Olive Cheese Bread & Sopapilla Cheesecake February 6, 2012

Yesterday was the Super Bowl, which, for me, is just an excuse to eat junk since I couldn’t care less about football.  I asked Wayne what he wanted to eat, and he said “meatballs.”  Apparently this has become a Super Bowl theme, since he requested meatballs last year, too.  So I put some meatballs and BBQ sauce in the Crock Pot.  He didn’t have any suggestions for side dishes, so I decided to make some yummy Olive Cheese bread that I found on Pinterest.  We also had veggies and dip, mostly so I could say “at least we had some veggies.”

Olive Cheese Bread
I used half the butter, less cheese, and less olives than the recipe called for.  My loaf of bread was probably smaller than what the recipe calls for, though.  This was pretty tasty but I found it to be a little too salty from the olives.  Next time, I would cut WAY back on the olives and use them more as a secondary flavor.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I debated on whether or not to make a dessert since we were already eating meatballs and bread slathered with butter, mayo and cheese.  Well, as you can see, I made the damn dessert.  I also found this on Pinterest, and it was SOOO easy to make and SOOOOOOO delicious.

Sopapilla Cheesecake
I cut the recipe in half, and it fit perfectly in a 9×9″ pan.  I used reduced-fat crescents and reduced-fat cream cheese.  It’s not like that’s going to make it “healthy,” lol, but it helps a teeny bit.  I would recommend cutting back on the sugar in the cream cheese mixture even further because it was quite sweet with the full amount.  Also, this is best served at room temperature.  Don’t try to eat it hot unless you want to sear the roof of your mouth!  Not that I know from experience or anything….

 

Soup and pie December 19, 2011

Hey, all.  This will probably be my last quick post before the holidays!  We are leaving at 6 am on Thursday for MI, and obviously there’s a lot to do to prepare for the trip!  Yesterday, Wayne, Macy and I had our little family Christmas so we wouldn’t have to pack and re-pack gifts.  Of course, Macy liked the wrapping paper more than the gifts, but that’s to be expected when your kid loves that crinkly sound.  I made a simple and tasty soup for dinner and Dutch apple pie for dessert.  I’m not usually a big pie-person, but I had a frozen crust leftover from Thanksgiving, so I figured why not make a pie?

Delicious soup, terrible photo

Stuffed Pepper Soup

Click here for recipe from Skinny Taste

The only changes I made:  added about 1 Tbsp of Worchestershire to the meat/peppers while they cooked, omitted the marjoram, and let the soup simmer for about 1.5 – 2 hours instead of 30 minutes.  I also served it with parmesan cheese on top.

Dutch Apple Pie

Click here for recipe

I followed it exactly!  It turned out really well.

Pumpkin muffins November 7, 2011

Wayne and I really wanted a “sweet” on Friday night after dinner.  I had some leftover pumpkin in the fridge, so I decided to make some pumpkin muffins.  I searched for awhile for a recipe that didn’t call for a whole can of pumpkin and finally found one.  These muffins were very moist, dense, and cake like, and the crunchy cinnamon-sugar topping was the perfect touch.  We aren’t ashamed to say the entire dozen muffins were gone by Saturday afternoon!

Pumpkin Muffins

Click link for recipe.  I thought I followed it exactly, but I think I accidentally used 1.5 cups of sugar instead of 1.25 cups.  I guess it didn’t make a difference, though.

Oh.Em.Gee, you guys… October 31, 2011

Have you ever had the English dessert called Sticky Toffee Pudding?  Have you ever heard of it?  I never had until I saw a competition on the Food Network, years ago, where Haagen Dazs was trying to find the next best flavor.  Well, the winner was a woman who created a Sticky Toffee Pudding ice cream.

According to Wikipedia:  Sticky toffee pudding is a British steamed dessert consisting of a very moist sponge cake, made with finely chopped dates or prunes, covered in a toffee sauce and often served with a vanilla custard or vanilla ice-cream ^[1].

I remember searching and searching for the elusive “limited edition” ice cream but never finding it.  I eventually gave up and forgot about it…. until…. I saw it again on the Food Network’s new show Sugar High (the dessert, that is… not the ice cream).  My obsession was renewed.  I had to find a recipe, and I had to make this.  As you may remember, I am not a baker, and after seeing such thigh-hugging ingredients as heavy cream, butter, and sugar, I put off making it for a couple weeks in hopes that my desire would fade.  It didn’t.  It was all I could think about.  Cake, made out of dates… toffee sauce… toffee sauce!  I caved, made it, and ate it.  It was everything I dreamed of and more.  It was quite possibly one of the best desserts I’ve ever had.  Do yourself a favor: pull out your inner Paula Deen, buy some heavy cream and butter, and get to baking!!

English Sticky Toffee Pudding

Click link above for recipe.  I followed it exactly, but I didn’t make the whipped cream.  Also, based on the reviews, I added a little salt to the toffee sauce and used salted butter for the cake and the sauce.  So I guess I didn’t follow the recipe exactly.  The recipe does have a few steps, but it’s pretty simple.  Just a note, the batter will look like a hot mess and you’ll think “OMG why is it so watery and lumpy?  Was I supposed to drain the dates first??” but really, it will be fine.  Somehow, the watery mess bakes up into a beautiful, spongy, dark, golden brown sheet of delicious.

Oh, and mine only took about 28 minutes to bake (not 35), so keep an eye on it.

Oh, and use Medjool dates, not the cheap, dry, pre-chopped ones in the package.  Medjool dates are big and sweet and sticky and delicious.  They have a pit inside.  They are a little expensive, and they can usually be found near the produce section of the store, sometimes refrigerated.  They’re also delicious stuffed with a little peanut butter or a couple almonds.  I digress.  They look like this:

ENJOY, and thank me later 🙂

Easter Treats April 25, 2011

Happy day-after-Easter, friends!  It’s hard to believe this was our second Easter here in MN.  Hopefully we will be back in MI by next Easter.  Anywho, the weather finally decided to cooperate, and it was really nice yesterday.  After a relaxed day of cleaning, Skyping with the family, and having an iced (decaf!) coffee from the only place that was open, I made a nice Easter dinner for two. 

The menu included:

• Smoked, glazed ham for Wayne (Glaze = my mom’s recipe: brown sugar, mustard, and pineapple juice)
• Glazed chicken breast w/pineapple for me
• Cheesy hashbrown casserole  (I halved the recipe, used more cheese, and omitted the cereal topping.)
• Green beans
• Deviled eggs
• Raspberry swirl cheesecake  (I doubled the crust and used raspberry yogurt and jam instead of strawberry.)

Those are my anniversary flowers! 🙂

Belated V-day goodies February 16, 2011

Hello, loves!  Just wanted to share our yummy Valentine’s dinner and dessert.  I sort of have to thank my friend Ashley for this one.  As I was desperately trying to come up with a menu for the week, she texted me, asking if I had a recipe for a chipotle pasta sauce.  I didn’t, but I went off on a Google search to find some ideas for her.  Well of course, the more I looked, the more I wanted some chipotle pasta!  This shrimp pasta was very tasty, and I wish I had taken the time to take a better picture because it was 100 times better than it looks! 

Shrimp Pasta with Creamy Chipotle Sauce

I followed the recipe pretty much exactly.  I highly recommend adding lots of parmesan cheese to the sauce to give it more flavor and also to help thicken it.  Also, start with one chipotle and add more after tasting.  Ours was just a tad on the too-spicy side, so I wish I would have added just a little less chipotle. 

I also made dessert.  Even though it was from a mix, I still managed to dirty about three cookie sheets and a bunch of other stuff.  Baking is such a pain!

Another Brinner February 2, 2011

Hello, all.  I hope you aren’t up to your neck in snow!  For once, we’re not the ones who got buried in it.  Even though it’s barely 0 degrees here, the big storms missed us.  So today I have another delicious breakfast-for-dinner to show you.  This could probably be considered a dessert too. 

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Don’t they just look incredible??  Oh, they were.  The pancake on its own was very soft and fluffy, and I will be making these again in the near future, I’m sure.  The pecans and glaze definitely took these over the edge, but I think they would be just as good with syrup and a few plain pecans sprinkled on.  I also put some I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter on them to cut the sweetness a little, and I added some light syrup for moisture because the glaze was way too sweet to be used much more than a drizzle.  The recipe only makes 5 medium-sized pancakes (maybe an ooch bigger than a CD), which was fine for the two of us, but I would recommend doubling the recipe if you want more.  We had ours with turkey sausages so I wouldn’t feel too bad about eating dessert for dinner 🙂 

Food and crafts all in one August 27, 2010

Hello!  I’m back with another morning post.  Today I have a fun foodie AND crafty project that I did for my sister’s wedding shower.  (See this post for other fun wedding projects I did!)  For part of her gift, I gave her these four “recipe jars” along with a whole box of kitchen stuff – cooling rack, cookie dough scoop, mixing bowl, loaf pan, measuring cup etc.  Of course, everything was done in the wedding colors of purple and green. 

For these Recipe Jars, you will need:

• (4) 1-quart, smooth Ball jars (found at Hobby Lobby by my mom!)
• (4) 6-inch round (or square) pieces of fabric 
• Coordinating ribbon of choice
• (4) labels for front of jars and (4) coordinating tags to include the recipe instructions
• (4) recipes of choice!  (mine are below) 

Oreo Muffins 

This was probably the easiest of the jars to make since there aren’t that many ingredients.  I really had to cram those Oreos in the jar though.  In fact, I think I was only able to get 18 or 19 Oreos in there (out of 20 the recipe calls for).

Butter Pecan Bread

I love the way this one looks with the pecans layered in the center and sandwiched between the brown sugar. 

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

I love the way this one looks too.  Keep the layering in mind when making any of these recipes, though.  I actually separated the flour in this jar so the “star” ingredients could be showcased in the middle.  I also love how the cinnamon and spices made a faint line between the flour and sugar layers.  Also keep in mind that the white sugar should always be toward the bottom.  If it were on top of the “loose” ingredients (the pecans and berries), it would just fall through and look messy.

M&M Cookies

This was the recipe that inspired the whole project!  I had this recipe saved from Bakerella for months and finally got to use it.  I ordered the purple M&Ms online (don’t even ask how much I payed for those damn things!), carried them on the plane with me, and made all the jars once I was back in MI.  I did use less choc chips and pecans (they’re under the fabric) than they recipe called for so I could use more of the precious M&M’s.  My only tip for making this jar – CRAM CRAM CRAM those ingedients in the jar after each layer.  I was practically standing on the top of the jar by the time I got to the top, and there are really only a small handful of pecans in there.   

These jars were fun to make, relatively inexpensive, and seemed to be a hit with the bride-to-be.  I think they would be great gifts all around, and you could totally change up the color of the M&Ms to coordinate with the occasion.

More tips:

1. Next time, I would make the recipe tags and labels a little smaller.  I made them here in MN without having the jars to reference for size, so they came out a little large in comparison.
2. I would also do something different with the fabric – either secure it to the lid with double sided tape, then tie the ribbon around it… OR put the fabric over the lid (the round, disc part of the lid), then screw the ring cap over the fabric to secure it.  Tying them on the outside with strictly the ribbon didn’t make them very stable, and they slid off easily.  Did all that make sense?? 

Back in Minne! August 17, 2010

Hello loves!!  I hope you’re all still out there!  I’m officially back in MN after 10 days back home.  My trip was quite nice… it included:  a bachelor/bachelorette party, a visit with my former coworkers, driving MY CAR (!) that my mom ever-so-nicely removed from storage for me, dinner out with my aunt and uncle, wedding stuff with my sister and her fiance, a visit with my sister’s in-laws, a wedding shower, and last but not least, a lovely yet horrible cold that lasted almost the whole time I was home.  Flying with a cold sort of makes your head feel like it’s gonna explode.  Anyway, I was happy to see Wayne and my sonnnn when I got back.  I was a bad food blogger and didn’t really take many food pics at all.  I do want to share with you the most amazing, most delicious, most decadent bar cookies I’ve ever had.  Seriously, you must make these… but you didn’t hear that from dietitian Amanda 😉 

Snickerdoodle Blondies
Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker – I’m reposting it here because it’s just that good.  Make sure to visit her blog to see her amazing pics!

Ingredients:

2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan; set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Beat together the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, and then the vanilla. Beat, scraping the bowl, until thoroughly combined. On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture until just combined. Give the dough a final stir with a spatula or wooden spoon to make sure the flour is incorporated.

4. Spread the dough evenly into the pan (I found an offset spatula was the best tool for the job, as it’s a thick batter). Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the top of the batter.

5. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool completely before cutting. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

~~~~

And as promised, here are some pics of the bride and groom in the bachelor attire I made for them!

That’s a wrap! August 5, 2010

Guess what?  In less than 24 hours, I will be HOOOOME!  For 10 days.  Home.  Back in MI.  Woooot!  So, my mom’s internet has been no less than sketchy lately, and I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to upload any pics while I’m there.  That being said, I’m not sure how often I’ll be blogging, if at all!  Unfortunately, I’m not one of those cool bloggers who has people do guest posts either.  I guess I’ll just have to hope you’ll stick with me 🙂  Today, it seems I had wraps for 2 meals. 

• Whole wheat wrap
• Hummus
• Tomatoes
• Lettuce
• The BEST, most AMAZING smoked salmon from the U.P. of MI
• Light ranch
• Frank’s

Of course, I had to go to Target for a few last minute travel necessities, which means I had to stop at Starbuck’s for an iced coffee, undoubtedly laced with crack.  Thanks to my friend Rebecca for getting me addicted to these (Iced Coffee w/soy milk and SF Vanilla syrup, by the way).

Dinner was just a taco.  I added some onion and summer squash to the beef, gotta get those veggies in!

On a whim, I decided to whip up a little sweet.  You all know that I don’t bake very often, but these only had THREE ingredients so I couldn’t resist.  I apologize, but I don’t remember which blog I first saw these.  The recipe is so easy that I just remembered it.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
(*I halved the recipe and got approx. 21 small cookies)

• 1 cup creamy PB  (*I used 1/2 cup Jif)
• 1 cup sugar  (*1/2 cup if halving)
• 1 egg  (*Just use the egg white if halving)

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl
2. Drop rounded teaspoons on a baking sheet coated in cooking spray
3. Bake at 350 for about 8-12 minutes until lightly golden

*Notes:  The cookies barely spread at all, so you can put them pretty close together on the pan.  Also, let them sit on the baking sheet for a couple minutes after baking to cool before putting them on a cooling rack.  ENJOY!!  They taste just like your standard PB cookie!