Foodie with Little Thyme!

Rocky Road Shortbread Cookies

2009-11-07T06:56:00.000-08:00

My husband and our sons have been busy collecting pecans from a local park. We now have several pound in our freeze. While looking for new ways to use them I found this recipe in the latest issue of Family Circle. All I can say is YUM!This cookie will go on my favorite cookie list. The only change that I will make in the future is to omit the marshmallow. Oh, I almost forgot the original recipe calls for walnuts not pecans.

Recipe adapted from “Family Circle, November 2009 issue”

Ingredients:

1 ¼ C All-purpose Flour
½ C Pecans, finely chopped
¼ Salt
½ C Butter
1/3 C Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
¾ C Mini Marshmallows
½ C Coarsely chopped Pecans
½ C Semisweet Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a cookie sheet or use silt pads.
Blend all ingredients until well combined.
Roll by the tablespoon the dough into balls.
Gently flatten each ball to ½ - inch thickness and smooth edges.
Bake for 16 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.
Meanwhile melt the chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute, stirring halfway.
Remove cookies form the oven and spread the chocolate, then sprinkle with the marshmallows and pecans.
Return the cookies to the oven and bake for TWO minutes more or until the marshmallow become soft.

Cornucopias

2009-11-03T18:30:00.000-08:00

Easy to make, delicious and pretty on a plate, what more can you ask for?

Ingredients:

Puff Pastry Dough
Heavy Whipping Cream
Sugar
Cocoa

Directions:

Wrap thawed dough around aluminum foil in the shape of a cornucopia.
Bake according to pastry direction.
Allow the cornucopias to cool then carefully pull them away from the foil.
Meanwhile whip the cream, sugar and cocoa until it becomes very thick.
Pipe into the cornucopias and serve.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween from our kitchen to yours!

Harry Potter!

Batman!

Rose Princess!

Spooky Guacamole!
Use a small amount of lemon juice so that the avocados still turn black!
My kids loved dipping into this web!

Roasted Cauliflower with pasta and Witch Hats

2009-10-28T05:17:00.000-07:00

So simple, so beautiful and so tasty.

Ingredients:

Cauliflower
2 Ripe Roma tomatoes
3or 4 links of sweet Italian sausage
Fresh Parsley
Fresh grated cheese
1LB pasta

Directions:

Clean and remove the cauliflower florets from the stem, sprinkle with salt, pepper and olive oil.
Roast at 400 until tender but not mushy.
Sauté the sausage in a small fry pan while the pasta is cooking.
Add chopped tomatoes to the cooked sausage.
Add the roasted cauliflower to the sausage and tomato mixture.
Toss with the pasta.
Sprinkle with parsley and cheese then serve,

Witch Hats

Ingredients:

1 Package of croissant rolls
Cinnamon sugar

Directions:

Unroll rolls.
Roll wide end and shape the pointed end.
Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Bake according to package directions.

Cheese Soufflé and Vampire's Morning Cocktail

2009-10-22T20:06:00.000-07:00

It’s Barefoot Bloggers time. Barefoot Bloggers are a community of bloggers that get together twice monthly to make, eat and post about Ina Garten’s recipes. Today’s recipe was chosen by Summer of Sexy Apartment. She has Chosen Blue Cheese Soufflé, which can found in Barefoot in Paris. This was my first soufflé and it was not only easy but also beautiful and delicious. My only advice is to make sure you have ALL the ingredients before you get started. I was reading as I was going and half way in realized I was short one egg white. Thank you to our wonderful friends and neighbors for coming to the rescue.

Here is Ina’s recipe.
I did make a few changes, those will be in red.
Ingredients

· 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the dish
· 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan, plus extra for sprinkling
· 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
· 1 cup scalded milk
· Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
· Pinch cayenne pepper Extra pinches
· Thyme
· Pinch nutmeg
· 4 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
· 3 ounces good Roquefort cheese, chopped 1C Bergenost
· 5 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
· 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Butter the inside of an 8-cup souffle dish (7 1/2 inches in diameter and 3 1/4 inches deep) and sprinkle evenly with Parmesan.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. With a wooden spoon, stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the hot milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, the cayenne, and nutmeg. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, for 1 minute, until smooth and thick.
Off the heat, while still hot, whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in the Roquefort and the 1/4 cup of Parmesan and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Put the egg whites, cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on low speed for 1 minute, on medium speed for 1 minute, then finally on high speed until they form firm, glossy peaks.
Whisk 1/4 of the egg whites into the cheese sauce to lighten and then fold in the rest. Pour into the souffle dish, then smooth the top. Draw a large circle on top with the spatula to help the souffle rise evenly, and place in the middle of the oven. Turn the temperature down to 375 degrees F. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes (don't peek!) until puffed and brown. Serve immediately.

Vampire’s Morning Cocktail

Ingredients:

Orange juice
Pineapple Juice
Cranberry juice (the straight stuff)
Ginger Ale

Directions:

Fill a highball glass half full with a 50/50 mix of orange juice and pineapple juice.
Top the glass off with ginger ale.
Drip the cranberry juice down into the glass. It’s good for it to drip a bit on the glass for a more bloody effect.

Pear Bread and Breakfast Mummies

2009-10-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

My good friend Kerri has been raving about this banana bread that her friend, Kay, has been making and sharing with her. Kay finally shared the recipe with her, either to quiet her or to keep from having to make bread for her weekly, who knows. Anyway, now that Kerri has the recipe and is making it, all I hear is “MMMM this is so good”. I started to feel left out then Kerri shared the recipe with me and now you guys have to hear “MMMM this is so good” from me. I didn’t have any bananas so, Kerri and Kay, I changed your recipe a bit and it is still very yummy!

Banana Bread Adapted from a recipe from Kay who thinks she got it from ALLRecipes. I'll make all my changes in red so that you guys will have both recipes.
Ingredients:
1. 2 cups all-purpose flour
2. 1 teaspoon baking soda
3. 1/4 teaspoon salt
4. 1/2 cup butter
5. 3/4 cup brown sugar
6. 2 eggs, beaten
7. 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas Cooked Pears
8. 2 Tbsp Butter
9. 1 Tbsp Cinnamon
10. 1C Chopped Pecans
11. ½ Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. Peal, core and slice pears.
3. Boil pears in the butter until they are tender.
4. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. I throw everything in at the same time and mix. To the mix I add the pecans, cinnamon and chocolate chips.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Breakfast Mummies

Ingredients:
1 can of Crescent rolls
Fully Cooked Breakfast Sausage Links

Directions:

Open and separate rolls.
Cut the dough in half length wise.
Cut a small piece off to cover the head.
Wrap the dough around the majority of the sausage. Leave the top section unwrapped.
Wrap the small piece around the top of the sausage leaving a small gap where eyes or a face would be.
Bake according to the package directions.
Mustard can be use to make small eyes.

Both of our boys celebrated their birthdays this week. Since their birthdays are only 3 days apart they usually have a combined birthday party at the park. This year they wanted to take a trip to Arkansas to visit the caves instead. Here is a picture of how we spent our weekend.

Stuffed Eggplant and Spooky Pancakes

2009-10-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

Stuffed Eggplant

Mini Eggplant
Onion
Garlic
Oregano
Breadcrumbs
Mozzarella Cheese
Sour Cream
Salt and Pepper

Directions

Cut Eggplant in half, lengthwise.
Scoop out the meat of the eggplant.
Salt the inside of the eggplant boats and let them rest.
Sauté the meat, onion and garlic until tender.
Add salt, pepper, oregano, and breadcrumbs and stir until heated and fully combined.
Add the cheese and sour cream stir and remove from the heat.
Wipe the inside of the boats dry with a paper towel and fill them with the meat mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees until the skin is tender.

Sunday Pancakes Turned Spooky

As you guys already know, my children celebrate Pancake Sunday each and every Sunday. This past Sunday my soon to be 5-year-old ate 8 pancakes and still wanted more.
That same little boy will be celebrating his birthday on the 16th of October. When I asked him what he wanted for his special dinner he said “ how about pancakes!”. So in honor of his birthday I’m sharing our pancakes with you guys.

Ingredients

½ c Whole Wheat Flour
½ c All- Purpose Flour
1 tbsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Baking soda
¼ tsp Salt
3 tbsp Sugar
1 Egg
3 tbsp oil
½ C Buttermilk
½ 2% Milk

Directions

Mix all ingredients together, don't over mixPour onto a hot skillet.
Flip them when they start to bubble.
The second side cooks much faster than the first.

Baked Spaghetti, Witch Fingers and Monster Teeth

2009-10-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

3 recipes 1 post

It’s been raining and cold here and this baked spaghetti was a great meal to warm us all up. It’s the ultimate comfort food, fast, easy, yummy! We had ours with a nice spinach salad and warm fresh homemade bread. Life is good!

INGREDIENTS
Adapted from All-recipes
· 12 ounces spaghetti
· 1 cup chopped onions
· 1 cup chopped green bell peppers
· 1 pound lean ground beef
· 1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes
· 1 (4.5 ounce) can mushrooms, drained
· 1 teaspoon dried oregano
· 2 cups shredded mild Cheddar cheese
· 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
· 1/4 cup water
· 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add spaghetti, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente. Drain, and set aside.
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute the onions, green peppers and ground beef. Once beef is brown and onions and peppers softened, add the tomatoes, mushrooms and oregano. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Place half of the cooked spaghetti into the prepared dish. Top with half of the meat mixture. Sprinkle with 1 cup of the mild Cheddar cheese. Repeat. In a medium bowl, mix together cream of mushroom soup and water until smooth; pour over casserole. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Monster Teeth
These are a fast and easy snack to prepare for all the little monsters in your life. They always get a big smile.

Ingredients

Red Apples, any variety will do in fact green would be fun too.
Mini Marshmallows
Peanut Butter or almond butter

Directions

Core and section your apples
Spread peanut butter on one side of all the slices.
Stick 5 to 6 mini marshmallows on half of the apple slices.
Top with the other apple slices and serve.

Witch Fingers

I was not going to post these as they can be found all over the Internet and blogosphere but I’ve had too many people ask for the recipe and this is an easy way to mass distribute it.
A fun variation is to add a drop or two of green food coloring to the dough to give it a more sickly hue.

Witch Finger Cookie Recipe
Yield: 5 dozen
· 1 cup powdered sugar
· 1 cup Butter, softened
· 1 Egg
· 1 tsp Almond extract(I stopped using this)
· 1 tsp Vanilla extract
· 2 2/3 cups Flour
· 1 tsp Salt

· 3/4 cup whole Almonds, blanched

· 1 tube red decorating gel

· green food coloring

In a mixing bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, almond extract and vanilla; beat in the flour, and salt. Add a couple drops of green food coloring to dough, until it has a light green tint. Divide the dough into four equal parts, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 325F. Take one quarter of dough at a time from the refrigerator. Break off one heaping teaspoonful and roll it into a finger shape, then press an almond firmly into one end for a nail. Squeeze in around the middle of the finger to create a knuckle shape. Using a butter knife, make indents in several places to resemble a finger. Repeat with rest of dough. Place cookies on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool three minutes. Gently lift up the almond; squeeze red decorating gel onto the nailbed and press the almond back in place, so gel oozes out from underneath. Remove cookies from baking sheets and let them cool on wire racks.

Cheddar Corn Chowder and Bagel Eyeballs

2009-10-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

It’s Barefoot Bloggers day. Jill, of My Next Life, selected today’s recipe. This recipe was fabulous and really hits the spot on cold and rainy days. It’s hard for my children to manage keeping soup on their spoons all the way to their little mouths so I made some fried Chicken breast strips to go with our soup. I was thinking that the kids could use the chowder as a dip. They ended up eating all their chicken then all their chowder. The thick consistency made it much easier for them to manage. Luckily, this recipe makes enough to feed a small army so we have tons in our freezer. I did make a few changes after reading some of the recipe reviews. I used less stock, no butter, more bacon, mashed the potatoes, added nutmeg and thyme. I would make this again exactly the way I did this time. Enjoy.

Ina’s Recipe Cheddar Corn Chowder
Ingredients
· 8 ounces bacon, chopped
· 1/4 cup good olive oil
· 6 cups chopped yellow onions (4 large onions)
· 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
· 1/2 cup flour
· 2 teaspoons kosher salt
· 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
· 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
· 12 cups chicken stock
· 6 cups medium-diced white boiling potatoes, unpeeled (2 pounds)
· 10 cups corn kernels, fresh (10 ears) or frozen (3 pounds)
· 2 cups half-and-half
· 8 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, grated

Directions
In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, cook the bacon and olive oil until the bacon is crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions and butter to the fat, and cook for 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent.
Stir in the flour, salt, pepper, and turmeric and cook for 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and potatoes, bring to a boil, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. If using fresh corn, cut the kernels off the cob and blanch them for 3 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain. (If using frozen corn you can skip this step.) Add the corn to the soup, then add the half-and-half and cheddar. Cook for 5 more minutes, until the cheese is melted. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve hot with a garnish of bacon.

Bagel Eyes
My family enjoys waking up to these eyes staring at them from their plates.

Ingredents:

Bagels
Cream Cheese
Black Olives
Gel or icing pens

Directions:

Toast the bagel.
Spread the cream cheese on top of the bagel.
Place an olive in the bagel hole.
Decorate the eye, detail with the gel/icing pens.

Loaded Baked Potato Casserole and Ghost Pears

2009-10-05T19:01:00.000-07:00

Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

I received a cookbook in the mail from Carnation and thought I’d share one of the recipes with you all. My gang loved it. This casserole would be great to take to a football game or other fun gathering. And like all great casseroles, you can make it ahead and then even freeze it.

Recipe adapted from Carnation.

Ingredients:
8 Medium potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes. I used baby red potatoes so that I would not have to peel them.
1 C Evaporated Milk. We like our mashed potatoes creamy so I added more milk.
½ C Sour Cream
1 tsp Kosher Salt
½ tsp Black Pepper
2 C Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
6 Slices of Bacon
6 Green Onions, chopped

Directions:
Boil potatoes until tender.
Drain the water from the potatoes; add milk, sour cream, salt and pepper and mash.
Stir ½ the cheese, ½ the bacon and ½ the onions.
Spread into a greased casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees or until heated through.
Top with the remaining cheese, bacon and onions and bake a few minutes more or until the cheese is melted.

Sweet Ghosts For Your Sweets
These take just a few minutes but they are always a big hit.

Ingredients:
6 pears
Craft Sticks or wood skewers cut in half
10-12 oz Almond Bark
Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Push the sticks into the top of the pears.
Melt almond bark in a glass-measuring cup.
Hold the pears by the stick and roll them in the melted almond bark.
Let cool slightly and place the chocolate chips on the coated pear for eyes.
Place in the refrigerator for a few minutes to set.

Chimichurri Salsa and Witches Kiss

2009-10-03T07:15:00.000-07:00

Happy October!

This month I’m going to follow each of my regular posts with a Halloween treat. They are all very easy and fun to share. Please take a minute and tell me if you would like me to continue sharing our holiday treats as we head into November and December.

Chimichurri Salsa

I use this salsa on everything! It’s great on pizza, sandwiches, pasta, rice, chicken, steak, in meatballs, stuffed shells, chips or even right off the spoon. I’ve taken to making it weekly and if you can’t guess, I love it! It only takes about 5 minutes to make.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of parsley, stems and all
White Wine Vinegar
Garlic, about 5 or 6 cloves per parsley bunch
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Wash parsley and drop into the food processor.
Peel the garlic and drop into with the parsley. The garlic peeling is the hardest part of this process.
Add vinegar oil salt and pepper and process until the parsley is fully chopped.
I’ve tried to measure the oil and vinegar but it’s one of those taste and add kind of recipes. If I’m not wowed I add more vinegar salt and pepper and try again until I get it where I like it.

Witches Kiss

This is a recipe that was left for me by the witch. She left it on really fun crumpled up paper that was burned on the edges. She asked that I keep her recipe a secret BUT I don’t think you’ll tell her I shared it with you.

Ingredients:

Coke
Heavy Whipping Cream

Direction:

Pour the coke into a glass and top with the heavy cream.
Don’t stir!
Allow it to sit a few minutes and the cream with separate from the soda creating a spooky effect.

Baked Ricotta

2009-10-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

It time for me to post my blogger find of the month. This find is actually one that I came across a few months ago and LOVE. It’s so simple and so yummy! I found this recipe at Taste With The Eyes, home of amazing chief, photographer and blogger Lori Lynn. Please go visit her, you’ll instantly want to stay for dinner.

I’m going to post the link to Lori’s site and to the recipe so you all can go check them out. Mine was yummy but not as beautiful as hers.

Taste With The Eyes Super Summer Soiree

Sunday Suppers at Lucques By Suzanne Goin's. Recipe excerpt at Amazon.

Beatty's Chocolate Cake

2009-09-28T11:04:00.000-07:00

I’m finally back. Still nursing a slight headache but the Barefoot Bloggers recipe that I missed is helping me get back on track. You know chocolate therapy! This last recipe of the month was picked by Mary of Passionate Perseverance. Mary chose Beatty’s Chocolate Cake which can be found in Barefoot Contessa at Home or at the bottom of this post. This cake is out of this world. It will now be my go to chocolate cake recipe. My one and only complaint is that the espresso was a bit too much. I will reduce the amount next time but definitely keep it in. The comment to the side of the cookbook recipe states to make sure you use two 8 inch by 2 inch cake pans or the batter will run over. I used three 9 inch pans and I was very happy with the appearance of the cake and had no oven fires to put out. Yummy cake! Thank you Mary for choosing this recipe. Don’t know what Barefoot Bloggers are? Click here Barefoot Bloggers.

Ina’s Recipe:

Ingredients

Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Directions

Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Frosting:

6 ounces good semisweet chocolate (recommended: Callebaut)

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon instant coffee powder

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

OOPS

2009-09-24T04:10:00.000-07:00

Hey All,
I'm missing the Barefoot Bloggers post today. I spent most of the evening in the ER(Ocular Migraine) and was left with no time or desire to bake. I'll post again Friday or Saturday.

Happy Cooking!

Zucchini Rice Casserole

2009-09-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid my mom made only one casserole, which I still remember. She continues to make it and so do I. It’s always a hit and always yummy. There is a bit of prep work but with our modern kitchen conveniences it makes short work of it. This casserole is my go to meal whenever I want to bring a meal to someone, as we did this week for our sweet neighbor who had her second baby a few weeks ago. I make this because I can leave it unbaked and then the family can either bake it then or freeze it to eat later. The recipe comes from my mom’s 1974 Southern living Casseroles Cookbook. I’ll give my adapted version that is 35 years in the making. OH, and by the way I remember her telling us she was making this for the first time. She had a small mutiny on her hands…until we all tasted it.

Zucchini Rice Casserole

Adapted from Southern Livings Casseroles Cookbook.

Circa 1974

Ingredients:

This will make two casseroles. So if you don’t want to give or freeze one then cut the recipe in half.

3 C cooked rice
2 Lbs. Ground beef, I’ve used ground turkey and it tastes the same.
1 onion
Lots of Oregano, I use fresh.
Salt/Pepper
6 large zucchini, sliced
2 large tubs or large curd cottage cheese
4 Cans of cream of mushroom soup
Breadcrumbs

Directions:

Cook rice. I actually cook mine in the microwave so that I can reduce my amount of prep time.
While the rice is cooking brown the beef with the onion and oregano and set-aside until the rice if done cooking.

Wash, cut and cook the zucchini. Leave it a bit al dente as it will bake again and you don’t want it mushy. Again, I use the microwave to do this step.
While the zucchini is cooking mix the beef and rice together. I just dump the rice into the cooling pan with the beef.

After the zucchini is cooked it's time to start layering the casserole.

Here is the order:

½ of the zucchini
Rice/beef mixture
Cottage cheese
Zucchini
Cream of mushroom soup
Breadcrumbs

Bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes.

Time to eat! YUM!

Eggplant Dip

2009-09-17T05:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a recipe for a fast, easy and basically healthy dip. Well that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. I love to have this dip on my sandwiches, pizza, veggies and of course with chips.

Ingredients:

Eggplant

Onion

Garlic

Olive Oil

Paprika

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

Slice eggplant into rounds salt one side and let it rest for 10 minute.

Flip the rounds onto a paper towel and repeat the salting process on this side.

Flip and pat the eggplant dry.

Sauté the eggplant until just barely tender.

Sauté the onion until caramelized.

Add the garlic and cook it with the onion for the last few minutes.

Put everything into your food processor and pulse until it reaches a smooth, even, almost creamy consistency.

Add salt pepper and paprika to taste and pulse to combine.

Marshmallow Muffins

2009-09-14T15:46:00.000-07:00

Today a friend of ours is celebrating the birthday of her son, James, who died at birth. James touched the lives of his family very deeply and they are forever changed. James taught his family to remember how precious life is and enjoy each and every moment of it. James has also touched me. I can’t stop thinking about him and how wonderful it is that he is giving the gift of inspiration and endless love to so many. Many people live for decades and never touch anyone the way James has. I am inspired by him and by the strength and grace of his family.

As I spend my day thinking about them. I wonder what balloons his brothers and sister will pick to give to him today and I wish that I could find some small way to let his mom know that I’m thinking about them. The only thing that I could come up with is to bake a small treat for them. I will see his mom at the gym in the morning and I don’t want to burden her with refrigeration or a big messy cake so I’m going with Marshmallow Muffins. They can be packaged neatly and transported without a mess.

With that I leave you with this recipe and a BIG Happy Birthday James!

Marshmallow Muffins

From “Chocolate” cookbook

Ingredients:

5 tbsp Butter
2 Cups All-purpose Flour
6 tbsp unsweetened Cocoa
3 tsp Baking Powder
6 tbsp Sugar
1/ C Milk Chocolate Chips
¼ C mini Marshmallows
1 egg, Beaten
1 ¼ c Milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Line a 12-cup muffin pan with papers.
Melt Butter in a saucepan, I use the microwave.
Sift flour, cocoa, and baking powder together in a large bowl.
Stir in sugar, chocolate chips and marshmallows until thoroughly mixed.
Whisk the egg; milk and melted butter together in a separate bowl then gently stir into the flour to form a stiff batter.
Divide the batter evenly among the lined muffin tin.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until well risen.
Cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan then allow them to cool completely on a wire rack.

Birthday Cake Ina Style

2009-09-10T03:55:00.000-07:00

It’s Barefoot Bloggers time. Barefoot Bloggers are a community of bloggers that get together twice monthly to make, eat and post about Ina Graten’s recipes. Today’s recipe was chosen by Susy of Everyday Gourmet. Susy chose Birthday Sheet Cake. Happy Birthday to Susy, who will be celebrating a birthday this month.

I followed the recipe to the letter with the exception of halving it. We will be celebrating my husband’s birthday on Sunday and frankly it’s just too much cake for me. Can you hear the sound of the button on my pants popping? If not, have no fear you’ll get to hear yours after you eat this cake. Holy Smokey's the calories in this cake are outrageous. It is yummy and chocolaty so if you put in an extra day at the gym treat yourself to this cake.

Oh and it’s messy!

Here is Ina’s recipe.

Ingredients

For the cake:nocoupons

18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 lemon, zested
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

For the frosting:nocoupons

24 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Chocolate candies for decorating (recommended: M&M's)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 12 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then the sour cream, vanilla, and lemon zest, scraping

down the bowl as needed. Mix well. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir just until smooth. Finish mixing by hand to be sure the batter is well mixed. Pour evenly into the pan, smooth the top with a spatula, and bake in the center of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan to room temperature.

For the frosting, place the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chips are completely melted. Off the heat, add the corn syrup and vanilla and allow the chocolate mixture to cool to room temperature. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the chocolate mixture and softened butter on medium speed for a few minutes, until it's thickened.

Spread the frosting evenly on the cake. Have the children decorate the cake with chocolate candies.

Leftovers Lasagna?

2009-09-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

After a small impromptu BBQ this weekend we found ourselves with too many leftovers. With some of the leftover corn on the cob we made delicious lasagna. It took almost no time to cook and was such a great way to change up the leftovers.

Ingredients:

Grilled Corn on the Cob, removed from cob

Ricotta cheese

Mozzarella Cheese

Onion

Spinach

Lasagna noodles, cooked until slightly tender

Sweet Italian Sausage

Salt/pepper

1 egg

1 can of chopped tomatoes

Fresh Parsley

Directions:

Combine Corn, onion and salt and pepper and allow to sit for at least an hour in the refrigerator.

Sauté onions and sausage until the sausage is no longer pink. Add the tomatoes and parsley, simmer until the pasta is ready.

Mix ricotta, egg, mozzarella, salt and pepper until combined.

Layer in casserole dish as follows. Pasta, corn mix, cheese mix then another layer of pasta. Repeat this process until the cheese and corn are all in the dish. Then layer spinach and mozzarella cheese topping with the sausage tomato mix.

Bake at 350 for about 45 mins.

Let it rest for about 10 mins then serve.

Awards and Curly Ribbon

2009-09-06T19:22:00.000-07:00

I’m working on some house cleaning today. It’s a busy, long weekend for us. I know this is a lengthy post but I’ll do my best to be as brief as possible. There is also a silly recipe at the end of the awards. I’ll be back Tuesday with a regular food post.

Let me start by telling all of you thank you. Blogging has been fun for me and I have learned a lot from all of you. I check all the blogs on my blog list on a regular basis and I have fed many of your dishes to my family and friends. Please check out all of the blogs listed today. I know you will find something you like and want to make.

The MEME award below comes from Sweet and Savory Says it All. This award requires that you list seven personality traits about yourself then pass it on to seven bloggers.

1) Athletic- I like to stay active and I participate in many different types of sports. Athletics also keeps me from gaining too much weigh after eating all of your wonderful dishes.

2) Over committed- I have a tendency to sign up to do way too many activities. This month I joined the PTA, became room mom for two of my three children and signed up to plan and organize the Christmas play for my son and daughter. Remember, that is just this month.

3) Organized-When you are over committed you have to have a plan. If you visit my kitchen you will find that I keep three calendars up so that I can quickly see events that have already been scheduled.

4) Fair- My dad always told me as a kid “life is not fair” I’m still working to prove him wrong.

5) Sunny- I love warm, sunny weather, being on or in the ocean and my favorite color is yellow.

6) Adventurous- There are many things that I’ve never done before or eaten before but I’m always willing to try at least once.

7) Thinker- I have a tendency to over think and over analyze life.

Bloggers

1)Adventures with the Woods.

2)Plum Bush Cottage

3)Happy Tummy

4)Life's Ambrosia

5)Cooking, Dunkin Style

6)Surfing the World Cuisine

7)Reservations Not Required

The Kreative Blogger award is from Journey of an Italian Cook. This award asks that I list seven random things about myself and then pass it on to seven bloggers.

1) I live in Texas.

2) I grew up in Florida.

3) I have duel citizenship.

4) I once ate a whole large pizza and an entire batch of uncooked cookie dough in the same day.

5) Clutter makes me crazy.

6) I love to bleach the bathrooms.

7) I eat chocolate everyday.

Bloggers

1)Ruby Mountain Beads

2)Small kitchen Big Ideas

3)Rubber Slippers In Italy

4)Tide and Thyme (dot) com

5) Munch + Nibble

6)A Southern Grace

7)Italialicious

The next award, One Lovely Blog award, comes from Latest Addictions and Simple Recipes. For this one I must pass it on to 15 other bloggers that I have recently discovered.

1)Zoe

2)Slim Shoppin

3)Chaya's Comfy Cook Blog

4)Chow and Chatter

5)Tomatoes on the Vine

7)Nourish

11)A Nyonya's Kitchen...for all seasons

12)Food Gourmand

13)Chocorang

14)The Food Addicts

15)Are You Hungry? Mom's cooking...come n' eat

Thank you to the four of you that passed these awards onto me. It’s always nice to be recognized by other bloggers.

Now for a silly recipe:

Curly Ribbon Hair Barrettes (not to be eaten)

This recipe comes from my good friend over at Ruby Mountain Beads. Go check her out. You’ll like what you find. I know I did!

Ingredients:

Grosgrain ribbon
¼ dowel rod
paper clip or clothes pins. Just something that won’t burn and will hold the ribbon in place.
Spray starch
Barrettes
Hot Glue Gun and Glue.
One little girl that likes to accessorize.

Directions:

Wrap the ribbon around the dowel rod. Careful not to overlap it.
Secure with clothes pins or paper clips.
Saturate with spray starch.
Bake at 275 for 25 mins.
Cool and remove the ribbon from the rods.
Cut to desired length.
Tie and glue to barrette.

Meatballs, Green Beans and Mushroom with Spaghetti

2009-09-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those nights where cooking was more of a chore than a joy. Well Last night started that way for me. My husband was working late (again), the kids were well GRUMPY and the grocery fairy was a no show (again).

I had a pound of ground beef thawed out, no plan and no real desire for anything. My first thought was to go with my dad’s old stand by recipe, gruel. Gruel is ground beef mixed with cream of mushroom soup served over mashed potatoes or rice. Gruel was a favorite of mine as a kid and my kids like it but it seems so heavy and it’s 100 degrees here in Texas. So here is what we ended up having.

Ingredients:

1lb Ground beef
Basil Pesto
Salt/pepper
Garlic
½ a Red Onion, chopped
Fresh Green Beans
Fresh Baby Bellas, sliced
Edam Cheese for topping
1 lb Whole wheat spaghetti

Directions:

Boil salted for the pasta. Add Pasta when the water boils.
Mix the beef and pesto in a bowl and roll into mini meatball. I ended up with about 20 meatballs.
Brown the meatballs in a splash of olive oil.
Add the onion, green beans and mushrooms then simmer over low heat, cover until the pasta is al dente.
Drain the pasta and mix with the meatball veggie mixture.
Grate the cheese on top and serve.

My 6-year-old had three helpings and I had very little clean up. A 20-minute meal and one happy family.

Pizza

2009-09-02T16:29:00.000-07:00

I’m finally posting my Barefoot Bloggers recipe from last week. I love, love, love the recipe that was chosen for last weeks challenge. I know your saying to yourself “ if she loves it so much then why didn’t she post on time?” well, good question. We make this recipe at least once a week and sometimes the kids want it so much that we’ll have it more than once. The recipe is for Pizza. That’s right. How simple? Pizza. This recipe was picked by Andrea of Nummy Kitchen. The recipe is White Pizza with Arugula and it can be found in Back to Basics on page 82. For those of you who have not seen the posts “around town” Barefoot Bloggers are a community of bloggers that make and post reviews of Ina Garten recipes twice monthly. Now back to the pizza.

What I love about this recipe is the dough. Each and every time I make this recipe the dough turns out perfect. I have made the dough with all-purpose flour, Whole-wheat flour and ½ all-purpose ½ whole-wheat. No matter what you choose this is a very good and very easy dough recipe. Ina suggests to make a garlic/pepper infused oil to spread on the dough. I agree the oil makes the difference between a good pizza and a great pizza. Again, we play with different flavors for the oil. Sometime rosemary/garlic, sometime pepper/garlic and other times just garlic. Have fun with the flavors of the dough and the oil. The only other change we made to her recipe is to grill it. If you have never grilled a pizza, DO!

There is nothing better than grilled pizza. OH and I almost forgot. This pizza dough is a great way to use up leftovers or things that need to be used in your refrigerator. Again, HAVE FUN!

Finally, unfortunately I don’t have a picture of our arugula pizza but the lemon with the Fontina cheese is so very summery and refreshing.

Ina’s recipe:

Ingredients

For the dough:nocoupons

1 1/4 cups warm (100 to 110) water
2 packages dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey
Good olive oil
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
Kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, sliced
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

For the topping:nocoupons

3 cups grated Italian fontina cheese (8 ounces)
1 1/2 cups grated fresh mozzarella cheese (7 ounces)
11 ounces creamy goat cheese, such as montrachet, crumbled

For the vinaigrette:nocoupons

1/2 cup good olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces baby arugula
1 lemon, sliced

Directions

Mix the dough.

Combine the water, yeast, honey and 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. When the yeast is dissolved, add 3 cups of flour, then 2 teaspoons salt, and mix on medium-low speed. While mixing, add up to 1 more cup of flour, or just enough to make a soft dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with the flour as necessary to keep it from sticking to the bowl.

Knead by hand.

When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead it by hand a dozen times. It should be smooth and elastic.

Let it rise.

Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Make garlic oil.

Place 1/2 cup of olive oil, the garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook for 10 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. (Be sure your oven is clean!)

Portion the dough.

Dump the dough onto a board and divide it into 6 equal pieces. Place the dough on sheet pans lined with parchment paper and cover them with a damp towel. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

Stretch the dough.

Press and stretch each ball into an 8-inch circle and place 2 circles on each sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (If you've chilled the dough, take it out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes ahead to let it come to room temperature.)

Top the dough.

Brush the pizzas with the garlic oil, and sprinkle each one liberally with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the pizzas evenly with fontina, mozzarella and goat cheese. Drizzle each pizza with 1 tablespoon more of the garlic oil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the crusts are crisp and the cheeses begin to brown.

Make the vinaigrette.

Meanwhile, whisk together 1/2 cup of olive oil, the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Add the greens.

When the pizzas are done, place the arugula in a large bowl and toss with just enough lemon vinaigrette to moisten. Place a large bunch of arugula on each pizza and a slice of lemon and serve immediately.

TIP: Make sure the bowl is warm before you put the water and yeast in; the water must be warm for the yeast to develop.

TIP: Salt inhibits the growth of yeast; add half the flour, then the salt, and then the rest of the flour.

TIP: To make sure yeast is still "alive," or active, put it in water and allow it to sit for a few minutes. If it becomes creamy or foamy, it's active.

Blogger Finds: S'mores Cookies and Chocolate Chiffon Cupcakes

2009-08-31T13:10:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Chiffon Mini Cupcakes

S'mores Cookies

Are you guys like me, wondering where the month went? Before I know it I’ll be making stews, Halloween treats, cooking a turkey and planning for Christmas dinner. I also forgot to post the Barefoot Bloggers recipe last Thursday so this Thursday I’ll play catch up and post

my version of Ina’s pizza. I also have 4 awards/tags that I need to address so I’ll do that on Sunday. Right now I want to take time to pay tribute to other food bloggers out there that are working, creating and sharing their wonderful recipes for the rest of us to try. I am always so amazed and humbled by all the recipes that you guys create.

The first recipe comes from Baked Perfection. She has an amazing blog that is always fun to look at and inspiring. The recipe is for S’mores Cookies. She baked these cookies way back in May and since then I have seen them pop up everywhere. After seeing them again two weeks in a row I finally broke down and made them. I have been reluctant because I’m not much of a S’mores fan. I like my chocolate straight up. Anyway, the cookies are so beautiful that I just couldn’t hold out any longer. Well, I will say that they were not as easy to make as she made them look. She is a gifted baker. I found that there was a learning curve to baking these cookies. It could be me or it could be the Texas heat, who knows. I found if I placed the chocolate and marshmallows on after baking instead of during then they looked very pretty. When I was finished and tasted them I thought, “OH NO, they taste like a S’mores”. Very sweet and too much mixed with my chocolate but I think that’s the idea of these cookies. When my 4-year-old tasted the cookies all we could hear were the groans of satisfaction. I think that these are a bit more work than the average cookie but I WILL be making them again for my sweet little guy.

Oh and check out the picture below to see what my daughter was doing to these cookies.

As seen at Baked Perfection

S'mores Cookies
adapted from Make and Bake

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 dash of cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 cups miniature chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
2 Hershey bars, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, salt, and dash of cinnamon. In a second larger bowl beat together the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowl

y beat in the flour mixture until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes, and remove from the oven. Push 3 to 4 marshmallows and a few pieces of Hershey bar into each cookies. Return to the oven and bake an additional 3-4 minutes until fully cooked. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies.

The second recipe comes from my new friend at Simple Recipes.

She has such a great blog. Her step-by-step pictures are so incredibly helpful. She needs to collaborate with some of the cookbook publishers and show them how it’s done. I’m not sure my cupcakes would have been so yummy without all her helpful pictures. OK, so her recipe is for Chocolate Chiffon mini cupcakes. I make mini cupcakes almost weekly and was very excited to make her cute, little, chocolate cupcakes. The first day of first grade was a great opportunity to make them and to celebrate the accomplishment of my son. I topped them just as she did with Marshmallow and I’m so glad I did. The cupcakes themselves are so light that the marshmallow added that little bit of sweet that makes them a special treat. I only iced half of them thinking that it would be too much and now I wish I had iced them all. Make them! They are cute, simple and yummy!

Oh and wouldn’t they be great for a shower or party?

As seem at Simple Recipes

CHOCOLATE CHIFFON MINI CUPCAKES

Ingredients:
4 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 tablespoon chocolate powder
6 tablespoon sugar, divided into half
¼ teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 tablespoon water
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325F, Sift flour, chocolate powder, baking powder and salt into a small bowl. Separate the eggs carefully. Add the cream of tart to the egg whites and mix using a clean and dry beater until stiff, add the other half sugar and continue to beat until flip upside down it does not fall.
Add the oil to the egg yolk and beat until the color is a pale yellow, add the other half sugar and continue to beat. Add the water and the vanilla extract, beat until well mixed. Add the dry ingredients and beat for more approximately 2 minutes.
Gently fold the egg whites to the batter using a spatula, make sure that you mix very gently. Pour the batter to the cupcake forms and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
Frost the mini cupcakes with ready made marshmallow and garnish with cherry.
Makes 24 mini cupcakes.

Oatmeal Cookies PINK??

2009-08-26T19:39:00.000-07:00

Calling all foodies.

Today after school the kids and I took to inventing a PINK version of oatmeal cookies. We start with the basic oatmeal cookie recipe, one that I have used plenty of times, then change it up a bit. We used whole-wheat flour, added strawberry jam and raisins to the cookie dough. The dough looked perfect and our sample of the uncooked dough was yummy, though the kids are sure they’ll get worms if they eat uncooked dough again.

I was very excited about putting them in the oven. The 11 minutes of baking time seemed like 10 years to the four of us. Finally, the timer went off. Kids were jumping, yelling and dancing.

When I opened the oven door the cookies were NOT done and not even close. They did finally finish and they are yummy. So, why should you care?? Well I need your help. WHY ARE MY COOKIES SO DARN FLAT? Is it the flour, the jam or both? Do you know? All of my ingredients were fresh. Help?

Ingredients

2 ½ C Oats
1 ½ C Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp Salt
1 C Butter
2/3 C Packed Light Brown Sugar
2/3 C Packed Dark Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
½ C Strawberry Jam

Mixed then baked at 325 degrees for 15 minutes or so.

Pasta salad with Fava Beans

2009-08-22T19:13:00.000-07:00

I love to cook and I love to have my children in the kitchen with me. Having time and something entertaining enough to keep the kids from making me crazy can be a challenge. The other day my son and I made a pasta salad with Fava beans, which worked out well for a rushed weeknight meal. I love the cumin/mint combination. After the pasta had marinated overnight, my 4 year old and I made chicken nuggets while my 6 and 2 year old worked on a salad. My 4 year old was so impressed that his mom could teach him how to make chicken nuggets. I hope I’m his hero for the rest of his life or at least the rest of the week. Having the yummy pasta ready gave me time to invest in my children.

Pasta salad with Fava Beans

Ingredients:

1 lb Acini Di Pepe Pasta
Fava Beans (hulled, boil and skins peeled)
Cumin
Fresh Mint (chopped)
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil
Sherry Vinegar

Directions:

Cook the pasta, combine all the ingredients and chill in the refrigerator overnight.

OH! My Best Friend stop over today.

She gave us this special treat to make our weekly celebration of Pancake Sunday a bit easier and funner!

Thank you and you know we love you! Remember that always(especially as you see this and your picture)!