Hint of Lemon Rainbow Cookies

Found an easy recipe on Eat Cake for Dinner for Banana Rainbow Chip Cookies and decided to give it a whirl with a couple small tweaks....

Hint of Lemon Rainbow Cookies

1 box instant lemon pudding
1 box white or yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
colorful nonpareil sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Mix the first four ingredients, then add the chips and a spoonful or two of the sprinkles, mix.  Put the remainder of the sprinkles in a small bowl.  Roll the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and then press the top of the ball into the sprinkles to coat the top.  Place on lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 11-12 minutes.  That's it!

These are deelish, and of course they're a hit with Mags because of the colorful sprinkles!

Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese

9 times out of 10, if you ask Mags what she wants for lunch or dinner, she'll say Mac and Cheeeeese!
Needless to say, I'm always on the lookout for different mac and cheese recipes that include some veggies.

One of my go-to favorites is Skinnytaste's baked mac and cheese with broccoli.  Then I saw this Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese recipe on Tastykitchen.com and was very intrigued.  Butternut isn't something I typically cook with, not that I don't like it, I just sort of don't know what to do with it, besides make puree.

When Mags was a baby, I made all of her baby food from scratch.  She used to love butternut squash puree, so I would roast squashes all the time for her.  And now she's not a baby anymore :(  so we got away from the squash.

Well, not anymore...

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

1 butternut squash (1 cup puree)
4 Tablespoons cream cheese
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups milk
2-3 cups shredded mexican blend or cheddar cheese
pound of cavatappi pasta
salt
pepper
paprika

Directions:
Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise, scrape out seeds with a spoon, and place cut-side down in a roasting pan.  Pour in about an inch of water.  Roast, uncovered, at 400 for about 45 minutes (or up to an hour if your butternut is big) until tender.  (I stab it with a knife to see if its ready).  Let cool enough to handle, then scoop out the flesh and puree in food processor.

You only need 1 cup of the puree for this recipe, so I freeze the remainder of the squash for the next time I make it.

Put a bot of water on to boil for pasta, and cook according to package directions.
Meanwhile, melt butter in saucepan then whisk in flour.

 Let cook for a minute or two, whisking often. Slowly whisk in the milk.  Let cook for a few minutes to thicken.

Then, add the rest of the ingredients, whisking to make a smooth sauce.  Season to taste with salt, pepper, and paprika.

Mix the pasta with the cheese sauce and enjoy!

Zucchini???

I glanced in the veggie drawer this morning and noticed a lone zucchini with no purpose.  Two overripe bananas were sitting on the counter.  Hmmmm.  Found this recipe for banana zucchini muffins and smiled since I had everything on hand.  Out came the mixer and I got busy.

I mashed the bananas and went to grab the zucchini to shred... and this is what I found...

A friggin cucumber!  You've got to be kidding!  How clueless am I?!?

So I put my thinking cap on.

What else could I throw into the recipe in place of zucchini.... drumroll..... a cup of Maggie's snack sized Mott's peach apple sauce!

Sweet Success :)

Banana Peach Applesauce Muffins
Makes about 12 muffins

1/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ripe bananas, mashed up
1 container Peach Applesauce

Directions:

Preheat at 350 degrees.  Cream together the shortening and sugar, then add the eggs and beat well.  Add in the dry ingredients, mashed bananas, and applesauce.  Pour into lined muffin tin.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Apple Coffee Cake

An easy, deelish fall treat... Baked this up at least once a year for a while now, and it never disappoints.  Originally found the recipe on ivillage.com. and have tweaked it over time... perfect with a nice steamy cup of coffee on a crisp fall morning :)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1tsp baking soda

1 cup sour cream

1 large apple, peeled and chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup butter softened

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cup sugar

Combine the nuts, 1/2 cup of sugar, and cinnamon and set aside.

Cream butter and rest of sugar.  Beat.  Add eggs one at a time, beat well.

Add vanilla.  Combine dry ingredients and add alternately with sour cream, beating well each time.

Spread half in greased pan, then spread apples and half of cinnamon/sugar on top.

Then spread remaining half of batter on top, and spread out evenly.

Top with the remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Bake at 375 for 40 min. (let stand for a bit before removing from pan)

Enjoy!

What a crock.....

Making good on my word and using my crockpot more this year!  Just came home to a dee-lish smelling house and a pot of piping hot kielbasa bean stew!  What kind of Polack would I be if I didn't include some of our favorite cured meat up in here... Ah-maze-ing!

Crock Pot Kielbasa Bean and Barley Stew

1 cup dried cannellini beans
1/2 cup pearled barley
1 onion, chopped
1 large clove minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
2 boxes of chicken broth (about 7-8 cups, I always use reduced sodium)
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 link (about 13oz) of turkey kielbasa (I used Hilshire Farms)
1/2 package of frozen chopped spinach
grated Parmesan- for serving =)

Directions:
Night before:  Pick over the beans, throw out any funky ones.  Cut Kielbasa into little half-moon slices.  Add beans, barley, chopped onion, minced garlic, spices, kielbasa, and 1/2 a package of frozen spinach to crock pot.  Place pot in fridge to complete the next morning.

Morning of:  Add chicken stock and petite diced tomatoes to the other ingredients in the crock pot.  Give it a good stir.  Cook on Low for 8 hours.

Inhale deeply when you walk in the door, DINNER IS DONE!  ;)   Serve with some Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Maggie called it "hot dog soup" hahaha, she kept making sure each bite had a piece of "hot dog" in it... she's too funny.

FYI: I added some additional chicken broth to my stew to make it less stew-like and more soup-like... don't like my stew too thick.

A taste of fall....

Every year, I help organize the annual cookie swap at school.  Right before Christmas, we all make about 6 dozen cookies of our favorite recipe.  Then the fun part.  Everyone trades and walks away with 6 dozen cookies, usually 6 cookies from each person.  Oh Baby....Cookie Swap day might just be one of Tim's favorite days of the year!

One of the secretaries at school made white chocolate chip pumpkin cookies last year and they had me at hello.  Since "bake something pumpkin" was on my bucket list, and I had friends coming over for a little Oktoberfest get-together, there was no better time to bake these yummy cookies.  These pumpkin chippers couldn't scream FALL loud enough...

These were deee-lish with some fresh apple cider  =)

The recipe makes a lot (about 6 dozen!), which makes it perfect for a cookie swap.  

I halved the ingredients when I made it this past weekend, and it made about 3 dozen cookies.

Mary's Pumpkin White Chocolate Drops

2 cups sugar

2 cups (4 sticks) butter

1 can (about 16oz.) solid pack pumpkin

2 eggs

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2  teaspoon baking soda

1 package (12 oz) white chocolate chips

1 container (16 oz) cream cheese frosting

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

*Preheat to 375 degrees and grease cookie sheets

*Beat white sugar and butter until light and fluffy.  Add pumpkin and eggs.  Beat until well-blended.

*Add flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and baking soda, beat until blended.  

*Stir in the chocolate chips

*Drop by teaspoonfuls on prepared baking sheets 

*Bake about 16 minutes (until set and lightly brown)  Remove to wire racks to cool

* Combine frosting and brown sugar in small bowl.  Spread on warm cookies

Amazing French Bread...

Nothing beats the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven... I found a great, easy french bread recipe on Tastykitchen.com.  It. tastes. awesome.
Clink on the link for ingredients.

After combining all of the ingredients, this is what I had.  not appetizing.

Then I covered it a bit with plastic wrap, leaving one side kind of open, and turned my oven to 175 to allow some warmth to help my dough rise on the stovetop.

I let it sit for 10 minutes and then came in to stir it.  I repeated that a total of 5 times.

Next, I divided the dough in half and rolled it out on my floured countertop.

I got it into a rectangle=ish shape, rolled it up like a jelly roll and placed it on a greased baking sheet, repeating with the second half of dough.

I was supposed to let it rise for 30 minutes, but Mags and I were playing in the yard, so it ended up being more like 45, just to show that this doesn't have to be super exact.

It rose quite a bit, so much that I actually had to move one of the loaves onto its own baking sheet.

I cut 3 diagonal slits into the bread and brushed it with egg wash, then I sprinkled on some salt, oregano, and basil (that part wasn't in the recipe, but I like a nice salted/flavored crust)

I popped the loaves in the oven for 25 minutes at 400F

and....... oh baby!

It smelled AMAZING!  I couldn't wait for it to cool off... I cut the end off almost immediately.  

Then I topped another piece with some deelish olive tapenade that I picked up at Price Chopper last weekend.      O. M. G.  

I swear Maggie and I ate half a loaf of bread by mid afternoon!  The best part is I wrapped the 2nd loaf up and stuck it in the freezer for next week.  I've got a quart of T's homemade sauce with meatballs and sausage in the freezer for the crazy first few days of back-to-school, this bread will be perfect on the side =)

Another FUN salad =)

I'm making good on my word and making fun salads more often!  

Actually, this was the perfect accompaniment to a nice "meatless Monday" meal I conjured up for this week... broccoli and cheddar quiche!

It's one of my goals for this school year...

 1.  use my crockpot more often

2.  prepare more "freezable" make-ahead meals

3.  try to do a night or 2 a week of meatless meals

Anywho... the salad is a store-bought bagged mix of 1/2 baby spinach and 1/2 mixed greens, topped with 3 tomatoes from our garden, sliced pepperoni, a few slices of rolled up genoa salami, and some fresh mozzarella.

The quiche is 7 eggs, a crown of chopped, blanched broccoli, a nice handful (or 2) of shredded cheddar, salt, pepper, a dash of nutmeg, and a 1/2 cup of half and half whisked together... First, butter 2-3 Corningware 8-to-16 oz bakeware dishes (I used 2 16oz ones, and 1 8 oz one for Mags), and pour in the egg mix.  Bake at 350F for about 35-40 minutes.  Then serve with the salad and some nice crusty bread.

I love that there are 2 big ones for me and T and a little one for Magpies :)

The perfect trifecta of 

Deelish!  Easy! and  Cheap!

Being neighborly...

Maggie is obsessed with our neighbor Jim, whose always smiling and ready to chat with our bubbly 2 year old.  Last night we had a friendly drink with him on his front porch, and Maggie must have worked her cuteness magic, because this morning Jim came by with 2 super cute outfits for our little girl.  So sweet of him.

I was already planning on baking some yummy muffins, so I decided to be neighborly right back and send some fresh baked goods Jim's way.  I scrolled through tastykitchen.com, which is one of my top go-to sites when looking for a new recipe, and stumbled upon some delish cinnamon banana muffins.  I had everything on hand, so I doubled the recipe and got busy in the kitchen during naptime...

The only changes I made to the original recipe were to cut the sugar (both white and brown), double everything, and extend the cooking time.

2 sticks butter, room temp

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons baking soda

4 mashed bananas

3 cups flour

pinch salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons cinnamon

brown sugar for sprinkling

First, cream together the butter and sugar.  Add eggs and beat.  Add sour cream and baking soda.  Mix in the mashed bananas.  Add flour and dash of salt.  Beat.  Add vanilla and cinnamon.

Fill muffin cups and bake at 350F for 20 minutes.

I have to admit, I'm not the most social person.  I'll wave hello and say hi to anyone I see, but I'm just plain awful at small talk.  Tim makes fun of me for my awkwardness... hey, I've got to have at least one flaw ;)    But I must admit, it was nice to chat with Jim and feel a sense of "neighborhood" if you know what I mean.  I'll have to try to do it more often...

A new spin on the same old same old...

I've decided to make salad for dinner once a week.  We've had an abundance of cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce from the garden, and I needed a different way to put them together.  I hate when my salad is "boring", same ingredients, same style so to speak.  Salad is one of those things that's awesome when someone else puts it together for you with their own spin, and then it seems so fresh and new and yummy.

I'm going to try to make more FUN salads, and here's the first one... a classic Cobb!  I made a bed of loose leaf lettuce from the garden and added some organic baby spinach for a twist.  Then I place stripes of garden cucumbers, grilled chicken, fresh tomatoes, BACON, hard boiled eggs, avocado, and reduced fat blue cheese (which was pretty good for being "light").  This salad was awesome.  Even T liked it, probably because of all the toppings which made it more filling, and well... more FUN  =)

Spice it up....

A long time ago, I ripped out this recipe from Rachel Ray and gave it a go... Deee-lish, as she would say.  Really, what made it so yummy was the relish/salsa/topping, which was very different than anything I'd ever had/made before...
Over time, I collected so many recipes that it became overwhelming.  I kept them in a binder that was literally overflowing and wouldn't close anymore.  So I began weeding through them.  Time consuming.

What happend was I chucked recipes I didn't think I'd ever honestly get around to trying, I kept "out of the box" recipes that intrigued me, and I moved recipes that I had tried and loved to a new binder that I named the "TRIED AND TRUE" binder.

This turkey burger and relish recipe made the cut.  Of course, I make some changes... So here's my version...

Turkey Burger
2 lbs ground turkey
a small handful of italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/3 cup of finely chopped parsley
Colby Jack cheese, or cheddar

Grill burgers (I used my griddler) until cooked through, then top with the colby jack.  Meanwhile, toast up some english muffins so they are ready when the burgers are done.

Relish
large zucchini, diced
red bell pepper, diced
1/2 medium sized red onion, diced
2 Tablespoons hot sauce (I used Franks)
juice of 1 1/2 limes
a few shakes of dried thyme

Combine all of the above, and give it a good stir.  Top the burgers with this yummy relish.

I served my burgers with a nice salad picked from our garden.  It made the perfect side.  You definitely need to try this!  I could even see eating the relish with tortilla chips in place of a standard salsa  :)

Beer + Bread = YUM

Love pinterest... Had a freak day off of work due to a power outage, and stumbled across this beer bread recipe...  I had everything on hand, so I baked it up right away.

It was so delish!  Couldn't resist going back for more and more ;)

Beer Bread Recipe (Via honestfare.com)

3 cups flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

4 Tablespoons sugar

1 12 oz beer (I used Yuengling)

3 Tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a loaf pan.  Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in bowl.  Stir.  Pour in the beer and stir until a stiff batter is formed (I used my hands... it was messy, but kind of fun lol)  Don't over mix.

Put dough into prepared loaf pan and pour melted butter on top.  Bake about 40 minutes.

Comfort Food

T's taking his CFA tomorrow.  

Saying he's a hot mess of stress would be a gigantic understatement.

He is fried.

Done.

Mentally drained.

And in need of some comfort before the big day...

So I decided what better way to warm the spirit than by some good old fashioned comfort food in the form of Baked Ziti with Sausage...

Preheat oven to 350.  Boil up a pot of water and cook a pound of ziti until al dente (they should still have some bite).

Meanwhile, brown up a pound of italian sausage.  Drain.

Spray a 9X13 pan and add a layer of tomato sauce (about 1/3 cup-ish).

Mix together a 15 oz container of ricotta, 1 egg, about a 1/4 of minced onion, 2 cloves of minced garlic, salt, pepper, and some dried oregano.  Add the drained sausage and drained pasta.  Mix well.

Layer about half of the pasta mixture into the pan.  Top with some tomato sauce, and 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.  Add in the remainder of the pasta mix, some more tomato sauce, and another cup of mozz.  Top with some fresh basil 

(YAY for using basil from the garden for the first time this year!!!)

Wrap tightly with foil (I sprayed the foil to keep the cheese from sticking).  Bake for 20 minutes.

Take off foil and bake another 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

Deee-lish!

And as always, LOVE when Mags, T and I all sit down and eat the same meal happily.

It's a trifecta of happy tummies  :)

Fiesta...

I've been meaning to post some of my "tried and true" recipes that I tend to make often.

Today I made Rachael Ray's Chicken Fiesta Bake ... I've made this so many times!  It's easy and yummy and lasts two nights, which is always a plus.  Of course, I tweak the recipe a bit, so here is my version...

1 pound ground chicken
3 cups cooked brown rice
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 box frozen corn, defrosted
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes with chiles
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup shredded cheddar
1 medium onion
3 cloves of garlic

Preheat oven to 350.  Cook the rice.  Meanwhile, cook ground turkey in saute pan with 1 Tbsp EVOO for about 5 minutes over medium heat.  Add salt and pepper.
Add chopped onion and minced garlic.  Cook until onions are soft and translucent.
Add drained black beans, corn, and tomatoes with their juices.  Continue to cook until warmed through.

Add the cooked rice to the chicken mixture and combine.
Pour the mixture into a 13X9 casserole dish, and top with the cheddar cheese.
Place in the oven to melt and brown the cheese, about 20 minutes.

Ta-da!  A recipe is always a winner if T, Mags, and I all like it and it's easy enough to throw together on a weeknight.  ;)

Shrimpy

Made Skinnytaste.com's Angel Hair with Shrimp in Tomato Sauce today... Soooo good, Sooooo easy.
T loved it.  Mags loved it.  I loved it.  It was a winning trifecta of yumminess.....

Click here to get the Recipe for this delish dish!