Creme Brulee

This dish served as a decadent dessert on Christmas Eve - it was the perfect ending to a great meal.  I thought it would be really difficult, but it was really easy and it got compliments from everyone!  Make this for your next special meal - it's worth it and is a real treat.

Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup or so of light brown sugar.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Whisk the cream, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla extract together in a bowl until creamy.   Pour this mixture into 4 (6 or 7 oz) ramekins. Place the ramekins in a baking pan. Fill the baking pan with hot water, about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Place the pan with the ramekins in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour or so. After 45 minutes or so check them every ten minutes. You'll know they're done when you can stick a knife in one and it comes out clean. Remove the ramekins from the baking pan, set them on the counter, and let them cool for 15 minutes or so.


Then put them in the refrigerator and let them chill overnight.


Just before serving, sprinkle a thin layer of white sugar on the top of each,making sure to completely cover the top of the custard. Now torch it! We picked up a kitchen torch at Bed Bath & Beyond and it worked great - it's pretty fun too!  Or, if you don't have a torch, you can supposedly put them under the broiler for a minute or so. I haven't tried this. 

Italian Green Beans

When I was trying to decide what side dishes to serve with the prime rib I knew I wanted something green, but didn't want the same old green beans.  Lucky for me, I found this Giada de Laurentis recipe and they were absolutely scrumptious!  I know we will be eating them again around here.

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs fresh green beans, trimmed
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp olive oil
3 large shallots, thinly diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp thinly sliced fresh basil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper


Directions:
Cook the green beans in a large pot of boiling water until just crisp-tender, about 3 minutes.  Drain and rinse well in cold water.  Drain well; set aside.


Melt the butter and oil in a heavy, large skillet over medium heat.  Add the shallots & garlic and saute until tender, about 2 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes.  Add the beans and cook until the juices evaporate and the beans are almost tender, stirring often, about 10 minutes.  Stir in the wine and basil.  Simmer 2 minutes longer.  Season w/salt and pepper to taste.

Foolproof Standing Rib Roast

This year was the third year we hosted Christmas Eve at our home and it was the best year yet.  I made a standing rib roast again and used the same Paula Dean recipe I have used every year - it came out pretty perfect, again!  Everyone enjoyed it and we can't wait to eat the leftovers.  I didn't get any great pictures of the rib roast once it was cooked, so table shots will have to do. :)

The rib roast before....

and after...sliced and served on the table.

Find the recipe here.....I did not change anything about the recipe at all except that I used a lot more than one tablespoon of house seasoning.  I did not measure how much I used but I rubbed it all over the roast - all sides, on the bones, everywhere.  :)  The roast had an amazing flavor and the seasoning created a really nice crust on the outside of the meat.  Can't wait until next year to make it again - I feel like it gets better every year.  Also - make sure you do not open the oven, just as the recipe says.  It will be difficult but don't do it!

I served the roast w/a garden salad with homemade ranch & parmesan crisps, garlic mashed potatoes, and a yummy green bean recipe, with creme brulee for dessert.  More recipes coming soon!

Sugar Cookies

I found this sugar cookie recipe on Annie's Eats last year and fell in love with it - trust me when I tell you it makes the perfect sugar cookies.  I think the almond extract plays a big part in that but whatever it is, we love them.  I made cookies for Colin's teachers as part of their Christmas gift and they all really liked them too.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 ½ t. almond extract
1 t. vanilla
1 t. salt
2 ½ c. sifted flour

Directions:Cream butter. Add powdered sugar. Blend in egg, almond extract, vanilla, salt and flour. Chill dough until firm. Roll to ¼” thickness on well-floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 min. Cookies should not brown. Frost and decorate when cool. Yields ~25 cookies.

Apple Cranberry Sauce

This was really easy and really good!  I really like the canned cranberry sauce but this stuff is a million times better - make it for the holidays. This recipe is from the RealSimple magazine.

 Ingredients:
1 lb cranberries
1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan.  Simmer until berries burst and sauce thickens, about 12 - 15 minutes.  Cool a few minutes before serving.

Easy Creamy Corn Casserole

I found this on All Recipes and it was scrumptious!!!  It was really tasty and got great reviews at Thanksgiving from everyone.  It was my first time to make a corn casserole and I definitely will be making it again!  This would be good for a Christmas dinner celebration too.  I made this on Tuesday night, let it cool and then kept it covered until Thursday when I reheated it at 350 for about 20 minutes or so.  Sorry, no picture this time - forgot to take one before we ate it!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 (8.5 oz) pkg dry corn bread mix
1 (15 oz) can corn, drained
1 (14.75 oz) can creamed corn
1 cup sour cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease an 8x8 baking dish (of if you double the recipe like I did, put it into a 9x13 dish/cake pan).  In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients.  Spoon mixture into prepared dish.  Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven or until the top is golden brown.

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

I saw this recipe on Chef Mommy - it is easy and yummy!  It's also a nice change from chocolate chip cookies and seemed like a good recipe to try for Thanksgiving.  One tip I have for baking (and I am really not a baker) - use parchment paper!  It is cheap and I swear everytime I use it my cookies taste so much better and they never burn, even if I get a little distracted by a certain toddler around here.  Even better?  You can use the same piece of parchment paper to bake the entire batch of dough.  No more burned cookies and a super easy clean up!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper (or a silpat mat if you have it).  In a large bowl cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth.  Beat in the egg and vanilla.  Combine the flour, salt and baking soda; stir into the sugar mixture.  Mix in the white chocolate chips and cranberries.  Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes in the preheated oven.  For best results, take them out while they are still doughy.  Allow cookies to cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.


Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

I do not know where I got this recipe but I wish I had written it down so I could give them credit.  It is yummy and that is coming from someone who is not a big pumpkin fan.  I like pumpkin seeds and every now and then I like pumpkin bread but that is about it.  That is, until tonight when I tasted one of these cookies!  I made them to take to Thanksgiving and wish I would have made them earlier in the month.  These will definitely go into the regular rotation next fall.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.  In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by spoonful (dough will be very sticky).  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.


To Make Glaze: Combine 2 cups powdered sugar, 5 tbsp milk, 1 tbsp melted butter, and 1 tsp vanilla. Add more milk as needed to achieve drizzling consistency.

Here they are all packed up and ready for Thanksgiving...have I mentioned I can't wait?!?!

Stuffed Baked Potatoes

I made these a couple of weeks ago when it was cool outside.  My mom has been making these for as long as I can remember and I love them.  They are definitely a comfort food to me and they are so yummy, especially when it's cold outside.  This recipe is pretty much the same steps you would take when making twice baked potatoes, only w/sausage & tomatoes instead.  Serve w/a green salad and you have a full meal, hopefully with enough left over for lunch the next day.

Ingredients:
Baking potatoes - 4 or 5
1 lb. breakfast sausage (Jimmy Dean's or whatever you like)
1 large can of diced tomatoes
Shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Scrub potatoes, roll in kosher salt, wrap in foil and bake for about 1 hour (or until done).
While potatoes are baking, cook the sausage in large skillet.  Once sausage is cooked turn heat to low and add the tomatoes (do not drain the juice).
When the potatoes are done and have cooled enough to handle, slice them open and scoop them out, placing the potato in the skillet with the sausage and tomatoes.  Continue until all potatoes have been scooped.
Stir to combine the potato, sausage, and tomato mixture and season w/salt, pepper, and plenty of garlic. 
Scoop the mixture back into the hollow potato shells and top w/shredded cheese.
Place the potatoes back in the oven for about 10 minutes or until all of the cheese is melted. 

Beef Chili

Last week a cold front blew in and I couldn't wait to make chili.  I waited one day too late because I made this on Sunday night (halloween) and it was 80-something degrees outside.  It was still delicious.  This was a new recipe I tried and I didn't get a picture because we completely devoured the whole thing.  The recipe is from a cookbook my mother-in-love got me years ago -- A Perfect Setting; The Junior League of Lubbock: A Collection of West Texas Recipes.  I made a double recipe of what is posted below and before you ask, it wasn't just me and Luke eating it....we had some help.  :)  I served the chili on top of some white rice and put lots of cheese on top.  We also had cornbread on the side....yum!!!  Make this when it's cold outside (or not) and enjoy it!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef ( I use ground sirloin)
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup water
1 (16-oz) can stewed tomatoes
1 can ranch-style beans

Directions:
Brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic in the skillet, stirring until crumbly; drain (I never drain the meat but I always use a lean ground beef).  Add the chili powder, flour, salt, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, cumin, sugar, water and undrained tomatoes and mix well.  Cook on low heat for 5 to 6 hours or until done to taste.  Stir in the beans and serve.

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Last Friday Colin's class had a halloween party and I signed up to take mini cupcakes.  These turned out pretty cute.  Colin helped me make them on Thursday - he is a great chef in the kitchen, though he is a little messy.  I didn't get the best pictures and really it's not a recipe but it's a cute idea for fall cupcakes.

Ingredients:
- box of yellow cake mix (eggs, water, oil as called for on the box)
- red and yellow food coloring
- icing
-candy corns

Directions:
- make yellow cupcakes according to directions on box. when i use a box cake mix (which is like 99% of the time) any time it calls for water i substitute milk instead.  it makes the cake really yummy.
- fill cupcake liners 1/3 full of yellow cake mix.
- use several drops of red and yellow food coloring on the remaining cake mix until you get the right shade of orange.  now fill the cupcakes liners with the orange colored cake mix (pour on top of the yellow).
- bake cupcakes according to instructions on the box.
- ice w/your favorite white icing and top with a candy corn.

Lunches Last Week

I don't have a full week of lunches from last week.  I had the stomach flu so Luke packed Colin's lunch on Monday.  I didn't remind him to take a picture and I probably didn't really care at that point. :)  He also had a Halloween party at school on Friday and they had cheese pizza with a myriad of junk food/candy/cupcakes so I didn't send a lunch - I think he had oatmeal for breakfast and fruit for snack. Here goes the other 3 days of the school week.

Tuesday, 10/26

breakfast:waffle.

snacks: pretzels & applesauce.

lunch: cheese quesadilla, veggie chips, pineapple bits, and a sweet treat w/a candy corn.

 Wednesday, 10/27

breakfast: apple cinammon mini waffles, syrup in the muffin cup, and strawberries.

snacks: grapes, cheese stick, and mini saltine crackers.  yogurt.

lunch: fake out chick-fil-a nuggets (will post the recipe late), veggie mix, and peaches.

 Thursday, 10/28

breakfast: oatmeal (luke made it when he took colin to school).

snack: blueberry scones & leftover snacks from monday, tuesday, and wednesday.

lunch: ritz crackers, turkey, and cheese with cherry tomatoes and grapes (colin's favorite lunch).

Lunches Last Week

We only had 3 lunches from last week.  Colin had pink eye so he stayed home from school on Thursday and Friday.  He is all better now and I hope it is a very long time until I have to wrestle a toddler down for eye drops again. 

Monday, 10/18

Breakfast: apple cinnamon muffin & a banana

AM Snack: blueberry yogurt

Lunch: turkey & cheese 'spooky meow (cat)' sandwich, green grapes, 1/4 of an oatmeal raisin cookie & Snikkidy cheese fries

PM Snack: peanut butter crackers & a mandarin orange

Tuesday, 10/19

Breakfast: nutri-grain bar & applesauce

AM snack: apple muffin, green grapes

Lunch: pasta salad (car shaped noodles, corn, tomatoes, peas, & cheese w/some light italian dressing), fruit salad, sliced pickles

PM Snack: trail mix (peanuts, honey nut cheerios, raisins, marshmallow)

Wednesday, 10/20

Breakfast: fruit loops cereal (added milk @ school) & banana

AM snack: blueberry yogurt

Lunch: pb&j 'sushi rolls', mandarin orange, grapes, veggie chips, and a candy treat (m&m's & marshmallows)

PM snack: pretzels & fruit snack bites

Lunches This Week

I always have a hard time packing Colin's lunches food for school.  Then I heard about the Easy Lunchbox system - the blogs/ideas I found through their website were great!  So this is my first attempt at blogging Colin's lunches for the week.  It probably won't really matter to anyone who reads this blog, but someday it might!  Colin is at "school" everyday from about 7:30am - 4pm so I pack a ton of food for him: breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack. I pack everything the night before and leave it in the fridge for my hubby (he takes him to school in the mornings).  Also, just b/c of how I pack it/intend for him to eat doesn't mean that is how it always goes at school.  A lot of times he comes home with food he didn't eat/ate in a different order so it gets recycled into the next days lunch if possible. So, here we go with a warning - the pictures are not great.

Monday, 10/11

Breakfast: Waffle w/butter, banana

AM Snack: applesauce

Lunch: pb&j sandwich, goldfish, cucumbers, carrots & strawberries

PM snack: pretzels

Tuesday, 10/12

Breakfast: Fruit Loops w/milk (not shown), banana

AM Snack: yogurt, granola bar

Lunch: crackers, cheese, ham, fruit salad, teddy grahams w/a few marshmallows

PM Snack: goldfish

Wednesday, 10/13

Breakfast: Cheesey scrambled eggs, mandarin orange, ABC cereal

AM snack: applesauce

Lunch: Ham & cheese quesadillas, carrots, cucumbers, strawberries, raisins & peanuts

PM snack: ritz crackers w/peanut butter, fruit snacks

Thursday, 10/14

Breakfast: Cereal bar, yogurt

AM Snack: pumpkin muffins

Lunch: spooky macaroni w/turkey dog, peas, carrots, applesauce, tomato, half a cinnamon cookie

PM Snack: pretzels and raisins

Friday, 10/15

Breakfast: Cereal bar, banana

AM snack: pumpkin muffins

Lunch: turkey & ham rollups w/cheese, tomatos, carrots, pickles, veggie chips

PM snack: pretzels and mandarin orange

Ham & Cheese Sliders

So my family has been eating for the last couple of months, I just haven't been blogging about it.  Mostly because by the time dinner is ready we are all so hungry/tired/cranky/whatever that I don't even think about looking for my camera to take a picture.  If I don't have a photo, I won't blog about it because that's no fun.  I didn't take a photo last night either but luckily this recipe has been making its rounds around the blogosphere so I borrowed someone else's picture!  This photo is Annie's Eats blog- check it out (link at bottom), she has some amazing stuff on her blog.  I am a huge fan of every recipe I have found on her site - speaking of, I need to blog some of them if I can find the photos I took.  This is an easy recipe and really tasty - I made it for our bible study last night and everyone seemed to really like them.

Sandwich Ingredients:
24 good white dinner rolls or slider rolls
24  slices honey ham
12 slices white American cheese (use any chz you want!)
Mayo

Sauce Ingredients:
1½ tbsp. yellow mustard

8 tbsp. butter, melted

1 tbsp. finely minced onion

½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Poppy seeds, for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Split the slider rolls and spread the insides lightly with mayonnaise.  Fold a slice of ham to fit on each slider bun, and top with a slice of cheese (I used half a slice of cheese on each roll).  Replace the top bun to assemble the sandwiches.  Place the sandwiches on a baking sheet.

To make the sauce, combine all ingredients except the poppy seeds in a small bowl and whisk to combine.  Drizzle the sauce over the tops of the slider buns.  Sprinkle with poppy seeds (I forgot to buy these).  Cover with foil and bake 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted.  Remove the foil and bake 2 minutes longer.  Serve warm.

Also, for me the sauce recipe did not make enough - you can never have too much butter, right?  So I doubled the sauce and doused the sandwiches - yum!  I can't wait to make these again!

Source:

Annies Eats

Chicken Tenders w/Cream Gravy

I just copied and pasted this recipe from SoTastySoYummy. This meal was really good - the gravy was the best part and it was really easy. I have always been intimidated by trying to make gravy but this turned out perfect for my first time. The only thing I would do different next time is to tenderize the chicken strips/breasts beforehand - they were a little tough, but that is nothing a little beat of beating a mallet won't fix. :) The macaroni and green beans were from a box and a can, so no recipe for those.

Chicken Tenders
2 chicken breasts, cut into strips
1/3 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
salt
pepper
oil for frying

Place the flour in one shallow dish, the egg in another and the breadcrumbs in a third. Salt and pepper the flour. Toss the chicken strips first in the flour, then the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs. Heat approximately 1/2 inch oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Fry the chicken tenders, about 5 to 7 minutes on each side. Drain on a paper towel.

Cream Gravy
2 tablespoons of the oil from frying the chicken tenders
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup cream

Remove all but two tablespoons of the oil from the frying pan used to fry the chicken. Whisk in flour until well blended; cook over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbly. Gradually add milk and cream; boil until thick and smooth, whisking constantly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Hamburger Bun Pizza!

I saw this idea on another food blog somewhere and I loved it.  When I was making our meal plan last week one of the items was Chopped Beef Sandwiches so I thought it would also be the perfect time to try these mini pizzas out.  This is a great way to use up leftover hamburger buns, because when you have to buy them in a pack of 8 you always have leftovers, right?  It was also super fun because my little man got to help me make them!  We had a great time doing this and then watching them bake in the oven.  He always wants to help cook in the evenings so this was the perfect opportunity - my little boy is getting so big!

My helper!

Ingredients:
Hamburger Buns (I used HEB BakeShop and they were yummo!)
Tomato Sauce/Pizza Sauce (I had a jar of pizza sauce in my pantry from who knows when)
Pizza Blend/Mozzarella Cheese (ask my hubby, our cheese drawer is always overflowing)
Pepperoni (or whatever toppings you like)

Directions:
- Spread tomato sauce on the buns.  If you don't have a handy dandy jar of pizza sauce in your pantry, mix a small can of tomato sauce with some italian seasoning, a little bit of olive oil and some parmesan cheese.  It is delicious and this is what we use on homemade pizza.
- Top buns with cheese and toppings.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes, then turn the broiler on high and let them crisp/brown for 2 minutes.  Enjoy!

Ready to eat!  Gee, I wonder which placesetting is mine? :)

A close up - these were so yummy!  A salad would be good too, but I didn't have any of the green stuff in my fridge last night.

Balsamic Spinach, Tomato & Pepper Pasta

Ingredients:
- Box of bowtie pasta (you can use ziti, rotini, anything you want)
- Light Balsamic Vinaigrette salad dressing
- 2 cans diced italian tomatoes
- 2 bell peppers (red & yellow)
- spinach leaves

Directions:
- Prepare the pasta as directed on the box.
- While the pasta is cooking slice up the peppers.
- Toss the peppers in a skillet w/a little bit of olive oil, kosher salt, and italian seasoning.
- Add some of the balsamic dressing (I didn't measure but used about 1/3 cup)
- Next add the tomatoes, then a little more dressing (about another 1/3 or 1/4 cup).
- Let it simmer a few minutes, then add the spinach - I used the entire 6 oz bag and it was just right.  If you are an especially big spinach lover, buy a bigger bag!
- Stir it all around until the spinach wilts, then toss with your cooked pasta, top with some parmesan cheese and dinner is served.

This was a nice light and summery meal that I will definitely be making again.  I am not normally a huge fan of balsamic vinaigrette (to tangy/vinegary for me) but it worked well in this dish.  All 3 of us cleaned our plates and I am excited to take my leftovers to work tomorrow - that's how you know it was a pretty tasty meal! 

Homemade Pop Tarts

Colin loves pop tarts. Anytime he sees the silver wrapper he drops whatever he is doing and says, "eat".  It's really cute but I don't want my little monster to eat pop tarts all the time, even I do buy the pop tarts with no icing.  So I made some of my own.  This was the second or third time I have made them and Colin at two of them. When I asked if it was yummy, he said "nummy", which means that I am the best cook ever, at least to Colin.  These are easy and a tasty treat for breakfast every now and then.  These are fun too because you can use whatever filling you want - so far we have only tried strawberry and apple (I used canned apple pie filling) but the possibilities are endless!

Strawberry Pastry (Pop Tart)


Ingredients:
- 1 prepared pie crust ( I used Pillsbury - by the cookie dough at the grocery store)
- Strawberry jam 
- 1 egg white
- sugar for sprinkling


Directions:
- Unroll pie crust and trim to cut four squares of pastry.  Or you can cut the whole crust into four triangles - like a turnover.  If you choose to cut into squares, you will have leftover dough (squares of dough from a round  crust = leftover dough).  Just roll the leftover dough out again and you can get two more small squares.
- Spread dough with strawberry jam
- Fold dough over and use a fork to crimp the edges
- Brush the pastry crust with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.  I like to use the raw sugar (Luke uses the brown packets in his coffee) but plain white sugar is fine too.
- Bake as directed on the package - normally at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

*Note: make sure not to overfill your pastry because it will spill out and the jam/filling will get on everything else.  See my picture above as an example!  :)

Eggplant Parmesan

Luke requested a special lunch on Father's Day and this is what he wanted.  The picture is pretty terrible, but I had to use the Iphone because all 3 of us were hungry and didn't want to wait until the regular camera could be found.  This isn't much of a recipe, but it's one of our favorites.  The first time I had this dish was at Luke's house when we were in high school and then we made it pretty often in college.  It's funny how when you first start making a dish it takes a long time and seems really complicated - it is actually easy and pretty quick!  Enough chatter, here is the recipe.

Eggplant Parmesan
Serves 4 (at least)

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sized eggplant, sliced into 1/4" slices 
• Oil for frying (I used canola but you can use veggie)
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 1 cup flour (seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and italian seasoning)
• Shredded parmesan cheese
• Creamy tomato sauce (see below)
• 1 package cooked spaghetti or angel hair pasta

Directions:

• Fill a skillet with enough oil to cover the bottom.
• Soak the slices of eggplant in a bowl of lightly salted water.  This sounds weird but it really did taste even better after I did this.  I only soaked mine for 10 minutes, then laid the eggplant on paper towels to dry.
• Fill one pie pan with whisked eggs and one pie pan with seasoned flour (using the salt, pepper, garlic, & italian seasoning to taste).
• Dredge eggplant slices in eggs, then in flour mixture.
• Fry over medium heat for about 3 minutes on each side...until they are nice and brown.
• Serve on top of spaghetti noodles.  I layered the eggplant slices like a lasagna - eggplant, creamy tomato sauce, parmesan cheese - I did this with 3 pieces of eggplant and topped again with parmesan cheese.

To make the creamy tomato sauce, I emptied two cans of tomato sauce into the saucepan.  I used a little salt, pepper, garlic, italian seasoning and heated through.  Once it's nice and hot, add heavy whipping cream - I used probably about 1/3 cup of cream.  You can use however much you want - it really makes a difference and is especially delicious with eggplant.  

Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Sandwich

This isn't really a recipe either but it was so good.  A few months ago we went to Waffle House for breakfast and I got a toasted sandwich.  I have tried a couple of times to recreate it at home but it was never just right.  I finally got it on Saturday morning!  This is more camping food that was planned for our trip - also a crummy picture but I was hungry and ready to eat!

Ingredients:
1 egg
2 slices bacon
2 slices bread
2 slices american cheese


Directions:
- Cook the bacon over medium heat in a skillet or on a griddle.
- Fry the egg in the same pan you used to cook the bacon.
- While the egg is frying, toast the 2 pieces of bread.
- Assemble the sandwich: toast, cheese, bacon, egg, cheese, toast
- Put the entire sandwich back in the skillet/griddle and toast for a couple extra minutes on each side.

*I used a griddle so I cooked most everything at the same time = super quick and delicious breakfast.

Campfire Meal

On Friday night we were supposed to go camping.  On Thursday night Luke loaded up all of the equipment and the ice chest full of food.  On Friday morning he decided we were all too tired to go camping (he was right) but we made our campfire meal for dinner anyway.  It's not much of a recipe but it was actually pretty tasty and if you were eating it around a campfire I think it would taste even better.

Ingredients:
1 large can baked beans (we used bush's baked beans)
4 hot dogs, sliced
Half a medium onion, diced
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp brown sugar

Directions: Mix all ingredients and heat thoroughly - about 30 minutes.  We didn't actually measure the ketchup, mustard or brown sugar - just added to the pot and estimated.  All 3 of us liked this meal and if you are looking for super easy recipes to use while camping....you should try it!

Easy Pasta Primavera

This dish is so yummy and so easy. You can modify the types/amounts of vegetables to your heart’s content or using whatever veggies you have in your refrigerator, which is what I did last week. I bought some veggies from the farmer’s market the weekend before and wanted to use everything before it went bad. The recipe below is what I did.

Ingredients:
15 baby carrots, sliced into thin strips
1 zucchini, cut into thin strips
1 yellow squash, cut into thin strips
1 red belpepper, cut into thin strips
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
¼ cup olive oil
Kosher salt, ground black pepper to taste
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 box bowtie pasta
½ cup shredded parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450. In a bowl, toss the veggies with olive oil, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Spread evenly on a large cookie sheet/baking pan and bake for about 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes. Depending on how your oven cooks it may be a little shorter/longer than this – when the vegetables start to brown and the carrots are tender, they are done.

While everything is in the oven, cook your pasta. My box of bowtie pasta was half empty so I used the rest of what I had and added a half bag of tricolor spiral pasta and some mini shells to the pot too. See, I told you – this is like a clean out your pantry and fridge meal. Anyway, it was about 1 lb of pasta or close to it. Drain the pasta but make sure to reserve 1 cup of the pasta water/liquid. I did this by dipping my measuring cup in the pot before I drained the water, easy peasy.

Now mix the cooked pasta and roasted veggies. Add the pasta water to moisten – I used ½ cup of the water – and the parmesan cheese. Toss to mix and serve hot. We had big plates of pasta with generous portions of crusty garlic bread. As you can tell it was a very diet-friendly meal. Ha! It actually is not too terrible (minus the bread) as there is no cream sauce in this dish. It is fresh and spring-y (is that a word?) and we all loved it, especially little man. Hope you like it!

Note: If you do increase/decrease the amount of vegetables, make sure to do the same with the olive oil and Italian seasoning.

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

These are super quick to make and the leftovers keep well in the fridge.  Everyone at my house is a fan and they aren't too bad for you either.  You should try them!

Ingredients:
1 large overripe banana
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 cup whole wheat flour

Directions:

• Mash the banana in a medium bowl.  Add egg and milk and whisk until frothy/bubbly on top.
• Combine baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and flour in a sifter and sift into the banana mixture.  Stir until just combined/blended.
• Cook on medium high heat in a skillet or a griddle.  Small bubbles will form but not as many as traditional pancakes - I think it was about 2 - 3 minutes per side for cook time. 

This recipe made 7 medium sized pancakes.  Colin loves them and has been taking the leftovers to school this week for breakfast.

Sour Cream Mexican Rice

Again, this was really good! I love any kind of rice so maybe I am not the best critic, but this was something new and different and everyone loved it, even Colin. I probably wouldn’t make this on a weeknight just because I like super quick meals but I think we will be eating a lot of this side dish in the future. *Note: I accidentally left out the cilantro and it was still really amazing. Can’t wait to see what it tastes like when I remember to add all of the ingredients. Also, I doubled the recipe as we had 7 adults and one hungry baby and it was way more than enough.

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers
2 cups shredded pepper Monterrey Jack cheese, divided
1 can corn
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
salt and ground black pepper to taste
Directions:
In a large pot, bring the rice and chicken broth to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish.

In the pot with the cooked rice, mix the sour cream, green chile peppers, 1 cup pepper Jack cheese, corn, and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish, and top with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.

Source: http://www.allrecipes.com/

Refried Beans

Ingredients:

2 lbs pinto beans, rinsed
10 cups water
2/3 onion, peeled and halved
1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon and 1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in the pot and cook on medium high for 1 hour, checking and stirring beans every hour until they are fork-tender. After about 4 hours (probably 1 hour too long) I put the beans and water/juices in the stand mixer, turned it on the highest setting and let it go for a few minutes. Next time we won’t cook them as long as a lot of liquid evaporated and I didn’t want to add too much more because I was afraid it would affect the flavor. This beans were delicious and we will be eating the leftovers in breakfast tacos this week. Again, this was another really easy recipe – you have to let them cook for awhile but the amount of work is very minimal.

Homemade Salsa

This salsa was delicious and so easy to make. A food processor is a girl’s best friend in the kitchen – this really only took maybe 10 minutes and part of that was sticking the dirty stuff in the dishwasher after it was all done. It got rave reviews from everyone at lunch!

Ingredients:
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and sliced in half
4 cloves garlic, halved
2 large vine-ripened tomatoes, quartered
1 (28 0z.) can diced tomatoes (drained or not, depending on how much liquid you want in your salsa) (I used 14.5 oz can)
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. cumin
1/2 sweet yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
juice of one lime

Directions:
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the jalapenos and garlic. Process until finely chopped. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add all other ingredients to the food processor. Pulse in very brief pulses until the vegetables have reached the size you desire (it does not take many pulses so don’t overdo it). Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving to allow the flavors to blend.

Source: http://www.annies-eats.com/

Taco Seasoning

My family came over to celebrate mother’s day on Sunday and boy did we have a feast! Of course I didn’t get pictures of anything because we were all starving and I wasn’t thinking about it at the time. I used a lot of new recipes on Sunday, so here is the first one:

Taco Seasoning

This was really good and it’s so much better for you than the envelopes you buy at the store. Plus, for me, taco seasoning packets are what I always forget to buy – but not anymore!
Source: http://www.annies-eats.com/

Ingredients:
4 tbsp. chili powder
3 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. paprika
3 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and mix well to blend. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.

To prepare taco meat, use 2 heaping tablespoons in place of a package of taco seasoning (cook approximately 1 lb. of beef or chicken, add 1 cup of water with the seasoning, and simmer until the liquid is almost completely gone.)  I was too lazy to take a picture but it looks pretty!  Also, this makes a little less than 1 cup of taco seasoning, so it will last quite awhile.  I have mine stored in a mason jar.

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

I have seen this recipe floating around the blog world since February and I have had the ingredients in my fridge and pantry to make it for over a month....tonight I finally got to make it and it was so, so, so good.  It is light but filling at the same time.  It definitely did not taste like a "light/diet friendly" meal at all.  The best part is we have leftovers - the rolls still come out a pretty good size and 2 were more than enough for me.  This is not a weeknight friendly meal for our house, even though it's super easy.  It takes a little longer than normal to boil the noodles, drain them and let them dry, then roll them and bake the whole thing.  It is so definitely worth the extra time and like I said, it is really super easy!  I think from now on I will make all lasagna in this fashion (the roll) instead of the casserole version...it comes out looking pretty too and would definitely impress any dinner guests.  We devoured our plates along with some garlic bread and a bottle of red wine, yum.

Ingredients:
9 lasagna noodles, cooked
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
15 oz fat free ricotta cheese (I used a fat free version of whatever HEB had in stock)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
salt and fresh pepper
32 oz tomato sauce
9 tbsp part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded (I used pizza blend cheese, it was all I had)

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.
- Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish. (I couldn't find the right size dish so I used 2 smaller dishes instead)
- Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle. (I did this with my hands, it was too difficult to smooth it out with a spoon). Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.
- Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese.
- Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls.
- To serve, ladle a little sauce on the plate and top with lasagna roll.

Source: Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 9 • Serving Size: 1 roll • Calories: 188

Here is a picture when you cut into the lasagna roll....pasta, spinach, and cheese...3 of my favorite things!

  And here is a picture of the little rascal who runs our household.  He did try the lasagna but was much more interested in peas and blueberries, 2 of his favorite things!  Tonight he sat at the dinner table with us for the first time in a booster chair instead of his high chair.