Tale of Two Sisters and their Kitchens

Molasses Spice Muffins

2012-01-27T17:55:00.001-06:00

I wanted to make some muffins this past Sunday morning that I would be able to have for breakfast all week. I find that my mornings go by so quickly that I need something I can just grab and go. It worked really well a couple weeks ago when I made whole wheat cinnamon rolls. Those lasted all week. Yum!

I wanted to make something with whole wheat flour and dried cranberries, because I have those on hand, and I need to start using up the food in my cupboards. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com. I had to make a few changes because I didn't have any actual butter or buttermilk. To see the original recipe, follow the link above.

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Ingredients:
1/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup white sugar
6oz cup of Chobani Greek yogurt, plain
2 eggs
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake tin with paper liners or generously grease with cooking spray.

2. Mix margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Mixing well after each. Mix in the yogurt and the molasses.

3. Add the flours, spices, and baking soda. Blend until well mixed. Stir in cranberries. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.

*** I had some cinnamon-sugar mixture leftover from my whole wheat cinnamon rolls a few weeks ago, so I sprinkled the tops of these muffins with that. I think it added a little more spice, but it obviously is totally optional.

4. Bake for 18-22 minutes in preheated oven or until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly pressed. Cool for about 10 minutes in pan before removing to wire racks.

These turned out to be so tasty! Even Jeff liked them, and I really didn't think that he would. They lasted me most of the week for a quick and easy on-the-go breakfast.

Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday #1

2012-01-25T12:06:00.000-06:00

I need some kitchen inspiration. Where better to look than Pinterest, right?

Here are a few delicious looking foods I'd like to try out in my kitchen.

Source: skinnytaste.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Source: gimmesomeoven.com via Desiree Lissa on Pinterest

Source: realsimple.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: chocolatecoveredkatie.com via Jordan on Pinterest

Nutmeg Cookie Logs

2012-01-16T13:23:00.001-06:00

I first made these a couple years ago for Christmas. I was kind of surprised at how well they were received, and these quickly became a holiday favorite. It calls for rum extract, but I think it's somewhat optional. I know that this past Christmas I made them without it, and everyone still seemed to love them.

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Yields 5 dozen cookies.

Ingredients:

Cookies:

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup margarine or butter, softened

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp rum extract (optional)

1 egg

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp nutmeg

Frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar

3 Tbsp margarine or butter, softened

3/4 tsp rum extract (optional)

1/4 tsp vanilla

2 to 3 Tbsp half-and-half or milk

Nutmeg

Directions:

1. In large bowl, combine sugar, 1 cup margarine, 2 tsp vanilla, 2 tsp rum extract, and egg. Beat until light and fluffy.

2. Add flour and 1 tsp nutmeg; mix well. Cover dough with plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes for easier handling.

3. Heat oven to 350°F. Divide dough into 12 pieces. On floured surface, shape each piece of dough into a long rope, 1/2 inch in diameter and about 15 inches long. Cut into 3-inch lengths; place on ungreased cookie sheets.

4. Bake at 350°F for 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets; place on wire racks. Cool about 20 minutes or until completely cooled.

5. In small bowl, combine all frosting ingredients except nutmet, adding enough milk for desired spreading consistency. Spread on top and sides of cookies. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg. Let stand until frosting is set before storing.

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And here's another video on making cookies. I don't think this one turned out as well as my first. Oh well. Let me know what you think.

Super Easy Beans and Rice

2012-01-11T10:53:00.001-06:00

This has quickly become one of the easiest stand-by dinners. It's quick and painless for those nights when I just do not feel like cooking or making dinner. Plus, it's beans and rice. It's got to be better for us than frozen pizza, right?

Serves 3

Ingredients:
1 can Bush's Grillin' Beans Black Bean Fiesta
1/2 c Rice - I've used both white and brown rice.

Directions:

1. Cook rice according to package directions.

2. Warm beans up in a saucepan.

3. Add cooked rice to beans and stir until well mixed.

Sometimes I might add a little salt, pepper, and/or a dash or two of tabasco, to liven it up a little more, but it's great all on its own, too.

This would probably be great served with a salad and/or tortillas to round out the meal a little more. We usually just have this and then something for dessert.

WIAW #1

2012-01-11T00:11:00.002-06:00

I thought it would be fun to link up with Peas and Crayons for

I fully intended on starting this last week, but, well, I didn't.

However this is what I ate last Wednesday.

I started off super nutritiously with a S'mores flavored Pop Tart.

Somehow that miraculously got me through until lunch. I must have been unusually busy at work.

Lunch was a bowl of mediocre leftover soup from the night before

Accompanied by some carrots and Christmas cookies.

Afternoons are difficult to get through without a couple snacks. I didn't do too badly today with just a cup of applesauce and ONE caramel.

Dinner was the super easy, perfect-for-night-I-don't-feel-like-cooking beans and rice.

Complemented with a glass (or two, who am I kidding?) of sparkling pear wine.

I've finished off my Wednesday eatings with some delicious mint chocolate chip ice cream. And yes, I did eat it right out of the carton.

What did you eat today? Join me next week for WIAW with Peas and Crayons!

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

2012-01-09T10:48:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I really had a hankering for cinnamon rolls. Also, I have a LOT of whole wheat flour that I need to be using, so I searched online for a whole wheat cinnamon roll recipe. I found this one at Myrecipes.com. My goodness do cinnamon rolls ever take a long time to make! But these are very tasty, and I going with slightly healthier since they are made with whole wheat and honey. Jeff is not much of a cinnamon roll fan, so these didn't really top his list - especially because of the whole wheat. Oh well, more for me!

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Ingredients

Dough:
1 1/2 packages dry yeast (about 3 1/4 teaspoons)
3/4 cup warm fat-free milk (100° to 110°)
1/4 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 large egg
1 large egg white
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided (about 11 1/4 ounces)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (about 7 ounces)
Cooking spray

Filling:
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup raisins (optional)

Glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 teaspoons fat-free milk

Directions:
1. To prepare dough, dissolve yeast in warm milk and 1/4 cup warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes or until foamy.

2. Add butter and next 5 ingredients (through egg white); stir well. Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 2 cups all-purpose flour and all of the whole wheat flour, stirring until a soft dough forms. Knead for 2 minutes on Speed 2 of a heavy duty mixer (alternately, you can turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes)). Dough should still feel sticky, but go ahead and add enough of the remaining 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from becoming too sticky.

3. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°F), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Tip 1: I usually turn my oven on for about one minute and then turn it off and place the covered bowl of dough into the oven. This will keep it ever-so-slighty warm and relatively draft-free.

Tip 2: To determine if the dough has doubled in size, gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.

4. Punch dough down; roll into a 16 x 12-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Coat surface of dough with cooking spray.

5. To prepare filling, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg; sprinkle over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle raisins (if using) over dough, pressing gently into dough.

6. Roll up rectangle tightly, starting with a long edge, pressing firmly to eliminate air pockets; pinch seam to seal. Cut the dough into 16 rolls. Place the rolls, cut sides up, in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray.

Tip 3: I marked the dough at 1" increments and then used dental floss to easily cut the rolls without smooshing them too much. Worked like a charm.

7. Cover and let rise 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

8. Preheat oven to 375°F. Uncover rolls. Bake for 22 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

9. To prepare glaze, place powdered sugar and vanilla in a small bowl. Add 5 teaspoons milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, stirring to form a thick glaze. Drizzle glaze evenly over rolls.

Jeff Gremillion, Cooking Light
JUNE 2007

Bailey's Irish Cream Fudge

2012-01-04T12:47:00.000-06:00

When I saw this recipe over at Two Normal Moms, I just knew I'd want to give it a try. It sounded so rich and creamy and perfect for the holidays ... or anytime. It's got a great flavor. It's a pretty soft fudge, so keep it refrigerated. Oh, and the recipe yields a LOT. I cut it in half before making it. I'd never made fudge before, so I was pleasantly surprised at how simple this was to make.

Yields: A LOT

Ingredients:

2 pkgs milk chocolate chips, 12 oz each
1 pkg semisweet chocolate chips, 12 oz
2 jars marshmallow cream, 7 oz each
2 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
2 cups chopped nuts, optional

4 ½ cups sugar
1 can evaporated mile, 12 oz
½ lb butter

Directions:

1. In a very large bowl, combine chocolate chips, marshmallow cream, vanilla, irish cream, and nuts (if you're doing that option). Set aside.

2. Line a 10x15 inch pan with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray (if you don't have this size, use 9x13 plus a smaller loaf pan).

3. In a small saucepan, the sugar, evaporated milk, and butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook slowly, stirring constantly for 11 minutes.

4. Pour milk mixture over the chocolate chip mixture. Stir slowly by hand to blend (do not use a mixer). Pour into prepared pan(s). Chill until set

5. Lift fudge by foil from pans, place on cutting board and cut into squares (freezing for an hour before cutting can make your job easier, as it's a very soft fudge!)

Are You Ready?

2011-12-27T10:37:00.000-06:00

The following is a sponsored post, but all opinions expressed are mine alone.

The hustle and bustle of Christmas is over. I hope you had lots of yummy treats, good food and great times spent with loved ones.

And now...

The New Year is fast approaching. Have you made your list of resolutions? I'm still working on mine, but I've got some great ideas bumbling around in my head.

2012 is looking to be great, if not a bit scary.

Student teaching.
Training for a marathon.
Moving cross-country. Yes, we'll have to change the description of this blog. :-)

With all of these things happening, there is sure to be a bit of uncertainty in how it all works out.

That's the thing with life. It's nothing if not uncertain.

One way to combat this uncertainty is to be prepared.
And one of the best ways to prepare for the future? FOOD STORAGE!

It can come in handy during times of disaster - whether natural or economic.

If preparing for the future by bulking up your food storage is on your New Year's resolution list, then you'll want to check out utah freeze dried food storage.

They have lots of options from food to water to survival gear (flashlights, etc). Their products are 100% vegetarian and Made in America.

Plus, some of their items look downright delicious!

Another thing I really appreciated on their site was a list of 7 Things You Need to Know About Food Storage. This was very informative about how food spoils and how to make food last longer.

Why not start your New Year off right with some food storage?
Looks like nearly everything is on sale. Score!

Creamy Bacon Pasta

2011-12-20T20:17:00.000-06:00

I had some bacon to use up I think that's first! Whoever has bacon nearly go bad?, but I didn't want boring eggs and bacon for dinner tonight. Using the handy Dinner Spinner on my phone, I found this intriguing recipe. I had to make a few modifications, since I didn't have the exact ingredients.

When Jeff asked what was for dinner, I replied, "Something amazing." I'm pleased to announce that it lived up to my boastful declaration.

Creamy Bacon Pasta

This recipe is picky husband approved.

Hmmm...perhaps I should create some kind of badge/award for that.

Anyway, onto the recipe!

Serves 2.

Ingredients:

4 oz pasta - I used egg noodles

3 slices of bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces

¼ cup dried, minced onion OR ½ medium onion

½ tsp (or 1 clove) garlic, minced

½ of a 10-ounce tub of cream cheese

¼ cup milk

½ cup frozen mixed vegetables

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning I didn't actual measure this, so this is a guesstimate

½ tsp crushed red pepper Again, I didn't measure, so use your best judgment

Directions:

Bring water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Rinse with hot water, if desired.

Meanwhile, cook cut up pieces of bacon in medium skillet until crisp. Remove bacon using a slotted spoon or tongs and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Leave about a tablespoon of bacon grease in pan.

Sautee onion and garlic in bacon grease.

Add cream cheese, milk, vegetables, and spices.

Cook until cheese is melted and vegetables are tender.

Serve over pasta. Top with bacon.

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Cream Cheese Candy Cane Cookies

2011-12-18T17:39:00.000-06:00

I got this recipe from the Nov 2001 issue of Pillsbury Classic Cookbooks, and I've made these cookies pretty much every year since. It's a relatively quick and easy recipe - as far as cookie recipes go.

Yields 3 dozen.

Ingredients:
¼ c butter, softened
1 (3-oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1 (18.25-oz) white cake mix
¼ tsp red gel or paste icing color

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, combine butter, cream cheese and egg; blend well. Add cake mix; mix until well blended. Divide dough in half. Add food color to half of dough; blend well for even red color.

2. For each cookie, measure 1 tsp white dough and 1 tsp red dough. Roll out each into 4-inch rope. Place ropes side by side. Lightly roll together; twist. Place 2-inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet; shape each to resemble a candy cane.

3. Bake at 350°F for 7 to 9 min or just until edges are golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets.

Check out my first baking video for a demonstration of how I shaped these cookies.

Pie Crust

2011-11-12T17:10:00.000-06:00

Yet another recipe I got from over at Recipe Shoebox. That's probably my first go-to blog when I'm looking for a recipe. If she doesn't have something I'm looking for, then I'll search elsewhere.

Anyway, there was a pie I wanted to try to bake and the recipe called for a pre-baked pie shell. Since my sister is usually the pie baker, I didn't have a good pie crust recipe. I meant to pick-up one of those pre-made ones at Target, but ended up leaving the register before remembering that item.

This recipe seemed as good as any, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

It turned out pretty good; I even got some compliments on it. ☺

Yields 2 to 3 9" pie crusts

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening

2 ½ cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 egg + cold water to make ½ cup liquid

Directions:

1. Cut the flour, salt, and shortening together until it is mostly the size of peas. Don't overwork the dough! It shouldn't start sticking together.

2. Make a slight well in the flour mixture. Add the egg mixture. Stir with a fork until just barely clinging together. Knead for 15-20 seconds, incorporating some of the loose crumbs. Again, don't overwork the dough! Knead until the dough is just holding together.

At this point, you could cover the dough and use it later, but it's best used right away.

3. Divide the dough onto a well floured pie mat or piece of wax paper. I used wax paper. Using your hands, pat down the dough until relatively flat. You'll want to flip it over a few times during this process of flattening, reflouring the surface slightly each time.

4. Make sure that both sides of the dough and the wax paper are well floured. Using a rolling pin, roll the crust into a somewhat circular shape. Rotate the whole mat/wax paper a few times while rolling out the dough to help get a uniform thickness.

5. After rolling out to the desired thickness, brush off any excess flour. Gently pick up the entire mat/wax paper, flip it over and center it over your pie plate. Gently release the crust onto the plate and peel off the wax paper.

If making a single crust pie...

6. Trim edge of crust, so it slightly hangs over the edge of pie plate. Roll the dough up over the rim of the plate edge and flute the pie crust. I do this by gently pressing the forefinger of my left hand on one side of the crust between the forefinger and thumb of my other hand on the other side of the crust. Repeating until I've gone around the entire pie. Prick the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork.

7. Bake at 400°F for 8-10 minutes, or until the fluted edge is a very light golden brown.

NOTE: If the crust will be filled with a cream filling that will not be baked further, instead of pricking the crust with a fork prior to baking, place a sheet of wax paper over the crust and cover the bottom with pie weights or beans to help it hold its shape. Also bake it slightly longer - until the edges are a deeper golden brown.

If making a double crust pie...

6. Place pie filling into the pie crust.

7. Roll out top crust in the same manner as the bottom crust. Gently place top crust over the top of the filled pie. Trim excess dough. Pinch the top and bottom crust edges together. Roll the pinched dough up over the rim of the plate edges and flute the pie crust. I do this by gently pressing the forefinger of my left hand on one side of the crust between the forefinger and thumb of my other hand on the other side of the crust. Repeating until I've gone around the entire pie.

8. OPTIONAL. Cut out seasonal shapes with cookie cutters from the leftover dough. Place artistically on the pie. Brush lightly with milk. Sprinkle granulated sugar over the top.

9. Poke a few holes in the top crust to allow venting for the steam to escape. Bake according to the directions for the pie filling. Watch carefully and place foil over the edges or top, if it looks like it is browning too quickly.

Tip: Cooking Spagetti Squash

2011-11-09T17:23:00.000-06:00

I wasn't sure how to cook my spaghetti squash, but I found this great resource. It lists advantages and disadvantages to cutting the squash before cooking as well as simple instructions for how to cook it either cut or whole.

Like all winter squashes, spaghetti squash has a very hard shell and is difficult to cut.

I read somewhere that it is immensely easier, if you just pop the squash in the microwave for 45-60 seconds. This softens it up just a bit to make cutting it a bit easier.

With my abundance of squash this fall, I have used this trick up many times and have found it to be very helpful.

Back to the spaghetti squash...

I washed it.
Zapped it in the microwave.
Cut it in half length-wise.
Scraped out the seeds and pulp.
Put it in a microwave-safe baking dish; covered it with plastic wrap.
Microwaved it for 6-9 minutes.

Removing the strands from

a cooked spaghetti squash

Photo © Charles Islander

Let it sit a few minutes after cooking. This allows it to both finish cooking and cool slightly to make it a bit easier on your fingers.

After the squash is fork-tender, use a fork to scrape the squash out of its shell.

It should separate nicely into strands resembling spaghetti.

Halloween Cheesecakes

2011-11-06T08:44:00.002-06:00

I know that Halloween was nearly a week ago, but, for the past few years, my parents have hosted a Halloween party the Sunday after the holiday. I was asked to make a dessert this year. I wanted to find something I could make that would use some of the squash in my fridge, so when I found this recipe over on Recipe Shoebox, I knew it would be perfect! I can't get over how great these turned out.

Flying Witch

Yields 2+ cheesecakes

Ingredients:

2 ready made graham cracker crust
4 8 oz packages of cream cheese, softened
¾ c granulated sugar
¼ c packed brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 small golden nugget squash
4 eggs
½ tsp pumpkin pie spice (or ¼ tsp cinnamon, ⅛ tsp nutmeg, ½ of ⅛ tsp each of allspice and cardamom)
1/2 c semi sweet chocolate chips, melted
Pictures of a flying witch or a howling wolf or whatever you'd like on the cheesecake

Directions:
1. Pierce squash a few times with a fork. Soften in microwave for 45-60 secs. Cut in half; remove seeds. Place in a microwaveable dish; cover with plastic wrap. Cook for 9 minutes or until fork tender. Scoop squash into a food processor and blend until smooth. This should give you about 1 cup of purée.

2. While squash is cooking, cream the cream cheese and sugars together in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and eggs . Mix until well blended. Reserve 1 cup of batter. Pour remaining evenly between two graham cracker crusts.

3. Add squash purée and pumpkin pie spice to the reserved batter. Mix well. Drop by spoonfuls onto the white batter. Gently swirl with a knife. I swirled in one direction to give the impression of a windy, stormy, scary, Halloween night. I had a LOT of leftover squash batter, so I put it in a small dish to bake a 3rd, smaller, no-crust cheesecake.

4. Bake at 350°F for 40-45 min or until the center is still barely jiggly or right before cracks start to appear. Remove and let cool on cooling rack.

5. While cheesecakes are baking, place pictures under wax paper. Put melted chocolate into a plastic baggie and snip off the corner. Pipe the chocolate over the pictures. I had some extra chocolate, so I hand drew a full moon, a spider web, a spider, and some bats/birds/whatever. Place on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer to harden.

6. Once cheesecakes have cooled, cut the wax paper around the chocolate pictures and place pictures on the cheesecake, wax paper side up. Leave waxed paper on and chill cakes in the fridge for 8+ hours or overnight. Gently pull off waxed paper.

Wolf Howling at Full Moon

Spider and Web

Loaded Potato Soup

2011-10-31T22:44:00.000-05:00

I'm kind of a sucker for potato soups. I don't know what it is about them, but there's hardly been one I didn't like. This recipe was no exception. Originally found on MyRecipes.com, I, of course, made some very minor alterations.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

4 (6-ounce) red potatoes

2 tsp olive oil
½ cup chopped celery

¼ cup dried, minced onions

1 heaping tsp Organic Better Than Bouillon™ chicken base
1¼ cups water
3 T all-purpose flour
2 cups skim milk, divided
¼ cup sour cream
¾ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
4 bacon slices
⅓ cup shredded monterey jack cheese

Directions:
1. Wash potatoes. Pierce with a fork and microwave on HIGH for 12 minutes or until fork tender. Cut in half; cool slightly.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add celery and onion; sauté 2-3 minutes. Add chicken base and water. Stir until base dissolves.

3. Combine flour and ½ cup milk; add to pan with remaining 1½ cups milk. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream, salt, and pepper.

4. Arrange bacon on a paper-towel lined microwave safe plate. Cover with a paper towel and microwave on HIGH for 4 minutes. Crumble bacon.

5. Scoop insides of potatoes into pan; discard skins. Coarsely mash potatoes into soup. Top with cheese and bacon.

NOTE: My husband really likes salt, so I tend to make everything a little on the salty side. This could easily have the salt reduced to ½ tsp (per the original recipe), if you might like a little less salt. I thought it was perfect, but Jeff still added a bunch of salt to his bowl!

Pattypan Squash with Pasta and Red Sauce

2011-10-23T19:43:00.002-05:00

Here's another squash recipe that I just threw together one evening for dinner. It's very simple, and was very tasty, but I did no measuring. Sorry. I did; however, take a couple process pictures.

Ingredients:

Pasta (I used whole wheat penne)

Pattypan squash, cut into bite-sized chunks (I used Yellow Sunburst)

Dried, minced onion

Dried, minced garlic

Red pasta sauce

Salt

Pepper

Dried basil

Grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Cook pasta according to package instructions.

2. Sautee squash with onion and garlic in a small skillet.

3. When squash is tender, add pasta sauce, salt, pepper, and basil. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.

4. Pour sauce over drained pasta. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

This was a tasty dinner for one that I would definitely make again.

Potato Salad

2011-10-23T14:00:00.000-05:00

My sister (not the co-auther of this blog, another sister) is generally the potato salad maker, but I had a lot of potatoes to use up, so I figured a potato salad would be perfect. I searched online and found this recipe, which I have modified into a tasty version of my own. Jeff, who normally doesn't care much for potato salad, surprised me by not only liking this concoction but also having multiple servings. Now that's what I call success!

Yields 6 servings.

Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds potatoes, peeled

2 eggs

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup salad dressing (e.g. Miracle Whip®)

1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 Tbsp milk

1 Tbsp distilled white vinegar

1 Tbsp dried, minced onion
1 tsp Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb

¼ tsp salt

⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ cup sliced celery
Paprika, to taste

Directions:
1. Place potatoes into a large pot of salted water; bring to a boil. Cook until fork tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and chop into 1 inch cubes. Place in a medium bowl.

2. Place eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in hot water for 12 to 14 minutes. Drain water and immediately add cold water and/or ice. Peel and dice.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, salad dressing, dijon mustard, milk, vinegar, onions, Mrs. Dash, salt and pepper. Pour the mixture over the potatoes, and mix together with the eggs and celery. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving.

Squash Stuffed with Chard and Black Beans

2011-10-19T22:38:00.000-05:00

This is one of the first squash recipes I tried. I found the recipe here originally, I but made a few changes to make it my own. I was surprised at how tasty this was! Unfortunately, Jeff didn't care for it too much and really only enjoyed the topping.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 med acorn squash, halved, seeded

½ tsp plus 1 T extra-virgin olive oil, divided

¼ tsp salt, divided

¼ tsp freshly ground pepper, divided

¼ cup onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T water

½ T tomato paste

4 cups chopped chard leaves (about ½ large bunch chard)

½ (15-oz) can black beans, drained, rinsed

2 T coarse dry Italian breadcrumbs
2 T grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Cut a small slice off the bottom of each squash half so it rests flat. Brush the insides with ½ tsp oil; sprinkle with ⅛ tsp each salt and pepper. Place in a microwave-safe dish. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on High until the squash is fork-tender, about 12 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat ½ T oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook, stirring, until starting to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in water, tomato paste and the remaining ⅛ tsp each salt and pepper. Stir in chard, cover and cook until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in black beans; cook until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat.

3. Preheat broiler.

4. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan and the remaining ½ T oil in a bowl. Fill each squash half with about 1 cup of the chard mixture. Place in a baking pan or on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture. Broil in the center of the oven until the breadcrumbs are browned, 1 to 2 minutes.

Braided Bread with a Touch of Rye

2011-10-17T23:03:00.000-05:00

I found this recipe on my friend's blog, Recipe Shoebox. It looked so good! I was the first to leave a comment, and I couldn't wait to try it out myself. Well, it took me over a month to finally give it a shot (and now another 4 months to blog about it), and it turned out better than I could have expected. I brought it to my family's Sunday dinner, and everyone loved it. We still tease my nephew about eating nearly an entire loaf by himself. It was that good!

Yields 2 loaves.

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. yeast

1-1/4 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)

1/4 cup soft butter (not melted)

1 tsp. salt

1 pkg. (2.9-oz.) vanilla pudding mix NOTE: Don't use sugar free varieties of vanilla pudding mixes. (I did use an instant mix though, and it worked just fine.)

3-4 cups flour (I used mostly all purpose flour mixed with some rye. This was a few months ago, but I think I used closer to a 3:1 ratio for the white to rye flours)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add softened butter, salt, and dry pudding mix. Stir until dissolved. Gradually add flour to right consistency.

2. Knead dough 12 times (or 2 minutes in mixer). Divide dough into 6 equal portions and roll out into a long shape. Braid 3 together for a loaf. Place on greased cookie sheet. Let rise 2 hours (or until doubled).

3. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown.

Braided Rye Bread

Enjoy!

Peppery Squash Soup

2011-10-16T20:31:00.000-05:00

I made this squash soup a couple weeks ago. I thought it was delicious and subsequently, it was my lunch throughout the week. Maybe even longer. While I did scour the Internet for some soup recipes, I ultimately came up with this recipe on my own - pulling from a few different recipes (sources for which I can no longer remember) I had found online. I mostly threw in a little of this and a little of that, so the measurements listed below are largely guesses but should suffice as a starting off point.

Peppery Squash Soup

Ingredients:
1 med Delicata squash
1 med Acorn squash
2 T Olive oil, separated
Salt and Pepper, to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 sm onion, chopped
4 oz cream cheese - this is the only ingredient I actually measured
4 tsp bouillon - I used a vegetable based, but chicken based would probably also be good
4 cups water
1 T Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb
1 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions
1. Cut squash in half. Brush with 1T oil; season with salt and pepper. Cook until fork tender (roast, boil, microwave, whatevs). I'm lazy and impatient, so I chose the microwave method. Mash cooked squash with a fork.

2. In large pot, heat oil. Sautee garlic and onion. Add cream cheese. Cook and stir until cheese is completely melted. Add cooked squash to the big pot. Add the bouillon and water. Season with Mrs. Dash and cayenne pepper. Simmer for at least 20 minutes.

3. Blend soup in a blender, using an immersion blender, or in a food processor. I don't have any of those, but I do have a Magic Bullet. I used all 6 blender cups to get all the soup blended. Return to pot and simmer until hot again (or longer to let the flavors continue to meld).

Peppery Squash Soup with Cheez-Its®

Especially delicious served with Cheez-It® or Goldfish® brand crackers.

Golden Nugget Muffins

2011-10-15T13:47:00.000-05:00

It's a beautiful fall morning this morning. Only in the 40s when I took Sallie out for her morning walk. Brr... (although I still wore flip flops). I thought, "This would be a perfect morning for cocoa and muffins for breakfast." As you might remember, I have an abundance of squash, so I set about finding a muffin recipe using squash.

I found something that would work on allrecipes.com. I made a few changes, and these turned out so tasty!

Ingredients:
1 small golden nugget squash
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder

½ cup white sugar

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp allspice

¼ tsp cardamom

(Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cardamom could be replaced with 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice)

¾ cup milk

1 egg, beaten

1 T butter, melted

Directions:

1. Wash squash. Prick with a fork and microwave for 60 secs. Remove from microwave, cut in half crosswise, and remove seeds. Place both halves in a microwave safe dish, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave for 6 minutes or until fork tender. Puree squash in a food processor. This should yield probably around 1 cup of squash puree, though I didn't actually measure it.

2. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line muffin tin with cupcake liner or spray with cooking spray.

3. While squash is cooking, whisk together dry ingredients (flours, baking powder, sugar, salt, spices).

4. In a heavy duty mixer (KitchenAid®), stir the milk, egg, and butter. Stir in the pureed squash. Gradually stir in the flour mixture until just moistened.

5. Spoon into prepared muffin tin, filling cups about ½ full. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from muffin tin and cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy with a cup of hot cocoa for a pleasant start to a cool fall day.

Gnocchi with Squash and Tomatoes

2011-10-02T21:36:00.000-05:00

We've received a lot of different types of squash in our CSA, so look forward to some yummy squash recipes coming your way. Last night, I had some yellow squash to use up, so I threw together this quick and easy recipe.

Serves 1

Ingredients:

Tri-colored gnocchi

1 T olive oil

1/2 medium yellow squash, sliced

1/2 tsp minced garlic

salt/pepper to taste

1 medium tomato, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup red pasta sauce

grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Prepare gnocchi according to package directions

2. Heat oil in small skillet; sautee squash with garlic and salt/pepper.

3. Add tomatoes.

4. Add pasta sauce.

5. Pour sauce mixture over gnocchi, sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Enjoy with a nice glass of Riesling.

Crockpot Potato Soup

2011-09-15T19:28:00.000-05:00

I love, love, love potato soup! I always have. I remember making it once as a teenager; it was delicious. This, unfortunately, is not that recipe. I found this recipe at Recipe Shoebox. I made a few minor changes and modified it to a slow cooker.

Click here for nutritional facts.

Click here for printable version.

Ingredients:
4 large potatoes
5 1/2 cups water
6 chicken bouillon cubes
1/4 c dried, minced onions
9 baby carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 T parsley
1 T coarse Kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup whole wheat flour

Directions:

Peel and prep potatoes. I've made this soup with diced potatoes. Jeff has complained about the potato chunks being too big, so this time, I prepped the potatoes julienne-style using my Pro Chopper Plus that I got for my birthday last year. I love this little kitchen gadget!

Anyway, combine all but the last three ingredients in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or until veggies are tender.

Stir in milk.

Prepare a roux with the butter and flour. Add a bit of the hot liquid from the soup. Stir until thick and smooth.

Add roux mixture to the crockpot, while stirring briskly.

Cook for an additional 30 - 45 minutes.

I just found this in my drafts. Seems all ready to go except for a picture of the actual soup. So my apologies, but I'll just post this now and maybe next time I make it, I'll update this post.

Cream of Broccoli soup

2011-08-29T13:31:00.000-05:00

This is not going to be some fantastic, gotta try recipe.

I'm trying to be very conservative in my lunches (read: living like a poor college student), so I bought some condensed soups for those days when I have no leftovers from the night before and no time in the morning to pack anything else for lunch.

So, today, I threw a can of Cream of Broccoli soup into my purse as I rushed out the door to catch my bus.

Around 12:30, I was starving.

I grabbed that can of soup -- super excited for my delicious lunch -- only to read the label that clearly states MIX WITH 1 CAN OF MILK.

Milk?? Drats.
No milk here at work.

No credit card.
No cash.
Meant no run to the convenience store for a little jug of milk.

By now, I was super starving.

Guess I'll just make it with water and hope it's not too disgusting.

And then *epiphany* I'll just add some powdered coffee creamer to it to make it all creamy.

Is it the best tasting soup ever? Definitely not.

Points for creativity? You tell me.

At least I'm no longer starving.
At least there was some plain creamer in the cupboards and not Hazelnut flavored.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-06-26T09:40:00.000-05:00

This past Thursday was a rather cool summer evening, so I decided to bake some cookies. I found a recipe for peanut butter cookies and decided to make it my own by adding a little oatmeal and chocolate chips, because honestly, don't those two ingredients make all cookies a little better? Okay, maybe not, but it certainly didn't hurt this recipe.

I brought a couple dozen into work the next day, and everyone said how good they were. When I got home from work, Jeff couldn't help but rave a bit about these delicious cookies!

This recipe is modified from a recipe found in my KitchenAid mixer recipe book.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

¾ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup shortening
1 ¼ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
3 T milk
1 T vanilla
1 egg
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ tsp salt
¾ tsp baking soda
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Cream together peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla until well blended. Add egg, mixing until well blended.

Combine flour, salt, and soda in a separate bowl. Gradually add dry ingredients to peanut butter mixture. Stir in oatmeal and chocolate chips.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten slightly with a fork in a crisscross pattern.

Bake for 7-8 minutes or until set and lightly browned.

Yields 3 dozen cookies.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

The joy of rhubarb

2011-05-18T09:02:00.002-05:00

Ok so I don't have any pictures of these recipes. But they are so good that they are worthy of your imagination doing the job! If you think that making jam is hard, don't worry, this jam is so easy I think that a monkey could do it and it is TASTY!

All I have to say about the RHubarb custard cake is this one word.....Heaven. Yep it is that good. So here is 2 recipes for you all! Hey 2 for the price of one!!! YAY always a good deal!!!

Rhubard (whatever flavor jello) Jam

5 cups chopped Rhubarb
3 cups sugar
1 package Jello of your choice (I used orange it was great but strawberry would be awesome!!!)

First gather up about 4 pint jelly jars...make it 5 to be on the safe side. Find a pot that will hold enough water to cover the jars tops with about an inch of water. Put it on to boil. Meanwhile toss rhubarb and sugar in a non reactive pot and cook down until, I think that technical term is mushy, stirring often. Add jello packet and stir until disolved. Don't forget to heat up your covers in hot water. Fill up hot jars and seal them up. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Voila you are done. You just made JAM!!!

Rhubarb custard cake

1 yellow cake mix prepared per cake box instructions
4 cups chopped rhubarb
1 cup sugar
1 pint heavy whipping cream

Grease a 9x13 cake pan. Pour prepared cake batter in. Sprinkle rhubarb evenly on top of batter. Sprinkle sugar evenly over rhubarb. Pour whipping cream over the top of the cake. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes or until cake is nice and set. Let sit for at least 30 minutes. It takes a little while for the yummy custard to set. Beware though, this is highly addicting and will give you a belly ache if you should eat too much of its yummy goodness.....

hope you will enjoy these super easy but super good recipes!!

jennifer

Twenty-Minute Chili

2011-03-05T10:15:00.000-06:00

I received this recipe the other day in my Inbox. There was a chill in the air outside, and chili sounded great for dinner! This was pretty simple and quite delicious. I modified it a bit, including making it a meatless. Since my husband generally likes his soups/chilis pretty thin, I tripled the amount of liquid in this dishes. I have included the original ingredients in brackets or you can visit the link above for the original recipe on MyRecipes.com.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/4 cups chili, 1/2 cup rice, and 1 tablespoon cheese)

Ingredients

1 c long-grain white rice [originial recipe: 1 (3 1/2-ounce) bag boil-in-bag long-grain rice]
1 T vegetable oil
1/4 c dried, minced onion [originial recipe: 1 cup chopped onion]
3/4 c chopped green bell pepper
1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed [originial recipe: 1/2 pound ground turkey breast]
1 T chili powder
1 tsp Wrcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 14.5-oz can Southwestern-style diced tomatoes with green chiles, jalapeños, and lime juice, undrained [original recipe: 1 (14.5-ounce) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes with jalapeño peppers and spices, undrained]
2 (5.5-oz) cans V8 [original recipe: 1 (5.5-ounce) can tomato juice]
1 (5.5-oz) can of water (use empty V8 can) [original recipe did not call for water]
1/4 cup (1-oz) preshredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Preparation

Cook rice according to package directions.

While rice cooks, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, [and turkey]. Cook 3 minutes or until done. Stir in chili powder and the next 9 ingredients (chili powder through water); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

Serve over rice, and sprinkle with cheese.

Pecan-Crusted Tilapia

2011-02-25T09:19:00.035-06:00

We're trying to incorporate more fish into our diet. It's difficult because we're not huge fans; however, we did try some tilapia when we were in Costa Rica back in January. It was prepared so deliciously that I bought some frozen fillets when we got back home. They sat in my freezer, untouched, for a few weeks, and then I received this recipe for Pecan-Crusted Tilapia in my Inbox and thought it would be a good way to start.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 tilapia fillet)

Ingredients

1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 (6-ounce) tilapia or snapper fillets
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
4 lemon wedges for garnish

Preparation

Combine first 5 ingredients in a shallow dish. Combine buttermilk and hot sauce in a medium bowl; place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge 1 fillet in flour. Dip in buttermilk mixture; dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Repeat procedure with remaining fillets, flour, buttermilk mixture, and breadcrumb mixture.

Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 fillets; cook 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and fillets. Serve with lemon wedges.

Other than halving this recipe (there are only two of us), the above is unchanged from the recipe on MyRecipes.com. I served this with a side of white rice. I thought it turned out really quite delicious; Jeff thought it needed a little more breading to more significantly change the texture of the fish. I do think I'll try this recipe again.

Peanut Brittle

2010-12-22T08:59:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine over at Recipe Shoebox asked me to participate in her Baking Through The Holidays theme. My contribution was a tasty recipe for Peanut Brittle. So easy, so divine!

She's posting yummy treats everyday in December. You should really check them out!

Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Muffins

2010-12-11T12:50:00.001-06:00

It's a snowy morning here in Minnesota. I'm talking suh-noooo-eee! I can barely see the tops of the tires of the car parked out on the street.

And it's still SNOWING out there!!

Nothing better than baking on a snowy morning. :)

I found a recipe for some Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins in my Taste of Home cookbook. I had to make a few modifications because I kept running out of ingredients, so I had to make some substitutions.

These muffins turned out so delicious...and picture perfect. Seriously, I'm having difficulty choosing the best pictures to post of the final product!

Of course my kitchen was a bit too messy for in-process pictures. Sorry!

Click here for Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup oat bran

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs, lightly beaten

scant 1/4 cup canned, evaporated milk

2 medium ripe bananas, mashed

scant 1/3 cup plain yogurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/3 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients.

In another bowl, combine the eggs and evaporated milk (adding enough water to bring the milk up to 1/4c); stir in the bananas, yogurt, and vanilla.

Make a well in the dry ingredients. Pour the liquid mixture into the well and whisk just until moistened. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans.

Coat muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray or use paper liners; fill three-fourths full with batter. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.

Enjoy with yummy hot chocolate. I did!

Eggless Pancakes

2010-12-04T15:26:00.000-06:00

This is a really simple post without a recipe per se, but the other morning, I wanted some pancakes. The pancake mix I had on hand (I know, what a bum, not even making pancakes from scratch) called for eggs. I had no eggs in my fridge! Based on the success of my Eggless Sugar Cookies, I decided to replace the eggs with yogurt. Again, I replaced each egg with 1/4 cup plain yogurt. I also added a bit of vanilla to add some flavor, (and so the pancakes wouldn't take too yogurt-y).

These were probably some of the tastiest pancakes!

Some of the rhubarb jam I made over the summer didn't quite set up as much as it should, but the runny jam worked divinely as a topping for my pancakes.

So, so good!

Eggless Sugar Cookie Cutouts

2010-11-29T06:03:00.000-06:00

I promised my dad some sugar cookies for Sunday dinner. When I went to start making them, I realized that I didn't have any eggs! I did a little research online and decided to try using plain yogurt as a replacement (which actually was great for me, because happened to have plain yogurt in my fridge that really needed to be used). For each egg, I used 1/4 cup of yogurt. Eggs are also used as leavening, but since there was already baking powder and soda in the recipe, I didn't make any further changes.

I was really pleased with how tasty these cookies turned out! They tasted so good. No one would have even known they were eggless. :) Of course I told everyone. Bragging rights, you know. They weren't quite as fluffy as usual, so next time I might increase the baking powder a bit.

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
Beat shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add yogurt and vanilla.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to creamed mixture; mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or until easy to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4" thickness. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on ungreased cookie sheets, 1" apart.

Bake at 325°F for 9-11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Frost as desired.

Individual Shepherd's Pies

2010-11-28T09:04:00.000-06:00

For dinner the other night, I thawed out some ground beef but wasn't sure how to prepare it. I thought a shepherd's pie sounded good, but it seemed like too much for just the two of us. After scouring the Internet a bit, I came up with the idea of making mini-shepherd's pies. Here is the recipe I concocted. I was so pleased with how delicious these turned out! Jeff even liked them so much that he warmed up leftovers the next day! :)

Click here for Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup dried, minced onions
1 tsp dried, minced garlic
1 can cream of celery soup
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
2 cups instant mashed potatoes, prepared
Parmesan cheese, to taste
Paprika, to taste

Directions:

Brown ground beef, onions, and garlic. Drain fat.
Defrost frozen veggies slightly by running under cold water.
Add soup and veggies to beef mixture.

Spoon mixture into a muffin tin.

Top with prepared mashed potatoes.

Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and paprika.

Place muffin tin on a cookie sheet (in case of overspill). Bake at 350°F for 20 min or until hot.

Enjoy!

This was incredibly tasty; however if I make it again, I would stretch the beef mixture to make 24 mini-pies and increase the amount of potatoes. This would hopefully prevent the spilling over in the oven.

That would be a LOT for the two of us, so I might just make 1/2 the amount of beef mixture to accomplish the same task.

Cider-Glazed Chicken with Browned Butter-Pecan Rice

2010-11-04T06:12:00.000-05:00

I was a little hesistant to try this recipe from MyRecipes because I thought it might be too sweet for Jeff. He doesn't usually like meats with any type of sweet glaze.

This tasted fantastic!

It definitely won his approval, and I definitely plan on making it again!

The glaze had a perfectly delectable taste, and the rice was magnificent. I don't think I'd ever had a flavored rice before, let alone one with toasted pecans in it! I loved the added crunch from the pecans. :-)

Serve with green beans for one delicious meal!

Total: 20 minutes

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cutlet and about 1/2 cup rice)

Ingredients

1 (3.5-ounce) bag boil-in-bag brown rice (such as Uncle Ben's) I just used regular white rice - prepared in my rice cooker. Nothing fancy, like boil-in-a-bag. Just what I had on-hand at home.
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 pound chicken breast cutlets (about 4 cutlets)
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup refrigerated apple cider
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley This is just a garnish, so I left it out.

Directions

Cook rice according to package directions in a small saucepan, omitting salt and fat; drain.

While rice cooks, melt 1 teaspoon butter in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Add chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until done.

Remove from pan.

Add cider and mustard to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits; cook 2 to 3 minutes or until syrupy.

Add chicken to pan, turning to coat. Remove from heat; set aside.

Melt remaining 5 teaspoons butter in saucepan over medium-high heat; cook for 2 minutes or until browned and fragrant. Lower heat to medium; add pecans, and cook for 1 minute or until toasted, stirring frequently.

Add rice and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt; toss well to coat.

Serve rice with chicken. Sprinkle with parsley.

Spiderweb Dip

2010-10-31T12:12:00.000-05:00

Jeff and I went to a Halloween party last night. We were asked to bring an appetizer to share. I found this cute recipe on the Taste of Home website for Spiderweb Dip with Bat Tortilla Chips. It looked yummy and super easy!

Of course when it came time to make it, I realized I didn't have any bat cookie cutters, so I just made the spiderweb dip

and served it with regular, store bought tortilla chips.

Ingredients:

8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened

3/4 c salsa

1/2 c prepared guacamole

1-2 T sour cream

Directions:

Mix the cream cheese and the salsa together. Spread into a pie plate. Carefully spoon the guacamole into the center of the cream cheese mixture leaving about a one-inch border.

Put sour cream into a zippered bag. Snip corner of bag. Pipe sour cream in concentric circles.

Beginning with the center circle, gently pull a knife through circles toward center edge. Wipe knife clean. Repeat to complete spiderweb pattern.

I knew Jeff would love the cream cheese and salsa (two of his favorite things) part, but he usually says how much he dislikes guacamole,

so I wasn't sure how well this dip would go over with him.

He LOVED it!

He couldn't stop eating it or raving about it (even the guacamole part).

It was awesome. :-)

Happy Halloween, everyone!!

This post was written as an entry for a contest to win a Canon Rebel T2i camera. Hop on over to SITS for great blogging tips and more awesome Halloween crafts.

Spaghetti Pie

2010-10-28T06:24:00.000-05:00

The other day, I wanted spaghetti pie for dinner. Naturally, I checked my blog for the recipe. It wasn't there! I couldn't believe I hadn't done a post on it yet. It's one of my all time faves! It's relatively easy and oh, so yummy!!

Click here for Printable Recipe.

Ingredients

6 oz spaghetti, cooked, drained, rinsed with cold water

1 large egg, separated
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 lb ground beef
1 1/4 cups spaghetti sauce
3/4 cup cottage cheese
1 tsp dried parsley
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray. Combine spaghetti, egg white, and Parmesan in a medium bowl. Press mixture into pie plate to form a pie shell.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat; add beef. Cook, stirring frequently, until beef is brown and crumbly; about 5 minutes. Stir in spaghetti sauce; simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside.

Combine cottage cheese, egg yolk, parsley and 1/2 cup mozzarella in a medium bowl. Spread mixture into spaghetti pie shell.

Spread meat sauce over cheese mixture

Top with remaining mozzarella.

Cover pie with foil. Bake for 35 minutes, removing foil during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Let stand before serving.

Of course, I couldn't wait to eat this when it came out, so I forgot to take a picture of the final product before cutting and serving this delicious meal. You'll just have to imagine the above picture with the cheese all nice and melted. :-)

Puffed-Up Chocolate-Chip Cookies

2010-10-20T05:40:00.001-05:00

Who doesn't love a good chocolate chip cookie? Some people may prefer to stick to a tried-and-true chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I like to experiment. When I received this recipe for Puffed-Up Chocolate-Chip Cookies from MyRecipes, I couldn't wait to try it out! Plus they are made with applesauce, so they're a little lighter when talking about fat content.

These turned out super good. They were a little more cake-like than most chocolate chip cookies, which made them almost melt in your mouth.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Cooking spray

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk.

Spoon applesauce into a fine sieve over a bowl; let stand 15 minutes. Discard liquid. Scrape drained applesauce into a large bowl. Add sugar and butter; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in vanilla and egg. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed until well-blended. Fold in chips.

Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes or until almost set. Cool on pan 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pan; cool on wire racks.

Two-Bean Soup with Kale

2010-10-14T21:00:00.000-05:00

I know, I know. It's been forever. Hopefully this is the beginning of a long stint in updating regularly.

Anyway, a week or so ago I received in my Inbox a recipe from MyRecipes.com. As you may remember, my husband loves himself a good soup. I asked him if he'd be willing to try a soup that had kale in it. We've been so.very.adventurous (*rolling eyes*) with our dining in the past that, yes, I did have to google kale. It sounded like something that might be good, and we are trying to make some changes and experiment more with good food, so I decided to take it for a whirl.

It was delicious! We couldn't stop eating it. If I'd known how yummy it would turn out, I probably would have doubled or tripled the batch to gobble up (and maybe save for later).

It was the perfect consistency - not too creamy, not too brothy.
It was colorful and had a delectable flavor.

The only complaint I got was the kale. Not the taste but the size. It was slightly bigger than the spoon. I know I could have cut it a little finer. Next time for sure!

Since I didn't really make any changes to this recipe, I'm not going to post it all here. You can click here to get the printable version from the MyRecipes website.

Hope you make this soup. You'll LOVE it!

Back to Blogging: A Title We Are Particularly Proud Of - "The ghost sister returns with a new recipe!!!"

2010-09-15T20:12:00.000-05:00

NOTE: This was originally posted on December 15, 2009. It was posted by my sister, who has done ALL the creative post titles on our blogs. She's awesome! Hope you enjoy her recipe.

Yes, ghost sister has returned and with her a new recipe! I was at a loss for supper last night. I had a pair of very tasty looking boneless pork chops just WAITING for me to make something splendid out of them. I peeked in my pantry, and voila my muse, my inspiration, peeked over a can of kidney beans. How could a girl resist that sweet golden goodness that is just MADE to be paired up with pork. It is like peanut butter to chocolate....cornbread to honey....orange yogurt to saltine crackers (this MAY or may not be to everyone's liking). Inspiration hit and I started to busily clang around pots and pans. I was feeling like my old self again, my "dinner block" had been tossed to the curb. I am BACK and raring to dust off my hot pads and don my apron again. This is what became of the beautiful pork chops and the lowly can of crushed pineapple. My son really liked the rice especially.

One Skillet Jamaican Baked Pork Chops with Sticky Pineapple Rice

Click here for Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 Lean Boneless Pork Chops marinated in Lawrys Jamaican Jerk Marinade Sauce
1 cup white rice
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 cup chicken broth or water
1 small can crushed pineapple
1/4 cup brown sugar + 2 tbsp
1 tbsp Jamaican Jerk seasoning (I used Spice Islands brand)
1 tsp salt
pepper to your tastes

Directions:

Heat olive oil in oven proof skillet. Sear Pork Chops on both sides for a minute or so. Remove pork chops and set aside. To skillet add onion, rice and garlic. Stir frequently until rice is toasted. Add broth or water, crushed pineapple, brown sugar, Jamaican seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir and bring to a boil. Place pork chops on top of rice mixture and cover tightly. Place in a preheated 350°F oven for 45 minutes. Remove and sprinkle the remaining brown sugar over the skillet. Serve with your choice of vegetable but broccoli is AWESOME! You can easily add 2 more pork chops to this and not alter anything else!

Hope that you enjoy this like my family did!!!

Jennifer The OTHER sister :)

Back to Blogging: A Post I Wish More People Had Read - "Homemade Tomato Soup"

2010-09-14T18:44:00.001-05:00

NOTE: This was originally posted January 26, 2010. I've reposted it as part of SITS Back to Blogging event. This was probably one of my favorite recipes. It tasted so delicious! Soup season is nearly upon us again, and I'm excited to try this again soon. I hope you enjoy it, too.

A couple weeks ago, we had a "Soup and Swap" for a church activity. It's always so fun to gather together and share some delicious soup and browse through *new* treasures. This is one of my favorite activities each year. I signed up to bring a soup. I was really hankering for some tomato soup, so I found this recipe at FoodNetwork.com and decided to try it out. My husband loved it, and I got so many compliments and requests for the recipe. :-) A couple people did their very best to clean the serving spoon and crockpot - not one drop to be missed!

Ok...so this picture of the finished product doesn't really do it justice, but trust me, this is the BEST tomato soup recipe!!

Click here for Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 stalk celery, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup heavy cream, optional

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Strain the chopped canned tomatoes, reserving the juices. I used Hunt's® Diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano.

Spread onto a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, to taste, drizzle with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and roast until caramelized, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat remaining olive oil (I actually ran out of olive oil with the tomatoes, so I used canola oil) over medium-low heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion and garlic, cook until softened, about 10 minutes.

Add the roasted chopped canned tomatoes, reserved tomato juices, chicken broth, bay leaf and butter. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Add basil and cream, if using. (I left out the cream. The basil I used was some I had frozen last summer.)
Puree with a hand held immersion blender until smooth.

I, of course, don't have an immersion blender or a full-size blender, so I had to blend it in batches in my Magic Bullet®.

Voila! Super, yummy tomato soup!

ENJOY!!

Sorry about the poor final product pictures. :-(

Back to Blogging: The First Post We Ever Wrote - "Welcome to our blog!"

2010-09-13T10:20:00.002-05:00

As part of SITS Back to Blogging event, I am re-posting my very first blog entry for the the Tale of Two Sisters and their Kitchens! This was originally posted on October 21, 2009.

Wow! We're coming up on our first year. We better get something fabulous planned. :-) We were really ambitious with our blog in the beginning. Here's to jumping right back on that bandwagon. Wish us luck!

This morning, I thought, "Hey! I should totally create a recipe/cooking/baking/kitchen blog. I'll call it Clarinda's Kitchen."

Then I was chatting with my sister on Facebook, and she got really excited about it. She thought it sounded like fun, so I told her I could make her an author, too, so she could share her favorite recipes.

Well, Clarinda's Kitchen, just wouldn't cut it if we both contribute our favorite recipes, so...

Tale of Two Sisters and Their Kitchens was born.

We're both very excited to begin sharing with the world our favorite recipes and our adventures in our kitchens.

Please stay tuned for exciting recipes that we hope you'll just love.

Easy Rhubarb Jam

2010-07-10T14:44:00.013-05:00

My dad has a few rhubarb ~~weeds~~ plants in his garden. I look forward to helping him use up his bounty each summer. A few years ago, I found this super easy recipe on Allrecipes.com. It is SO yummy and SO easy!! This year, I made a couple batches with a some girlfriends; it was very fun to teach them how to make this delicious jam.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Yields 6 (1/2 pint) jars

Ingredients:

5 cups chopped fresh rhubarb

4 cups white sugar

1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained

1 (6 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin

Directions:

In a large saucepan or stock pot, combine the rhubarb, sugar, and pineapple.

Boil for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. (Jars can be sterilized at the same time.)

Remove from heat. Stir in gelatin powder.

Transfer to sterile jars and seal.

I always process them in a boiling water bath as well. Place the sealed jars in a big pot of boiling water and boil gently for 5 minutes.

Allow jars to cool in a draft-free area. Refrigerate jars after seal has been broken.

Big Pot of Chicken Noodle Soup

2010-05-13T11:48:00.002-05:00

It has been awhile!!! I am done moving and and am trying to get back to a routine! So Saul is home sick with a cough and sniffles along with me and Todd, so this calls for homemade medicine!! A big pot of chicken noodle soup. HOpe you enjoy.

1 lb chicken cut up in bite size chunks
1 onion chopped
3 carrots chopped
3 ribs of celery chopped
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp poultrty seasoning
1/2 tsp natures seasoning

2 tbsp chicken stock paste
8 cups water/broth--I can my own chicken broth
1/2 bag of egg noodles
2 Tbsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Saute first seven igriendents until chicken is cooked through. Add the stock paste, water/broth and just bring to a boil. Add the rest of the ingriendents and simmer covered on low until noodles are cooked through--the longer it is on the stove though the better!!!

Hamburger Soup

2010-02-17T21:32:00.000-06:00

Today, I wanted to make a soup in the Crockpot because I knew that I wouldn't be home at dinnertime. I wanted to use hamburger as the base but didn't have a specific recipe in mind. I briefly looked in a couple cookbooks. I couldn't find anything that jumped out at me, so I decided to just wing it. I browned the hamburger with some onions and garlic (who can go wrong with that!) and added that to some veggies from the fridge/freezer and water with beef bouillon cubes in the Crockpot. I wasn't sure how to flavor it, so I looked up my spices in one of my cookbooks. I chose a few that were suggested for soups...and voila! My soup was born. Jeff LOVED this soup! He loved the flavor. The spiciness was just perfect. I thought it was quite tasty myself. Hope you enjoy it, too!

Click here for printable recipe.

Click here for nutritional information.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1/4 cup dried, minced onion
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup sliced baby carrots
1 cup diced potatoes
6 cups water
6 beef bouillon cubes
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Tabasco sauce, to taste (not included in nutritional info)

Directions:
Brown hamburger with onion and garlic. Combine hamburger mixture with remaining ingredients in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Orange Chicken

2010-02-01T23:01:00.000-06:00

This past Wednesday for our mutual activity, the Young Women made Orange Chicken together. I found the recipe on Sparkrecipes. It's healthy, easy, and delicious. It did take longer than I'd expected, but I mostly chalk that up too many cooks in the kitchen (especially inexperienced cooks).

Click here for Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1/3 cup orange juice

1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp orange zest
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 to 1 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (to taste)
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb chicken breast, cut into 1/2" pieces
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a small bowl combine orange juice, soy sauce, honey, sugar, orange zest, ginger, cornstarch and pepper flakes. Set aside.

Heat olive oil over med high heat, add garlic cook 30 seconds. Add chicken, sprinkle with salt & pepper, cook for 4-5 min or until no longer pink in center.

Add juice mix. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly, about 1 min.

Serve over rice.

Turkey Bean Soup

2010-01-29T17:40:00.000-06:00

You know what I both LOVE and HATE about making soup?

You can work without really having a recipe.

I love it because you can clean out your fridge/cupboards with whatever you have on hand.

I hate it because it's often difficult to duplicate a masterpiece.

I love it because it's never the same, and therefore not boring.

I hate it because it might not be as good as last time.

Good thing my husband LOVES soup, and it's difficult to screw up. :-)

Today's soup was modified from a soup I found a Recipe Shoebox.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1/4 cup dried, minced onion

1 tsp minced garlic

2 cups black beans

2 cups water

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1 can cooked turkey (or 2 cups cooked turkey)

1 can crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped baby carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 dash cayenne pepper

1-2 drops of Tabasco
Salt, to taste

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or until hot and veggies are tender.

Brown Sugar Oat Muffins with Strawberries

2010-01-27T13:47:00.000-06:00

I found this recipe in my Taste of Home cookbook. The original recipe did not call for any strawberries, but I had some in my freezer. I thought it sounded like it might be a good combination.

Yield: 1 dozen

Click here for Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup milk (I reconstituted some dry milk)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 frozen strawberries

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine oats, flours, baking powder and salt.

In another small bowl, beat the eggs, brown sugar, milk, oil, and vanilla.

Stir into the dry ingredients until moistened.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. If desired, place one frozen strawberry in middle of muffin tin.

Bake at 400°F for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Ok. I'll admit it. These did not turn out as tasty as I'd envisioned in my head. The ones without the strawberries were a little bland. The ones with strawberries were done, but still wet inside near the strawberry.

If you have any suggestions on how to make these better, I'd love to hear them!

Homemade Tomato Soup

2010-01-26T11:59:00.003-06:00

Ok...so this picture of the finished product doesn't really do it justice, but trust me, this is the BEST tomato soup recipe!!

Click here for Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Spread onto a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, to taste, drizzle with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and roast until caramelized, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat remaining olive oil (I actually ran out of olive oil with the tomatoes, so I used canola oil) over medium-low heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion and garlic, cook until softened, about 10 minutes.

Add the roasted chopped canned tomatoes, reserved tomato juices, chicken broth, bay leaf and butter. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Add basil and cream, if using. (I left out the cream. The basil I used was some I had frozen last summer.)
Puree with a hand held immersion blender until smooth.

I, of course, don't have an immersion blender or a full-size blender, so I had to blend it in batches in my Magic Bullet®.

Voila! Super, yummy tomato soup!

ENJOY!!

Sorry about the poor final product pictures. :-(

Wheat Thins

2009-12-29T23:26:00.000-06:00

I found this recipe in the Deseret Cookbook, and it always intrigued me. You can actually make homemade Wheat Thins? How cool is that?! I made them for a New Years Eve party back in 2006, but then I lost the cookbook. I got a new one early in 2009 and finally made these crackers again a couple weeks ago. They are super easy to make and yummy, too. The recipe says to flavor them with a light sprinkling of salt before baking, you can be creative with the flavor. I've made them with onion and garlic powders and salt. They were a hit!

Click here for Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups white flour

1/3 cup oil

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup water

Directions:

Mix flours together in large bowl.

Blend oil, salt and water together.

Add liquid mixture to dry, mixing well but as little as possible.

Roll as thin as possible on unoiled cookie sheet (or the back of a jellyroll pan) -- not more than 1/8" thick.

Mark with knife for size crackers desired, but do not cut through.

Prick each cracker a few times with a fork.

Sprinkle lightly with salt or onion salt, if desired.

Bake at 350°F until crisp and light brown, about 30 minutes.

Break apart at scored marks.

The ghost sister returns with a new recipe!!!

2009-12-15T16:28:00.004-06:00

Yes, ghost sister has returned and with her a new recipe! I was at a loss for supper last night. I had a pair of very tasty looking boneless pork chops just WAITING for me to make something splendid out of them. I peeked in my pantry, and voila my muse, my inspiration, peeked over a can of kidney beans. How could a girl resist that sweet golden goodness that is just MADE to be paired up with pork. It is like peanut butter to chocolate....cornbread to honey....orange yogurt to saltine crackers (this MAY or may not be to everyone's liking). Inspiration hit and I started to busily clang around pots and pans. I was feeling like my old self again, my "dinner block" had been tossed to the curb. I am BACK and raring to dust off my hot pads and don my apron again. This is what became of the beautiful pork chops and the lowly can of crushed pineapple. My son really liked the rice especially.

One Skillet Jamaican Baked Pork Chops with Sticky Pineapple Rice

Click here for Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1-2 tbsp olive oil

2 Lean Boneless Pork Chops marinated in Lawrys Jamaican Jerk Marinade Sauce

1 cup white rice

1 medium onion chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

1 cup chicken broth or water

1 small can crushed pineapple

1/4 cup brown sugar + 2 tbsp

1 tbsp Jamaican Jerk seasoning (I used Spice Islands brand)

1 tsp salt

pepper to your tastes

Directions:

Heat olive oil in oven proof skillet. Sear Pork Chops on both sides for a minute or so. Remove pork chops and set aside. To skillet add onion, rice and garlic. Stir frequently until rice is toasted. Add broth or water, crushed pineapple, brown sugar, Jamaican seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir and bring to a boil. Place pork chops on top of rice mixture and cover tightly. Place in a preheated 350°F oven for 45 minutes. Remove and sprinkle the remaining brown sugar over the skillet. Serve with your choice of vegetable but broccoli is AWESOME! You can easily add 2 more pork chops to this and not alter anything else!

Hope that you enjoy this like my family did!!!

Jennifer The OTHER sister :)

White Chocolate-Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

2009-12-05T10:12:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, I signed up for a Cookie Countdown through My Recipes.com. Each day I receive an email with a link to a delicious new cookie recipe to try. The countdown began on November 1st, and you can easily click on their interactive calendar to see what recipes were sent out previously. Each recipe was originally published in a magazine, and today's recipe was orginially from Christmas with Southern Living, Oxmoor House, DECEMBER 2006. These cookies turned out to be quite delicious; although, it did take eating a few for them to really grow on me. Now that I've eaten nearly the entire batch on my own, I can confidently say that they are yummy and slightly addicting. They have a unique flavor and are relatively light and crispy. Warning: It is hard not to have a few crumbs fall while eating these.

Click here for a Printable Recipe.

Yield: about 2 1/2 dozen

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened (I used 1/2 c shortening + 2 Tbsp unsalted butter)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon fiori di sicilia or orange extract (see note) (I used orange extract)
1 cup uncooked regular oats
8 ounces white chocolate, chopped, divided (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup raisins or golden raisins

Preparation

Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl.

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugars, beating well. Beat in egg and orange flavoring just until combined. Add flour mixture and oats; stir until blended. Stir in 1 cup white chocolate and raisins. Cover and chill dough 1 hour, if desired.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. I did not line my cookie sheets with parchment paper; I just used regular ungreased cookie sheets. Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls, 3" apart, onto prepared baking sheets.

Bake at 350° for 13 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

After cookies have completely cooled, melt remaining 1 cup white chocolate. Spread melted chocolate over approximately half of each cookie.

Note: Order fiori di sicilia from bakerscatalogue.com or call 800-827-6836. It's very affordable, and a small vial will perfume your kitchen for a long time.

Imported recipes

2009-11-28T18:16:00.000-06:00

Just to let you know...

I've imported some recipe posts that I had on my personal blog, All Things Clarinda.

Importing recipes is really neat, because they keep their original posting dates. Makes this blog seem like it's 3 years old already. :-)

Hope you enjoy the *new* recipes.

Christmas Goodies Recipe Exchange

2009-11-24T13:31:00.000-06:00

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Jeanette, over at Sweet Jeanette, is hosting a recipe exchange on December 15th. Blog your favorite Christmas goodies recipes, and then hop over to her website and link your recipe to her site.

I'm excited to share my recipes...and hopefully find some new favorites.

Spicy Surprise Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-11-23T12:09:00.000-06:00

I got this recipe from the back of Ziploc(R) box. It has intrigued me for more than a year. Cayenne pepper in chocolate chip cookies?? I cut out the recipe, knowing someday I'd give it a try. Well, someday finally came. These have a very unique flavor that I feel really complements the chocolate chips. I did make a couple of changes to the recipe, which I'll note in parentheses in the recipe below. You can choose which to make.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened (I used 1 cup shortening)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsps vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour (I used 2 1/2 cups of flour blend which consists of 2 parts white flour, 2 parts wheat flour, 1 part wheat germ, and 1 part ground flaxseed in place of the flours in this recipe)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F.
Combine butter, brown sugar, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until smooth and light.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cayenne pepper.

Gradually mix into butter mixture. Beat just until combined and smooth.
Fold in chocolate chips until combined. Scoop cookies into 2-inch balls and place on cookie sheets.

Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes.

Let cool slightly, then remove from cookie sheets and transfer to a wire rack to cool further.

I found it relatively easy to overbake these cookies. They may not look done, but if the edges are golden brown they are. They will flatten as they cool.

Super Simple Chili

2009-11-18T10:36:00.000-06:00

Last night I actually planned ahead and got dinner ready in the Crock Pot before heading to class. I made the simplest chili ever, and it was so tasty. Jeff especially loved it.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cans Turkey Chili, plus 3 cans of water

2 cups black beans, not drained

1/2 can diced tomatoes, slightly pureed

1/4 cup minced onions

scant 1/4 Wahoo Chili

scant 2 T Garlic Garlic

Kosher salt, to taste

Not pictured:

cayenne pepper, to taste

onion powder, to taste

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in a Crock Pot, or slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours.

My husband loves soupy chili, so this is really thin. Adjust the amount of water to satisfy your family's tastes.

Denise's Holiday Cookies

2009-11-14T19:37:00.000-06:00

I LOVED these cookies when I was growing up. My older sister would make them during the holidays, and they were so tasty. I had some leftover Halloween plain M&Ms, and these cookies sounded so yummy that I thought it would be a perfect way to use up the plain M&Ms plaguing my cupboards. I wasn't sure that Jeff would like them, so I was surprised to find them on the coffee table this morning when I woke up. Husband approved!

Click here for Printable Recipe.

Ingredients:

3/4 c Shortening

3/4 c Sugar

3/4 c Brown Sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 c Flour

1 tsp soda

3/4 tsp Salt

2 c Coconut

1/2 bag of Holiday M & M's (I used Halloween)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cream shortening, sugar and brown sugar.

Add eggs and vanilla.

Sift dry ingredients together and add. (I just added the dry ingredients directly to the mixture, to save on washing yet another bowl). Add coconut and M&Ms.

Spoon dough on to baking sheets. You can use two regular teaspoons, or I prefer using a scoop like the one shown in the picture below.

Bake at 350°F for 10-12 min. The recipe I got from my sister didn't have a temperature on it, so I guess at 350°F. Her recipe indicated a baking time of 15-25 minutes, but my cookies were quite done in 10.

Cinnamon-Blueberry Muffins

2009-11-13T22:55:00.002-06:00

I love muffins for breakfast! Or lunch or a snack... I was really in a mood for some yesterday, so I found a recipe for some blueberry muffins in my KitchenAid cookbook. I didn't have the specific ingredients, so here is my slightly altered recipe. I thought these muffins were super tasty, but Jeff didn't much care for them. I think it was the cinnamon-sugar sprinkled on top. Too messy. I think next time I try these, I'll just add cinnamon to the batter and bake it in rather than sprinkle it on top.

Click here for Printable Recipe

I made a half batch of muffins, so only one egg is shown in picture

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 1 T butter, melted, divided

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup plus 2 T sugar, divided

2 T baking powder

1 teaspoon grated orange peel

2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen), rinsed, drained

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Generously grease 24 muffin tins.

Combine eggs, milk, and 1/2 cup melted butter in mixer bowl. Using flat beater, mix until well combined, about 30 seconds.

Combine flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and orange peel.

Add flour mixture to egg mixture. Mix just until combined, about 15 seconds.

Add blueberries and stir just until blueberries are incorporated, about 15 seconds.

Spoon batter into muffin tins. Bake at 400°F for 24 to 26 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near centers comes out clean.

Combine remaining 2 T sugar with cinnamon in small bowl; blend well. Brush tops of warm muffins with remaining 1 T melted butter, then sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Serve warm.

Yield: 24 muffins.

Delicious Homemade Bread

2009-11-05T09:09:00.001-06:00

The other day, I decided to bake some homemade bread. I have a lot of ground flaxseed that I need to use, and we needed bread, so it just seemed logical. I scoured the Internet for a recipe that seemed easy and appealing but found nothing. I did find a Q&A about whether or not ground flaxseed could be used in place of wheat germ. The answer was yes! I decided to modify a recipe I had for Whole Grain Wheat Bread from the KitchenAid cookbook that came with my mixer. This bread turned out so yummy! Even Jeff raved about it. :-)

Click here for Printable Recipe.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup plus 1T brown sugar, divided
2 cups warm water (105°F to 115°F)
2 packages active dry yeast
5 to 6 cups flour blend (For 6 cups of blend, combine 2c all-purpose flour, 2c whole wheat flour, 1c wheat germ, 1c ground flaxseed)
3/4 cup powdered milk
2 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil

Directions:
Dissolve 1T brown sugar in warm water in small bowl. Add yeast and let mixture stand.

Place 4 cups flour blend, powdered milk, 1/3 cup brown sugar, and salt in mixer bowl.

Using bread hook, mix for 15 seconds on Speed 2. Continuing on Speed 2, gradually add yeast mixture and oil. Mix for an additional 1 1/2 minutes.

Continuing on Speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl, about 2 minutes. Knead on Speed 2 for about 2 additional minutes. Dough may not form a ball on hook. However, as long as hook comes in contact with dough, kneading will be accomplished. Do not add more than the maximum amount of flour specified or a dry loaf will result.

Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover. Let rise in a warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled. I usually turn my oven on to the lowest setting for about 1 minute, then turn it off and let the bread rise in the oven. Bread is doubled when you put two fingers in the dough about 1/2" and the indentation remains.

Punch dough down and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll each half into a rectangle, approximately 9x14 inches. A rolling pin will smooth the dough and remove gas bubbles. Starting at short end, roll the dough tightly. Pinch to seal the seam. Pinch the ends and turn them under. Place the dough, seam side down, in a greased loaf pan. Cover loaf pans. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk. This time, I just let them rise on the stovetop, not in the oven, so that I can preheat the oven after about 45 minutes of rising.

Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and bake 30 minutes longer. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.

Sorry for the lack of photos in this post. I haven't quite figured out how to take pictures while my hands are covered in sticky bread dough!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T21:29:00.011-05:00

Happy Halloween! I have been busy today getting Saul's and my costumes ready for tomorrow. We are going to meet my sister and go trick or treating and then go out for pizza with the kids. So I thought I should do something "spooky" for our supper. I just made a very simple hot dish (casserole for those not of the Minnesota region). I call it Ghosts in the Graveyard. I saw something like it in Taste of Home magazine but couldn't find where I put the book! So I just did it my own way. Saul thought it was hilarious! I love making silly meals for him, it gives me so much joy when he sees silly food on his plate.Such simple little things creates lots of laughter out of my sweet boy! Hope everyone will have a "spooktacular" Halloween! Be safe!!!!!

Click here for Printable Recipe

Ghosts in the Graveyard

Ingredients:

1 lb. extra lean ground beef
1 onion chopped
1/2 tbsp garlic
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup skim milk
salt and pepper to taste
4 medium potatoes cubed
water for boiling
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1/8 cup milk (more or less)
salt and pepper to taste
Cooked Peas for the eyes and mouth

Directions:
Put potatoes on to boil. Meanwhile, brown ground beef, onion and garlic until cooked through. Add vegetables and continue to cook for a couple of minutes. Stir in soup and milk and heat through. Salt and pepper to taste. After potatoes are fork tender, drain and coarsely mash with the butter. Salt and pepper to taste. Spoon mashed potatoes in about 1/2 cup increments into the prepared ground beef and shape with two spoons to look like ghosts. Add the peas for the eyes and mouth.

I only made three ghosts because there is only the three of us, but you can form as many as you would like!

Not all meals have happy endings.....

2009-10-27T18:49:00.004-05:00

I BOMBED it tonight. Yes, that is right. I decided to be completely honest and not just write about the good, but the bad as well. Multi tasking can be a wonderful thing, but not all the time!!! I made pork loin medallions---I usually sear pork on both sides quickly and then simmer on low, that way they do not dry out. I thought I turned the knob down to med low but Saul was flopping around in the bath tub and called for me, so it stayed on med high. They weren't burnt, but lets say that they were a tad on the dry side (understatement of the year). Then I thought instead of just steamed carrots I would make this recipe that I made at Christmas last year. I started the recipe and then found out that it was a totally different recipe. It was not very good, at all. But the plain old buttered noodles turned out. Of course how on earth do you mess up buttered noodles? So in the world of kitchen fairy tales, this one had a unhappy and unsatisfactory ending. And I am hungry. I want CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES, but alas I have taken an oath to stay away from them for a month. Only 2 weeks left of my self induced cookie fast. I hope I can make it. In the epic words of Scarlet O'Hara, Tomorrow is another day!

Pineapple-Cherry Dump Cake

2009-10-27T08:54:00.001-05:00

It's usually my responsibility to provide desserts for our family dinners on Sunday evenings. Some weeks, I am really busy and don't have time to create anything elaborate. At times like this, I usually throw together something very simple, like a dump cake. I got this particular recipe from the 101 Things To Do With A Cake Mix cookbook. Even though it's super simple, I'll still give you the recipe with step-by-step photos.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix

1 can crushed pineapple

1 can cherry pie filling

1/2 to 1 stick butter (My husband LOVES butter, so I used an entire stick)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 pan.

Dump 1/2 of the cake mix into pan, spreading to evenly distribute.

Dump crushed pineapple in pan, spreading to evenly distribute.

Dump cherry pie filling over pineapple, spreading to evenly distribute.

Dump the remainder of the cake mix over the top of the cherry pie filling, spreading to evenly distribute. Top with thinly sliced butter.

(I forgot to take a picture before putting in the oven, so here's a pictue with the butter slightly melted from being in the oven for a few minutes.)

Serve warm with ice or cooled with whipped topping.

My husband's idea of heaven.....

2009-10-22T20:21:00.005-05:00

I was so excited about doing this blog with my sister, I just had to put a few posts on (recipes earlier posted). So I thought my sis's pics looked so nice I decided that I needed to add them as well! Things always are easier to make when you see a finished product, I think. I went to pick up my husband from work and picked up the chicken and broccoli. When I told him what I was making I thought I might have to find a napkin to wipe the drool from his face! It was kind of fun making dinner with the thought that I would take pictures of it! All in all it turned out super! Of course Saul and I don't have the nerve for the sauce. My face starts to turn red and Saul pulls out his tongue and says "oww mama oww". But as for Todd, he just sits on his side of the counter and has a silly little smile on his face and occasionally utters a weird "mmmm" sound. That is all I have to hear to know that dinner was a success!!!

Onion Rice

2009-10-22T14:25:00.010-05:00

ONIONS ONIONS ONIONS!!!!!!!!

I have a love affair with onions. They are in almost everything I cook. Who can resist the smell of sauteing onions???? When I made a new recipe which I called Jamaican jerk pork roast in the crock pot, I needed something to serve it over because of its yummy juices and pineapple. I was SO bored of just plain old rice. Seriously tired of it. So I jazzed it up a bit with the help of a beautiful yummy onion. Family loves this side and it is so incredibly easy! You don't even feel like you have done ANYTHING! P.S. I have a crummy microwave so I make the rice on the stove top. Feel free to make it in the microwave!

Click here for Printable Recipe

Super Easy Onion Rice
Serves 2 (and one little Saul)

1 cup Brown Minute Rice
1 cup Water
1/4 tsp or so of onion salt (you can add more later if needed)
1 medium Onion coarsely chopped
Cooking spray
Salt and Pepper to taste

Bring water and onion salt to a boil. Add the rice and cover for about 8 minutes (until the water is all absorbed). Meanwhile, Spray pan with cooking spray and saute onions until clear and translucent. When rice is ready toss onions with the rice and salt and pepper to taste.

My secret sauce

2009-10-22T14:09:00.006-05:00

So everyone will figure this about me pretty fast, I am a throw this and throw that in a pot add a bit of sugar and love and BAM (thanks Emeril) voila I have dinner! Sometimes I can recreate, sometimes it is a one hit wonder! But this sauce that I made by complete accident I make over and over again for my Hubby! It is pretty spicy, so I and my wee lil' boy don't eat too much of it, but my Husband eats the WHOLE bowl! It is especially good with sauteed chicken served with onion rice and steamed broccoli. You can make this is as spicy as you would like!

Click here for Printable Recipe

Todd's Favorite Sauce
Serves 2-4

1/4cup Hoisin Sauce
1/8 cup Brown Sugar
1 Tblsp Red Curry Paste
1 Tblsp Soy Sauce
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (to your specified taste)

Mix all ingriedients in a small sauce pan and bring to a slow boil.

* Different brands of Hoisin sauce are sweeter than others. I prefer using a darker colored one instead of the more red toned ones. But since it isn't always available at my grocery store I just add a little bit more brown sugar or a touch of molasses to give it the flavor I like.*

Apple Crisp

2009-10-21T22:35:00.002-05:00

For dessert tonight, I made an Apple Crisp. Last summer (2008) I bought a huge container of ground flaxseed at the MN State Fair. I don't know why. I'd ever used flaxseed before. I didn't really understand its purpose or function.

Before today, I'd only used a few tablespoons here and there on yogurt or in a smoothie. I've heard that you can use it to substitute flour, fat, and eggs, but making those substitutions makes me really nervous. When I bought the flaxseed, I was given a small packet of recipes they'd found online that used flaxseed. Today, more than a year later, I finally braved up and tried out a recipe.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:
6 cups fresh sliced Braeburn Apples, or your favorite apple (I used a combination of red and green apples because that's what I had on hand)
1 T fresh lemon juice
2 T plus 2 tsp white sugar
1 T cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 c ground flaxseed
1/4 c brown sugar, packed
1/3 c quick cooking oats (I used old fashioned)

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Coat a baking dish with non-stick spray.
2. Combine apples (I peeled before slicing) and lemon juice in baking dish and toss gently to coat.
3. Combine sugar, cornstarch, and 1 tsp cinnamon. Stir with a whisk to blend.
4. Add cornstarch mixture to apple mixture and toss well to coat.
5. Combine flax, remaining cinnamon, brown sugar, and oats in separate bowl. Sprinkle evenly over apple mixture.
6. Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden brown.

Again, I promised to take more, and better, pictures for future posts.

Sneaky Baked Ziti

2009-10-21T22:21:00.000-05:00

I LOVE being sneaky. Ever since my husband came home with a borrowed copy of The Sneaky Chef, I've been hooked. I love how easy it is to sneak in veggies without affecting the taste at all. I've tried quite a few recipes and never been disappointed! I highly recommend this series of books to anyone who has trouble eating veggies or getting their spouse or children to eat their veggies. The recipes are simple and delicious!

I'd been wanting to try this Sneaky Baked Ziti recipe for quite awhile. It has pureed tofu in it, so I bought that and was ready for this dish--except it feeds 8-10, and we are only 2. I waited and waited for the perfect opportunity until the expiration date of the tofu was only a week away! I needed to use it and use it fast...so I invited our home teacher and his wife and son over for dinner. I still thought it might be too much food, so I invited my parents as well. The good thing is that my husband loves that I'm sneaking veggies into his meal. The bad part is that he likes to know what it is. It's never made him not eat what I've prepared, but I'm not sure if our dining guests always appreciate knowing.

Ok, ok...so this introduction has gotten quite lengthy...

Unfortunately, since I love The Sneaky Chef so much, I just don't feel right posting the recipe on my blog, since it's only found in The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals. It's not included in one of their free recipes that can be found online. Even though I'd totally give credit, I just don't feel right posting the entire recipe.

I will tell you to check out the book from the library or buy it on Amazom.com or Barnes & Noble.com or your favorite book retailer. I promise you will not be disappointed.

This recipe is chock full of Orange Puree. Can you guess what's in it?

This is then mixed with pureed tofu and store bought spaghetti sauce. It's all tossed with cooked penne or ziti noodles and mozzarella cheese. Mozzarella and Parmesan are sprinkled on top. Cover with foil, and bake.

Sorry about the poor picture. I wanted to take a picture of it when I took it out of the oven, but it seemed too weird with our guests. With time, my picture taking while prepping meals will get better, I promise.

Delicious! Everyone approved. Well, some wished for meat. I don't think that adding some hamburger or ground turkey would be a bad idea. My parents actually suggested pepperoni and sausage. Sounds good to me! We might be having this for dinner again on Sunday.

Welcome to our blog!

2009-10-21T16:31:00.000-05:00

This morning, I thought, "Hey! I should totally create a recipe/cooking/baking/kitchen blog. I'll call it Clarinda's Kitchen."

Then I was chatting with my sister on Facebook, and she got really excited about it. She thought it sounded like fun, so I told her I could make her an author, too, so she could share her favorite recipes.

Well, Clarinda's Kitchen, just wouldn't cut it if we both contribute our favorite recipes, so...

Tale of Two Sisters and Their Kitchens was born.

We're both very excited to begin sharing with the world our favorite recipes and our adventures in our kitchens.

Please stay tuned for exciting recipes that we hope you'll just love.

Recipe: Krusczyki

2009-05-27T09:11:00.000-05:00

For Mother's Day, my step-mom put in a special request for an angel food cake. I was happy to oblige. Unfortunately, it left me with a lot of left-over egg yolks.

I scoured the Internet for a delicious way to use up the egg yolks. Most of the recipes I found were for sponge cake or something that would be baked in the same type of pan as the angel food cake. Now, that wouldn't work for me because, well, I had an angel food cake in that pan!

I was delighted for find this recipe for Krusczyki on Allrecipes.com (posted by SHARONA669). I'd never heard of it before, and there was no picture to go along with the recipe, but I thought I'd take a gamble.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
14 egg yolks
1 pint sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
8 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups shortening
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration

Directions:

In a large bowl mix together all ingredients except shortening and confectioners' sugar. Stir into a ball, then turn dough out onto a floured surface . Knead dough for 1/2 hour. If you have a mixer with a dough hook attachment, mix for about 15 minutes.
Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into strips that are 3 inches long and 1 inch wide. In the center of each strip, cut a 1 inch slit, lengthwise.

Pull one end of the strip through the slit to form a bow.
(This is my interpretation of making a "bow". They kind of look like little bow ties, right?)
In a frying pan or an electric skillet, melt shortening and heat to about 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). in a frying pan this would be on medium high heat.
Place cookies in hot oil. Cook on both sides until lightly browned then remove to a paper towel.
Dust finished cookies with confectioners sugar.

I brought these over for Mother's Day brunch. Everyone loved them!! They are not a real sweet cookie but are more like a little doughnut. I was surprised at how well they were received.

Dinner Last Night: Chicken Enchiladas

2009-03-03T08:26:00.000-06:00

I found this recipe for the Easiest Chicken Enchiladas Ever on my friend's blog. It sounded so good!

But... I didn't have any enchilada sauce. :-(

I was going to go online to find my own, but instead found this recipe for Easy Chicken Enchiladas on Allrecipes.com. It sounded really good, too.

I had to make a few modifications:

I only had about 2-3 oz of cream cheese, so I added1/3 cup of sour cream as well.
I used a can of chicken instead of the chopped, cooked chicken breast.
I had some leftover white beans in my fridge, so used those instead of the pinto beans (I used the same amount of beans as chicken, using the empty can as my measurer).

These turned out to be so delicious! I'll definitely make them again. They are not saucy like regular enchiladas, which I actually kind of enjoyed.

Jeff even liked these so...two thumbs up here!!

Dinner Tonight: Mexican

2009-02-17T21:57:00.000-06:00

Dinner turned out so great tonight! Mexican rice, black beans and cheese quesadillas...all from scratch! I was so impressed with how tasty everything turned out.

A week or so ago, my friend taught me how to make Mexican rice from scratch the way her mother-in-law taught her (Her mother-in-law is from Mexico). I had to modify it slightly with what I can in my cupboards/fridge, but I was so happy with the results. It was very flavorful. Unfortunately, some of the rice was still a little hard, so it's definitely not perfected.

The black beans I made a few days ago and just had to reheat. These were not from a can! I did a quick soak with them (boil for two minutes and then let sit for a few hours), and then I boiled them for about two or so hours, adding salt during the last 1/2 hour or so. I thought they turned out delicious, but Jeff didn't really get a chance to taste them by themselves because they went right into a taco soup. On their own tonight, he said they were delicious, which made me smile.

No secret to the quesadillas. We just love those!!

Oh So Simple Bean Soup

2009-01-09T18:10:00.000-06:00

I've had a pound of white beans in my cupboard for more than 2 years, so I thought I should try to put them to good use. I soaked them yesterday, so they would be ready for me today.

I tried looking for a good recipe to use, but nothing was jumping out at me, so I decided to do a little experimenting. This is NOT something I usually do.

Feeling a little daring, I put the beans in some fresh water, put it on to boil, and started grabbing cans from my cupboard.

Here's the end result:

Oh So Simple Bean Soup

1-15.25oz can whole kernel corn, drained
1-10.75oz can cheddar cheese soup + 1 can of water
1-15oz can of crushed tomato + 1 can of water
1-15oz can of tomato sauce + 1 can of water
1-15oz can of chili beans
1-15oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 lb of dried white beans, soaked and cooked
1/4 cup of Wahoo! Chili (Tastefully Simple)
1 1/2 T Garlic Garlic (Tastefully Simple)
1/4 c minced onion
1 T salt
1 tsp basil

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Simmer for at least 30 minutes until hot and flavorful.

I topped this with Texas Toast(R) Cheese & Garlic croutons. Yummy!

Cookies NEED eggs

2009-01-09T07:59:00.000-06:00

Jeff asked me to bake some cookies after dinner last night. I had found a recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies on my friend's family recipe blog, and he agreed that they sounded delicious.

So, I mixed them all up, and popped the first dozen in the oven. Then I started to clean up and realized there was no egg shell on my counter.

Ooops! I had forgotten to add the egg.

While the first dozen was baking, I had already put the next dozen on the pan--ready to put in the oven. After a minute or so of hemming and hawing (is it OK to mix in the egg after the chocolate chips have been stirred in? what effect will no egg have? will the egg mix properly after the fact?), I decided to toss the dough of the 12 uncooked cookies back in the bowl, and go ahead and try to still mix in the forgotten egg.

Turns out, cookies really do need eggs. The first dozen tasted OK, but they didn't stick together very well.

And they didn't flatten as they should have.

We were left with very thick, dry, crumbly cookies.

Thankfully the remaining 2 1/2 dozen were delicious! Moist, chewy! I love the flavor combination of the peanut butter and chocolate chips.

If you're wondering what an egg exactly does in cookies, check out this website that I found this morning. It answers this very question plus gives more great information about the egg.

P.S. Is forgetting eggs a pattern? I also forgot eggs when making pancakes back in 2006. Perhaps since it was more than two years ago, it's not a pattern. Let's hope.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

2008-08-12T09:36:00.000-05:00

I made these muffins last night to enjoy for breakfast this morning. I was looking for a healthy banana muffin to use up some frozen bananas that have been in my freezer for quite a long time. I was a little hesitant to make these, as there were quite a few negative reviews. Overall it was still rated with 4 stars, so I decided to give it a try.

They turned out to be delicious and filling! I even brought a couple into a co-worker, and she agreed that they were yummy. This is definitely a recipe I will make again and again.

My frozen bananas were about 2 cups, so I decreased the egg whites to 3 instead of 4, but that was the only change I made to the recipe.

Ever Wonder...

2008-08-06T12:07:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wondered how you can figure out the nutritional value of your favorite home cooked meals?

Check out this link:
http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php?process=resubmit&count=6

It is the easiest way to do this analysis. I've seen other links around where you need to tediously find the ingredients from your recipe in their database. Not with this one! All you need to do is type in your recipe, enter the servings, and hit ANALYZE RECIPE.

If it doesn't recognize your ingredient, it will display a red or orange flag next to that item. You can re-word your ingredient, so that it can be found in their database.

Happy analyzing and healthy eating!

Another smoothie...

2007-09-11T08:15:00.000-05:00

I used milk as my liquid base for today's smoothie. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but it is delicious! It is much creamier than when I use OJ.

Today's smoothie:
Milk
1 peach
1 kiwi
small handful of frozen strawberries
2 packets of Splenda

Mmmm...yummy...

Mmmm...Yummy Smoothies...

2007-09-05T08:19:00.000-05:00

The kitchen at my temp position at SC Johnson is a full kitchen. One of the many appliances it has is a blender. I've taken to blending up a yummy smoothie for breakfast each morning.

Today's is particularly hitting the spot.

Ingredients:
Orange Juice
1 Banana
Frozen mixed berries
2 packets of Splenda

Delicious!!

Ymmm...Pie...

2007-07-21T13:11:00.000-05:00

The Peña kids spent the night after Selena's birthday.

When AJ woke up, the two of us went out and picked some raspberries and rhubarb. When I asked AJ what he thought we should make with the raspberries we'd picked. Without hesitation, he said, "Pie!" By this time, Selena was awake, and the three of us made one raspberry and one raspberry-rhubarb pie.

The pies were tasty! And it was a lot of fun to spend quality time baking with my niece and nephew. :-)

Here is a pic of the pies we made.

Misc

Yum Yum!!

2006-12-29T20:51:00.001-06:00

For Thanksgiving, I made a pumpkin cheesecake. It turned out picture perfect, so I had to post a pic online.

My sister, Treva, is the pie maker in our family, and she makes some delicious pies. I think this past Thanksgiving she brought 6 or 8 pies to Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, I was in MN and was unable to partake. I probably should have tried my hand at making a pie in her honor, but I chose to make a pumpkin cheesecake instead. It certainly was delicious. Maybe next year, I'll make a pie, too. :-)

early Thanksgiving 2006

2006-11-23T13:42:00.001-06:00

We celebrated Thanksgiving a little early this year (the Saturday before), because Nathan came for a visit. I made the whole spread--9 lb turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, green beans, cranberry sauce and applesauce and pumpkin cake for dessert.

It was fun to do, but I was a little pressed for time. Dinner was supposed to start at 5 p.m. (We'd invited the Elders over as well, and they had a baptism at 7 p.m., so timing was essential), but the turkey didn't cook quite as quickly as I'd calculated. We ended up eating around 5:45. :-( Everything tasted good, so I think I'd do it again--without any morning plans. (I'd spent the morning at a PartyLite regional meeting, and hadn't gotten home until 1:45 p.m.)

Here is a pic of our Thanksgiving dinner table. We even used the good dishes.
I would have liked to have gotten a few more pictures from the evening--with the missionaries, Nathan, Jeff and I, but we were too short on time, and I wanted the Elders to be able to eat.
I saved the turkey carcass after dinner to try my hand at making some homemade turkey soup. Here's a pic:
The soup turned out pretty good, but it could have definitely used more salt and more substance. I put in celery, carrots, turkey (of course), potatoes and orzo pasta. Next time, I'll definitely add more of everything and no orzo pasta. I thought that would be good, but it got too mushy and was a weird slimy texture. Next time, I'll think I'll use spirals. With only 3 of us at home, we'll be eating soup for quite awhile! :-)
I also made some baking soda biscuits--from scratch--to accompany the soup. I'd never made them before. They tasted pretty yummy, but they didn't rise all that much. Maybe that's the way they're supposed to be...

Canning Applesauce

2006-10-10T19:51:00.001-05:00

The Apples, Apples, and More Apples post didn't give me enough apples to satisfy my apple curiosity.

(I made apple cobbler, German apple pancakes, sliced 3 quarts to freeze, and made one batch (1 qt) of applesauce to freeze.)

So I went and picked up another bagful of apples.

I made an apple crisp.

Today I made and canned 6 pints of applesauce! (I decided to can instead of freeze because our freezer is full!!) It was my first time canning since helping my mom when I was a little girl. I was going to can yesterday, but I didn't have any canning tongs. And it's out of season at Wal-mart for canning supplies.

I called a sister in my ward to see if I could borrow hers. She gave me her canning pot, too. I was very grateful for her helpful advice and for letting me borrow her supplies. Unfortunately, I did not use her pot. It was too big for our stove (in my opinion), and it was too intimidating for me. Everything I'd read said the bottles needed to be submerged with 1 inch of water covering the jars. I didn't see how it was possible to do that with the pot she gave me, so I just used my own deep pot.

I did lots of research on the Internet about canning before starting this venture (that's how I knew about the 1 inch of water cover). I kept looking for advice on how to can without a canning pot (with rack for the jars). I'd read that the jars should not touch the bottom of the pot, so I searched and searched for a way to get around this without purchasing a specific tool. Finally I found something that would help me! They said to put a towel in the bottom of the pot in prevent the jars from touching the bottom and breaking (from the heat?). So...this is what I did today. I also only did two pint jars at a time. It took me 2 1/2 hours to complete the process.

I still have quite a few apples remaining, so I may make more applesauce on Friday. We'll see...

Egg-less pancakes...Oops!

2006-10-08T19:26:00.001-05:00

Yesterday morning, I thought it would be nice to make some pancakes for breakfast for our little visitor. Nathan was visiting us for the weekend. Nathan is my stepson; he is 7 years old.

Unfortunately, I kept getting distracted by him and by Jeff that I accidentally forgot to crack those eggs into the batter before having Nathan mix it all together. When I was putting them on the griddle, the batter seemed a little thick. I just added some water to help the consistency.

I didn't really think too much about it until an hour or two later. I don't know why I was thinking about the pancakes again, but I just couldn't visualize cracking the eggs. That's when it occurred to me that I had forgotten them. Oops!!

Turns out...maybe the pancakes didn't really NEED the eggs! They tasted just normal to me. In fact...they were delicious.

Still, next time I'll try to remember to add 'em.

Apples, Apples, and More Apples!!

2006-10-01T10:35:00.001-05:00

A sister in my ward had a lot of extra apples, so I thought, "Why not? Free apples are tastier than those from the store."

I'll probably freeze most of them to use for pies and baking during the winter.

Of course, I've been using some right away!

Last night I made a delicious Apple Cobbler.

Homemade Cream Filled Individual Sponge Cakes

2006-09-10T21:52:00.001-05:00

We had a ward dessert social tonight. It was potluck, so I found this recipe for homemade Twinkies (R). I changed the recipe to make them more like homemade Suzy Q's (R). I was surprised to find only one remaining when the clean-up began!

I was so excited to try out this recipe. Just ask Jeff. He said I was giddy like a school girl! I have to admit I was pretty silly. I thought the procedure of making these would be challenging, but it was surprisingly easy.

Below is the recipe...

Homemade Cream Filled Individual Sponge Cakes
Submitted by: TNthree Rated: 4 out of 5 by 9 members
Prep Time: 45 Minutes Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Ready In: 1 Hour 15 Minutes Yields: 24 servings
"Yellow cake bars are frosted with a shortening and evaporated milk filling in this homage to the famous snack cakes."

INGREDIENTS:
1 (18.25 ounce) package
yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup white sugar
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated
milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
1. Bake cake according to package directions in a 9x13 inch pan. Cool and cut into bars. Cut each bar in half lengthwise to make two layers.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in shortening, a little at a time, until fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar. Combine evaporated milk and vanilla and beat into filling, scraping the bowl, until fluffy.
3. Sandwich the bars with the fluffy filling.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2005 Allrecipes.com
Printed from Allrecipes.com 9/10/2006

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

2006-07-23T17:21:00.001-05:00

I had some bananas in our freezer that I needed to use before our move. Individual snacks move much more quickly in our home, so I found this recipe for banana oatmeal cookies. These turned out wonderfully; although, I did need to decrease the cooking time to around 9-10 min. If you have overripe bananas, this is an excellent recipe!

Banana Oatmeal Cookies III

Submitted by: JoAnn Bork Rated: 4 out of 5 by 12 members
Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 15 Minutes
Ready In: 45 Minutes Yields: 36 servings

"These are delicious moist cookies which freeze very well and a great way to use those overripe bananas."

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup shortening
1 egg, beaten
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 3/4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut in shortening until almost no lumps remain. Stir in the egg and bananas; mix well. Finally, stir in the oats and walnuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are browned. Remove from pans immediately to cool on wire racks.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2005 Allrecipes.com
Printed from Allrecipes.com 7/23/2006

Chocolate cake...Yummy!!

2006-07-10T18:34:00.001-05:00

If you know me, you know I love to cook/bake for gatherings. Jeff and I had dinner with some friends the other night, and I offered to make dessert.
I wanted something cool and summery and found this recipe on All Recipes. It turned out delicious.
The recipe is below. It yields a 9x13 cake, but I didn't need one that large. I divided the cake batter into a round cake, and 12 cupcakes. Also, I used strawberry gelatin. I needed to modify the frosting a bit because my grocery store didn't have the whipped topping mix. Instead, I used frozen whipped topping i.e. Cool Whip (R). I mixed it with the chocolate pudding and added some milk to help with the consistency.

Chocolate Cake IV
Submitted by: REB Rated: 4 out of 5 by 2 members
Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 35 Minutes
Ready In: 55 Minutes Yields: 12 servings
"Use any flavor of gelatin to compliment this refreshing chocolate version of the poke cake. Serve it straight from the freezer."
INGREDIENTS:
1 (18.25 ounce) package
chocolate cake mix
1 (3 ounce) package fruit
flavored gelatin mix
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup cold water

2 (3.9 ounce) packages instant
chocolate pudding mix
2 (1.3 ounce) envelopes
whipped topping mix
3 cups cold milk
DIRECTIONS:
1.
Prepare and bake cake mix according to package directions for a 9x13 inch pan. Poke holes in cake while still hot with a fork. Make gelatin with 1 cup of boiling water, then stir in cold water. Slowly pour liquid gelatin over hot cake. Cool cake completely in the freezer before frosting.
2.
To make the frosting: Using an electric mixer, beat together the instant pudding, whipped topping and milk until thickened. Pour over completely cooled cake. Keep cake in freezer until ready to serve.
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Printed from Allrecipes.com 7/10/2006