oil & vinegar, oregano and salt & pepper. On top part of roll, slather with mayo or mustard and top with pickles and banana peppers.

Onion Rings adapted from Cooking Light Magazine

Ingredients

* 2 large onions, peeled (about 1 1/2 pounds)
* 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon paprika
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/3 cup flat beer
* 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
* 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
* Cooking spray
* 1/4 cup ketchup

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.

Cut the onion crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick slices, and separate into rings. Use 16 of the largest rings; reserve remaining onion for another use. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, salt, paprika, and pepper in a medium bowl. Stir in beer and egg white (batter will be thick). Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Dip 5 onion rings in batter, letting excess drip off. Add onion rings to pan; cook for 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Place the onion rings on a jelly-roll pan. Repeat procedure of dipping onion rings in batter and cooking in remaining oil, ending with 6 rings. Coat the onion rings with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until crisp. Serve rings with ketchup.

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays

2011-03-10T09:04:00.001-05:00

March is full of major milestone birthday's in our little family. My daughter turned 5 this past Sunday and my son is 1yr old today. I certainly wouldn't have planned on having kids with birthday's four days apart but we have somehow managed the craziness. This year for my daughter's birthday, she told me she wanted a strawberry, vanilla and chocolate cake. So I thought and thought, how in the world am I going to manage that. Then it hit me and it was so simple. I decided on a two layer cake (one chocolate, one vanilla) filled and covered with strawberry buttercream (ok I cheated and bought a canned strawberry frosting). I am not the best at cake decorating but I truly believe that a homemade cake means more to my kids than anything I could buy in a store for them and I do love to bake. For her birthday, I always let my little girl pick an edible image off Ebay and then we plan her party theme around that image. I love, love, love, the edible image and always had great success with the ones that I have purchased off Ebay. They are so easy to decorate with and I think really make the cake look fun.

Yet Another Cookie, or is it????

2011-02-28T09:53:00.010-05:00

Okay, so I'm combining posts here. A couple of weeks ago, I wanted to recreate a recipe I love at one of our local hangouts. They're pulled pork nachos and they are scrumptious. Let's get this straight, here in North Carolina we take all things pulled pork seriously. So much so in fact, we have waring versions of it. So when I see a menu item that has pulled pork, I immediately have to try it. That's what happened with these nachos and I am so happy I did. You wouldn't thing pulled pork drenched in wing sauce and topped with a cheese sauce would be good but oh my word, it's absolutely delicious. The version I made is a little different then what I get from the tavern. Mine has a little sweeter wing sauce and a store bought Monterrey jack cheese sauce but they were still good all the same. If you love pulled pork and nachos, give these a try.

Pulled Pork Nachos
Shredded Pork (I grilled a pork tenderloin seasoned w/salt, pepper, olive oil, cumin, cayenne pepper and chili powder)
Prepared Monterrey jack cheese sauce
1 bag white corn tortilla chips
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Your favorite wing sauce
chopped green onions

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and place tortilla chips on sheet. Drizzle half the cheese sauce over the chips. Next place the shredded pork that has been mixed with wing sauce over the chips. Add more cheese sauce and top with shredded cheese and place in oven. Cook until cheese is melted (about 10 minutes) and the top with green onions.

Now for the the second part of the post and the reason for the title. In my quest for new cookie recipes, I stumbled upon a creation I just had to try over on the blog "Love and Olive Oil". The name caught my eye, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cream Pie". It just sounded fabulous and I knew hubby would love it. I had a dinner party to attend this weekend and thought what better time to try out a new recipe. It was a smash hit. This is a pie that begins with a chocolate cookie crust layered with cookie dough, topped with a pudding that tastes like cookie dough and finished with sweetened whipped cream and fresh baked cookies. How could it not be fabulous. If you're looking for something fun and new to make for you family, this is the recipe for you!!!!

Cookie Dough Cream Pie adapted from Love and Olive Oil

For Pie Crust:
1 1/2 cups chocolate wafer cookie crumbs
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Cookie Dough:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
3/8 cup granulated sugar
3/8 cup pack brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 tablespoons milk or soy milk
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

For Filling:
3/4 cups light brown sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole milk
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl, mix together melted butter and cookie crumbs. Firmly press into a 9" pie pan. Bake for 8 minutes and remove from heat. Set aside and allow to cool completely. Keep oven on.

To prepare cookie dough, beat butter and sugars in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed or by hand until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Using some dough, make 8 small (1/2" diameter) balls. Place on a non-stick baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until edges are lightly golden. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Reserve remaining dough (dough can be made 1 day in advance and stored, covered, in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature prior to using.)

In medium saucepan, mix sugar, flour and salt. Stir in 1 cup of milk, mix until smooth and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue to stir until smooth and thickened, about 2 minutes, then remove from heat.

Beat the egg yolks with the remaining cup of milk. Temper the egg mixture with a small amount of the slightly cooled milk mixture then blend this into the larger saucepan with the cooling milk mixture.

Return the saucepan to the heat and bring to a boil again, stirring constantly, lower heat and simmer until mixture is the consistency of thick pudding, about 1 minute. Remove form the heat and quickly stir in the butter and vanilla and set aside.

While filing is cooling, break of pieces of cookie dough and press them into the coolie pie crust. You want an even layer of the dough, approximately 1/2" thick. Poor in the filling on top of the dough layer, leveling the top with a rubber spatula. filling should comp about 1/2" from the top of the crust. Refrigerate until cooled completely.

Whip cream until it begins to for soft folds. Add sugar and vanilla, and beat until cream holds stiff peaks. Gently spread all but 1/3 cup of whipped cream on top of cooled filling, smoothing top into a slight dome. With remaining cream, pipe or dollop mounds evenly around the pie and garnish with mini cookies.

MMM, Cookies

2011-02-19T14:56:00.006-05:00

So one of my favorite things to do on any given day is to browse the photos on
Foodgawker (www.foodgawker.com). I get a lot of inspiration looking at what other food bloggers are creating. The other day, I stumbled on a recipe at Recipegirl.com for a cookie called "Chocolate Chip Resse's Peanut Butter Cookie". They looked absolutely fantastic. Hubby requested the recipe as soon as he saw the picture. I mean, come on, who doesn't love chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cups. Putting them together only creates the most perfect cookie. Hubby did suggest I make a more standard "Toll House" cookie then follow the recipe I found and they were so ooey gooey and just plain yummy. The perfect accompaniment to an ice cold glass of milk.

Chocolate Chip Reese's Peanut Butter Cookie
1 stick of butter
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon white sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (plus extra for topping, optional)
12 full sized Resse's Peanut Butter Cups

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars and vanilla together. Add egg and continue to mix until light and fluffy.

In a medium bowl, stir dry ingredients together. With mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Once incorporated, add chocolate chips.

With a cookie dough scoop, place 12 rounded scoops 2 inches apart on a large cookie sheet. Then press on peanut butter cup onto each cookie dough scoop. Top cookies with another scoop of dough and press down until the peanut butter cup is completely covered. Stud a few extra chips on top.

Bake for about 12 minutes, until cookies are lightly browned and almost set.

MONSTER COOKIES

2011-01-21T18:18:00.004-05:00

So lately, I've been on the hunt for new cookie recipes. I seem to make the same types over and over again. Hubby loves chocolate chip, I love peanut butter and my little girl, well she loves just about anything with sugar in it. My first try at a new cookie recipe didn't quite work out for me but then I stumbled across Paula Deen's "monster cookie" recipe. Hubby has a cookie he loves at our local market called the kitchen sink cookie. This recipe comes pretty close to that cookie and let me tell you, it is delicious. It's got just about everything you can imagine in it and I'm sure you can change the ingredients to have add in's that your family loves. So easy to make and fun to have the kids help too. Enjoy!!!

Monster Cookie adapted from Paula Deen
Ingredients

* 3 eggs
* 1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 12-ounce jar creamy peanut butter
* 1 stick butter, softened
* 1/2 cup multi-colored chocolate candies
* 1/2 cup chocolate chips
* 1/4 cup raisins, optional
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.

In a very large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. Add the salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate candies, chocolate chips, raisins, if using, baking soda, and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not overbake. Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. When cool, store in large resealable plastic bags.

Back in Business

2011-01-11T11:43:00.010-05:00

Typically when the new year starts, you get a lot people making healthier and low-fat recipes. Well I'm not a big fan of low-fat cooking or baking for that matter. I like make what I call lower fat. I still cook with butter and oil, I just try to get away with using a little less than the original recipe calls for. I will of course opt for leaner meats and sometimes replace carbs with their healthier versions (sweet potato instead of white or brown rice instead of white rice) but for the most part, my eating motto is everything in moderation. I mean, I absolutely love all things sweet and all types of desserts but I also don't think that every dinner needs to end with a sweet treat. I try to restrain myself and only make a sweet item once a week. I reserve dessert for my Sunday meal. I like to make a big meal that the whole family can enjoy and have a special dessert to end the evening. This week I made one of my favorite dinners, chicken tika masala and finished the meal with a lower fat version of version of NY style cheesecake top with a scrumptious mixed berry topping. My family enjoyed this dinner and I hope yours will too!!!!

Chicken Tika Masala

2 teaspoons red chili paste
2 cloves garlic (pressed)
2 tablespoons paprika
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons cumin
small container greek yogurt
2 tablespoons grated ginger
1 yellow onion sliced
2 chicken breasts, cut into nugget sized pieces
2 tablespoons butter
1 can tomato puree
dash of heavy cream
chopped cilantro and lime wedge for garnish
olive oil

Take the yogurt and mix in 1 clove pressed garlic, 1 tablespoon each of paprika & ginger, & a teaspoon each of cinnamon, chili paste and cumin. Add a little salt & pepper as well. Mix together and add chicken pieces. Marinate for 2 hours or overnight.

Over medium heat, melt butter in a medium saute pan and add the sliced onions. Cook until tender. Add the remaining spices and cook about 3 minutes. Next pour in the tomato puree and let sauce thicken. While sauce is thickening, heat another saute pan with a little olive oil. Add the chicken pieces and cook through. It will take about 5 to 8 minutes. Once the chicken is cooked add the heavy cream to the sauce and then add the chicken. Cook for about 1-2 minutes. Serve over jasmine rice with chopped cilantro and a lime wedge for squeezing over the chicken mixture.

Lower Fat NY Style Cheesecake

9 graham crackers, ground
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted
3 8oz package less fat cream cheese, room temperature
1 8oz container low fat sour cream
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 teaspoons lemon zest

Preheat oven to 325. Mix together graham cracker crumbs, 3 tablespoons sugar and the butter. Pat into an 8 inch springform pan and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes

Cream the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, flour and lemon zest. Once all are creamed together add the sour cream and mix on low. Next add the eggs, one at time, stopping to scrape the bowl after each addition. Pour the batter over the crust and bake in a 325 oven for 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on cooling rack. Make sure to take an offset spatula and rim around the outer edges of the cake to make sure it doesn't stick to the pan. Once cooled, remove from the outer springform pan and let the cheesecake set up in the fridge for 4hrs or even overnight. Top with mixed berry topping or serve plain.

Mixed Berry Topping
1 bag frozen mixed berries
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons lemon zest

Melt butter over medium heat. Add berries. Next add the half cup of water and the cornstarch (make a slurry with a little water added to the cornstarch before adding to pan). Cook about 5 minutes until you notice the sauce start to thicken. Next add the honey, sugar and lemon zest. Cook about 10-15 more minutes or until sauce resembles a canned pie filling consistency. Let cool completely before topping on cheesecake.

Where Did I Go???

2011-01-03T10:17:00.002-05:00

Well, I took the last part of 2010 off from the blogging world. Why, you may ask. Well there were many reasons. Mainly, I wanted to focus my time on my family and not on taking the best picture or coming up with something fabulous to post on the blog. Also, the end of the year is always crazy busy for me. Between holiday party's at my daughter's school and cooking for our family's holiday dinners, I just didn't have the time. Lastly, I wanted to take time for myself again. Between my kids, my husband and trying to keep up with two blogs, I kind of lost myself somewhere in there. I'm back now though. I can't promise that I blog more than once a week, hell I can't even promise I'll blog weekly. I can promise though, that I will post a new recipe once a month. I'm not one of those people that starts a new diet every time a new year begins. No, no. My pledge for 2011 is just to try and cook more meals at home, eat out less and make smarter choices. I truly believe that the best way to eat what you want, is to eat in moderation. I am a lover of all things food and don't want to give up anything. So please don't give up on my little blog. I'm going to try and make some improvements, take more appetizing looking pictures and try some interesting recipes. Please check in often to see what I've come up with.

Chocolate Covered Caramel Goodness

2010-10-17T20:08:00.006-04:00

So I've been sick this weekend and didn't really put together a big family meal. I'm just trying to take it easy and get better. Hopefully I'll have a wonderful meal to post for you next week complete with chocolate cake. Yum, Yum. In the meantime, Makena and I did make chocolate covered caramel apples today and let me tell you, they are so yummy. We got a big bunch of honeycrisp apples from Costco today and all the fixins to make the perfect Halloween treat. They were so easy and so much fun too. If you make these with your little ones, please be sure to be careful with the caramel. It gets very hot and very messy and that part should definitely be done by an adult. You don't want boo boos when trying a fun craft with the family. The basics of this apple are simple. I took caramel candies and melted then over medium heat with 2 tablespoons of water. Then I used dark chocolate candy melts for the chocolate coating. So simple.

Chocolate Covered Caramel Apples
1 bag (about 50pcs) caramel candies
2 tablespoons water
dark chocolate candy melts
white candy melts
Halloween sprinkles
Fall colored M&M's chopped
1/2 cup melted vanilla frosting
a few drops of orange food coloring
craft sticks
5 apples

Unwrap the caramel candies & place in a non-stick saucepan with 2 tablespoons of water. Stirring constantly, melt the candies. In the meantime, place a stick in top of each apple. Once candy is melted, dip apples in caramel making sure to scrape off the bottom. Place on wax paper or silpat liners. Let cool, then place in refrigerator for about an hour. Melt chocolate candy melts, white candy melt and vanilla frosting in microwave. Do so in 30 second intervals. Once vanilla frosting is melted add, orange food coloring. Dunk apples as you like and decorate with fall M&M's and Halloween sprinkles. Drizzle apples with the melted frosting. Place in the fridge to let chocolate set. Enjoy!!!!

Hallowen Fun

2010-10-14T10:07:00.004-04:00

My little one has been begging me to make some Halloween treats so we came up with spooky cupcakes for our first concoction. To make things simple, I bought a boxed cake mix, frosting and picked up decorating gel in white, red and black. We thought it would be fun to make zombies and vampires and come up with different faces for each cupcake. I had so much fun with my daughter watching her creative mind at work. I think they came out great and trust me, they tasted even better.

Spooky Cupcakes

1 boxed cupcakes in your favorite flavor (we used chocolate)
2 cans vanilla frosting
black food coloring
neon purple food coloring
green food coloring
red decorators gel
white decorators gel
black decorators gel

Bake cupcakes according to package instructions. Let cool.

Divide vanilla food coloring evenly in four bowls (1 for purple, 1 for green, 1 for black/grey & 1 for white). Take 4 drops of neon purple coloring and color 1 bowl of frosting. Next take 3 drops black and 4 drops green food coloring to make "monster" green frosting. Add several drops of the black food coloring to a bowl of frosting to make a grayish color. If you want black frosting then use chocolate frosting and tint with the black coloring. Leave 1 bowl of frosting white. Frost cupcakes, some purple, some green, some white. Use the gray frosting to pipe hair with a medium sized star tip. Once you have frosted and piped hair onto the cupcakes, use the decorator gels to make the faces. Make any kind of design you and your little one come up with. This is such a fun project and a great way to get your kids in the kitchen and using their creative minds.

Family Fun Night

2010-10-13T09:57:00.010-04:00

I think these days we're all looking for a meal that doesn't break the bank. I know that a lot of us turn to the convenience meals like frozen dinners and boxed meals like "Hamburger Helper". I know that I for one have been guilty of using convenience foods to feed my family from time to time. Well I have come up with a casserole that is inexpensive, tastes like Hamburger Helpers and isn't full of all the chemicals of a packaged dinner. Who doesn't like macaroni that is filled with cheese, ground beef and topped with buttery breadcrumbs? I know my family does. This is a simple casserole that can be put together in one skillet and can feed the whole family. Try this for you family tonight.

Homemade Hamburger Helper

1 pound 93% lean ground beef
1/2 box elbow macaroni, cooked
1 15oz can of whole tomatoes
1 package American cheese slices
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 small onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

Preheat oven to 350. Brown ground beef over medium heat in a little bit of olive oil. Add onion once beef has been browned and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add salt and pepper, tomatoes, american cheese and macaroni and mix well. Combine breadcrumbs and melted butter. Pour macaroni/beef combination into a casserole dish and top with butter breadcrumbs mixture. Place in a 350 degree oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until breadcrumbs are browned on the top.

Sunday Fall Supper

2010-10-03T21:36:00.008-04:00

So this week marks the start of my Sunday night suppers and our pick for the night was grilled pork tenderloin with sauteed vegetables and braised red cabbage. To finish the meal I made a pumpkin cheesecake with a caramel pecan topping. The meal just screamed fall dinner to me. It was a lovely and cool weekend here in NC and this meal was the perfect ending to a wonderful weekend.

One of my favorite fall side dishes is braised red cabbage. I love the sweetness that red cabbage has and it pairs beautifully with pork. Of course it's not the best smelling vegetable to make but it doesn't have the same sharpness that regular cabbage can often have. It is staple in our household now through December. Now when I was planning tonight's meal, I asked hubby what dessert he wanted. Hubby isn't a big dessert eater but he didn't even skip a beat when he requested a pumpkin cheesecake. I was excited at the idea of yet another pumpkin recipe to discover. I searched the internet and my many cookbooks and finally settled upon a Paula Deen recipe. I added my own touch with the caramel/pecan topping and it was a delicious addition. This meal was comforting, warm and a great way to finish the weekend. I can happily get in bed, curl up with a good book, glass of wine and sleep peacefully tonight.

Braised Red Cabbage
1 small head red cabbage
2-3 slices bacon, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups chicken broth
3-4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

In a large dutch oven, cook bacon until fat is rendered. Remove bacon bits and add butter and olive oil to bacon fat. Add the cabbage, vinegar, broth, 1/2tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Cook covered for 20 minutes over medium/low heat. After 20 minutes, remove cover, add the remaining salt and pepper and cook until majority of the liquid dissolves.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust
1 3/4 cup gingersnap crumbs
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 stick butter, melted

Cheesecake filling
3 8 ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 15 ounce canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Caramel/Pecan topping
1/4 cup store bought caramel topping
1/8 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:

In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling:

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk,sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

For Topping: Melt the caramel sauce of medium heat. Once melted add the chopped pecans. Mix together and it's ready for topping on the cheesecake.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours. Once chilled top with caramel/pecan topping and serve with freshly whipped cream.

Welcome Fall

2010-09-27T10:30:00.009-04:00

So I realize it's been a long time since I posted last and I also realize I was supposed to be cooking a weeks worth of international meals but sometimes life just gets in the way. I've come to the sad realization that with a baby (a very needy one) that I just can't post as much as I'd like to. My goal used to be to post every other day or so but I just don't think that's going to be possible anymore. I've set a new goal for myself and hopefully that will work out for me. I'm hoping to cook a fantastic meal every weekend and be able to post about it. So yesterday we finally got a major cool down in NC. After a ridiculously hot summer, it was so wonderful to finally have a rainy, cool day. It made me want to cook up a big pot of soup. Hubby's favorite soup is french onion so that's what was on the menu. What I love about french onion soup is the cheesey crust baked on the top. It makes for a fun soup to eat. So next time you feel the chill of fall in the air, enjoy a big bowl of this yummy soup. Pair it with a grilled cheese and a nice glass of red wine and you've got the perfect meal.

French Onion Soup

4 yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 8oz cans beef broth
1/2 cup white wine
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt, pepper, bay leaf, poultry seasoning
3 slices provolone cheese

Melt butter and olive oil in a dutch oven or large saucepan. Add onions and bay leaf and cook on medium heat until onions are soft and translucent. Do not let onions brown. Half way through this process, add salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Once onions are the right consistency, add the wine to deglaze the pan. Add the beef broth and simmer over medium for 15-20 minutes.

Preheat the broiler. Poor soup into oven proof bowels and each with a slice of of provolone cheese. Place under broiler and cook until cheese melts and begins to brown on the top.

Earlier in the week, I also baked up a batch of pumpkin whoopie pies to enjoy for the first day of fall. They are delicious and easy treat for the whole family to enjoy.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pie

1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, 1 stick melted, 1/2 stick softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon plus 2 pinches salt
1-2/3 cups flour
4 ounces cream cheese, chilled
1 cup confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour. Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet. Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with the cream cheese. Add the confectioners' sugar and the remaining 2 pinches salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Spread the flat side of 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.

Beinvenue a France

2010-08-20T21:49:00.008-04:00

Tonight was the first night in my week of international meals and we began our journey in France. I've always dreamed of taking an eating tour through France because I truly believe that the French treat food like artwork. I only wish I'd had a wonderful French pastry to complete my meal tonight. I began with one of my favorite cocktails, the Kir Royal and then hubby and I dined on a wonderful meal of grilled chicken paillard topped with a roasted beet salad. The chicken was absolutely to die for. It was moist, juicy and really melted in your mouth. Alongside the chicken and roasted beet salad, I made a little baguette toast topped with the creamiest blue cheese I've ever eaten. Everything eaten together was the perfect bite. If you're looking to take a culinary journey to another land, I highly recommend this dinner. It was plenty of food without leaving you feeling overly full. What a lovely way to begin the weekend.

Grilled Chicken Paillard with Roasted Beet Salad

For the Marinade:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons honey dijon mustard

For the Chicken:
sprinkling of salt, freshly ground black pepper and herbs de provence
2 chicken breasts thinly pounded

Beet Salad:
1 roasted beet
mescalin blend lettuces
homemade croutons
saga blue cheese
caper vinaigrette (I used Brianna's brand)

Mix the ingredients together for the marinade in a large baking dish. Sprinkle salt, pepper, herbs de provence over both sides of chicken and add to marinade. Let set for 1-2 hours.

For roasted beet, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash beet and coat with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 45 minutes to one hour. Let cool, then rub skin off with paper towel. Slice beets and sprinkle with salt, pepper, sugar and toss in the vinaigrette.

Grill chicken over medium heat on grill and cook for 2-4 minutes per side. Take the beet mixture, add croutons, a few crumbles of blue cheese, lettuce and a little more dressing. Toss with hands to coat lettuce with the dressing. Top your grilled chicken and serve with baguette slices topped with more blue cheese.

Kir Royal

Technically a Kir Royal should be made with champagne and creme de cassis but I personally like Chambord better. Fill your champagne glass with the champagne of your liking the add a couple splashes of chambord or creme de cassis. Sit back and enjoy your cocktail.

Best Chocolate Cupcake

2010-08-19T14:26:00.005-04:00

So I know I've been gone from the blogging world for awhile but I just haven't been cooking much lately. Life has been a little hectic and I've really been just throwing meals together in hurry. I can tell you that next week, I will be changing things up a bit. I've been feeling in a bit of a cooking rut lately so I'm turning to international flavors to try something new. I'm spending the weekend researching new recipes and planning my menu so please check back next week to see where I will be traveling to through my cooking adventures. In the meantime, please enjoy this recipe for the best chocolate cupcakes ever. I used the Barefoot Contessa's recipes from her cookbook, "Barefoot Contessa at Home". This is the chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting except I used a vanilla frosting instead. These were the best cupcakes I've ever made!!!!

Chocolate Cupcakes adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home

* 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 2/3 cup granulated sugar
* 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
* 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
* 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* 1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
* 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
* 2 tablespoons brewed coffee
* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup good cocoa powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Frosting
1 package powdered sugar (16 ounces)
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
3 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Beat sugar, butter, milk and vanilla with electric mixer at low speed until well blended and smooth. If frosting becomes too thick, beat in additional milk by teaspoonfuls until the frosting is of spreading consistency.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups frosting.

Easy Pasta Lunch

2010-07-21T14:35:00.008-04:00

As a self-proclaimed carboalcholic, this is the perfect dish for me. What could be better than spaghetti mixed with garlicky, lemony breadcrumbs topped with Parmesan cheese? For me today, nothing could be better. Being the mom to a very active 4 year old year girl and 4 month old boy, I'm always trying to find a healthy but quick lunch to make. This is such a simple dish and is the perfect lunch for a mom who barely has 30 minutes to eat. I know it's good when my 4yr old wants to have seconds.

Spaghetti with garlic breadcrumbs
1/4 box spaghetti noodles
1/4 cup dried breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon chopped Italian parsley
1 garlic clove (crushed)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt, pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese
lemon wedge

Cook pasta according to package. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat and add crushed garlic. Add breadcrumbs and reduce heat to medium low so breadcrumbs don't burn. Add salt, pepper and parsley and let cook about 10 minutes. Add drained pasta, toss with Parmesan cheese and juice from lemon wedge.

Gazpacho

2010-06-28T18:36:00.006-04:00

Living in North Carolina, I'm used to heat but this summer has started out with a bang. With temperatures reaching close the 100 degree mark most days, I've felt very uninspired food wise. Sure, I've made a couple of tasty salads but really there is only so much lettuce I want to eat. I was facing yet another 97 degree day and trying to figure out what to make the family for dinner. I searched through recipe after recipe and finally stumbled upon gazpacho. I've always loved gazpacho but never attempted to make it myself. How easy is this soup to make!!!! You just combine fresh veggies in the food processor and let the combination chill in the fridge for a few hours. Voila, you have gazpacho. It was so refreshing on this hot evening and even my 4 year old daughter loved it.

Gazpacho

1 16oz can chopped tomatoes (you can use fresh of course but I didn't have any on hand)
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1/4 red onion
1 english cucumber with skin left on
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon italian parsley
3 cups tomato juice

Roughly chop veggies including parsley and put in food processor. Pulse until combined and make sure you don't over process. Put veggie combination into a large bowl and add the olive oil, vinegar, lime juice, salt, pepper, and tomato juice. Mix well and put in the fridge to chill. The longer the gazpacho sits the more the flavors will merry together.

Salad, Salad, Salad

2010-06-28T18:20:00.007-04:00

It's officially summer and time for fresh summer salads. I live in the south and as many of you may know, when summer hits it gets HOT. It's very rare that during the summer months I want a meal that feels heavy. I usually crave food that can be grilled or a nice salad loaded with good ingredients. There is a restaurant in town, Village Tavern, that has one of my favorite salads. It's a mix of baby romaine lettuce, creamy blue cheese, bacon, diced tomatoes, red onion and finished with a deliciously sweet vinaigrette. It's light, it's cool and it's very refreshing on a hot summer evening. Another salad I love to make when it's hot outside is a southwestern style salad. I love to load it up with grilled corn, chopped romaine, tomatoes, bacon, crushed tortilla chips, grilled chicken and a yummy salsa ranch. The key to this southwestern salad is the grilled chicken. I marinate it with fresh lime juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, a little honey and southwestern spices (cumin, chili pepper & cayenne pepper). After the chicken is off the grill and sliced, squeeze a little extra lime juice over it and it will give it that little zing of freshness your craving on a hot night.

Tavern Salad

Southwestern Grilled Chicken Salad

My Best Meatballs Ever

2010-06-16T08:25:00.009-04:00

So I'm always trying to find the recipe for the perfect meatball. Should I use turkey or ground beef? Fresh breadcrumbs or dried? Fry them or bake them in the oven? Well this weekend, I think I found my favorite recipe. Since hubby was still out of town. I took the opportunity to make spaghetti & meatballs. It's a favorite of mine and my daughters and with hubby gone I knew I wouldn't get any arguments. I packed up the kids and we headed out to the market. We picked up half a pound of ground beef, fresh Italian parsley, freshly grated Parmesean cheese and the ingredients to make our favorite milkshakes. I decided to bake the meatballs in the oven because I just like how tender they get in the oven. I know some people like the crispiness you get from frying but it's all a personal choice. These really were some of the best meatballs I've ever made.

Spaghetti & Meatballs

1 large can crushed tomatoes w/basil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt & pepper, pinch sugar, splash of red wine vinegar.

half pound ground beef
1 clove garlic, crush
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs (about 2 slices)
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesean cheese
salt & pepper
1 tablespoon fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 350. In a dutch oven, heat olive oil and cook the onions and 2 cloves crushed garlic together. Add tomatoes, oregano, salt, pepper, a little bit of sugar and a splash of red wine vinegar. Let mixture simmer on medium low heat for about 20 minutes.

To make meatballs, add all igredients to beaten eggs except meat. Once incorporated, add the ground beef and mix with your hands. Using a cookie dough scoop, form into balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 to 20
minutes.

Mix spaghetti with the sauce and top with meatballs, fresh parsley and more cheese.

For an after dinner treat, I made chocolate sandwich cookie milkshakes. So yummo.

Take about 4 scoops light vanilla ice cream, 5 chocolate sandwich cookies and about 1/2 cup milk. Mix them all up in the blender and serve with whipped cream.

A Little Treat for My Little Sweetie

2010-06-16T08:20:00.003-04:00

My hubby was out of town this weekend, so I was alone with the kids. I wanted to do something fun for my 4yr old and I was also in the mood to bake. With her helping, I didn't want to come up anything too elaborate, so I just picked up a brownie mix, some cream cheese frosting and a package of plain M&M's. My daughter really loves to help to in the kitchen and using baking mixes is an easy way for her to do so. The brownies were delicious but even more so I had a great time in the kitchen with my little girl.

It's Burger Time

2010-06-07T09:21:00.008-04:00

It's summertime and to me that means burgers on the grill. My absolute favorite sandwich is the burger because it's like a blank canvas on your plate. You can put just about anything you want on it. A burger can transport you to a different world based on what you top it with. It also has a certain comfort feeling. The burger just invites fun and yumminess. Now I know there are purists out there who would say you have to use ground chuck that is 80/20 to ensure maximum juiciness but I'm a girl who just had a baby and still has some pounds to shed. I use ground sirloin for the flavor but my fat ratio is 93/7. For me it has just as much flavor and moisture but if you really crave that extra juice, then I would suggest mixing half ground sirloin and half ground chuck. I had a hard time deciding last night what direction I wanted my burger to take me last night. Did I want Tex Mex, traditional cheeseburger or something more fancy? In the end, I just decided I wanted a regular old bacon cheeseburger. Sometimes it doesn't get much better than classics. I picked up some gorgeous, fresh baked kaiser rolls from my local store's bakery and topped my burger with bacon (of course), pickles, bbq sauce, pepper jack (for a little spice) & Colby jack cheeses and a little lettuce. It was fantastic and went perfectly with the romaine wedge salad I served on the side. If you love burgers as much as I do, then I suggest you pick up a copy of Bobby Flay's "Burgers and Fries" cookbook. He has amazing ideas of what to do with the burger plus some really scrumptious looking shake recipes.

Burger Recipe

On a side note, I wanted to end the meal with a little something sweet. I picked up some fresh pineapple and threw that on the grill. I topped it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzled it with caramel sauce. The perfect sweet treat after a hot day in the sun.

Making My Own Takeout Pt. 3

2010-05-22T21:58:00.005-04:00

I'm the type of person who really does enjoy going out to eat. I love the whole experience. Having someone else serve me, someone else to cook my food and of course someone else to clean up the mess afterwards. Of course, when the economy took a nosedive, most people gave up the luxury of a nice meal out including my husband and me. Being a new family of four, there were just other places we knew we needed to spend that money. Don't get me wrong, we still eat out. I can't give that up completely but I've also learned to adapt to not being able to have a night out every weekend. That's why you'll notice my "Making My Own Takeout" series of blog posts. I try to take our family favorites and turn them into a fun family night at home. Whether it be Chinese food, pizza, Mexican, or whatever, I try to make the whole experience fun for all of us. Last nights "takeout" was pizza and wings night. Hubby and I have a favorite we like to get at our local pizzeria. It's loaded with cheese, pepperoni, red onions and banana peppers. It's so yummy!!! Of course what's goes better with pizza than buffalo wings. Now I love, love, love spicy food but I also love when sweet mixes with spicy. So for my wing sauce, I always had honey and brown sugar to give just the right amount of sweetness to mix with the heat. Hubby even told me last night that my wing sauce is his favorite of all the wings he's ever eaten. A bold statement if I've ever heard one. Of course he's not biased at all LOL. If you are like me and like sweet and heat mixed together, try this wing sauce the next time you're cooking wings at home. It's sure to be a hit.

Beth's Chicken Wings

1 package chicken wings & drumettes
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 bottle Frank's Red Hot Sauce (and yes, it has to be Frank's Red Hot)
1/8 cup brown sugar
2-3 tablespoons honey

Preheat the broiler.

Over medium heat combine all ingredients except chicken wings. While sauce simmers, season wings with salt and pepper. Place wings on cookie sheet covered with foil. Brush wings with wing sauce and cook under the broiler for 8-12 minutes. Flip wings and brush with more sauce. Cook for an additional 4 minutes then toss hot wings in the remaining sauce. Serve with either blue cheese or ranch dressing.

Farmer's Market Pt. 2

2010-05-16T22:06:00.005-04:00

We returned to the Farmer's Market today and glory be if I didn't stumble across a deal I couldn't pass up at the strawberry stand. A one gallon bucket for just a mere $7. What was a girl to do but of course buy a bucket of the juiciest, sweetest strawberries you've ever tasted. So what do you do with a gallon of strawberries you might ask. You come up with tons of strawberry recipes of course. The first up to bat is a scrumptious treat that I call my Strawberry Napoleon. It was absolutely decadent and glorious to eat. I do believe I devoured mine in a mere minutes. It was also one of the easiest desserts to make. It would be the perfect finish to a romantic meal with your sweetie.

Strawberry Napoleon
1 cup strawberries, hulled and sliced
2-3 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/8 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 rectangle frozen prepacked puff pastry cut into squares
chocolate ganache (recipe to follow)
powdered sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix strawberries and white sugar together and set aside for 30-60 minutes.

Place puff pastry squares on lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly brown on top and puffed up slightly. Let cool.

Whip cream with powdered sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Cut each square open and set aside. Take the bottoms of each and spoon a small portion of cream into each. Now top the cream with a few strawberries and top with another square of pastry. Repeat with more cream and strawberries and top with a square that has been dipped in chocolate ganache. Sprinkle with powered sugar and top with a sliced strawberry.

Chocolate Ganache
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces good semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

For the ganache, cook the heavy cream, chocolate chips, and instant coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally.

Farmer's Market

2010-05-16T21:49:00.007-04:00

I absolutely love this time of year. It's the time of year when fresh spring fruits and vegetables are at their peak and there are so many ways they can be used. One of my family's new favorite outings is to visit our local farmer's market. At first it can be a bit overwhelming but after you get the feel of the place, you know which booths you want to visit and what produce you want to purchase that day.

It also happened to be my birthday last week and my fabulous sister gave me a cookbook from Williams-Sonoma all about cooking from the Farmer's Market. My goal is to make as many of these recipes that I can from fresh, local produce this spring and summer. I tried my first recipe from the book and adapted it just a little bit to what ingredients I had on hand. It turned out to be a Rustic Tomato and Caramelized Onion Tart. It was delicious and the perfect light supper to enjoy with a nice glass of red wine. This will definitely be a regular meal in our rotation as long as the tomatoes are still ripe and in season. It's so easy to make but looks like you but a ton of effort into it. It's sure to impress any group you entertain and fool them into thinking you spent hours slaving in the kitchen!!!

Rustic Tomato & Caramelized Onion Tart
2 red tomatoes, sliced
1 rectangle frozen prepackaged puff pastry
1/2 yellow onion
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper
dried basil
garlic salt
2 cups shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place sliced tomatoes on paper towel and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for 30-60 minutes.

Heat olive in pan over medium/high heat. Add onions and season with salt, pepper and a little sugar. Let cook down until caramel in color. Set aside to cool.

Roll out puff pastry on lightly floured surface and place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Mix melted butter, garlic salt, & pepper together and brush on pastry. Sprinkle with mozzarella and 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheeses and top with onions and sliced tomatoes. Place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Once removed from oven sprinkle remaining cheese and dried basil. Cut into squares and serve immediately.

Making My Own Takeout Pt. 2

2010-05-03T19:01:00.006-04:00

So one of my daughter's favorite meals is sesame chicken and fried rice. She asks for this at least a couple times a month. Now I love Chinese food and love getting takeout but it can get expense if you're buying it every couple of weeks. So I searched the Internet to find a way to make it myself. Let me tell you, the recipe I found was really delicious and really easy to make. It was so good that my daughter had two helpings and even finished the leftovers the next day. Now when I'm having a craving for Chinese but I don't want to run out for takeout, I can just go to this recipe and voila, instant Chinese dinner.

Sesame Chicken
Chicken
4 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder (optional)
2 drops sesame oil
cornstarch, to coat chicken
Vegetable or Peanut oil for frying
Sesame Seed (to garnish)

Sauce
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup chicken broth
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 dash red chili paste
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Combine chicken ingredients except cornstarch and let marinate for at least 30 minutes in the fridge. Remove chicken from marinade and toss in cornstarch then cook chicken in hot oil on the stove or deep fryer until cooked through. Remove from the pan and keep warm in the oven while making the sauce. Combine all sauce ingredients EXCEPT cornstarch in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over med. heat. Mix cornstarch with a little water (about 1/4 cup) in a cup until dissolved- then slowly add to the sauce mixture on the stove. Heat until thickened to the consistency of gravy. Add the chicken to the sauce and heat through. Serve with plain or fried rice.

Spring Pasta

2010-04-22T20:55:00.011-04:00

I am a carbaholic for sure. I crave crusty bread and pasta weekly. Hubby is not as much as of a pasta fan as I am so I don't get to make it as often as I'd like to. So the other night I really want a bowl of pasta but I didn't want my usual spaghetti and meatballs or fettuccine alfredo. I thought, how about a BLT style of pasta. Of course the "l" wouldn't be lettuce but leeks. Could be tasty right? I knew my husband loved a BLT sandwich so why wouldn't he love BLT pasta? The pasta was absolutely delicious. The bacon gave a wonderful smokey flavor and the cherry tomatoes cooked down to make a really lovely sauce. It was great with a nice glass of Chianti and tossed green salad. Earlier in the day, I also was really craving something sweet but since having the baby I've been trying to curb my sweets and keep the weight off. Hubby suggested a low-cal frozen peanut butter pie. One of our neighbors had made one for us when we first came home from the hospital and we loved it. I tried to recreate it the best I could but make it my own at the same time. It was a nice way to finish the evening for sure.

BLT Fettuccine
Salt
1 pound fettuccine
Extra virgin olive for drizzling, plus a tablespoon
8-10 slices of bacon, chopped
2-3 leeks, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced then washed and dried
1/4 teaspoon red chili paste
2 pints ripe cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup chicken stock
Black pepper
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
A generous handful of grated Parmesan, plus some to pass at the table

Heat a large pot of water to a boil for fettuccine, season water with salt the cook pasta to al dente.

In a deep skillet or Dutch oven with a tight fitting lid heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium-high heat, add bacon and cook to crisp, remove with slotted spoon and reserve on a paper towel plate. Drain off some fat if pan has more than a couple of tablespoons of drippings. Add leeks and chili paste and saute 2-3 minutes then add tomatoes and stir to combine, cover pan. Shake pan occasionally and cook until tomatoes begin to burst, 6-8 minutes. Uncover pot and mash up tomatoes with wooden spoon, add chicken stock and stir 1-2 minutes. Season the sauce with some salt and black pepper to taste, then reduce the heat to low.

When the pasta is ready, add a ladle of starchy water to sauce along with parsley, bacon and fettuccine, toss 1-2 minutes with an extra tablespoon of olive oil. Turn off heat and toss in cheese, serve immediately.

Frozen Peanut Butter Pie

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 8oz package low-fat cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons fat free half/half
1 container low-fat cool whip
1 9" packaged chocolate pie crust
hot fudge sauce for drizzling

Combine peanut butter, cream cheese, sugar, half/half, and 1 cup of cool whip until creamy. Pour into prepared pie crust and cover with the remaining cool whip. Drizzle the hot fudge sauce on top and freeze until pie is set.

Spring is Here

2010-04-12T20:58:00.005-04:00

It was a gorgeous weekend here in NC this weekend and all I wanted to do was sit on the deck and enjoy an adult beverage with my hubby. Yesterday morning when I woke up, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to make for dinner. I knew I wanted something that was light and something that I could enjoy with a nice glass of red wine. So what did I come up with? I decided on putting together an antipasto tray. My husband loves meals where I put together a really good meat and cheese tray. I guess an antipasto platter is sort of the Italian version of a meat and cheese tray. For our antipasto we picked up a delicious ball of fresh mozzarella, some thinly sliced provolone cheese, sopressetta, pepperoni, Italian flat bread, and various olive salads. I then marinated red onions and asparagus in balsamic vinegar and olive oil and threw that on the grill. Hubby and I opened up a lovely bottle of red wine and enjoyed our nice spring supper on the deck. It was the perfect ending to a beautiful spring weekend.

Coming Soon

2010-04-09T16:09:00.003-04:00

So it's been a month since my baby boy was born and and I'm slowly getting back in the cooking game. It's taking me a little getting used to, having a newborn around again and I'm slowly getting my routine down. With the weather getting warmer here, I am starting to feel a little inspired again to get in the kitchen or on the grill and cook. It's just actually finding the time to get on here and blog about it that I'm having difficulty with. Now that the baby is getting a little older, I'm hoping things will start to get a little more settled and we'll all be in more of a routine. I promise, I'm not abandoning my blog. I still love to cook and can't wait to share recipes with you all. So please stay tuned and I promise some really great things to come your way soon!!!!

I'll be gone awhile

2010-02-26T13:45:00.004-05:00

Well the time has come for me to have my little bundle of joy so I will be gone for awhile from the food blogging world. I will be having a c-section and will be out of commission for a few weeks. I will hopefully be able to post pictures of Makena's birthday cake next week and that will be the last post for awhile. I'm hoping that once I'm back on my feet, I will feel inspired to create some fun and healthy meals to showcase on my blog. Please keep checking in!!!!

Happy New Year

2009-12-31T08:56:00.008-05:00

I can't believe we're about to start a brand new year. Where has 2009 gone? I feel like the last part of this year flew by in a whirlwind. Once Thanksgiving arrived, time just flew by. Between getting ready for Christmas and the new baby, I haven't really had too much time to cook (as you can probably tell from lack of postings). I did, however, cook a little over the Christmas holidays. Hubby and I have a tradition to make appetizers for Christmas Eve because we spend dinner with his family. Each year I try to come up with some new. Hubby has developed a little obsession with a cheese, cracker and meat tray so of course that had to make an appearance. I always like to make a hot dip(this years was reuben) and this year I made a little bruschetta. For Christmas dinner, we always spend that over at my sister's house. She makes a fabulous meal of roast beef, yorkshire pudding and some kind of veggie. In years past she usually makes the dessert, which is a peppermint flavored red velvet cake we call the Christmas cake. It is so yummy. This year she asked me to make a dessert that I first tried out on Thanksgiving. It's a citrus cranberry cake that I found in November's issue of "Food Network Magazine". It is absolutely delicious. I'm looking forward to what 2010 may have to offer. We'll have a new addition to our family and we cannot wait to meet him. Please check back for my New Year's Eve snacks. Hopefully I won't be so slack in getting them posted.
Happy New Year everyone!!!!

Christmas Eve Snacks

Reuben Dip
1/2lb pastrami or corned beef, chopped thinly
1 small can sauerkraut, drained
1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup mayo
2 tablespoons pickle relish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together and place in a small casserole dish. Top with a little more swiss cheese and bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes and serve with warmed rye cocktail bread.

Halloween Treat

2009-10-28T09:52:00.004-04:00

With Halloween quickly approaching, I wanted to find a fun and easy treat to make with my daughter. We both love candy and popcorn, so I thought, why not put the to together. What I came up with were, popcorn squares. Much like rice krispy treats, these squares are fun to make and delicious. Have making these quick and easy treats with your little one this Halloween.

Popcorn Squares

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/3 cup popcorn
1 bag mini marshmallows
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
assorted chocolate candies (we used m&m's, snickers, kit kats & reeses cups)
Vegetable cooking spray

Spray a large bowl and cookie sheet with vegetable cooking spray. Heat oil in a medium sized saucepan with lid. Add popcorn and cook over medium low heat until completely popped (about 3 minutes). Put popcorn in bowl. Melt butter and marshmallows together and added to cooked popcorn and mix until incorporated. Spread out onto cookie sheet and top with your candies. Let firm for about 1 to 2 hours then break into 2" pieces and store in an airtight container.

My Favorite Mac & Cheese

2009-10-28T09:34:00.004-04:00

Sorry I've been away so long. Between traveling out of town and the various illnesses that have plagued our house, I've been a little too busy to blog. I have, however, discovered a new and favorite way to make macaroni and cheese. I usually use the egg, sour cream and shredded cheese method and make a traditional southern baked mac & cheese. Well, a few weeks ago I decided to try something new. My mother always made mac & cheese using a bechamel sauce first, then adding the shredded cheese to that. She would always top it with buttered breadcrumbs for the nice crispy topping. I had forgotten how much I loved that version of mac & cheese. Now that I am pregnant again, I've been feeling nostalgic for things from my childhood. I decided to try and recreate my mom's mac & cheese. What I managed to create is now my favorite way to eat mac & cheese. I used a combination of white cheddar and Gouda and topped with sliced tomatoes and the buttered breadcrumbs. It is decadent, delicious and comforting. It's a great meal on a cold evening with family. Just mixed up a nice green salad and enjoy.

Beth's Mac & Cheese
1/2 cup white cheddar, shredded
1/2 cup Gouda, shredded
3 roma tomatoes, sliced
1/2 box elbow macaroni, cooked
3 slices fresh white bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Bechamel sauce (recipe follows)

Bechamel
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups warm milk
1/4 teaspoon dried mustard powder
salt
pepper

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and cook until smooth. Reduce heat to medium low and slowly add warm milk. Cook until thickened being careful not to boil (about 8 minutes). Remove from heat and add mustard, salt and pepper.

Mac & Cheese preparation
Preheat oven to 350. Cook mac and cheese according to package instructions. Grind bread in a mini food processor until crumb consistency. Add to melted butter and set aside. Once you have your bechamel prepared, add shredded cheeses and when the pasta is cooked mix the cheese sauce and pasta together. Pour into an oven safe dish, top with sliced tomatoes and breadcrumbs. Bake in oven for about 25 minutes or until breadcrumbs are golden brown.

MMM, Turkey Meatloaf

2009-10-01T12:54:00.004-04:00

The weather has finally started getting cooler here and of course for me that means comfort food. What is better that meatloaf and mashed potatoes? That was the meal I decided on the other night. Don't be fooled though. I don't use ground turkey because it's leaner, I use it because my daughter doesn't like red meat. The ground turkey I use is actually no different than using ground beef fat wise. I buy the 85% lean because it is a mix of dark and white turkey meat and makes a moister meatloaf. If you want something leaner, by all means sub ground sirloin for the turkey in this recipe. This really is your classic meatloaf recipe. It's loaded with bread crumbs, onions, spices and of course topped with ketchup. I mix ketchup and Worcestershire sauce to make a nice tangy sauce. It's absolutely delicious and sure to please even your finickiest eater. Trust me, if my daughter gobbles this up then anyone will.

Turkey Meatloaf
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 cup dried breadcrumbs, plain
3/4 cup ketchup
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 pound 85% lean ground turkey
1 egg beaten
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender. About 5-7 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.

Combine 1/4 cup of the ketchup and 2 teaspoons of the Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl a set aside.

Add the ground turkey, remaining ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, egg, salt, pepper, basil, garlic powder and breadcrumbs to the bowl with onions. Mix until just incorporated.

Form the mixture into a loaf form on a baking sheet or you can mound the mixture into a 9 x 5 x 3" loaf pan. Bake for 35 minutes. Spread the ketchup mixture over the top and bake for about another 25-30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Goes great with mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach.

Enjoy!

Rainy Day Fun

2009-09-21T09:56:00.006-04:00

Thursday was a rainy day here in NC so I was trying to come up with something fun to do with my 3yr old daughter. My MIL had let her borrow a Mickey Mouse cake pan so I decided that we should bake a Mickey cake. Nothing fancy, just a yellow cake mix with cream cheese and chocolate frosting. The picture above is the result. It was easy to do but a little time consuming. I used a Wilton star tip #16 to pipe on Mickey's eyes, ears and face. Then to fill in his mouth I used Wilton gel frosting. I was quite happy with the end result and so was my little girl.

Are You Ready For Some Football

2009-09-13T20:05:00.010-04:00

Sunday's in the fall/winter mean one thing in our household, FOOTBALL. My husband is a die hard football fan and participates in not one but three fantasy football leagues. I'm not the biggest fan of the sport but I do love game day snacks. For me football means burgers, sausage & peppers, chili, stews, dips, mini sandwiches, wings, etc... It's almost my time to shine in a way. I love having hubby's friends over and making tons of food for them to enjoy while watching all the games. So with opening season being this past Thursday, I prepared a little array of snacks for hubby and me to have while watching the first game of the season. We dined on slider burgers, sushi and chicken salad sandwiches. Of course the meal wouldn't be complete for me without dessert, so I made super fudgey brownies. The food was great and the game not so much. For Sunday's games, hubby was going to watch with a friend so I prepared a big dish of sausage and peppers for them to nosh on. I was jealous that I didn't get any. LOL. This will probably be a theme in my blog posts for the next few months. Check back each week to see what I come up with.

Fudgey Brownies

8 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter and chocolate over medium heat in a saucepan. Let cool. Beat eggs and sugar until creamed together. Add cooled chocolate/butter mixture to eggs and sugar. Next add the dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated. Pour into and 8 x 8 baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Sausage and Peppers

1 1/2 pounds Italian sausage (I like a mix of both sweet and spicy)
Bell peppers (1 each yellow, red, green) sliced
Large yellow onion sliced
salt, pepper, dried oregano, red pepper flakes
olive oil
water

In a large skillet, cook sausages in about 1/2 cup to a 1 cup of water. Brown on one side for 10 minutes, then flip and brown on other side for another 10 minutes. Remove and let rest. Now add a little olive oil to the pan and add the peppers and onions. Add salt, pepper, oregano and pepper flakes. I don't have measurements. Just add enough to season the veggies. While veggies are cooking, slice sausages down the middle then slice on an angle. Add sausage to the veggies mixture and cook together about 5-10 minutes. Serve on crusty bread with provolone cheese if desired.

Fall Like Weather

2009-09-01T13:02:00.005-04:00

Ah, the weather has taken a nice cool turn here in NC and yesterday that put me in the mood for soup. It was a cool, rainy day and all I wanted to do was curl up on the sofa with a blanket, a cup of tea and a nice warm bowl of soup. I decided on my daughters favorite, cream of broccoli. It's easy to make and a great way for me to sneak in a few vegetables too. I love the velvety texture and the smokey flavor that the bacon gives to the soup. Unfortunately, broccoli soup does not photograph well, so I don't have any pictures to show for my work but I do have the below recipe to share. We like to enjoy this soup with a loaf of crusty bread and I hope you will enjoy it too.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

3 strips of bacon, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
3 tablespoons butter, unsalted
2 small russet potatoes, diced
1/2 bag of frozen broccoli florets
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups water
1/4 cheddar cheese
splash of half/half
salt and pepper

Melt butter in a large dutch oven, then cook bacon until browned. Remove bacon from pot and save for later. Add onions and cook over medium low heat until soft. Add potatoes, chicken broth, water and broccoli. Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes until water/broth has reduced. Using a potato masher, mash the mixture until just lumpy. Now using an emulsion blender, blend until smooth. If you don't have an emulsion blender, let mixture cool a bit, then use your regular blender to mix. After you have blended the mixture, add the cheese, half/half and salt and pepper. Top with a little more cheese and bacon bits from earlier. Enjoy!!

What Happened

2009-08-28T12:37:00.002-04:00

So I haven't posted in awhile and I'll tell you why. I am 11wks pregnant with my 2nd child and this hasn't been the easiest pregnancy so far. In the very early weeks, I was so nauseous I could barely get out of bed let alone cook anything fantastic. I was lucky if I could make toast. Things are slowly getting back to normal here and I hope to have to good recipes to share next week.

A Break

2009-07-27T10:57:00.003-04:00

As most of you have noticed, I have posted in awhile. Well I'm taking a break from the cooking world but hopefully will be back to it soon. I have been very uninspired where food is concerned so I feel like I need to reboot my system. Please bear with me and check back in a few weeks.

Chicken Tetrazzini Saute

2009-07-08T08:02:00.006-04:00

So I haven't been feeling all that well for the past couple of weeks and cooking has become increasingly difficult. I wanted something really easy to make for dinner last night, so I turned to a tried and true friend, Rachael Ray, for a recipe. A 30 minute meal was just what I needed. In her book, "Just In Time", Rachael has a recipe for Turkey Tetrazzini where she uses turkey cutlets. I had to improvise a little since I didn't have turkey so I used chicken breast instead. Same principle and it tasted just as delicious. I love this dish because it uses egg noodles in the saute. I don't know what it is about egg noodles but I just love them. The noodles and cream sauce plus the crunchy toasted breadcrumb topping really make this a comforting dish when you're not feeling up to par. I served with a side of roasted brocolini and even my 3yr old ate this. "Just In Time" is full of delicious and easy recipes and recommend it to anyone who doesn't have a ton of time to prepare a meal for their family. I'm going to be re-reading it for inspiration this week because I truly do need all the help I can get.

Pork Lo Mein

2009-07-03T15:52:00.005-04:00

So one of my favorite Chinese takeout meals is lo mein of any kind but I've never been brave enough to try it at home. Well I had some pork loin chops that I wanted to try something a little different with. I thought, hmm, I'll make pork lo mein. It was pretty good. I might reduce the amount of soy sauce next time because it was a little salty but other than that, the dish was good. My hubby and I love this bottled marinade/dipping sauce that we found at our grocery store. It's a wasabi, ginger and say mix and it's delicious. I decided to use this for my marinade for the pork, then after browning the pork and sauteing the veggies, I thickened some of the marinade with a corn starch slurry. I added the pork, veggies and cooked spaghetti noodles back to the sauce and voila, pork lo mein. You can use any kind of veggies you like. I used zucchini, squash, carrots, green onions and red onions. I might try adding red peppers next time for a little more color. It was an easy dish to make and I would definitely try it again.

A Tale of Two Cobblers

2009-07-01T09:47:00.005-04:00

This past weekend, hubby and I were invited to a "pig pickin" at a friends house and I can't go to a party without bringing something. Maybe it's my southern roots or my obsession with cooking, but I never like to show up empty handed. When I heard it was a pig pickin, the first thing that came to mind was cobbler. To me, nothing goes better with pulled pork, then a traditional southern cobbler. Now around here, I am famous for my cobbler recipe. It is one of my most requested dishes and I have often thought of entering it into recipe contests. I have many versions, but the peach is by far the favorite. Since I knew this was going to be a rather large gathering, I decided to make a couple of different cobblers. Of course, I would make the famous peach but I also wanted to make something different. After perusing the weekly ad for my local grocery store, I discovered that blueberries were on sale. I had never made let alone eaten a blueberry cobbler and thought it would be fun to try it out. It worked out really well and was a big hit at the party. I'm not the biggest blueberry fan, but I really enjoyed the cobbler filling. It was sweet but with the right amount of tartness. Peach is still my favorite cobbler but I will keep the blueberry in my cobbler rotation for sure.

Beth's Famous Cobbler

For the Filling (peach):
1 large bag frozen peaches, thawed
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon cornstarch plus 3 tablespoons water to make a slurry
1/2 brown sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
a pinch of salt
1 cup of water (kind of eyeball this though)

Melt butter in a large skillet. Add peaches and the cornstarch slurry. Bring to a boil so that the peaches will begin to thicken. Add brown sugar, spices, orange zest and water. Let simmer until mixture thickens to the right consistency. Should take about 10-15 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

Blueberry Filling
2 cartons fresh blueberries
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon cornstarch plus 3 tablespoons water to make a slurry
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of a salt
1 cup of water (just eyeball this)

Follow the directions for the peach filling.

For the crust
3/4 cup all purpose flout
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
3/4 cup milk
1 stick of butter

Preheat oven to 350. Place butter in baking pan and place in oven until melted. Meanwhile, mix the remaining ingredients together in a large bowl. Once butter has melted, pour batter into baking dish but DO NOT stir together with butter. Next pour the fruit filling on top and place dish in oven. Bake for 35-45 minutes. Serve warm with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Father's Day Feast

2009-06-25T12:05:00.008-04:00

Every year for father's day I try and make my husband something special for father's day. This year was no different with the exception of having a very difficult time coming up with an idea. I've been feeling very uninspired to cook lately. Call it an early summertime slump, but I just haven't felt much like getting in the kitchen. I racked my brain for a couple of days trying to come up with the perfect meal for him and finally it came to me. Grilled baby back ribs, coleslaw, zucchini and carrot salad and grilled garlic bread. I choose the ribs because it's something I never make. I'm not a big fan of cooking ribs. I love to order them at a restaurant but feel very intimidated to cook them at home. I'm not quite sure why that is. I will say that my effort was successful and hubby really enjoyed his father's day feast. I made up my own dry rub for the ribs of cayenne pepper, brown sugar, ancho chili powder, kosher salt and black pepper. Coated the entire rack of ribs and baked in the oven for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Then after they had cooked, we threw them on the grill for a few minutes to let the bbq sauce get nice and caramelized. Much to my surprise the ribs came up out perfect and were nice and tender.

For dessert, I made a favorite of hubby's. We call it Derby pie but it's really more of a brownie pie. It's absolutely delicious whatever you want to call it. Serve it warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream and you have the perfect treat.

Beth's Brownie Pie

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 stick of butter
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of kosher salt
2 eggs
1/2 choppped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 prepared 9" pie crust

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium saucepan, melt chocolate and butter together over medium heat. Once melted set aside for a few minutes to cool. Meanwhile combine all the dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside. Add eggs one at a time to chocolate mixture and mix until smooth. Next add the vanilla and pecans. Finally add dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Pour into the pie crust and bake for 30-40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes then serve warm with ice cream. Enjoy!!!

Pie fresh from the oven

Pie ready to eat

Grilled Chicken Nachos

2009-06-21T16:54:00.006-04:00

Today while at the pool, I noticed a couple eating Mexican food for lunch and immediately I started to crave nachos. I think nachos are probably one of my favorite snack foods. Of course I am trying to do everything healthier these days, so I decided on grilled chicken nachos. They were scrumptious and definitely something I would make again. Hubby and I both agree that what made this dish so yummy were the baked corn tortillas and the grilled red onion. Without these key ingredients, I don't think the dish would have been as successful. I actually found that the baked corn tortilla chips I made were just as good as fried ones but with less fat and calories. A win, win for me.

Here's what you need:

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon dried cumin
1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
salt and freshly ground pepper
chopped romaine lettuce
chopped tomato
1 red onion, sliced and grilled
shredded pepper jack cheese
8 corn tortillas, sliced into triangles
salsa of your choice
sliced black olives

Take the chicken breast and rub with the oil, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Throw on the grill and cook until done but still tender. Let rest.

Take the tortilla triangles and drizzle with canola oil and salt. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until lightly brown. Take out of the oven and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Shred the chicken and top the nachos with the shredded chicken and grilled onions. Now add the salsa, lettuce, tomato and olives. Add more cheese if desired. Enjoy.

Grilled Chicken & Cheese Sandwiches

2009-06-08T20:33:00.007-04:00

My hubby had the brilliant idea to make grilled chicken and cheese sandwiches. You know, kind of like a steak and cheese but with grilled chicken instead. They were absolutely scrumptious and say I kuddos to my hubby for the idea. I served the sandwiches along side grilled red potatoes. So quick and so easy.

Veggies on the Grill

Potatoes before grilling

Assembled Sandwiches

Here's what I did:

Marinated chicken with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, dried basil and dried oregano.

Par-boiled potatoes until slightly tender. Brushed with olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika.

Sliced green bell pepper and one large yellow onion and brushed with olive oil and salt and pepper.

Spread hoagie roll with butter or margarine.

I threw everything on the grill. Once cooked, I let the chicken rest then sliced it. I put provolone cheese on the grilled rolls so the cheese would melt. Once cheese began to melt, I added the sliced chicken and grilled veggies and voila, grilled chicken and cheese sandwich. Serve with grilled potatoes and you have a quick and easy dinner. No muss, no fuss.

Bake Sale

2009-06-05T16:44:00.008-04:00

I spent yesterday baking like crazy. I was helping out a friend and making some goodies for her charity bake sale on Saturday. I was more than happy to help since I love to bake so much. I did decide to keep it simple since I was making so much. I made Toll House chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies and cupcakes with chocolate frosting. I had this grand idea that I was going to decorate the cupcakes to look like puppies (the bake sale is for the Humane Society) but that didn't work out. I just decided to take a standard star tip and pipe the chocolate frosting on. I then topped each cupcake with a a blue M&M. They looked delicious and I hope the sell well tomorrow.

For the cookies, I made everyone's favorite, Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies. I'm pretty sure everyone knows this recipe by heart. I know I do. I also made my favorite cookie, peanut butter. Some of my favorites sweets are when you get a good mix between salty and sweet and that's what peanut butter cookies do for me.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt (I use kosher)
Extra sugar for rolling

Cream the butter, sugars, peanut butter and egg together. Gradually add dry ingredients until incorporated. Wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop dough and roll into 2" balls. Roll in sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press down with fork. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes.

Mounds Chocolate Coconut Cake

2009-06-02T19:56:00.008-04:00

Yesterday was hubby's birthday and a great excuse to bake a cake. As many of you know, I love to bake. It is one of my favorite past times. It's almost stress relief for me. After a long day of battling with my 3yr old, I love to get in the kitchen and create something beautiful and tasty. So that's exactly what I did yesterday. Kevin's only request in a birthday cake was that it be chocolate with chocolate frosting. That is his favorite cake. Well I remembered how much he loves mounds bars so I thought I would get a little creative and make a "Mounds" chocolate coconut cake. I'll admit, I cheated a little bit. I used a boxed devil's food cake mix and store bought frosting but I made a coconut cream filling to give the cake a nice homemade taste. I finished the whole cake with a little toasted coconut to give it a little gourmet feel. The cake was a big hit. My sister and her family came over and her husband loved it so much that he had a second piece.

Mounds Chocolate Coconut Cake
1 Box Devil's food cake mix
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1 small bag sweetened shredded coconut
1 can chocolate frosting
1/2 cup sugar
1 can vanilla frosting (optional for decorating purposes)
Toasted coconut

Mix cake mix according to package directions and poor in the size pan you desire. I used 6" pans for a smaller cake. For a 6" cake, bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

While cakes are cooling, beat cream cheese and sugar for about 5 minutes until smooth in texture and sugar is dissolved. Add coconut and mix well. Take this filling and spread evenly on the top of one layer of the chocolate cake. Top with the second layer and frost with chocolate frosting. Mash toasted coconut around sides of cake and serve.

As for his birthday dinner, hubby requested sesame crusted ahi tuna, brown rice risotto and broccolini. We started our meal with veggie sushi that I picked up at our local market. Everything was delicious and we had a nice meal together. The rest of this week I will be baking goodies for a charity bake sale on Saturday. Stay tuned to see what I create.

Veggie Sushi

Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna

Pita Pizza

2009-05-20T09:23:00.005-04:00

So yesterday for lunch I was craving something a little different. Since I'm only having smoothies for breakfast and dinner, I wanted something substantial for lunch. I wasn't really in the mood for a sandwich and I had a salad the other day. I decided to make what we call pita pizza. I mixed up a batch of low-fat artichoke dip and placed a little bit on top of a toasted pita, sprinkled with a little cheese and tomato and baked in the oven for about 15 minutes. Let me tell you, this was such a delcious and filling lunch. The creaminess of the dip made me feel like I was eating something decedant when I wasn't. What a treat.

Artichoke Dip

1 can artichoke hearts packed in water, drained and chopped
6 ounces low fat sour cream
3 teaspoons mayo
1/4 cup part skim mozzarella cheese shredded
1 tablespoon parmesean cheese
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together and put in a greased casserole dish. Top with cheese and bake for 30 minutes.

Note: If making this for the pita pizza, spread on top of toasted pita bread and bake in oven for 15 minutes.

I'm Still Here

2009-05-18T18:57:00.005-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I was on a beach vacation all last week. The family and I went to Topsail Island, NC and had a blast. Unfortunately, I ate so much great food, I put on a few pounds so I am in recovery mode. For the next couple of weeks I plan on having smoothies for breakfast and dinner and making something fabulous for lunch. Stay tuned for those wonderful lunch time meals.

Cinco de Mayo

2009-05-06T19:13:00.004-04:00

In honor of Cinco de Mayo yesterday, I decided to fix a Mexican feast. I love Mexican food (well face, I love food) and love making tacos on the grill. So for our feast, I made a grilled chicken tacos (see steak tacos in earlier post) and churros. You see as long as hubby and I have been together, he has wanted me to make churros for him and I've never gotten around to it. I'm not a big fan of frying foods. Don't get me wrong. I love fried foods, I just don't like the mess that comes with them. Well yesterday I decided to go ahead and try something new. They were super yummy. Definitely something that needs to served immediately but still yummy all the same. I think where I went wrong was I didn't have a large star tip to pipe them into the dutch oven for frying. I had a medium sized tip and found it very difficult to pipe the batter out. I will have to pick up a large tip for the next time I want to make these.

Churros
Vegetable oil, for deep frying
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 stick butter
1 cup water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 eggs

Fill a deep-fryer or large Dutch oven halfway with vegetable oil and heat to 350 degrees F.

Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a large shallow bowl, set aside.

Combine the butter, water and sugar in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Once it has come to a boil, lower to a medium heat and add the flour, and nutmeg, stirring constantly until it comes away from the pan and it forms a ball. Transfer dough to a bowl and use an electric mixer to help cool it off. At this point you can whisk in the eggs, 1 at a time, until it becomes a smooth batter. Transfer the mixture into a large piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Working in batches, carefully pipe 4-inch long ribbons directly into the hot oil to fry. Fry until golden, turning if necessary, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove with tongs and drain on paper towels. Transfer the churros into the sugar/cinnamon mixture and toss to coat. Serve immediately while still warm.

A Romantic Dinner For Two

2009-05-03T18:07:00.007-04:00

This weekend I wanted to see if hubby and I could go a whole weekend without going out to dinner. I am supposed to be someone who loves to cook so why do I need to go out to eat so much? I've been known to make a restaurant quality meal every now and then and it is more wallet friendly to stay home. I've had a rack of lamb in the freezer for about a month now and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to enjoy it. Hubby had the brilliant idea to grill it (you know, since we just got the new grill). So I searched through my cookbooks to see if I could find a recipe on how to grill a rack of lamb. I didn't really come with anything, but in Bobby Flay's "Boy Meets Grill" cookbook, he had a recipe for a grilled baby lamb chops with lemon. I took some of his ideas from that recipe and incorporated them into what I came up with for my rack of lamb. I have to say this is by far my favorite way to have rack of lamb and probably how I will do it from now on. The flavors from the lamb were smoky and rich without the gameness you usually get from roasted lamb. The skin got nice and crisp which added a nice texture as well. I served the lamb on top of mashed red skin potatoes and with a side of grilled asparagus. Such a delicious meal and it barely cost me $20 to make. What a deal. The dessert I came up with just as equally scrumptious. A local market here makes this dessert called a "strawberry pillow." What that is, is a large croissant filled with sweetened whipped cream and strawberries. I love it but hubby doesn't really like whipped cream so I decided to amp it a little bit. My version is made with chocolate mousse and strawberries and let me tell you, it is divine. This was the perfect meal to share with the one you love on a nice quiet evening at home.

Grilled Rack of Lamb
1lb rack of Australian Lamb
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 teaspoons dried thyme
salt & pepper

In a large zip top bag combine the olive oil, garlic and thyme. Add the rack of lamb and let marinate for 1hr in the fridge. Take the rack of lamb out about 10 minutes before grilling so meat can get to room temperature. Season the lamb generously with salt and pepper to get a nice crust. Heat grill to medium heat and cook the rack for 15-18 minutes. Let meat rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Strawberry Heaven

1 large croissant
2-3 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 large eggs separated
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup whipping cream
5 large strawberries sliced

Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Let cool. Beat 2 egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar and add to chocolate. Cook over medium low heat stirring until sugar disolves. Let this mixture cool. Beat cream and 1/4 cup sugar together until stiff peaks form. Next beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped egg whites into cooled chocolate mixture until just combined and do the same with the whipped cream. Let the mousse chill for 1 hour. Warm croissant for 2-3 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Slice and fill with chocolate mousse and sliced strawberries. Top and serve with a dollop of whipped cream and whole berry.

We Finally Got a New Grill

2009-04-28T12:47:00.005-04:00

Towards the end of last summer our grill started to crap out on us and we couldn't figure out why. We kept cleaning it out and it would work a little better only to crap out on us again. On Sunday, hubby decided to replace the burners and the grates to see if that would help us any. After spending $85 on the replacement parts, he discovered that the old parts weren't the problem. Apparently, we had a hole in the bottom of the grill and that is why it would no longer heat past 300 degrees. Much to our dismay, we knew we would have to purchase a new grill before summer got here. We both love to cook and entertain outdoors and we knew we couldn't make it a whole summer without our grill. So last night, we bit the bullet and purchased a new grill. It is a great. It has a burner just for searing meat and is perfect for grilling vegetables or bread on. To break in the new grill, I decided to make grilled steak tacos with grilled onions & green peppers. Let me tell you, these were the best tacos I have ever made. I used corn tortillas instead of flour because I love the flavor of corn more (and they are lower in fat & calories). I got about 1lb piece of sirloin and marinated it before putting it on the grill. I opted for sirloin because it is generally a leaner cut of meat and of course I am trying to watch the calories before our beach trip. If you are interested in trying these tacos I have included the recipe and some pics below. Enjoy.

Taco Toppings

Marinade

2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
zest of one lime
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons chili paste
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper

Taco Toppings
1lb sirloin steak
1 green bell pepper sliced
1 yellow onion sliced into rings
chopped romaine lettuce
chopped tomato
grated pepper jack cheese
your favorite jar of salsa
corn tortillas

Mix the olive oil, chili paste and lime zest together in small bowl. Rub meat with the dry seasonings then run with the olive oil mixture. Make sure to do so on both sides of the meat. Heat your grill to 450 degrees and cook steak for about 3-4 minutes on both sides. Remove from grill and let rest. Cook vegetables on lower heat on the grill (about 300) until slightly tender and cooked through. Heat tortillas in non-stock skillet (about 2 minutes per side). Assemble as desired. This makes about 5-6 servings.

Spring's Bounty

2009-04-22T13:00:00.007-04:00

Sorry that I have been M.I.A. from the blog world lately. After Easter, the whole family had a wicked stomach bug and I most certainly did not feel like cooking anything. I'm finally feeling back to normal and just in time too. The weather is starting to get warmer and that means outdoor food for sure. Monday was meal planning and grocery store day. I decided that with the weather getting warmer, I wanted to have lighter meals. For our first meal of the week, I made it very simple. We had heirloom tomato and fresh mozzarella salad, grilled corn on the cob, grilled zucchini and grilled garlic bread. Do we see a pattern here? I love foods cooked on the grill and that is probably why I'm a huge Bobby Flay fan. I think he has really shown people that you really can make anything on the grill.

One of my hubby's favorite summertime recipes is a tomato & mozzarella salad. I love to make mine with heirloom tomatoes because they have so much more flavor then any other tomato you can find in the store. Monday,I picked purple, yellow and red heirloom tomatoes and they looked beautiful together. Along with some sliced fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, this was a very refreshing dish. The tomatoes were sweet and the cheese was creamy. I really recommend using fresh mozzarella for a salad like this. It just adds so much more depth to the dish then a processed cheese. All in all, this was a nice light meal perfect for a warm spring evening.

A Great Way To Use Leftovers

2009-04-09T10:05:00.005-04:00

So earlier in the week, hubby and I had hamburgers for dinner and of course there were a couple of burgers leftover. Well since it is always pizza night on Friday's in our house, I decided to make one of our favorite pizza's last Friday. Cheeseburger pizza has long been a favorite of mine and hubby's. We first had it at a restaurant here in town then decided to try and make it at home. Well now that I have a pizza stone, we have finally succeeded in duplicating what we had at the restaurant. Our cheeseburger pizza isn't what most would typically think of when it's ordered in a restaurant. Instead of a red or marinara sauce, our pizza uses ketchup and mustard as the sauce on the pizza. Then you use a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella cheeses, your leftover hamburgers, diced red onion and sliced pickles. I know, I know, it sounds very strange but I highly recommend you give it a try. The ketchup and mustard really make this pizza taste just like you're eating a cheeseburger. It's fun and something you can eat with the kids. It's a great way to get rid of the leftovers in the fridge too.

Last Friday, I was also in the mood for a light and springy dessert. I searched high and low in all of my "Cooking Light" cookbooks for something that would strike my fancy. I settled on strawberry shortcakes. Boy were they good. With using low-fat whipped topping instead of full fat whipped cream really gave this dessert a light feeling. With using the "Cooking Light" recipe as my guide, I modified it to fit with the ingredients I had on hand. Here's my recipe:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons chilled stick margarine or butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup low-fat milk
Cooking spray
frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed
Fresh strawberries sliced
egg wash (egg white & water)
sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 425°.

Combine flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; cut in margarine with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add milk, stirring just until moist (dough will be sticky).

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead lightly 4 times with floured hands. Pat dough into a 6 x 4-inch rectangle. Cut dough into 6 squares. Place 1 inch apart on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Brush with egg wash and dust with sugar. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Split shortcakes in half horizontally using a serrated knife; place each bottom half on a dessert plate. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the whipped topping over each bottom half. Place a few sliced strawberries on whipped topping then add a little more whipped topping. Top with the other half of the shortcake. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon whipped topping; garnish with whole strawberries, if desired.

Making My Own Takeout

2009-04-02T17:06:00.008-04:00

So I'm a big fan Rachael Ray. I have a majority of her cookbooks and try to catch her show on a regular basis. One of the things I like about her is how she promotes home cooks to make their own takeout. Especially in this economy when a lot of families don't have extra money for getting takeout or going out to dinner, cooking your own takeout favorites can be fun and easy on the wallet. One of my favorite takeout foods is anything Chinese. I love, love, love Chinese food and would eat it once a week if I could. Well Tuesday night I decided to make my own Chinese takeout and I made Asian style grilled beef short ribs, with fried rice and grilled pineapple. I was quite surprised with how well it turned out. The rice was delicious and tasted just like something you would get in a restaurant. The beef was very good but I would have preferred a little more spice. Next time, I might try adding a little more kick to the glaze recipe. Friday night will be my next make your own takeout. It's pizza night so stay tuned.

Asian Style Beef Short Ribs

4 boneless beef short ribs trimmed and sliced thin
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2-3 teaspoons chili paste
salt
pepper
garlic
Chinese five spice powder
Freshly sliced pineapple

For the glaze:
Combine the soy sauce, pineapple juice, honey, ginger, chili paste, salt, pepper and garlic in a saucepan and let simmer over medium-low heat.

Heat a cast iron grill pan coated with canola oil over medium heat. Season short ribs with salt, pepper and five spice powder. Place ribs on grill pan seasoned side down and cook for 2 minutes on each side. After the first flip, glaze the ribs with the soy sauce/pineapple juice mixture. Repeat until all the short ribs have been grilled. Once you remove the short ribs from the grill, add the pineapple and grill on both sides until fruit is just a little tender. Serve over fried rice.

Fried Rice
1 bag Success Minute Rice
1/2 large zucchini, diced
1/4 red onion, diced
1/4 red bell pepper diced
1/2 ear cooked yellow corn
olive oil
salt
pepper
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Prepare rice according to package. In a large saute pan, heat olive oil and add all the veggies. Add a little salt and pepper and cook until veggies are tender. Remove from saute pan and add the cooked rice. Next add the soy sauce and mix through. Add the veggies back to the pan and also add the ginger and another sprinkle of salt & pepper. Be careful not to over salt b/c the soy sauce with add salt as well. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Serve.

The Best Chicken Pot Pie Ever

2009-03-31T20:29:00.006-04:00

For Christmas, my sister got me one of the greatest cookbooks ever. I am a huge Jamie Oliver fan and have been wanting several of his cookbooks for awhile now. For Christmas, I got "Jamie at Home" and "Jamie's Dinners", both great cookbooks. I have yet to make anything out of "Jamie at Home" but right away I found a recipe I wanted to make out of "Jamie's Dinners". I love, actually adore, chicken pot pie. It's so comforting and is also something I can always get Makena to eat. Well Jamie Oliver put a new twist on an old classic and wrote a recipe called "Sweet Leek and Chicken Pie". If you are a fan of chicken pot pie, then you must go out immediately and buy this cookbook for this recipe alone. It is so easy to make and absolutely phenomenal. What makes it for me is the combination of the leeks and the puff pastry crust. Kevin is not a big fan of pie crust so making a traditional pot pie has never really interested him. This version he loves because of the buttery puff pastry. I, of course, used frozen puff pastry. Not because I can't make homemade puff pastry, just because I like to keep things simple. I made a few minor changes, like omitting the celery and sausage and adding in potatoes. For diet purposes, I omitted the sausage and for taste purposes (because I don't like it) I left out the celery. All and all, this recipe as become a staple in our house and I will continue to make it even into the hot summer months whenever I need a little bit of comfort.

Spaghetti, Steak & a Cupcake

2009-03-28T15:57:00.006-04:00

Well I haven't posted in awhile and I have a lot of catching up to do. Let's see, where to begin. Well Wednesday, I was in the mood for some pasta but hubby isn't the biggest fan. I decided to make spaghetti with meatballs & Italian sausage. Hubby was happy because he could eat just the meatballs and sausage with garlic bread and I was happy because I got to have my pasta. I used a new recipe for meatballs that I found in "Cooking Light". It called for using an egg white and 1% milk to reduce the amount of fat being added to the ground meat as well as baking the meatballs instead of frying. They were some of the best meatballs I have made to date.

Thursday night I was in the mood for steaks. We are members of Costco, so from time to time I will buy a nice pack of ribeye's there and put them up in the freezer. The steaks are usually so big, that hubby and I can share one. That's exactly what we did Thursday night. I seasoned the steak with kosher salt, garlic powder and freshly ground black pepper. Cooking for just a few minutes on either, I cooked the steak to medium rare temperature. Well the steak rested, I prepared a sauce with the pan drippings. With a little bit of flour, prepared horseradish, beef broth and half-n-half, I made what I call my horseradish cream sauce. It is hubby's favorite to have with the ribeye's. I served potatoes gratin and roasted broccoli as sides. All in all not a bad meal.

Yesterday was my youngest nephew's 7th birthday and I wanted to do something special for him. I also wanted to have a fun baking project for me and Makena so we made Blue Star cupcakes. I just baked a yellow cake mix according to the directions and then we tinted vanilla frosting using Wilton's Royal Blue tinting gel. I used a large star tip to pipe the frosting on the cupcakes and Makena did her part by putting on just the right amount of star sprinkles. They were a big hit with the kids and me!!!!!

An International Touch

2009-03-24T20:23:00.005-04:00

So I was in the mood for something a little different tonight. Something with a little international flair to it. Tonight we took a little trip to Greece and I made a healthy version of the gyro. Instead of the traditional lamb version, I made mine with grilled chicken that I cooked in my cast iron grill pan. I marinated the chicken for about 15 minutes in a simple marinade and then put them "on the grill" so to speak. I grilled the bread as well. Instead of traditional pita bread, which is high in calories, I used Arnold's Sandwich Thins. They were actually quite good to my surprise. Add a little lettuce, tomato and tzatziki sauce and we had a perfect gyro. I was quite surprised how it really tasted no different then something you would get in a sandwich shop. Unfortunately I didn't get the best picture and the only one that I did get came out a little blurry. Next time, I will do better :) Below are the recipes for the marinade and tzatziki sauce. Very simple and budget friendly.

Marinade
1/2 lemon juiced
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon pepper

Combine all ingredients in a dish and add meat to be marinated.

Tzatziki Sauce

1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
chopped & peeled cucumber
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside for a few minutes to let the flavors marry together.

An Irish Feast

2009-03-19T08:56:00.004-04:00

So it turns out that shepherd's pie does not photograph well, so unfortunately I have no photos to show you of the fabulous St. Patrick's Day meal we had the other night. My husband's family is of Irish descent, so St. Patrick's Day has always been a special day for him. Every year, his mother has friends and family over and cooks up a big pot of corned beef, cabbage and boiled potatoes. Well I am not the biggest fan of corned beef or boiled potatoes so I skipped the festivities this year. Instead I decided to make our own St. Patrick's Day meal. When I was growing up, shepherd's pie was something we had often. Whenever there was leftover roast beef and mashed potatoes in the house, you knew the next night's meal was going to be shepherd's pie. Because of this, I was not a big fan of it for the longest time. Kevin loves it so I try my best to incorporate it in our meal plan when I can. I made it a few months back and really didn't like the version I made. That recipe called for you to use a can of cream of mushroom soup, wish I don't like really using. I decided to put together my own recipe and I must say it actually made me a fan of the dish. Also, anytime Makena will eat what I make is a success in my book. She had two helpings of the pie and even at leftovers for dinner last night. It is such an easy meal to put together and very filling. It's something that lends well to freezing and can be made in large batches put up in the freezer. This is more of a comfort food meal and maybe not the most appealing spring dinner but on a cold night, it is just perfect.

Shepherd's Pie

1/2 pound ground sirloin
1 small yellow onion chopped
4 yukon gold potatoes
1 small bag frozen peas & carrots (I prefer organic)
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup beef broth
salt & pepper
half/half
olive oil

Wash, peel, chop potatoes and put them in water on the stove to boil. Next put olive oil in a medium sized saute pan and brown the ground sirloin. Once meat starts to brown, add the onions. Let the onions get tender then add the frozen peas and carrots. Add salt and pepper. Cook until vegetables are warmed through. Remove the meat mixture from pan. Add the butter and flour to the pan. Cook until the flour is cooked through. Add the beef broth and make a gravy. Once you have a thick gravy, return the meat mixture to the pan. Let simmer while you make the mashed potatoes.

For the potatoes, drain the boiled potatoes and then put them in your kitchen aid mixture. Add butter, half/half and salt & pepper and cream together until smooth.

Take the meat mixture and put into a greased baking dish. Top with mashed potatoes and put into a 350 degree oven and cook for 25-30 minutes.

A Decadent Breakfast

2009-03-17T12:38:00.005-04:00

So this morning I was supposed to start my morning off with a smoothie in the hopes of losing some weight. Well, I just didn't feel like it this morning. I woke up quite hungry and really wanted something substantial in my belly. After being awake for awhile, Makena asked for some pancakes. Ooh, pancakes. Warm, fluffy pancakes. That was just what I wanted. We had just bought a huge container of strawberries at Costco this weekend. (for the smoothies of course) I thought to myself that I would love some gingerbread pancakes with a drizzle of maple syrup, tons of sliced strawberries and a little whipped cream. I figured that wouldn't be too high in calories as long as I didn't go overboard with the maple syrup and whipped cream. I took a store bought pancake mix and added a tablespoon of cinnamon, 2 teaspoons of ground ginger and 1 teaspoon of allspice. Mixed according to the package directions and cooked them on the griddle. I took the two smallest pancakes and sandwiched sliced strawberries between the two. I then drizzled maybe 1/2 teaspoon of maple syrup over the top. Next came the good stuff. I used the spray can of whipped cream because it was all I had on hand but still tasty all the same. I gave it one good spray and topped with the rest of my berries. It was so decadent and just what the doctor ordered this morning. I woke up cranky and hungry but after these delicious cakes, I was a happy little camper.

Pizza Night

2009-03-14T18:22:00.005-04:00

Friday night is pizza night in our house. We try every Friday to have a different kind of pizza. We're not always successful and some Friday's we don't even have pizza. Some nights, we don't like the creations we come up. Well this Friday wasn't one of those nights. Earlier in the week, I made sausage and pepper sandwiches. We had some friends over and this was the easiest creation I could come up with. Well, we had leftovers in the fridge and pizza night was approaching. Kevin suggested that we use the leftover sausage & peppers and put that on top of a pizza. At first I balked, then I thought, "hey I love sausage on a pizza and I love peppers & onions. what's the difference?" So I took Kevin's suggestion and dressed up the leftovers a little bit. I sauteed a little more onions and peppers and sliced the leftover sausage into bite sized pieces. I add the sausage and leftover onions & peppers to the saute pan to warm them up a bit. Next I added 1/2 of an 8oz can of small diced tomatoes and let the cook together until warmed through. I let the filling rest while I rolled out my pizza dough. Now I usually don't make my own dough. Not because I can't but just because I'm lazy. My grocery store sells this great frozen dough that is called NY Pizza dough and it works great. I am from the Rachel Ray school of thought and I take help from the store when I can. After I got the dough rolled out the thinness I like, I topped it with store bought spaghetti sauce, mozzarella cheese, the sausage filling and black olives. I put the pizza in a 500 degree oven on my pizza stone and cooked for 15 minutes. It came out perfect and delicious. If you don't own one, I highly suggest you invest in a pizza stone. They are inexpensive and make a perfect pizza every time.

Winter Comfort Meal

2009-03-12T19:27:00.005-04:00

One of my favorite winter time comfort meals is roasted chicken with roasted vegetables. There is nothing more comforting then the smell of the chicken roasting in the oven wafting through the entire house. It reminds of me of family Sunday night dinners when everyone would get together around the table and enjoy a nice meal together. Since our weather has turned cold again, I decided tonight would be the perfect night for a roast chicken. I had purchased the chicken on sale for $2.50 (it was $0.59/lb). Quite the bargain I thought. My favorite way to roast a chicken is cook it on top of a bed of the vegetables that I like to accompany my chicken. That way as the chicken roasts, the vegetables can soak up all of the yummy chicken juices. So I rough chopped two peeled carrots, two onions and five yukon gold potatoes. I covered the bottom of my roasting pan with a couple of teaspoons of olive oil and then added the vegetables to the pan. I then lightly sprinkled salt and pepper over the vegetables. For the chicken, I removed the neck bone and other "goodies" from inside the bird, then rested the bird on top of the bed of vegetables. I added a nice coating of olive, salt & pepper then put the bird into roast in a 375 degree oven for about 1hr and 15 minutes. This was a small bird, just a little over 4lbs, so it didn't take that long to cook. Once the chicken was out of the oven, I put it on my carving board to rest and preceded to make a gravy from the pan drippings. I removed the vegetables and added a couple of tablespoons of flour. Once the flour had cooked a little, I added chicken broth (probably 1 cup.) I served this meal with sauteed spinach and it was very satisfying. All I need now is a hot cup of coffee and a luscious piece of chocolate cake. That would be the perfect end of this meal for me.

Mexican Spinach Dip

2009-03-10T21:07:00.004-04:00

I had a request from one of my readers for the recipe for the spinach dip I made for Makena's party so here is a quick post with the recipe. This is a recipe that I created after eating something like it at one of our local restaurants, Village Tavern. It's one of my husband's favorites so we eat it a lot in our house. Enjoy

Mexican Spinach Dip

1 box chopped frozen spinach (thawed & drained)
1 16oz container sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 small can sliced black oliver
2 chopped roma tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 tablespoon chopped pickled jalapeno pepper
2 teaspoons cumin powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
salt & pepper
2 teaspoons pickled jalapeno juice

Combine all ingredients, reserving some cheese for top of dip, together in a medium sized bowl. Pour into a greased baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Serve hot with tortilla chips or warmed soft tortillas.

Spring Is In the Air

2009-03-09T09:43:00.008-04:00

This weekend the weather took a turn for the better and we had spring like temperatures all weekend long. After Saturday's party food, Kevin and I felt like something light and because the weather was so gorgeous outside, I really wanted to grill out. We settled on a grilled chicken salad with grilled garlic bread. I love food off the grill. The whole experience of smelling the food cooking outside, enjoying a nice cold adult beverage and listening to some great music is the ideal way to cook in the spring and summer for me. Unfortunately, our grill is on it's last legs so in order for me to continue to bring great grilled recipes, we're going to have invest in a new grill soon.

The salad was a simple meal to put together. I like to make what I call "steakhouse" salads. I love to throw in bacon bits, hard boiled egg, chopped olives, cucumbers and tomatoes to create a beautiful salad. For my chicken, I marinated it in Briana's "New American" dressing for about 10 minutes and then threw on the grill. It came out great. They are a little pricey, but I really love the Briana's brand of salad dressings. If your store carries them, I highly suggest giving them a try. The only one I wasn't a fan of was the blue cheese but that's because I prefer my blue cheese dressing to be a little more tangy and frankly "blue cheesey". Anyway, I can think of no better accompaniment to a grilled chicken salad then a delicious slice of of grilled garlic bread. I purchased a loaf of ciabatta bread and slathered it with garlic butter and grilled for about 5-10 minutes on the buttered side down. All in all, this was a nice light finish to an otherwise hectic weekend.

Party Time

2009-03-08T14:12:00.010-04:00

Yesterday was our little Makena's 3rd birthday party and what fun we had. I love to throw parties and really get into the planning probably about two months beforehand. I had known since January that we were going to have a Mickey Mouse themed party and had the cake in mind that I wanted to make. Both Makena and I love red velvet cake. I am a southern girl after all. Next came the fun part, decorating the cake. I am not great at piping pictures onto a cake so I went searching the web for an edible image. I found a source on Ebay that had exactly what I was looking for and for a great price too. I would say that total this cake cost me $15.00 to make. If I were to get this same size and style cake at a bakery here in town, it would probably have cost double that. I really enjoy making me own cakes and I always let Makena help. She loves to bake and be in the kitchen just as much as I do. As for the rest of the decorations for the cake, I used the Wilton buttercream icing color gel and created a border around the cake using a Wilton star tip. I was really happy with the end result and I received a lot of compliments from my party guests.

As for the rest of the party food, I just made things really simple for myself. I put together an antipasto tray with Italian lunchmeats, spicy olive salad, fontina and smoked mozzarella cheeses. I also made a mexican spinach dip and then got store bought help for the rest. We cooked up some frozen mini-corn dogs for the kids (also a big hit with adults), ordered a Chick-Fil-A nugget tray and then I put out some store bought dips too. As much as I love to cook, I know when I need help and have no shame in putting out snacks you can find in your freezer section. I really like to make sure that I don't put too much work on myself so I can have the food ready when the guests start to arrive. I don't want to be slaving away in kitchen unable to mingle with my friends!!!

And here are some pics of the party food

Yum, A New Way To Make Pork

2009-03-06T19:03:00.006-05:00

So I've had this pork tenderloin in my fridge for a couple of weeks now trying to figure out what to do with it. I could make pulled pork, or oven roast it but that's what I always do. Then I thought, hey I love chicken franchaise so why not make it with pork instead. What a brilliant idea it turned out to be. It was so easy to do as well. I sliced the pork tenderloin into cutlets then pounded them thin with the meat mallet. Next I dredged them in egg and a flour mixture of dried basil, garlic powder, kosher salt and cracked pepper. I then pan fried them in a little extra virgin olive oil until cooked through (medium in temperature). After the pork was cooked, I made my franchaise sauce. I took a tablespoon of flour and made a little roux with the remaining olive oil. Then I added some white wine, chicken stock and lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon). I added a little salt and pepper to taste then put the pork back in the sauce and topped with lemon slices. I served this with sauteed spinach and oven roasted potatoes but it can easily go with brocolini, mashed potatoes, pasta etc....

My husband and I enjoyed this meal with a nice glass of red wine and it was certainly a nice to finish the week. Today is our daughter's birthday so we spent the day at with her and tomorrow will be a big party for her. I'll post pics of the cake she asked for. Baking is one big passion and I love making cakes the most. Check back on Saturday to see how the party went.

Braised Beef Short Rib Sandwich with Horseradish Cream Sauce

2009-03-04T19:46:00.008-05:00

So ever since having Osso Bucco style beef short ribs at a local restaurant, I have become obsessed with the short rib. I hunt high and low in cookbooks and on the internet for a new recipe for this particular cut of meat. When this meat is slow cooked, it becomes extremely tender and begins to fall apart. It almost melts in your mouth as you eat it. I know a lot of consumers are steering away from beef products because the price of everything as skyrocketed in this terrible economy, but I find the short rib to be quite economical. My husband and I are members of Costco so I try my best to buy all of my meat in bulk. I recently bought a 2 1/2lb package of short ribs for around $13.00. There were about 8 ribs in the package, which for us is at least 2 meals. Our daughter who is only three, isn't a big fan of red meat, so it's only my husband and me who eat the short ribs.

So I've had these ribs in my freezer for a couple of weeks now and I've been trying to find the best recipe to use them in. Well low and behold, I get my March 2009 edition of Bon Appetit magazine and there is a recipe for a braised short rib sandwich. I thought, ooh, yummy. Hubby will love it. Tonight was a cold evening outside and the perfect night for such a hearty meal. I made a few adjustments to make the recipe my own and served it with a nice Caesar salad with homemade croutons. This was such a filling and satisfying meal, that is definitely going in the meal rotation. Here are a few pics.

My Salad (I suggest the Briana's Caesar dressing)

Here is the braised short rib mixture

And here is the finished product

Recipe

5 pounds 3-inch-long meaty short ribs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 cups chopped onions (about 2 large)
3 cups chopped peeled carrots
6 garlic cloves, pressed
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 cups low-salt beef broth
salt
pepper
cajun seasoning
Italian sub rolls

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Sprinkle short ribs with salt, pepper and cajun seasoning. Heat oil in heavy large oven proof pot over medium-high heat. Working in 2 bathes, brown short ribs on all sides, about 10 minutes per batch. Transfer ribs to rimmed baking sheet. Add chopped onions and carrots to pot and saute until vegetables are light brown, about 20 minutes. Add garlic and bay leaves; stir 1 minuted. Add tomato paste and stir. Place short ribs atop vegetables in pot, arranging in single layer. Add 4 cups beef broth to pot and allow to boil 2 minutes. Cover and transfer to oven.

Braise until meat is tender, about 2 1/2 hours. Remove ribs from sauce and return sauce to medium-low heat on stove. Let reduce 10 minutes. Meanwhile, shred the short ribs. Once sauce has reduced, add shredded short ribs back to the pot. Combine with sauce. Spoon the mixture onto sub roll, top with carmelized onions and horseradish cream sauce (recipe follows).

Horseradish Cream Sauce

1 /12 cups sour cream
3 tablespoons prepared white horseradish
3/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Coarse kosher salt
6 tablespoons olive oil

Combine all ingredients in small bowl. Can be made ahead of time.

Enjoy!!!!!

An Introduction

2009-03-03T20:46:00.003-05:00

Let me start off with telling all of you about myself. My name is Beth and I am a 33yr old stay at home mother. I have always loved food and cooking. For the longest time, baking was my true passion, but as I have gotten older, I have grown to love the art of cooking. Creating a true masterpiece that your family adores. I have quite the cookbook collection and love all things Food Network related. I created this blog because I want to share my love of food and the creations I make in my kitchen. I believe in this terrible economy, we all need help coming up with inexpensive but healthy meals for our families to eat. I want to try and bring some of those recipes to anyone who happens upon my blog. So tune in tomorrow night for my first food entry. What's on the menu you might ask? Well, I'm trying a new recipe called Braised Short Ribs sandwiches. I found the recipe in my latest issue of Bon Appetit magazine. So check back with me tomorrow night for the recipe and my families reaction.