Creamy Tortellini & Spinach Bake

This baked pasta dish was so good.  It uses 2 cups of fresh baby spinach, but it all cooks down into the sauce and is wonderful.  The bacon is a nice and flavorful touch.  I will be making this again!  I did not use dried tortellini- that's not available here anyway, so I used some good tri-color frozen stuff; it was about a pound of pasta that I ended up using. The original recipe uses 12 oz. of dried tortellini; maybe you just need more if using frozen.

Creamy Tortellini & Spinach Bake 
from Our Best Bites 
Serves 4-6

12 oz. dried cheese tortellini or 16 oz. frozen cheese tortellini pasta
4 oz bacon or pancetta, chopped (about 4 strips bacon-will need extra for topping)
3 cloves garlic, pressed in garlic press or finely minced
2 Tbs flour
2 cups milk
¾ tsp kosher salt
⅛ tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp dry basil
¼ tsp red pepper flakes (1/2 tsp or more if you like spicy)
1/2 medium lemon
2 cups loosely packed fresh spinach, roughly chopped
¾ cups grated mozzarella cheese, divided
¾ cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil.  Add tortellini and cook according to package instructions.

2.  Place bacon in a medium sized skillet on the stove-top at medium-high heat.  Cook until crisp.  Remove bacon from pan with slotted spoon and set on paper towels to drain.  Reserve two tablespoons bacon drippings in pan and discard the rest.  Add garlic to pan and cook until fragrant and tender, about 1 minute.  Add flour to pan and stir with a whisk for about 1 minute. Slowly add milk and continue to stir with whisk until smooth.  Add salt, pepper, basil, and red pepper flakes and bring sauce to a simmer.

3.  While sauce is heating, use a microplane grater or a fine-holed cheese grater to zest lemon.  Then cut lemon in half and remove juice from one half.  Add 2 teaspoons zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice to sauce.  Continue to stir until thickened, 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat.

4.  Drain tortellini and place back in stock pot.  Add the cooked bacon.  Add spinach, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.  Add sauce and gently stir to combine.  Place pasta mixture in an 8×8 or 9×9 (or similar sized) baking dish and top with remaining 1/4 cup mozarella and 1/4 cup parmesan and extra crumbled bacon.

5.  Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, until cheese on top is melted and pasta is bubbly throughout.  Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

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Beef Stroganoff

This was so good- this is my mom's recipe for Beef Stroganoff.  I asked her to Email it to me a few years ago (almost exactly 7 years ago!!), and she did, but for some reason I never got around to making it until earlier this week.  I loved it when she used to make it when I was younger, and I love it now!  I adapted this for the slow cooker, and it worked beautifully.  (Note: pic above featured with homemade Spaetzle.)

One weird thing; I'm not a huge mushroom fan, so I left them out.  It is still considered stroganoff without mushrooms?!  I'm not sure, but by all means, add them in if you want!  The whole family loved this.  My little 4-year old meat eater was literally slurping it down; he had like 3 servings or something.  The kids even ignored the broccoli in favor of this, and they actually really love broccoli!  (So that meant me and my husband had to eat it all, since it's not really good as leftovers.  Broccoli overload!!)  The recipe calls for 2 cups of sour cream, but I only added one cup.  Then I added another large spoonful to make it a little thicker.  My mom says that doing this in the crock-pot will just make it a little more thin than doing it on the stove top.  I loved the ease of doing this in the crock pot; I made it at around noon, stuck it in there, and when I got back from the gym, just boiled a package of noodles, steamed broccoli, and stirred in the sour cream.

My store is famously out of meat all the time, or they only have a little bit, or weird cuts of meat.  They did not have any round steak the day I wanted to make this, but they DID have cut-up stir fry meat.  It was actually perfect!!  It was some kind of beef (maybe round steak...) cut into thin strips, which is what we want here, anyway!

Beef Stroganoff

from my mom  

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 to 2 pounds round steak, trimmed and cut into thin strips (stir fry meat works well!)

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped onion

1 garlic clove, minced

2 cans (10 1/2 ounces) condensed beef broth

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard (I used wet mustard here, ha ha)

3 tablespoons tomato chili sauce
1 teaspoon Worcester sauce

1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced (optional)

1-2 cups sour cream (8-16 ounces) (add to taste)

Cooked noodles

Chopped fresh parsley 

Stovetop:

1.  Combine flour, salt, pepper and paprika in a plastic bag. Shake beef strips in bag until well coated.  (I just combined in a bowl).  

2.  In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Brown half the beef at a time. Remove. Add onion and garlic; cook until tender. Return beef to the skillet. Add broth, mustard, chili sauce and mushrooms, if using; cover and simmer until the beef is tender, about 1 hour. Just before serving, stir in sour cream. Heat gently but do not boil. Serve immediately over noodles. Garnish with chopped parsley. Yield: 6-8 servings 

Slow Cooker:  

1.  Combine flour, salt, pepper and paprika in a plastic bag. Shake beef strips in bag until well coated.  (I just combined in a bowl).  

2.  In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Brown half the beef at a time. Dump into slow cooker . Add onion and garlic; cook until tender (I cooked onion & garlic with the second batch of beef).  Deglaze the pan and stir up all the bits with one can of broth; add to slow cooker.  To the slow cooker, add other broth, mustard, chili sauce and mushrooms, if using; cover and cook until the beef is tender-4-5 hours on high, or 6-8 hours on low. (I did about 4 hours on High, and then 1 hour on low.)  Stir occasionally.  Just before serving, stir in sour cream.  Serve immediately over noodles. Garnish with chopped parsley. Yield: 6-8 servings
*Note: To thicken the mixture in the slow cooker, after adding the sour cream, leave the slow cooker lid off.  It will thicken better this way.

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Dulce de Leche & Cashew Blondies

These Dulce de Leche bars were soooooo good!!!  I cleaned and organized my pantry last week, and realized that I had quite a few cans of Dulce de Leche that needed to be used.  A few days later, I came across this recipe via Tastespotting.com, and it was perfect!  I LOVE Dulce de Leche, blondies, and cashews, so this was a perfect recipe for me to make.  These are gooey and decadent.  They didn't last long around me.... my husband and daughter enjoyed them as well, but I'm afraid I ate the majority of them.  Darn it.  (I've been really good with not indulging in too many sweets this pregnancy, too... guess I'll have to stay away from Dulce de Leche for a while to recover!)

Dulce de Leche is called Doce de Leite over here in Portugal.  The can I buy in the local stores here looks like this.  For those who don't know what Dulce de Leche is, it's a kind of sweet milk caramel.  It is sooo good!  

Dulce de Leche & Cashew Blondies

from Lucie Madeleine

1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup Dulce de Leche
3/4 cup roasted salted cashews (halves and pieces)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter over low heat in a medium (2 quart) saucepan. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.While butter is cooling, neatly line an 8-inch square baking pan with a sheet of aluminum foil that covers the bottom and reaches up the sides. Butter the foil.

2.  Add brown sugar to the saucepan of melted butter and whisk until mixture starts to pull away a bit from the sides of the pan, 1-2 minutes. Mix in egg, then add salt and flour and stir vigorously for 1 minute.
Spread about half the batter into prepared pan. Drop all but a few tablespoonfuls of Dulce de Leche over batter and gently spread it around. Sprinkle with cashews, then gently spread remaining batter over the Dulce de Leche. Top batter with a few spoonfuls of the remaining Dulce de Leche and swirl around with the back of a spoon.

3.  Bake for 35 minutes, or until set in the center and golden brown at the edges (It may seem a little underdone because of all that hot gooey milk in the center; just make sure it's not jiggly.)

4.  Cool completely. Remove bars from pan by lifting up tinfoil.  Cut into squares.

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Pasta Primavera

I loved this dish.  It was so good and flavorful.  Next time, I think I'll even reduce the parmesan cheese and I'm sure it will still be wonderful.  This was a little stressful to put together, only because I was watching 3 pots on the stove at the same time- the pasta boiling, the white sauce, and the sauteed veggies.  It was hard for me to sautee the veggies without burning, by the way, I think I was just too busy with everything that I didn't stir them as often as they needed.  I was having a stressful day anyway; I think if I had gone into this more relaxed, it wouldn't have been harder than any other meal.  Anyway, everything ended up coming out just wonderful, even if there were burned bits on my veggies.  

I made this and brought it (and the kids) to my husband's work one night last week, when he was working late.  We all had a picnic with paper plates and this pasta (and a small amount of these gluten-free cookies for dessert!)  Next time we do a picnic, I'm just making sandwiches, lol.  This was really good, though, and I will definitely make it again!

You can add any veggies to this- I added some of the suggested ones, left out some, and threw in some of my own.  I roasted the asparagus first in the oven, but next time I'd probably just throw it in with the other veggies on the stove, because you couldn't really taste the roasted flavor, with all of the other flavors going on. I only used one bell pepper, omitted the mushrooms, and added asparagus. 

Pasta Primavera

from The Family Kitchen

1 – 12 oz package penne, whole wheat if you can get it (I can't)
the florets from one head of broccoli
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
2 cups or 1 small package cremini or button mushrooms, sliced (optional)
about 12 spring onions, sliced
1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, or 1 small packaged, halved
1/2 pound (or small bunch) asparagus (optional)
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese (start with one cup and add more if desired)
1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
salt and pepper to taste

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions.

2. Preheat a large skillet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and add all vegetables, except spring onions and tomatoes. Saute until tender crisp. Add spring onions and tomatoes. Cook for 1 – 2 minutes more.

3. In a separate large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon olive oil and one tablespoon butter. Whisk in flour. Add salt and pepper. Add dried herbs. Whisk while cooking for 2 – 3 minutes. Whisk in milk and continue to whisk while bringing to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and whisk in Parmesan cheese. Remove from heat.

4. In a large bowl, add cooked pasta, sauteed vegetables and cheese sauce. Toss well to combine and serve.

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Beef Cabbage Stew (Slow Cooker)

 

I love this beef stew.  I remember my mom making it, at least once, while I was in high school.  It uses cabbage, but it cooks down and blends into the stew and is just so good!  The original recipe is cooked on the stove-top, but I adapted this for the slow cooker.  I love most soups and especially stews, in the slow cooker.  The longer you cook this, the thicker it becomes, which is not a bad thing.  The pictures were taken of the leftovers the next day, which were even thicker than the first night.  (There were only enough leftovers for me to have one bowl for lunch the next day, by the way).  

Beef Cabbage Stew (Slow Cooker)

adapted from Allrecipes (originally Taste of Home)

1 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 14. oz can beef broth

1 large onion, chopped

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 bay leaf

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 celery ribs, sliced

4 cups shredded cabbage

1 carrot, sliced

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

salt to taste (I didn't add any) 

Slow Cooker Directions: 

1.  In a large skillet, brown beef in about 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Cook the onions with the beef. Transfer to a large slow cooker.  

2.  Add the beef broth, pepper, bay leaf, potatoes, celery, cabbage, carrot, and tomato sauce.  Do not add salt yet- taste at the end of cooking time and add if necessary.  The mixture may look like it needs more water- do not add any at this point, because the veggies will release a lot of water.  After a few hours, you can add a little if you think it really needs it. 

3.  Cook on low for about 8 hours, or until meat and veggies are tender. 

Stovetop:  In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, brown stew met; drain. Add broth to beef. Add onion, pepper and bay leaf. Cover; simmer 1-1/4 hours or until tender. Add potatoes, celery, cabbage and carrot. Cover and simmer 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in tomato sauce and salt. Simmer, uncovered, 15-20 minutes more. Remove bay leaf before serving. 

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Gluten-Free Chocolate Decadence Cookies

I've been wanting to make these for so long; they've been bookmarked forever!  I finally made them today; we have friends who are moving soon, and the husband cannot have gluten.  They were so good- I don't know if I've ever had a gluten-free cookie before, but these tasted amazing.  Chocolatey and chewy, with a shiny, crackly top.  I used semi-sweet chocolate this time (my bar of milk chocolate said it may contain traces of wheat, so I stayed away), but I want to make these again for my fam and use milk chocolate for the base, and maybe chopped with chocolate for the chips.  I did not include nuts in the cookies I gave away, but added some to the cookies I made for my fam; I love the nuts in there, because it cuts the richness some (like nuts in fudge). 

I had to add more flour to this recipe; I know the dough is supposed to be very sloppy, but mine was downright runny and was just spreading all over the pan.  I was hesistant to mess with the recipe, but I added a little more rice flour until the batter thickened up.  It was still loose, but stayed in a more uniform shape and didn't run everywhere.  Maybe I needed more flour because I live in a super-humid climate- I'm not sure. 

Gluten-Free Chocolate Decadence Cookies

from Savory Sweet Life

1/4 cup rice flour (I used sweet rice flour)

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips*
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup pecans or walnuts
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips
2 sheets parchment paper

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together, set aside. Place 8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate chips and butter in a med. microwavable bowl and heat for 1 minute. Stir the chocolate butter mixture and microwave again for 30 seconds. Continue to microwave and stir until the chips have melted and your mixture is smooth, set aside. (I slowly melted in a homemade double boiler on the stove). 

2.  In a heatproof bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and vanilla thoroughly and set the bowl over a pot of barely simmering water using it like a double broiler. Continue to whisk everything until the mixture is lukewarm. Combine the egg mixture and the chocolate mixture (should be lukewarm as well) stirring until they are well combined.

3.  Add the flour mixture, 6oz choc. chips, and pecans. Your batter will look like thick cake batter- add a touch more flour if it looks like it will run and spread everywhere. Do not fear, after they bake they will look like and taste like cookies!

4.  Scoop dough (it will look very wet and sloppy) into rounded tablespoons on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper 2 inches apart from each other. Bake for 14 minutes until the surface of the cookies look dry and set. With the cookies still on the parchment paper, slide them onto racks to cool. Gently peel the parchment paper back after cookies have cooled for at least 30 minutes. Enjoy!

*Savory Sweet Life says that any chocolate can be used, even milk chocolate.  :)

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Creamy Corn Chowder

We all really enjoyed this corn chowder.  It had a good, simple flavor that was enhanced by the bacon, and the cheese on top.  I love corn chowder!  In this recipe, you make the roux first, and then boil the potatoes in the thickened milk mixture, which was interesting, but it worked out well.  Just don't let it come to too high of a simmer, and stir frequently, so the flour doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.  My fam ate all of this for dinner tonight- 2 adults and 3 children.  So maybe it's about 4 adults servings?

Creamy Corn Chowder

from Our Best Bites

2 Tbsp. butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup water
2 1/2 cup milk (skim or 1% work just fine)
2 tsp. chicken base (like Better than Bouillon)
1/2 lb. bacon (optional)
1 small onion, minced
2 large red potatoes, diced into small cubes (or 4-6 small ones)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
Salt and pepper to taste
A few dashes of hot sauce (like Tabasco)
shredded cheddar, optional, for garnish
chopped fresh chives, optional, for garnish

1.  Fry bacon until crisp (I cook it in the microwave). In the meantime, melt butter over low heat in a soup pot. When melted, add flour to make a roux and whisk until it comes together in a little ball. Add water and whisk until completely combined and there are no lumps. Add milk and chicken base or bouillon and bring to a simmer.

2.  Add potatoes, onions, and garlic, and simmer (but don’t boil!), stirring very frequently, for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender (I covered my soup pot with a lid). Add crumbled bacon and corn and heat through. Add a few drops of hot sauce and then pepper and salt to taste.  Some bacon is very salty, so you may not need any.  I added just a pinch after tasting.

3.  Serve with shredded cheddar cheese as a garnish, and fresh chives, if desired.

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Homemade Turkey Sausage Patties

Ever think of making your own turkey sausage at home?  No more salt-heavy, weird chewy meat full of nitrates and nitrites!!  Yeah!  Thanks to a cooking friend for making this recipe first; I'm so glad I have this recipe now!  We had these for dinner the other day with waffles.  I was going to make a fruit salad too, to blance out the meal more, but I forgot.  At least we had orange juice! 

These taste SO good- just like a turkey sausage, but so much better.  I forgot that my cooking friend doubled the spices, so you may want to do that when you make these.  I'll include a range of spice measurements in my recipe post below; choose either heavy or light on the spices.  One thing I did do was reduce the salt- from 3/4 teaspoon to 1/2, and it was just fine.  I could have used less, even, but I liked it that way and will probably use 1/2 tsp. in the future. 

Use regular ground turkey for this recipe- NOT ground turkey breast.  Ground turkey breast has too little fat and will be extremely dry and flavorless.  You need some dark meat here, and regular ground turkey has that.  As a bonus, a pound of ground turkey is only $1 here!  It will still be WAY healthier than fatty pork sausauge.  I scaled down the original recipe to use only one pound of ground turkey; if you want to use 2 lbs, click on the link to the original recipe.

Homemade Turkey Sausage Patties
adapted from Allrecipes

1 pound ground turkey
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 teaspoon dried sage
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes (add more if you want!)
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (add more if you want)

1.In a large bowl, mix together the ground turkey, ginger, salt, sage, cayenne pepper, and black pepper until well blended. (Using your hands makes sure everything is incorporated- although doing this is super gross.  You gotta do what you gotta do, though).  *Mixture can be formed into patties ahead of time, if needed, set on a large platter, covered well, and refrigerated overnight.

2.Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, and coat with nonstick cooking spray. Form the turkey sausage into patties (I got 8-9 patties out of one pound), and fry until browned on both sides, and no longer pink in the center. This should take about 15 minutes.

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Oreo & Peanut Butter Truffles

I made Oreo Truffles again, and this time, I only had 6 oz. of cream cheese (actually, Neufchatel) on hand.  To make up the difference, I used peanut butter.  At first I used 1/3 cup pb, but the mixture was too dry, so I added more, probably for a total of about 1/2 cup.  Start with 1/3 cup, and then add more as needed to make a mixture with a sugar-cookie dough texture. 

I had a hard time with melting the chocolate this time around- I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I had to try three times to get it right.  It seized on me the first two times.  :(  Finally, it worked well using a new, un-opened bag of semi-sweet chips.  Maybe it was the humidity here.  Who knows.  It's been pretty easy before, though, so don't be scared.  If you've never melted chocolate before, you can read these tips, or find your own on the internet.  I'm not a fan of using the microwave for this, but I know many do like it, and obviously, I'm no expert.  :)   (My absolute favorite way to eat these truffles is dipped in melted white chocolate- but that is really hard for me to do now for some reason.  I can melt a small amount just fine- I did that for the drizzle, but a larger amount seems to seize quickly on me). 

Oreo & Peanut Butter Truffles

1 package (about 1 lb. 2 oz, or so) chocolate creme-filled sandwich cookies (Oreos), finely crushed (in food processor)

6 ounces Neufchatel or cream cheese, softened

1/3-1/2 cup peanut butter (use more of less as needed.  I used natural pb)
1 bag (10-12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (may need more or less than this)

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine crushed cookies and cream cheese to form a stiff dough that is not too dry- like sugar cookie dough. (A stand mixer works well for this). From balls (I use my smallest cookie scoop). Roll in your hands to form a perfect ball and set on a large, wax-paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate or freeze until firm.

2. In a large heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt chocolate chips. You may need more or less. Dip with a fork or toothpick in melted chocolate. Tap off excess. Let rest on waxed paper until set. If you want to decorate with sprinkles: add while chocolate is still wet. If you wish to decorate with a white chocolate drizzle: wait till chocolate is dry and then add the drizzle. Store in fridge.

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Creamy Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette

I was looking for a homemade dressing to go with some mixed organic baby greens I had on hand and wanted to use.  I wanted it to be fairly healthy, too.  This dressing gets its creamy consistency from the emulsification of the olive oil into the other ingredients.  Thanks to my stick blender, I can make all kinds of homemade dressings quickly- I love my stick blender!!!  It's wonderful for soups, as well.  Anyway, I just stuck all of the ingredients into the liquid measuring cup that came with the blender, and blended away for a few seconds until a creamy, flavorful dressing was born. 

The list of ingredients for this vinaigrette are so simple, but I really love the taste.  It's like a healthier version of a mayo-laden honey mustard dressing (although I love that, too!).  I used whipped honey, dijon mustard with herbs de provence, and I added a bunch of fresh chives from my new plant.  This does not make very much at all- but I didn't want a ton of dressing on hand to use up.  This was enough for about 4-5 salads. 

Creamy Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette

from Southern Living

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1/4-1/2 teaspoon sea salt (to taste)
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
tiny dash nutmeg
coarsley chopped fresh chives or other favorite fresh herbs, optional

1.  Whisk or blend all of the ingredients together, including herbs.  (Whisking will give it a traditional vinaigrette look and texture- for a creamy texture, use a regular or stick blender and blend until creamy). 

2.  Cover and chill up to 4 days. Serve over mixed salad greens with your favorite toppings.

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Baked Chicken-Bacon Alfredo Penne

This was really, really good, and not too hard to make!  I assembled this in the early afternoon and my husband put it in the oven while I was at the gym.  Dinner was ready when I got home!  :)  We had this salad on the side.  Instead of green onions, I used a lot of fresh chives from my plant.  The kids were a little wary of it at first, because of the chives, I think, but after the initial bite, they couldn't stop eating it.  This was a big hit with everyone.  For the sauce base, you use an easy, lower-fat homemade Alfredo, which would be great on its own over any kind of pasta.  Thanks to Our Best Bites for another great recipe!!  This will be a repeat for us.

Baked Chicken-Bacon Alfredo Penne

from Our Best Bites

8 oz. penne or bowtie pasta (I used mezze penne, which is smaller)

1 recipe Guiltless Alfredo Sauce (recipe below)

2 chicken breasts, grilled and chopped (about 2 cups chopped chicken, give or take a bit)

5-6 slices cooked bacon, chopped
1 14-oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup chopped green onions or fresh chives
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
Salt and pepper, to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Prepare pasta according to package directions.

2.  While pasta is cooking, prepare Guiltless Alfredo sauce in a large, non-stick skillet. When pasta is done, drain and add to the sauce. Toss with chopped chicken, bacon, artichoke hearts, green onions, and 1/2 c. mozzarella. Season to taste.

3.  Transfer mixture to an 8×8″ or 9x9" baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is bubbly.

*This can be made ahead and either refrigerated or frozen until you’re ready to serve it. If you don’t plan on baking it immediately, cover tightly with plastic wrap and aluminum foil (if not freezing it, you don't need the plastic wrap). If you cook it from the refrigerator, preheat oven to 400 and bake for 45 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly and the pasta is heated through (covered with foil). If you’re cooking it from the freezer, bake at 400 for about 90 minutes (remove plastic wrap but leave foil on).  You may need to remove the foil the last few minutes of baking to help it cook through and brown the cheese on top, if desired.

Guiltless Alfredo Sauce Recipe
from Our Best Bites

2 cups low-fat milk (I used 1% with great results)
1/3 cup (3 oz) low fat cream cheese (Neufchatel)
2 tablespoons flour
1/2-1 teaspoon salt (I used only 1/2 tsp- add more to taste.  Remember Parm is salty)
1 tablespoon butter
3 garlic cloves
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1.  Toss the milk, cream cheese, flour, and salt in a blender.  Process until smooth and set aside. 

2.  In a non-stick sauce pan, melt butter on med-high heat and add garlic.  Let the garlic saute for about 30 seconds; you don’t want to burn it.  Then, add milk and cream cheese mixture to the pan. Stir constantly for about 3 or 4 minutes or until it just comes to a simmer. Keep stirring and let it cook for a few minutes more- do not let it boil. It should be much thicker now. 

3.  When it's nice and thick, remove the pan from the heat.  Stir in the Parmesan cheese, and then cover the pan.  Let stand for at least 10 minutes before using (unless you are using it as another part of a recipe).  It will continue to thicken upon standing. 

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Lemon-Coconut Bread

This quick bread is moist and tasty, and easy to make.  There is not very much fat in it, either, unlike a lot of quick breads.  The original recipe called for veggie oil, but I used virgin coconut oil instead- loved it!  Don't be like me and use too much lemon juice in the glaze- mine was too thin and pretty much just ran right off the bread.  I had to gather up the extra glaze from the cutting board below and pour it back on the bread... over and over again, till it started to firm up and dry a little.  I don't know why I added so much liquid... I have made glazes like this before!

Lemon-Coconut Bread

adapted from Notes From My Food Diary

Makes one 9×5-inch loaf

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat pastry)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon zest
3/4 cup sweetened coconut
2 tablespoons coconut oil or canola oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup lemon juice

For lemon icing:
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Grease one 9×5-inch loaf.  Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Stir in coconut.

2.  Beat oil, eggs, and milk with an electric mixer in a separate bowl until frothy. Stir in lemon juice. Pour mixture over dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Spoon into prepared pan.

3.  Bake in preheated oven for 40-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

4.  Make the icing: Stir together confectioners’ sugar with 2 tablespoons lemon juice in a bowl. Add more lemon juice if it’s too stiff.

5.  When the cake is done, let it cool in pan over rack for 10 minutes. Remove pan and let it cool completely on rack before icing it.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Ginger-Veggie Stir Fry

I love this recipe- we usually have it with Maple Salmon, but it is good on its own too, as a main dish (over rice).  This stir fry, with brown rice, and the Maple Salmon is one of my favorite meals.  You can add or take away any veggies you want.  To save time when I make this, I cut up the veggies a few hours beforehand and stick them in a big covered bowl in the fridge.  A non-stick skillet is helpful when making this; for most things, I don't want to use non-stick, but I think that is best for this one.  The original recipe calls for adding salt at the end; I used reduced-sodium soy sauce and still did not add salt; it was perfect as-is. 

Ginger-Veggie Stir Fry

adapted from Allrecipes

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger root
3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small head broccoli, cut into florets
1 red, yellow, or orange bell pepper, julienned
1/2 cup snow peas
3/4 cup julienned carrots
1/2 cup halved green beans
1 small red onion, quartered
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce*
2 1/2 tablespoons water
sesame oil, optional
salt

1.In a large bowl, blend cornstarch, garlic, ginger, and 2 tablespoons olive oil until cornstarch is dissolved. Mix in veggies, tossing to lightly coat.

2.Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Cook vegetables in oil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning. (I cover with a lid to speed up the cooking process, stirring every few minutes).  Stir in soy sauce and water.  Continue cooking- cook until vegetables are tender but still crisp.  Taste, and add a little salt if necessary.
*Look for gluten-free soy sauce if needed.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Maple Salmon

I love this recipe for salmon.  It's very delicious, and it's also super quick and easy!  I always have these ingredients on hand, too.  Make sure you use real maple syrup for this one.  I also use reduced-sodium soy sauce; it is still plenty salty.  I had some extra ginger, minced up for another recipe, so I threw some of that in the marinade and it was great in there.  It is also good minus the ginger, though. 

You never want to marinate fish for very long; hence the 30-minute marinade time for this recipe.  If you leave a marinade on fish for too long, the fish starts to break down.

Maple Salmon

adapted from Allrecipes

1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce*
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
minced fresh ginger, optional
1 pound salmon

1.In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, garlic salt, and pepper (and optional ginger).

2.Place salmon in a shallow glass baking dish, and coat with the maple syrup mixture. Cover the dish, and marinate salmon in the refrigerator 30 minutes, turning once.

3.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

4.Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, and bake salmon uncovered 20 minutes, or until easily flaked with a fork.
*Look for gluten-free soy sauce if needed.
 

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!  My husband made a delicious dinner of marinated, grilled pork, bacon-wrapped grilled asparagus, grilled sweet peppers, baby organic pan-fried potatoes, steamed sugar snap peas & baby carrots, and organic baby green salad.  It was very good and enjoyable.  :)  Later, we had vanilla ice cream with hot fudge sauce.  That wonderful meal, along with some relaxing, made this such a nice day!  (I admit that I just had to load the dishwasher myself, despite both my husband and my daughter wanting to do it.... I load it in the most efficient way possible and nobody else does it right- lol!)

Slow Cooker Ham & Split Pea Soup

This soup was good, flavorful, and easy to put together.  I was able to use the ham bone in my freezer from Easter dinner.  This photo is the soup the day I made it- the next day, it turned much, much thicker and tasted even better, too!  My ham bone provided plenty of salt- I did not need to add any.  So, if you make this and use ham or a ham bone, taste before salting (right before serving- as the cooking process will release the salt from the ham). 

Bonus: This soup has a ton of fiber, and even some iron!  ;)  Yay for fiber and iron!  My boys were scared of this, because of the pukey-green color.  Sometimes I just sigh and ignore them at dinner, lol!  Anyway, my daughter did like it, and took it to school in her thermos for lunch the next day. 

Slow Cooker Ham & Split Pea Soup

from Food.com

1 (16 ounce) package dried split peas, rinsed
2 cups ham, diced or 1 ham bone (meaty) or 2 ham hocks
1 cup carrot, diced
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
salt, to taste (may not need any)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 quarts hot water

1.  Layer ingredients in slow cooker in the order listed.  Pour in water. Do not stir!

2.  Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours or until peas are very soft and ham falls off bone.  Remove bones and bay leaf.  Serve!

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Horchata for Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  We did not have Mexican food for dinner, but at least we had this delicious Mexican drink- Horchata is a beverage made out of rice, almonds, and cinnamon.  Many recipes call for milk, as well, but I wanted one without- it just seems more "authentic" to me.  Not sure if I'm right or not, but that's the way I wanted to go.  So, Homesick Texan's blog came to the rescue- what a delicious recipe!  When adding the sugar syrup, taste as you go- I didn't even add all of it, and it was still almost too sweet.  This was as good as any Horchata I've had in restaurants. 

Horchata

from Homesick Texan

2/3 cup of uncooked rice
1 1/4 cups of blanched almonds
1 teaspoon of lime juice
Zest from one lime (optional- I didn't use)
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup of sugar or brown sugar, depending on how dark you want the drink (I used part brown & part white)

1.  In a blender or spice grinder, grind the rice until it’s powdery. Place ground rice, almonds, lime juice, lime zest and the cinnamon stick in a pot or bowl and cover with two cups of warm water. Cover and let stand overnight or for eight hours.

2.  After the mixture has soaked, take out the cinnamon stick and pour contents into a blender with two cups of water and blend until smooth. Take a mesh colander that has been double lined with cheesecloth, and over a bowl or pitcher slowly pour the mixture, wringing the cheesecloth to get every last drop out. You should have a milky, smooth liquid at this point. If there are still rice and almond bits floating around, strain it again.

3.  In a pot, heat up one cup of sugar and one cup of water on medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Stir this sugar water into the horchata- only adding half at a time, and tasting as you go.  Add to taste- you may not need all of it.  Add the vanilla, and one more cup of water, and serve over ice or chilled.

4.  Keeps for several days in the refrigerator.  You might notice some separation after a day, but just stir it and it'll be right again.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Whey Bread

Ever make homemade yogurt, and after draining it (to make it thicker), wonder what to do with all of that whey leftover?  (Am I the only one?!)  Usually, I just dump it down the drain, but I thought I remembered seeing something online about baking with it.  I decided to look up bread recipes using whey as the liquid, and found this great recipe!  I made it and it was good- I think that subbing whey for water in any bread or roll recipe would work well, and will try it with more whey next time I make yogurt. 

Like any homemade bread, this is really, really good toasted with butter or homemade freezer jam.  Actually, with jam, it's more like a dessert.  This was popular with the whole family, and not too shabby, health-wise, either!  Instead of oat flour I used quick oats, because I figure they're processed finely enough to stand in place for flour, and I want to get rid of them!  If you aren't lazy like me, you can give quick or rolled oats a couple quick whizzes in the food processor to make them a finer consistency like flour.  I've done that before and it works well.  I doubled the recipe to make 2 loaves- as posted below, this makes one small loaf.

Whey Bread
adapted from Bittersweet

1 Cup Whey
1 1/2 Teaspoons Granulated Sugar
1 Package Active Dry Yeast
3/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 – 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 Cup Oat Flour (quick oatmeal works)

1.  Combine the whey and sugar, and heat for just 1 minute in the microwave to warm it through, but not get it hot. Sprinkle in the yeast, and allow 5 – 10 minutes for it to reactivate and become frothy.

2.  In your stand mixer with the hook attachment installed, stir together the salt, whole wheat flour, 1 cup of the AP flour, and the oat flour.  Stir well, and add in more AP flour as needed, and continue mixing until you achieve a smooth and tacky but not sticky dough. Kneed for about 5-10 minutes before placing it in a lightly oiled bowl (cover w/plastic wrap) and letting it rise for 1 – 2 hours, until doubled in volume.

3.  Press the dough out gently but firmly with your knuckles, and shape it into a rough rectangle. Roll up the rectangle so that it is as long as an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan. Lightly grease the loaf pan, and place your dough inside, seam-side down. Let rise again for another 45 min-1 hour or so, until it’s just about peeking over the edge of the pan.

4.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and bake for 25 – 30 minutes, until nicely browned on the outside. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then on a wire wrack for at least 30 before slicing.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Chicken & Dumplings

I just love this recipe!  It is SO good.  I made it for the second time yesterday, and used my homemade turkey stock, making this dish even better.  My daughter requested a turkey for her birthday dinner.  :)  (I make my stock in the crockpot if I ever have a turkey or chicken carcass leftover.  It's similar to this recipe, but I've only ever used leftover bones, etc and I add whole peppercorns, garlic, etc.  I also cook it overnight in the crockpot.  In the morning, I strain it and refrigerate it, and then skim the fat off the top before using or freezing.) 

The whole fam likes this recipe, even my picky child, who was all over the dumplings when I finally told him they were a type of bread.  I didn't really explain what they were before, because I didn't think of it, and he had no idea what they were!  Lol!  This recipe is very easy; you just have to account for a lot of simmering time.  It was perfect for us yesterday, as it was cold and misty outside. 

This is one of the few recipes I used shortening in.  Ok, it's one of two (that I can think of).  The other one is pie crust.  :)  I buy Spectrum organic shortening, made from palm oil; it has no trans-fats and acts just like traditional shortening.  One can buy it online at a few different places. 

Note: I made this again Jan 2014 and left the base the same, but tried America's Test Kitchen's recipe for dumplings.  Using egg white and no baking powder, they were supposed to be light and fluffy.  We all liked them, and they did seem a bit fluffier.  We love both dumpling recipes, and I will include ATK's recipe below this original recipe so you can decide for yourself.

Chicken & Dumplings
from Lick the Bowl Good, via  Eating, Etc

The Broth:
3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 large onion, coarsley chopped
3-4 stalks celery, coarsley chopped
4-5 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves (about 4lbs)
3 teaspoons Chicken Better Than Bouillon, or 3 chicken bouillon cubes, or other chicken flavoring
6-8 cups chicken broth or water, or more to cover
salt & pepper, to taste
1 onion, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped

The Dumplings:
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoons dried basil (optional)
2 tablespoons organic shortening (has no trans-fats)
3/4 cup - 1 cup buttermilk

The Broth
1) In large pot or Dutch oven, over high heat, sauté onions, celery, & chicken flavoring in butter or olive oil until tender.

2) Add chicken and cover with broth or water; cover and cook over medium heat until chicken is cooked through (keep it at a simmer until the meat is tender & falls off the bones- 1-2 hours).

3) Place colander over large bowl & strain broth into bowl. Discard vegetables. Skim off fat & return broth to pot. 

4) Remove meat from chicken, shredding into bite-sized pieces. Discard bones & skin.

5) Return chicken to pot with new onion, carrots, & new celery; season with salt & pepper as desired. Bring to a boil; then turn the heat to medium-low and simmer about 10 minutes.

The Dumplings
6) In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, & dried basil. Cut in shortening with a fork.

7) Stir dough while adding buttermilk. Start with 3/4c, adding more, as needed, until completely moistened, but not wet. Do not over mix.

8) Drop dough by large spoonful onto surface of simmering broth. Cover pot with tight-fitting lid and steam for 15 minutes. (Don't peek!)

9) Serve immediately.

ATK's Dumpling Recipe
from America's Test Kitchen

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
3/4 cup buttermilk, cold (see note)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled about 5 minutes
1 large egg white

1.  Whisk flour, baking soda, sugar, and salt in large bowl. Combine buttermilk and melted butter in medium bowl, stirring until butter forms small clumps; whisk in egg white. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated and batter pulls away from sides of bowl.

5. Return soup to simmer.  Using greased tablespoon measure (or #60 portion scoop), scoop level amount of batter and drop over top of stew, spacing about ¼ inch apart (you should have about 24 dumplings). Cover pot. Simmer gently until dumplings have doubled in size and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 13 to 16 minutes. Serve immediately. 

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Horse Birthday Cake!

We made another horse birthday cake for my horse-loving daughter again this year.  I put it off last year, but it really wasn't hard at all.  I baked a 9x13 recipe out of a pound cake (using my fave pound cake recipe- just pour the batter into a greased and floured 9x13 pan... I also lined the bottom of the pan with wax paper).  Having a firm cake, like a pound cake, is really helpful when making cut and carved cakes like this.  They are very firm and non-crumbly.  Also, the instructions called for freezing the plain cake before cutting, which also helped a ton. 

To see the method for making this cake, go here to the Family Fun site.  I won't really go into details here.  I'll share the "frosting" recipe below, though.  So, like I was saying before, I baked the cake, let it cool for a few hours, and then wrapped it in foil and froze for a few hours.  My husband then cut the cake into a horse shape, using the guide on the link above.  Then I made homemade chocolate frosting, and frosted the cake.  Then, my husband decorated it, putting on the eyes and hair.  It was a team effort!  I'll admit that the black frosting is a tube of black Wilton frosting; piped on with a star tip.  (I did not want to make homemade black frosting using a ton of food coloring).  The nose is black frosting and the eye is an up-side down white candy melting wafer. 

(So, does this cake remind anyone of a famous scene in a movie?  Godfather, perhaps??!  After we were done decorating the cake, we went and took pics of it in our bed and took pics of each other acting out the horse-head discovery scene from the movie... it was hilarious.  (Just me and my husband... not the kids, lol!)  None of us have ever seen the movie, but it was still fun times.  (You can see clips of the famous scene on Youtube... it's really gross though.  Dont' watch it).  Below is a pic of it in bed... no pics of us, sorry.  I don't share personal pics on this blog.  :)  )

Simple Chocolate Frosting

makes enough to frost this cake!  or any 9x13 cake

1 cup salted butter, softened to room temp

3 1/4 cups powdered sugar (1 lb, I believe)

2/3 cup cocoa powder

milk (3-4 tablespoons; add as needed)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1.  Using an electric mixer (I used my Kitchenaid... this is a lot of frosting), mix the butter, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder.  Add the vanilla, and then slowly add the milk until the frosting is to your desired consistency- should be thick and creamy, but still spreadable.  May need more milk.  This is really good and tastes like fudge- yum!

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