Birthday Wishes to the Birthday Girl! March 26, 2013

Happy Birthday to my 3 year old!  I am not even going to go into how time has flown by the last three years and how it has been precious, fun, silly, challenging, exciting, messy, entertaining etc. etc. etc.  SO we will go straight to the cake.  :)  Since it is her birthday, she got to pick out the color on her cake and the decoration.

The cake, filling and frosting recipes came from King Arthur Flour.  I made the Tender White Cake with the Choco-Buzz Filling and the Fluffy White Frosting.  Each of those recipes are delicious by themselves and are dynamite together!  Here are the links for the recipes:

Tender White Cake - I made this in a 9×13 pan.  I sliced it in half (so I made two 6 1/2 x 9 in rectangles) and layered it.

Choco-Buzz Filling - I made the filling from this link.  Half batch of the filling filled my cake.  Delicious!

Fluffy White Frosting - I made a full batch of this frosting and it covered my cake with some to spare (1 cup or so left).

Apple-Bacon-Cheddar Mac ‘n’ Cheese March 22, 2013

How do you like the title of this recipe?  Apples, bacon and cheddar all in a nice baked mac ‘n’ cheese.  This stuff is good, and the apples just add a bit of healthiness to the whole dish.  Isn’t there a saying….”an apple a day keeps the doc away”.  If you aren’t into eating a whole apple, why not throw a chopped one into some comforting mac ‘n’ cheese.  This dish serves about 4 but I guess if we are to eat the whole apple, I guess it would only feed 2.  You decide, enjoy!

Apple-Bacon-Cheddar Mac ‘n’ Cheese

6 slices bacon, cut into ¼ in pieces

2 apples, cut into ½ in pieces (preferably granny smith)

2 leeks, thinly sliced crosswise, rinsed well and drained (I used ½ onion)

¾ lb elbow macaroni

4 T butter

¼ cup flour

3 cups milk, at room temperature

8 oz sharp white cheddar, shredded (about 2 cups)

Salt and pepper

1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 350.  In large skillet, cook bacon until crisp.  Transfer to a paper-lined plate.  Pour off all but 1 T fat and add apples and cook till browned and soft.  Turn off heat and set aside.

Place leeks/onion in colander in the sink.  Cook pasta until al dente in pot of boiling water and drain in that colander with the leeks/onion, to soften.

In the same saucepan used to cook pasta, melt butter.  Add the flour, whisking constantly for 1 minute.  Whisk in milk until smooth and thick, about 10 min.  Remove from heat and add 1 ½ cups cheese and generous sprinkle of pepper and whisk until smooth.

Add the pasta/leek mixture to the cheese sauce pan along with the apples and parsley.  Reserve ¼ cup of the bacon and toss the remaining with the pasta.  Season with salt and pepper.

Divide mixture in 4 16-oz baking dishes sprayed with cooking spray (or one larger dish if you prefer) and top with remaining ½ cup cheese.  *Bake for 30 minutes.  Sprinkle reserved bacon and serve hot.

*Want a crunchy topping:  Sprinkle with ½ cup dried breadcrumbs and distribute 2 T thinly sliced butter on top and bake!

Recipe from Rachael Ray Magazine March 2013

Sweet Potato Fries and Sweet-hot Garlic Sauce March 18, 2013

I love sweet potatoes.  Baked with butter and cinnamon sugar.  In a casserole topped with a yummy nutty sugary topping.  And of course sweet potato fries.  Here is a great recipe for some crunchy baked Sweet potato fries.  This is a recipe you may have to make just a handfull of times before perfecting, but DON’T let that stop you from making it!  Depending on the size/thickness of your fries and the amount of oil you drizzle on will determine the amount of time they need to be in the oven.  Be flexible, you may have to leave them in an extra few minutes or maybe take them out sooner than you think, but all in all, this is really a simple recipe and a delicious one.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

2 lrg sweet potatoes, cut into fries 1/2 in thick or so

2-3 T cornstarch

oil/cooking spray

salt and pepper

parsley, opt.

Soak the fries in water at least 2-3 hours and up to 10-12 hours.  Drain and shake fries by hand to get extra water off, they do not need to be towel dried.

Preheat oven to 425.

Put cornstarch in a large plastic bag and drop in the fries.  Close (leaving air inside) and shake it up making sure the fries are being coated lightly with cornstarch.  Add another bit of cornstarch if necessary.

Pour fries on a foil-lined baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Now you have two options:  1.  spray the fries with cooking spray and toss a bit OR 2. drizzle with oil and toss a bit.  Option 1.  is healthier, 2. would probably make them taste better and maybe get crunchier.  I choose 1 usually.  Make sure your fries are not crowded on the pan at all or they will not be crispy but more soft and limp.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and/or parsley to taste.

Bake for 15 minutes and if the bottoms look like they are crisp, flip and bake for another 5-15 minutes until they are crunchy to your liking.  Enjoy!

Recipe from The Art of Doing Stuff

This Sweet-Hot Garlic Sauce is a delicious sauce that you can pair with lots of things!  The sweet potato fries I talked about above, steamed asparagus or broccoli, rice, grilled chicken.  Try it in some mayo for a sandwich spread or dip.  I used a bit less of the chili-garlic sauce because I can’t handle heat, and it was perfect, still enough heat to make the sauce really tasty.

Sweet-Hot Garlic Sauce

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup water

2 T coarsely chopped garlic

1 tsp salt

1 T chili-garlic sauce or Sri Rachaa sauce (I used 3/4 T)

In a medium saucepan, bring the sugar, vinegar, water,, garlic and salt to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring well to dissolve the sugar.  Simmer 8 to 10 minutes, until you have a thin, smooth syrup.  Remove from heat, stir in chili-garlic sauce and set aside to cool.  Serve at room temperature with sweet potato fries, grilled chicken or any other grilled or crisp-fried food.  It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Recipe from Quick & Easy Thai by Nancie McDermott

Baked Chicken Fajitas March 1, 2013

This is one of those recipes that you find and get so excited about after baking and devouring BECAUSE…it is soooooo easy to put together and SOOOOOO good!  When I think of Chicken Fajitas, I imagine a lot of prep work and standing by the stove cooking, stirring and adding seasoning.  Something that has to be done right before you sit down and eat.  THIS recipe has you do all the prep and then throw it in the oven for 30ish minutes so that when your kids need you, which ALWAYS happens to be the 30 minutes before super starts (at least in my home), you can give them all the attention they need!  I put this together in the afternoon and refrigerated it before putting it in the oven.  I can’t see why you can’t even put this together a whole day ahead of you wanted!  The flavor was so good!  Just pull out some tortilla shells, sour cream and lettuce if you have it.  Cheese and avocado if you want, and you got your family a meal!

Thank you to Jodie from Eatin’ on the Cheap for this recipe and beautiful photo!  The aroma of the fajita mixture was smelling too good and forgot to take one of my own.

Baked Chicken Fajitas

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips

1 - 15 oz can diced tomatoes, drained

1 - 4 oz can diced green chilies (I omitted because I didn’t have any in the house which turned out great but would add next time to give it a try)

1/2 medium onion, sliced thin

1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced thin

1/2 red/yellow/orange bell pepper, seeded and sliced thin

2 T extra virgin olive oil (or whatever you have in the kitchen)

2 t. chili powder

2 t. cumin

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. dried oregano

1/4 t. salt

flour tortillas, lettuce, avocado, cheese, sour cream, etc.  to serve

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Grease a medium to large baking dish (between a 8×8 and 9×13).  Mix together chicken, tomatoes, chilies, peppers, and onions in the dish.

In a small bowl combine the oil and spices.  Drizzle the spice mixture over the chicken and toss to coat.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.  Serve with warmed tortillas and other toppings of your choice.

Serves 3-4

Adopted from Eatin’ on the Cheap

Monkey Cakes February 16, 2013

There is this local diner in our area where I have eaten only a small handful of times.  Not enough to have tried everything on their menu.  The maybe 3 times I’ve been I always eye something on the menu called Monkey Cakes.  I have never gotten it for myself, because I love to order their skillet or omelet and get all the fixings that go with it, but our last visit there my husband and I took our children.  Knowing my daughter, I knew she would love the Monkey Cakes, as the description says “bacon, peanut butter, bananas and chocolate sauce”.  She loves peanut butter on her banana and enjoys her bacon and chocolate, what kid doesn’t like chocolate.  So, we went ahead and ordered it for her.  And thankfully, she loves sharing with her momma, so I got a few bites of the ooey gooey monkey cakes.  So why am I telling you this?  Because I recreated them in my own kitchen!  One snowy morning I woke up thinking…I have bacon in my freezer…we have bananas, of course there is chocolate sauce in our fridge and we always have peanut butter on hand…I think I can make my daughter (and myself) some Monkey Cakes this morning!

So how do ya make them?  Easy.  Make your favorite pancake, either from scratch or from the box.  I’ve been using the recipe below recently.  Then caramelize up some bananas using the super simple recipe below.  Cook some bacon (my fav way is in the oven on a sheet pan covered with tinfoil.  Lay bacon flat and put it in the oven THEN preheat oven to 400 degrees and set timer for 18-24 minutes until bacon is cooked to your liking).  Take out some chocolate syrup and your jar of peanut butter and melt some peanut butter in your microwave just before serving.  Top the pancakes with all these ingredients and add butter and syrup to your liking.

‘Buttermilk’ Pancakes

1 1/2 cups milk

3 T white vinegar

2 cups flour

1/4 cup white sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/4 cup butter, melted

cooking spray

Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to ‘sour’.  Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.  Whisk egg and butter into ‘soured’ milk.  Pour this into the flour mixture and whisk until lumps are gone.  Heat large skillet over medium heat, or electric griddle.  Spray with cooking spray.  Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto skillet, cook until bubbles appear on the surface.  Flip with spatula and cook until browned on the other side.  Serves 4-6

Recipe from Tried and True

Caramelized Bananas

2 medium-small firm bananas, peeled

1/2 tablespoon butter

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

1/4 cup dark rum, or orange juice

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cut bananas in half lengthwise. Melt butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add brown sugar and lay the banana slices on top, cut side up. Cook undisturbed for 20 seconds, then add rum (or orange juice) and cinnamon. Cook for 10 seconds, then turn bananas carefully and cook for 45 to 60 seconds more, basting with the pan sauce. Serve on pancakes or ice cream.

Recipe Eating Well

Apple Pecan Coffee Cake February 12, 2013

Not sure how much I have expressed my love for pecans on this blog, but they are my favorite nut!  I love almost all nuts, but pecans are at the top for me.  When I find recipes that have pecans in it, I usually hold on to the recipe hoping I will eventually have a chance to make it.  This is one of those recipes.  I pulled it out of a magazine that I was looking through while I had some down-time at the cottage.  My mom always has a handful of magazines around.  Not sure exactly which magazine this came out of but I want to say it was Country Woman…maybe…an old one, probably from 7-10 years ago.

I have an extremely hard time making recipes without looking at reviews, thanks to the internet, which I have a love/hate relationship with.  I wanted to search this recipe on the internet so badly, whether it was on allrecipes.com or even just a google search, but I held back and went ahead and made it.  So glad I did!  First of course my favorite part is the topping, which contained…PECANS!  Yum!  The cake part was a super tender cake and had a nice extremely thin layer of apple (unless you cut your apples thicker than I do) to bring about the apple flavor.  Loved it and the recipe will be staying in my ‘binder-of-coffeecakes’.

This recipe can easily be cut in half to make a 9 inch coffee cake instead of 2 – 9 inch coffee cakes, but I bet it would freezer really well for at least a couple of months!

Apple Pecan Coffee Cake

Cake:

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 3/4 cup buttermilk (I made my own=1 3/4 T vinegar + the remaining milk to come up with 1 3/4 cup liquid)

2 medium apples, peeled and thinly sliced

Topping:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 T butter

1/2 cup coarsely chopped PECANS

In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and butter.  Add sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk.  Spoon half of batter into two greased and floured 9-in. round cake pans.  Arrange apples slices over batter; top with remaining batter.

For topping, combine flour, sugar and cinnamon.  Cut in butter; stir in pecans.  Sprinkle EVENLY over batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until cake tests done witha  wooden pick.

Recipe from Ethel Hodges which was posted in an old magazine

Italian Wedding Soup January 31, 2013

It’s January, soup weather right? After a strange 60+ degree day a couple days ago, we are supposed to be getting some temps in the teens today, so definitly a good soup day! I’ve had this soup under my ‘soup’ tab in my recipe binder for at least a couple years now. It just looked so good when I saw it on King Arthur Flour and it got some rave reviews. I finally got around to making it with some help from my mom. The reviews are right, it is an awesome soup! Full of flavor and very filling. This will be on my winter soup list to make each year.

A few minor changes we made/will make next time:

-left out the spinach, please by all means add it, I enjoy spinach but we decided to leave it out this time.

-added roasted mushrooms, as I ate the soup, mainly because I had them in my fridge that I had to use up and I am a mushroom lover!

-next time we will try using only 1 2/3 cup orzo pasta to start – if you have never used orzo pasta, it continues to soak up the liquid, so it ends up to be a super thick soup. I may even try to cook the pasta in some of the soup broth and then add the pasta as I eat the soup, if that makes sense….

Head over to King Arthur Flour for the Italian Wedding Soup recipe. Please come back and tell me what you think if you try it!

My daughter even enjoyed it, in fact, when I went to taking the picture, she, as usual, asked me to take a picture of her with her soup.