Rutabaga Fries - Low Carb, Too!

There's a lot of controversy out there on whether or not rutabagas are really low carb. I've seen counts from as high as 15 carbs per cup of rutabaga to as low as 9 carbs per cup. I look at it this way, I only eat it once in a while when I want "fries" and then, I only cook 1/2 of a medium-sized rutabaga at a time to avoid temptation to eat more. Any way you look at it, it's better than eating an order of french fries!

Many people mention tasting a slight sweet taste when eating them but I do not pick up on that. I find them to have a slight peppery bite to them - probably why I like them so much.

If you are buying them in a grocery store, the rutabagas will probably be covered in wax. You have to peel the skins off of them before eating them. I love the fact that you can store it raw for several days in the refrigerator.

Rutabaga Fries
this recipe uses 1/2 of a medium-sized rutabaga

1/2 raw, peeled rutabaga, sliced into "steak fries"
olive oil
red pepper flakes
garlic powder
onion powder
black pepper

In a bowl, toss together the rutabaga sticks, olive oil and seasonings to taste. Spread out onto a baking sheet, making sure to not over lap or crowd the sticks.

Bake at 450* for 6 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and flip the sticks over to brown on the other side. Bake for another 6 minutes or until the sticks are tender and browned to your liking.

Other seasoning that I've used on the rutabaga fries:

Italian
Greek
chili powder & cumin
taco

Can be served with a bit of Heinz Low Sugar Ketchup, spiced up mayo, mustard or tzatziki sauce -depending on which spices you use.

Serve immediately.

What's your opinion on rutabagas? 

What's your favorite ways to cook them? 

I'd love for you to share your thoughts with me!

Pan Fried Squash & Zucchini

What happens when you really crave grilled veggies but you can't use your grill at the time? Gently pan fry them in a little olive oil and they will turn out better than good....really, really good.

This is such a simple side dish that took just 5 minutes to cook- yet it's so colorful and pretty enough to serve to anyone.

All low carbers can enjoy this dish!

**Note** - You won't find any breading on these veggies so if you need the crusted coating, stop reading now.

Or better yet....   Continue reading and then try the recipe. It might just change your mind. :)

Pan Fried Squash & Zucchini
recipes makes 1 -2 servings

1 baby zucchini
1 baby yellow squash
olive oil
red pepper flakes
dried basil
garlic powder

In a large frying pan, drizzle oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Turn heat to high to warm up the pan, and then turn the heat back down to medium-high before adding the veggies.

While the pan is heating up, slice each veggies vertically into strips. Place the veggies into the pan and turn to coat in the oil. If needed, lightly drizzle a little more oil on top of the veggies - being careful not to drown them in oil. These veggies will soak up a lot of oil so use a light hand.

Sprinkle on the red pepper flakes (I used about 1/2 tsp), dried basil (about 1 tsp) and garlic powder (about 1/2 tsp).

Once the veggies are starting to soften and the undersides are browning nicely, flip the slices over to brown the other side. Only cook until each side has slightly browned or you will end up with a pile of mushy veggies.

Serve immediately.

**Extra**

Vary the spices for a nice treat. In place of the basil, try chili powder, Italian seasoning, lemon pepper, onion powder, oregano...the list goes on and on.

Cinnamon Bunnies

What could be better than waking up to the smell of cinnamon buns early in the morning? These Easter Bunny cinnamon rolls are the perfect addition to your Easter breakfast or brunch table.

What You Need

2 - 8 ct cans cinnamon rolls (regular size, not jumbo)
1 can cream cheese frosting
raisins
red food coloring

(Makes 5 bunnies)


What You Do

On an un-greased cookie sheet lay down 2 cinnamon rolls, creating a head and body. Slice a 3rd roll in half vertically. These 2 halves are the bunny's ears. Trim a small piece off of the bottom end of each ear and roll together to form a ball. This ball is the bunny's tail.

Bake at 350* for 7-10 minutes or until light brown and cooked in the center of each roll. Do not over bake. Cool completely.

Frost the head, body, tail and ears with cream cheese frosting. Add 2 raisins for eyes & 1 raisin for a nose on each bunny.

Tint 1/4 c. frosting pink. Use this pink frosting to fill in the bunny's whiskers, to color in the ears and to attach buttons or bows on his/her shirt.

To save time, the cinnamon buns can be made a day ahead of time and stored in a well-sealed container. Frost and decorate right before eating.

Linking to:

Gooseberry Patch Kids Recipe Round Up

Anise Easter Bread

Using your bread machine to make this Easter bread takes all of the hard work out of it! Decorated with bright colored eggs, this bread makes a beautiful table centerpiece for your Easter gatherings.

What You Do

Add all ingredients to your bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Choose sweet bread dough cycle, then Start.

Dye uncooked eggs. Make sure to use a natural, edible dye because the dye does seep into the bread. Do not use cooked eggs because the eggs will cook while the bread is baking.

Once the cycle is completed, roll the dough out into a long rope. Starting 1 inch from the left end of the rope cut the dough horizontally into 3 strips. (Bread dough is lying across from left to right.) Braid dough and shape into a circle. Place on large greased cookie sheet. Let rise 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Once dough has risen, stick the dyed eggs randomly into the bread dough. Bake about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Ice with Anise flavored powdered sugar icing below.

Anise Powdered Sugar Icing

2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk
2 tsp. anise flavoring

Stir until smooth. Drizzle over Easter bread.

Enjoy hot out of the oven! For a different twist, toast lightly for a sweet breakfast treat. Leftovers should be wrapped up and refrigerated.

Low Carb Sloppy Joe Stuffed Pepper #2

I made this delicious sloppy joe casserole for dinner last night for my family. While they gobbled it, I was also enjoying my low carb version of a sloppy joe stuffed into a green pepper.

If you've been following my low carb recipes, you might realize that I already have a recipe for sloppy joe stuffed peppers posted on my blog. While they share the same name, the sloppy joe mix is different. I like both recipes but I favor this one a little more. I will keep both of them in the rotation, though, because I'm easily bored eating the same thing all of the time. You can see the original sloppy joe recipe here. Believe me, this recipe really is just as good in the low carb version as it is in the original recipe.

Low Carb Sloppy Joe Stuffed Pepper # 2
makes 1-2 servings

1 green bell pepper, cut in half
enough sloppy joe mix to fill both halves of the bell pepper (recipe below)
1/4 C. shredded cheddar cheese

Par boil green pepper halves until fork tender. Remove the peppers from the water and dry them off well with a paper towel. Fill the peppers with the sloppy joe meat mixture and place in an 8 x8 baking dish. Sprinkle the cheddar cheese on top of the peppers. Broil for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.

Turkey Sloppy Joes - Low Carb version in bold below

olive oil

1/2c. celery, sliced (I omitted)

1/2c. onion, chopped

1/2c. red & green peppers,
chopped (I now use all green to
save $$)

2c. ground turkey, browned - I used 1 lb hamburger & 1 lb ground turkey because that's what I had here

1c. ketchup - I used low sugar Heinz Ketchup. It's sweetened with Sucralose and low carb
3 Tbs. white vinegar

1Tbs. brown sugar, packed - I used Splenda Brown Sugar Blend - check this, I thought that it was sweet enough with only 1 tsp of brown sugar. Sweeten to your liking

1/2 tsp dry mustard-this is needed
but I did use regular spicy brown
mustard in a pinch and it worked
fine - I've come to find that I like regular yellow mustard with this now

1/2 C. water

Sloppy Joe Pasta Bake

Years ago, I adapted a sloppy joe recipe that I found in a newspaper to work with ground turkey. Later on I  swapped some ingredients for the low carb versions. This has become my family's favorite recipe for sloppy joes.

Of course this dish isn't low carb with the pasta added to it. I ate the filling in a green pepper. (I'll post it a little later.)

Since I'm trying to use up what stock I have at home this week, I didn't want to run out to buy buns and then a side dish to go along with the sloppy joes. (sound like I'm being cheap, huh?) Instead, I put it together with rigatoni and created a pasta casserole. My family ate it up like crazy....even my picky daughter.

Here's my original sloppy joe recipe, along with my low carb changes in bold.

Sloppy Joe Pasta Bake

olive oil

1/2c. celery, sliced (I omitted)

1/2c. onion, chopped

1/2c. red & green peppers,
chopped (I now use all green to
save $$)

2c. ground turkey, browned - I used 1 lb hamburger & 1 lb ground turkey because that's what I had here

1c. ketchup - I used low sugar Heinz Ketchup. It's sweetened with Sucralose and low carb
3 Tbs. white vinegar

1Tbs. brown sugar, packed - I used Splenda Brown Sugar Blend - check this, I thought that it was sweet enough with only 1 tsp of brown sugar. Sweeten to your liking

1/2 tsp dry mustard-this is needed
but I did use regular spicy brown
mustard in a pinch and it worked
fine - I've come to find that I like regular yellow mustard with this now

1/2 C. water

8 hamburger buns - I subbed one pound of cooked rigatoni this time

2 C. shredded cheddar cheese


Cook rigatoni. Rinse and keep warm.

Brown the hamburger, turkey, onions & peppers; drain very well. Return the mixture to the frying pan. Stir in ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar and mustard. Cook for 5 minutes to blend flavors. Add water, then heat through.

Pour rigatoni into a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Sprinkle 1 C. of cheddar cheese on top of the rigatoni. Pour the sloppy joe mixture into the casserole dish. Mix thoroughly. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Broil in oven long enough to lightly brown the cheese.

Easy Chicken & Dumplings

On a dreary, rainy day, there's nothing better to warm you up from the inside out than a big bowl of my chicken & dumplings. The house fills with the wonder smell of this dish while it's cooking. One of the best things about this recipe is that you don't have to slave over a hot stove all day to get that "cooked all day" taste. With a few simple ingredients, you can have this on the table in under 1 hour.

 Tami's Easy Chicken & Dumplings
 64 oz chicken broth
3 boneless chicken breasts
2 cans cream of chicken soup
8 oz sliced button mushrooms
3 TBSP poultry seasoning
2 tsp. thyme
2 tsp. black pepper
1 box Anne's Flat Dumplings
Warm the chicken broth in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breast and poach until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken to a plate and allow to cool until it can be easily handled to shred.

Stir both cans of cream of chicken soup into the chicken broth, along with the mushrooms, poultry seasoning, thyme and black pepper. Cover and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes.

Uncover the broth. Break the flat dumplings into pieces (I usually break each strip into 3 pieces) and drop into the broth. Stir frequently to prevent the dumplings from sticking together. Continue cooking until the noodles are tender. (approx 10 minutes)

Remove from heat and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving - the broth will continue to thicken a little bit while it is cooling.

Serve with warm bread.

Save any leftovers to reheat the next day. My husband says that it's just as good, if not better, the next day.

Chocolatey Raisin Oatmeal Jumbles

We usually have a container of raisins and M&Ms here at home for our kids to snack on. When I saw that it wasn't being eaten as fast as usual this time around, I decided to hunt for a chewy cookie recipe to make to use it up before the mix became stale. These delicious cookies were the result...

I found a great chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe at the Sunday Baker blog. She provided great step-by-step pictures to go along with the recipe.

This is a simple, easy-to-make recipe. My daughter had fun helping out making these cookies. You probably already have the ingredients on hand to make them. I followed the recipe exactly as she says to do, only adding 2 cups of the raisin and M&M mix in at the end instead of chocolate chips.

Here's the recipe:

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

In a large bowl, beat together:
1 c. real butter, unsalted
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 t. vanilla

Beat until the mixture looks soft and wispy.

In the food processor or blender, blend 2 1/2 C of oats (the secret to the chewy goodness) until they are the consistency of flour.

To the Ground Oats Add: 

2 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda

Mix it well and combine with the sugar/butter mixture.

Once it is well combined, add in your favorite extras - I used 2 C. of a mix of raisins & M&Ms. 

Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 10 minutes. 

 **My notes** - This batch made 32 jumbo sized cookies.  Both of my kids took some in their lunch boxes today and my husband enjoyed them at work last night, too! Store them in an airtight container. Any leftovers can be easily frozen. 

Enjoy!  

{Edited to add....  My husband said that he never would've thought that these cookies would taste good with M&Ms in them but he loves them. He asked me to make them again real soon. He also said that he popped some into the microwave at work to warm them up and that they were perfect.  He's so sweet for making a comment like that!}

Greek Turkey Burgers - Low Carb, Too!

To understand where my idea for these burgers originated, you need to read my post on Greek Turkey Meatballs. I doubled the meatball recipe to make 6 big burgers with plenty of meat left over to make mini meatballs for soup.

I added grilled portobello mushrooms on the sandwiches, too. This was my low carb "bread"!

 These burgers were very good, although they lacked some flavor. Don't get me wrong... the meatballs are full of flavor but I think that when I changed the little meatballs into larger burgers, more of a "kick of flavor" needed to be added to them. I used provolone cheese - boring - some sort of spicy cheese might have given it the kick I was looking for. I would also add some Montreal Steak Seasoning. (Yes, I know that I have an obsession with this seasoning.)  My husband and kids (yep, kids!) poured on some steak sauce and loved it. Steak sauce is not low carb so I need to make up for that flavor in some other way. I'm open to any suggestions.

I broiled these burgers. They were very moist with a nice chewiness to them. Be careful not to overcook them or it will dry them out.

I will definitely play around with this recipe until I come up with the perfect combo for this burger.

Please let me know if you make these burgers and what you think of them.

Shamrock Ice Cream Sandwiches

A perfect way to end your St. Patrick's Day meal is with these scrumptious ice cream sandwiches. These Shamrock shaped treats are sure to please all of the little Lads and Lassies at your St. Patrick's Day table!

What You Need
Sugar cookie
dough - either store bought or your own recipe*
Medium to Large Shamrock cookie cutter
Green paste food coloring
Toothpick
A Pair of Latex gloves (protects from getting green hands!)
Flour
Rolling pin
Cookie sheets
Mint Chocolate Chip, Pistachio or Vanilla ice cream (tinted green), softened slightly


What You Do

**My favorite sugar cookie recipe is below

If making homemade cookies, mix and leave finished dough in a non-porous bowl. If using store bought dough, unwrap and add to a non-porous bowl.

Put on your gloves. This next step can get a little bit messy.

Using a toothpick, dip it into the green food coloring, removing a tiny bit of food coloring. Add it to the cookie dough.

NOTE: A very little bit of this food coloring goes A LONG way to adding color to the dough. To be safe, start out using just a little and continue adding a little bit at a time until you reach the desired color.

Use your hands to mix the color into the dough. This process might take a few minutes but with continued mixing, the color will evenly spread throughout dough.

If the dough becomes too sticky, add a small amount of flour (approx. 1/4 cup) to the dough and mix together thoroughly.

Continue these steps until the desired color and consistency is reached.

Next, lightly flour the table where you are going to be rolling out the dough, to prevent the dough from sticking. Roll out the dough to 1/4 - 1/2 inch thickness.

Cut out the Shamrocks (2 for each sandwich) and place on an ungreased cookie sheet, making sure to leave enough room between the cookies so they don't bake together. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 - 12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are light golden brown. Cool completely before making ice cream sandwiches.

TO ASSEMBLE ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

Holding the bottom side of one cookie, spread the softened ice cream, nice and thick, onto the cookie. Top with second cookie. Fill in any uneven spots around the cookie. Smooth out rough edges with your finger to give a nice, smooth look.

Place onto a cookie sheet or plate, then back into the freezer. Freeze until solid.

Once frozen, you can serve as dessert or each sandwich can be individually wrapped in plastic wrap and kept in the freezer.

Tami's Old Fashioned Sour Cream Cookies

1/2 cup shortening (part butter or margarine)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (optional) I leave it out for white cookies
1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Mix shortening, sugar, egg, & vanilla thoroughly. Blend dry ingredients. Add to sugar mixture alternately with sour cream.

Divide dough, roll out on a well-floured board. Cut with cookie cutters (metal cookie cutters w/ open tops are the easiest) You can make these as thick as you want... the thicker, the chewier.

Place cookies on lightly greased baking sheets. Sprinkle with sugar unless you are going to ice them. Bake 7-8 minutes or until very lightly browned around the edges. Makes 3-4 dozen but I never get this many because I make mine thicker.

If you use the nutmeg in them, you don't even need the icing but it will give your cookies a slight off-white appearance if they are left un-iced.

If you like chewy cookies, roll them out a little thicker. If you like thin crispy cookies, roll a kind of thin but not real thin or you wont be able to remove to them from cookie pan.

This dough is very easy to work with too! I always double it because I like the thicker cookies.

Greek Turkey Meatballs

I love, love, love, Greek food. I have a favorite Pork Soulvaki recipe that I turn to over and over again. Now I've found a second favorite recipe, Greek style meatballs, a recipe that I'm sure I will use over and over again.

Although the original recipes uses ground chicken, I used ground turkey. These meatballs are full of flavor and would be delicious made into burgers, as well. I didn't make the tzaziki sauce to go along with the meatballs but I know that it would be a delicious sauce on them.

These little gems are low carb, too! I can't wait to make this recipe into burgers and try them on an oopsie roll! (another recipe that I still haven't tried yet.)

Another excellent point was that my son and my husband thought that they were delicious. No way was my 6 yr. old going to try them but I'm thrilled that the other two liked them.

Here is the original recipe with any of my changes in bold next to it.

Spanikopita Chicken Meatballs
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, grated
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 box frozen chopped spinach, defrosted (I used 1/2 of a 750 g bag of Europe's Best) (I used 1/2 of a 12 oz bag of frozen spinach - no specific brand...whatever happened to be on sale that week. )
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional) (I left it out but I'm going to try it next time)
1 lb ground chicken (I used 1 lb. ground turkey)
1 tbsp grill seasoning

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Defrost the spinach in the microwave, then place in a kitchen towel and squeeze to remove all the excess water. Place in a large mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix really well. I didn't use feta because it made the recipe more expensive and I knew my husband and I wouldn't miss it. I've tried it with and without and both are delicious. If you too want to cut costs, don't worry...it's totally amazing without.

Roll into about 18 (1 1/2 inch) meatballs (I made 15 golf ball-sized meatballs) and place on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with a little bit more olive oil and place in oven and bake for about 12 minutes, turn over and bake for another 10-14 minutes or until the meatballs are golden brown and cooked all the way thro.

**my notes**  This recipe would be great to make mini meatballs for soup or to make into burgers for oopsie rolls or low carb tortillas...or just plain on a plate with all of the fixins. Freeze any leftovers. 

Stuffed Burgers - Low Carb, too!

My son's favorite meal is a cheeseburger. He was so happy when I told him that I would be adding it to our menu this week because I can eat them, too. My husband and daughter are ok with eating cheeseburgers as long as it's only once in a while.

I decided to stuff all of the toppings into the burgers so we didn't have a mess with everything falling off of them when we were eating. I find it to be a pain when toppings fall all over the place and you don't get to eat them with the burger.

I pan fried these because it's been raining and very windy here for the last two days - not good for grilling.

Stuffed Burgers
makes 6 - 8 burgers

2 lbs 80% ground beef
3/4 C. chopped mushrooms
3/4 C. shredded cheddar cheese
2 TBSP Montreal steak seasoning
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder

I divided the 2 lbs of meat into 6 burger. If you like smaller burgers, you can easily divide it into 8.

Mix the steak seasoning, garlic powder and onion powder into the meat. Be careful not to over mix or it will make the meat tough. 

Divide each burger into 2 pieces.

Divide the mushrooms and cheese evenly among the burgers, laying the toppings on one of the two pieces of each burger.

 

Place the second half of the burger on top of the cheese. Pinch the edges together all the way around the burger to seal. Pan fry until cooked to your liking.

The family had fries with their burgers. I had a side of sauteed kale with mine. (above photo)

Marinated Flank Steak with Peppers & Onions - It's Low Carb, too!

Yesteraday, while shopping at Bloom, I found a really nice flank steak that had been reduced to a great price. Now, I'm not one to buy reduced priced beef unless it looks absolutely perfect with no brown spots on it - even if the expiration date is ok. This flank steak looked fresh, plus the expiration date was still 4 days away. I knew that I was going to marinate it and cook it today so I went ahead and bought it. I'm glad that I did. It was delicious.

I searched for a low carb marinade that both my family & I would like. I didn't find anything right away but I did find this recipe and I knew that it would be easy enough for me to make some changes so that it would be low carb.

I enjoyed the steak and peppers with a side salad and 4 small pieces of avocado.  My family enjoyed it in soft tacos, along with some cheese. I served rice and green beans on the side for them.

My version of the recipe is posted below. If you would like to see the original version, click on the link above.

Marinated Flank Steak 

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce - I omitted it. You won't miss it.
1 tablespoon grainy brown mustard
2 TBSP minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning
1 TBSP cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 1/2 pounds flank steak

In a medium bowl, mix the oil, soy sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, Montreal steak seasoning, cumin and red pepper flakes. Place meat in gallon size Ziploc bag. Pour marinade over the steak, turning meat to coat thoroughly. Cover, and refrigerate for 6 hours. << Marinate this long to really allow the marinade to sink in.

Slice peppers & onions into thin strips.

Preheat a wok on medium - high heat. Add peppers & onions to the wok. Pour in 1/4 C. water. Cover with a lid and allow the peppers to cook until fork tender but remove them while they still have some crunch. Remove to a warm plate. Cover and set aside.

Remove the steak from the marinade. Slice steak, against the grain, into thin slices. (using an electric knife makes this job really easy.)  Discard marinade.

Cook 5 - 8 pieces of steak at one time. Do not crowd the meat. It will take only 20 -30 seconds to cook one side of this meat. Flip the meat over and cook for another 20 -30 seconds. Remove it to a warm plate. Cover. Finish cooking the rest of the meat.

Fill soft tortillas with the steak, peppers & onions, along with your favorite toppings.

or

Serve with a side salad and some fresh avocado to keep the carbs low.

Chocolate Mint "Cookies"

These cookies have been a favorite of ours for several years. I make them at Christmastime to go along with our other cookies. They taste just like Girl Scout Thin Mints but the secret is that they are made using Ritz crackers for the "cookie". They also hold up great in lunch boxes.

Chocolate Mint "Cookies"

Chocolate Almond Bark
Mint Extract
Ritz Crackers

Cover a small baking sheet with foil and set aside.

I found it easiest to work with 4 blocks of chocolate at at time with this recipe. That way you don't have to keep melting the chocolate over and over.

Melt 4 blocks of chocolate in a double boiler or in a microwave-safe dish in the microwave. For convenience, I used the microwave. To melt the chocolate, cook chocolate on "high" for one minute at a time, stirring well after each minute, until the chocolate is completely melted.

For the extract, start by stirring  in 4 drops of mint extract into the chocolate. Do a taste test to see if the mint taste is strong enough for your liking. I added about 4 more drops of mint to our chocolate because we like it. Don't take my word for it, after the first 4 drops, stir in just two drops at a time until you are happy with it.

Dip one Ritz cracker at a time into the chocolate. Cover the cracker completely, scraping off excess chocolate and then lay on the foil. Once the tray is full, pop it into the freezer for a minute.

Remove the tray. Dip the crackers a second time, again laying the crackers back onto the tray. Place the tray back into the freezer for two minutes or until the chocolate is completely dry.

Store in a sealed plastic container. These cookies are best eaten within 2 days.

Pasta e Fagioli

I was so lucky to grow up in a town full of different ethnicities. That's were I found my love of Italian, Greek, Polish, German & Slovak foods. We grew up celebrating all nationalities with different street fairs & church events that always included homemade food.

One of my favorite soups from these events is Pasta e Fagioli. Until now, my family wouldn't touch it because it had beans in it. Once I decided that I was going to try a Rachel Ray recipe for this dish, I knew that I would have to make some changes in it for it to work for everyone in my house. Her recipe was simple so it wasn't hard to make some changes and additions to it. We ended up with a hearty, delicious soup.

Pasta e Fagioli (my changes in blue)

    *  2 tablespoons (2 turns around the pan) extra-virgin olive oil
    * 1/8 pound (about 3 slices) pancetta, chopped - I subbed 1 lb of boneless pork steaks, cut into tiny      pieces.
    * 2 (4 to 6-inch) sprigs rosemary, left intact
    * 1 (4 to 6-inch) sprig thyme with several sprigs on it, left intact
    * 1 large fresh bay leaf or 2 dried bay leaves
    * 1 medium onion, finely chopped
    * 1 small carrot, finely chopped - I grated the carrot into the soup
    * 1 rib celery, finely chopped - I grated the celery into the soup
    * 4 large cloves garlic, chopped - I used 2 1/2 TBSP of minced garlic in olive oil
    * Coarse salt and pepper
    * 2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans - I did not add the beans to the soup. Instead I warmed them and added them only to my dish.
    * 1 cup canned tomato sauce or canned crushed tomatoes - I used 1 lg. can of crushed tomatoes
    * 2 cups water
    * 1 quart chicken stock - I used 32 oz of chicken stock
    * 1 1/2 cups ditalini - I used 3/4 of a lb.
    * Grated Parmigiano or Romano, for the table
    * Crusty bread, for mopping

Directions

Heat a deep pot over medium high heat and add oil and pancetta. (pork in my recipe)
Brown the pancetta (pork) bits lightly, and add herb stems, bay leaf, chopped vegetables, and garlic.
Season vegetables with salt and pepper.
Add beans(no!), tomato sauce, water, and stock to pot and raise heat to high.
Bring soup to a rapid boil and add pasta.
Reduce heat to medium and cook soup, stirring occasionally, 6 to 8 minutes or until pasta is cooked al dente. (this took about 12 minutes)
Rosemary and thyme leaves will separate from stems as soup cooks.
Remove herb stems and bay leaf from soup and place pot on table on a trivet.
Let soup rest and begin to cool for a few minutes.
I spooned some beans into my bowl before the soup.
Ladle soup into bowls and top with lots of grated cheese.
Pass crusty bread for bowl mopping.

**I will be making this again soon. The only changes I will be making is to sub dried herbs for the fresh ones. My husband was not found of the Rosemary pieces in the soup. 

Leftovers should be refrigerated. Add more chicken broth and crushed tomatoes the next day before heating thoroughly.

Chocolate Chess Pie

Before we moved to NC, I'd never heard of Chocolate Chess Pie. My family and I ate lunch at Golden Corral one day shortly after moving here. That is where we discovered this delicious chocolate pie. It quickly became of favorite of ours.

I've tried several recipes for this pie - some coming close to what we were happy with but none of them ever hit it right on the head...until now. I cannot take credit for finding this recipe. A few months ago I posted a request for recipes for this pie on "The Idea Box". This website is run by my friend, Amanda, from Amanda's Cookin'. Amanda was looking for new dessert ideas and asked if I had found the recipe that I'd been looking for. She found the recipe that I am blogging about today and posted it for me. In fact, she posted two links. I opted to try the recipe that had a picture to go along with it.

I had everything on hand to make it so I printed out the recipe and headed into the kitchen. I used a refrigerated pie crust (I can hear some of you gasping right now!) to make things easier. The pie filling was very quick and easy to mix up.

I didn't make any changes to the original recipe. The recipe calls for a 9" pie pan. Before Christmas, I won a 10" pie pan that I wanted to try out. I stretched the premade crust to fit the pan anyway thinking that if it shrunk, I would use the extra room at the top of the pan to hold the homemade whipped cream.(Oh yeah, an extra treat!)  I pre-baked the crust at 400* for 7 minutes - until is was just barely turning a light shade of brown. Remove the crust from the oven and allow it to cool while you are making the filling.

Make sure to turn the oven down to 325* for the pie.

Chocolate Chess Pie

1 1/2 cups sugar
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup evaporated milk
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 partially 9-inch baked pie crust

Preheat oven to 325*F degrees.
Combine sugar, cocoa, flour, and salt.
Blend in milk.
Beat in eggs 1 at a time.
Add butter and vanilla, beat until smooth.
Pour into pre-baked pie shell.
Bake in 325* oven for 55-60 minutes - since I used a bigger pie pan, my pie wasn't quite as deep and it only baked for 45 minutes. 

Cool the pie completely before topping with whipped cream.

Homemade Whipped Cream

2 C. heavy whipping cream
3 tbsp. powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

I dumped all of the above ingredients into my Kitchen Aid mixer and used the whisk to beat it. You can also use a hand mixer to mix it. I usually chill the bowl and beaters really well if I'm using a hand mixer. It helps to speed things up a bit.

To Cover Pie

Spread the whipped cream across the top of the pie. Add remaining whipped cream to a plastic bag or icing bag and pipe "rosettes" around the outside ring of the pie.

Drizzle the top with chocolate syrup.

The pie can be eaten immediately or it can be refrigerated. I like it best when it is cold.

It's been so cold here the last few days with temps down in the low 20s. I covered our pie with the pie plate lid and sat it outside on our grill. Within 20 minutes it was very cold (and delicious!)

I will definitely make this again. In fact, my son is already begging me to make it again. He loves it!

Don't ya just want to stick your finger into the whipped cream and lick it off?

Cookie Carnival - Pecan Pie Cookies

We voted on which cookie we would be making for the November Cookie Carnival at the Clean Plate Club. Jen @ Beantown Baker's choice of a cookie by the name of Pecan Pie Cookie was chosen. Let me just start by saying that this was a very good pick!

If you like pecan pie, you must try these cookies! They really do taste like little bites of pecan pie! My kids and I have found a new favorite cookie.These are very easy to make and could easily be made ahead of time and frozen.

Pecan Pie Cookies - from Land O Lakes - makes ~3 dozen
 
Cookie Ingredients:
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

Filling Ingredients:
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine all cookie ingredients except flour and baking powder in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add flour and baking powder. Beat until well mixed.

Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Make indentation in each cookie with thumb; rotate thumb to hollow out slightly.

Combine all filling ingredients in small bowl; fill each cookie with 1 rounded teaspoon filling. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.

**My tips **  

I would recommend rolling these cookies small so that the baked cookie was small enough to be eaten in one bite. I made my batch a little big. The next time I will make them smaller. 

Make sure to only bake the cookie until they are just very light brown on the bottom. Watch them closely so that they don't over bake. I baked my cookies on dark cookie sheets so I lowered the temp. of the oven to 325*. They baked for about 10 minutes.

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken & Lazy Man's Pierogies

We're feeling Steelers Fever around here! To bring part of Pittsburgh to our dinner table, I created a shortcut to the beloved pierogi - a lazy man's pierogie casserole. It contains all of the ingredients that potato and cheese pierogies hold--potatoes, dumplings (lasagna noodles), cheddar cheese, fried onions in butter. YUM!

I have to warn you, though....if you are on a diet, I cannot be held responsible if you fall off the wagon after seeing these pictures and reading the recipe!

I also tried a new recipe for teriyaki chicken. The teriyaki marinade and dipping sauce are a nice combo of sweet and spicy. I found the recipe in an old recipe book called "Woman's Circle Treasured Recipes". This one is definitely a keeper.

Lazy Man's Pierogie Casserole

What you need: 

1 box of lasagna noodles - cooked al dente, and cooled
7 medium to large Idaho potatoes - peeled and diced small
1/2 - 1 C. warm milk
1/4 C. sour cream
1 1/2 C. grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 tsp garlic powder
salt - to taste
black pepper - to taste
1 stick of butter
2 medium onions - peeled, sliced thin
1 C. grated sharp cheddar cheese

Instructions: 

Preheat over to 350*

Cook lasagna noodles, rinse well and set aside to cool.

Peel potatoes. Dice into small pieces. Add potatoes to a pot and cover with cold water. Cover pot with a lid and place on stove to cook over medium-high heat. Cook until the potatoes are fork tender.

While the potatoes are cooking, melt the stick of butter in a frying pan. Separate onion rings and add to pan. Cook onions until they are soft and start browning. Remove from heat and set aside.



Drain potatoes, add to a large mixing bowl. Add in sour cream and 1/2 C. warm milk. Use a hand mixer to beat everything together. Add the remaining 1/2 C. of warm milk as needed to cream potatoes.

Stir in 1 1/2 C. cheddar cheese, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

To Assemble:

Spoon some of the melted butter from the onions into the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Spread the butter around to cover the bottom of the pan.

Use 4 lasagna noodles to cover the bottom of the pan.

Cover the noodles with mashed potatoes, using half of the potatoes.

Spread 1/3 of the onions and butter on top of the mashed potatoes.



Continue with another layer of noodles, potatoes and onions.

Top the casserole with a final layer of noodles. Spread the remaining 1/3 onions over top.

Sprinkle 1 C. cheddar cheese over the top.

Cover the dish with foil. Bake for 30 minutes covered. Remove foil and continue to bake for another 15 - 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes for easier cutting.

**Optional**  Serve with gravy or sour cream if desired.

**Extra**  You can easily add a layer of well-drained canned sauerkraut to the middle of the casserole if you like the potato/sauerkraut pierogies.




Grilled Boneless Teriyaki Chicken Breasts

2 1/2 lb boneless chicken breasts, thawed if frozen

For marinade:
1/2 C. lemon juice
1/3 C. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/3 C. soy sauce
1/4 C. chili sauce - I used Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients, including chicken. Refrigerate from 4 hours to overnight. I recommend marinating it overnight for a stronger flavor.

Remove chicken from marinade and grill as usual. Discard any leftover marinade.

For dipping sauce:
1/3 C. Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce
1/4 C. Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
1 -2 TBSP soy sauce

Instructions:

Stir everything together. Microwave to warm up. Adjust ingredients to taste - I would rate this sauce as medium hot. Add more bbq sauce for less heat--more chili sauce for more heat.



Enjoy!

Raisin Jumbles

This soft, chewy cookie goes great with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee.

My husband is a raisin cookie fanatic. I knew that he would like these little cookies. I left out the nuts and doubled the raisins, making them even better. The recipe suggests sprinkling the baked cookies with powdered sugar. Instead of doing that, I scooped out the cookies using my littlest cookies scoop and then sprinkled the unbaked cookie dough with granulated sugar. Perfect!

Raisin Jumbles

1/2 cup margarine or butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream together margarine or butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and mix until well incorporated. Blend in sour cream.

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add to butter mixture and mix until well blended. Stir in pecans and raisins.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls, onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake 12-15 minutes. (My cookies were light brown in 10 minutes)

Optional: Sift confectioners' sugar over cookies when cool.

I found this recipe at Annie's Recipes.


I'm entering it in the November Blog Event at Cooking w/Alicia & Annie.

I have a feeling that I will be making these quite for my husband. There couldn't be a more simple cookie out there to make. They will go great packed into lunches, too!

*** UPDATE*** Both, my son and my husband, came home today asking me to make these cookies again real soon. My son even gave some to one of his buddies who said that he really liked them, too!

Happy Birthday Baked Mac 'n' Cheese & Meatloaf

Today is my son's 12th's birthday so we celebrated with all of his favorites. On the menu was a new recipe for baked macaroni and cheese and family favorite recipes for meatloaf and sauteed green beans.

Both of the kids helped with cooking dinner and dessert. It's fun to get them involved to see how they are growing up and what they are able to do to help. Andy did a lot of chopping and stirring today. Alexis helped out a lot by being the "gofer".

I found a new recipe for baked macaroni and cheese today. This dish turned out creamy and cheesey and really good. I followed the recipe as per the directions with the only changes being that I cooked 2 lbs of small shell pasta and multiplied the rest of the ingredients by 3 to make sure that I had plenty of leftovers. This made enough for a full 9 x13 dish + a full 9 x9 dish.


Baked Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. elbow macaroni
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 tbsp powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
Topping:
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Cooking Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.
3. While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it’s free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes.
4. Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
5. Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

You can see the original recipe here.


Such a great dinner!

The recipe for this fabulous meatloaf is here on my blog.

The sauteed green beans are super easy:

1 bag of frozen thin string beans
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp onion powder
drizzle of olive oil

Saute all in a frying pan over medium heat until heated through.

There's leftover meatloaf for sandwiches and plenty of mac n cheese for another meal.

Be on the lookout for birthday cake in the next posting!