Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Thanks to Martha Stewart for the recipe below. I have discovered sweet potatoes recently and really like them. The only thing I changed below is to use skim milk instead of half-and-half. Also, I used unsalted butter. This recipe is easy and delicious!

Ingredients

Makes 3 cups

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions

1. Set a steamer basket in a large saucepan. Fill with enough water to come just below basket; bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Place sweet potatoes in steamer basket and cover; steam until tender, 15 to 25 minutes. Drain, and return to saucepan.
2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring half-and-half, butter, and brown sugar to a simmer, stirring to combine; remove from heat. Add to drained sweet potatoes, and mash just until smooth; season with salt and pepper.

Wheat Berry Waffles or Pancakes

Tricia's friend Matt made these for us when I went to KC. They were so good.


1 c. Wheat berries - rinsed and drained
1 1/2 c. Milk
1/3 c. Oil - applesauce may be used for half the oil.
1 egg
1 Tbsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 Tbsp. Pure maple syrup or honey

Put milk in blender. Add wheat berries and blend for 5 mins. Add oil, egg, salt, and maple syrup. Blend for 15 seconds. Add baking powder and blend just to mix in. The batter will start to rise. Bake as waffles or pancakes.

As an alternate to butter and syrup, you can serve the waffles with the following - applesauce and whipped cream and pecans
Or rasperry jam and sour cream
Or diced fruit and whipped cream.

Fun Variation of Lasagna

Lasagna Rolls

by: Giada De Laurentiis

Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Pinch ground nutmeg

Lasagna:

• 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese (I used cottage cheese because it was cheaper)
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped ( I didn't use this but I bet it would be tasty)
• 1 large egg, beaten to blend
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for salting water
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 12 uncooked lasagna noodles
• 2 cups marinara sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella (about 4 ounces)

Directions

To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the bechamel sauce.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Whisk the ricotta, spinach, 1 cup Parmesan, prosciutto, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.

Add a tablespoon or 2 of oil to a large pot of boiling salted water. Boil the noodles until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking.

Butter a 13-by-9-by-2-inch glass baking dish. Pour the bechamel sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Lay out 4 lasagna noodles on a work surface, then spread about 3 tablespoons of ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle. Starting at 1 end, roll each noodle like a jelly roll. Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching, atop the bechamelsauce in the dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and ricotta mixture. Spoon 1 cup of marinara sauce over the lasagna rolls. Sprinkle the mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan over the lasagna rolls. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining marinara sauce in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat until hot, and serve alongside.

1-Hour Dinner Rolls

I found this recipe here and with a few minor adaptations, made some scrumptious and EASY dinner rolls that actually turned out (yay!). Pair with homemade jam and butter...YUMMY!

Perfect Dinner Rolls
Adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into measuring cup, then leveled off

In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand about 5 minutes.

Add the oil, salt, and 2 cups of the flour to the yeast mixture, then mix on low speed with the paddle attachment incorporate the flour to create a wet, sticky mixture. Still on low speed, add 1 cup of the remaining flour and incorporate. Switch to the dough hook and add the remaining 1 cup flour. On low speed, mix the dough to incorporate the final addition of flour until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Turn the speed to medium and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl - turn to coat. Cover the bowl with a cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 20 -30 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently deflate into a rectangle. Cut width-wise into 6 equal strips of dough. Then cut each strip of dough into fourths by cutting length-wise to make 24 little squares of dough. Take each piece of dough and ball it (I fold the insides into the bottom over and over so that it's smooth on the top and in a perfect little ball--I like to call it "mom" style, that's how she taught us!)

Place each ball of into a lightly greased 9x13 baking pan in rows of 4 (I used a cookie sheet). Cover the rolls in the pan and let rise to double while your oven is preheating to 400 degrees F - about 20 minutes. If you want an even more golden color to the rolls, brush them with a little melted butter before baking. Bake for 13-15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Serve warm and enjoy!

Janey's German Pancakes

In the past few weeks, I've been craving breakfast food....a lot! German Pancakes have the least dishes and easiest cleanup, so I've had the chance to perfect my recipe!!!

2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Flour
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 Tsp. Cinnamon (or more...)

Put everything in the bowl and mix just enough to break up the eggs. Heat the Oven to 425 with a 9" cake pan in it--when the oven is hot, melt 1 notch (is it a tsp or a tbsp?...just the notch on the butter...) in the pan, and swirl it around so that butter covers the entire bottom of the pan. Pour the batter in the pan and bake for 15 minutes.

My favorite toppings are fresh peach jam (if you want some i have a freezer full!) a little bit of powdered sugar, and buttermilk syrup. MMMMMm I might go make another one!

Frog-Eye Salad

Hi! I have tried many of your amazing recipes and love them! I saw Heather's request for Frog-Eye salad so thought I'd share one. I love the recipe on the back of the Acini de Pepe pasta box although it's a little more time consuming and has to chill overnight. I came across this faster, easier version a year ago from Janeal at Cookin' Mamas and have made it quite a few times since. Hope this helps you Heath! and any others out there needing a relatively quick frog-eye-salad fix!

1 1/3 cup Acini de pepe pasta - uncooked
20 oz can pineapple tidbits (drained - reserve 1/4 cup juice)
8 oz can crushed pineapple
2 (12 oz) cans mandarin oranges
3 cups marshmallows
1/2 cup coconut
8 oz cool whip
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 3/4 cup milk
3 oz pkg instant vanilla pudding

Cook pasta in boiling water for 11 minutes. Drain well, rinsing with cold water to cool pasta. In large bowl, beat reserved pineapple juice, milk, sugar and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Gently stir in pasta and remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Five-Minute Jell-o

I saw this recipe today on Hil's Blog and thought I'd make it to go along with supper. It was fun and really only took 5 minutes to make and 5 minutes to set up. I had some cool whip that needed to be used so I stirred that in at the end. We made strawberry-banana jell-o.

See her blog for more details and photos.

Five Minute Jell-O by Hil

Ingredients:
1 small package Jell-o
2/3 c. boiling water
8-9 ice cubes
and Cool-whip.

Put Jell-o and water into a blender. Blend on high for 1-2 minutes. Add ice cubes one at a time.

If desired, add some Cool Whip or yogurt.

Mix then pour into a bowl. Add fruit, if desired. Cool in refrigerator for 5 minutes.

*For a bigger portion, use 1 large package Jell-o, 1 1/3 cup boiling water, and 16-18 ice cubes.

Zucchini Cakes

We have had an abundance of zucchini's in our garden this year and so I have been in search for fun new ways to use it up. These are tasty. Here's the link from pioneer woman (I love her).

Zucchini Cakes

1 Large Zucchini

1 TBSP garlic

1/2 - 3/4 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup cheese (Italian (this is what I used), Parmesan or Romano)

2 eggs

Kosher salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

Wash and cut the ends of the Zucchini, shred it using a cheese grater. Squeeze the shredded zucchini in a towel until you have removed as much liquid as possible.

Put zucchini in a medium sized bowl. Add garlic, bread crumbs, cheese, eggs, salt and pepper. Stir with a fork till well mixed.

Heat olive oil (about 1/4 in deep in skillet) over medium heat. When the oil is hot enough drop a glob of batter into the skillet and flatten it a bit. After about 2 min flip the cakes over (they should be nice golden brown). Cook on the other side for about 2-3 minutes.

Serve with dipping sauce (we used ranch. - yum!) Enjoy!

Paula Deen's Key Lime Cake with White Chocolate Frosting

I am not a big fan of cake but I liked this one. I also think this cake would be good with a key lime frosting to bring out more of the lime flavor. The white chocolate frosting was good I just really like limes.

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons key lime zest
3 eggs
1/4 cup key lime juice, fresh
3 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

White Chocolate Frosting
6 (1 oz) white chocolate baking squares
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 tea. vanilla
5 cups confectioners sugar

1. Preheat oven to 340. Grease and flour 3 (9 inch) cake pans.
2. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, and lime zest at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in juice until combined.
3. In medium bowl, combine cake flour and baking soda; sift. Gradually add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
4. Pour evenly into prepared pants, and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. Spread white chocolate frosting in between layers, and on top and sides of cake. Garnish with Key lime wedges, if desired.
5. White Chocolate Frosting:.
6. In medium bowl, combine chocolate an dcream. Microwave on high in 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until chocolate is melted and smooth (about 1-1/2 minutes total); let cool completely.
7. In large bowl, combine white chocolate mixture, butter, and vanilla. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually beat in confectioners sugar until fluffy.
   

BBQ Chicken and Ranch Pizza

This has become my favorite pizza and since discovering it about a month ago I have made it three times. One time I didn't have any ranch dressing so I made some. I found this ranch dressing recipe on Pioneer Woman, I had to tweak it with what ingredients I had but it turned out really good. Also, I didn't have fresh herbs so I used dried. I may never buy ranch dressing again.

2 cups cooked chicken, chopped or shredded
1 cup Barbecue sauce, divided
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup Ranch dressing
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Pizza dough

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken with 1/2 cup of barbecue sauce; mix until combined. Spread the remaining barbecue sauce on rolled out pizza dough. Place red onion and chicken mixture over sauce. Drizzle ranch dressing over chicken then top with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Creamy Chicken and Chile Enchiladas

1 lb uncooked chicken (or already cooked chicken)
1 pkg (8 oz.) cream cheese, cut into cubes
1 can (4.5 oz.) chopped green chiles
1 can (15 oz.) black beans
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drain off a little of the juice, but not all of it
Flour tortillas
1 or 2 cans (10 oz. can) Green Chile enchilada sauce; depends on if you like a lot of sauce or not
shredded cheddar cheese

Heat Oven 400 deg. Grease 9x13 inch pan.

In a nonstick skillet cook chicken over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink. Stir in cream cheese, green chiles, black beans, and diced tomatoes; reduce heat to medium. Cook and stir until blended and cream cheese is melted.

Spoon chicken filling into tortillas; roll up and put in pan. Pour enchilada sauce over the top and sprinkle with Cheddar cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 min.

Butternut Squash Casserole

This "Casserole" is really very much like a dessert but has squash in it. So you could call it a veggie. :) My friend made it for our dinner group and it was so yummy we all had seconds. She said they have this instead of candied yams for Thanksgiving. I hope you like it.

INGREDIENTS

• Flesh of 1 cooked butternut squash – about 3 c.
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup margarine, melted

TOPPING

• 3/4 cup chopped nuts (pecans preferred)
• 3/4 cup coconut
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 6 tablespoons melted butter

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine topping ingredients and set aside.
2. Blend all ingredients (except topping) in a blender or food processor.
3. Pour into a greased 9x13” pan.
4. Bake at 400 F for about 20 minutes, then sprinkle topping over all and return to oven.
5. Bake another 10-20 minutes, or until casserole is set.

Sourdough Pancakes

These have become my favorite pancakes. I love these with buttermilk syrup. The only thing is you have to remember to start them the night before.

Sourdough Pancakes
1 large egg - lightly beaten
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 TBSP water
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsps. butter - melted

Starter:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsps. yeast
2 cups milk

In a bowl whisk together 1 1/2 cups of the flour, yeast and 1 cup of the milk. Let mixture stand in a warm place, covered loosely, overnight.
Whisk 1/2 cup milk into the starter. Dissolve baking soda in 2 TBSP. hot water. Add to the starter, remaining flour, egg, salt, sugar, baking soda mixture, butter, and remaining 1/2 cup of milk; whisk until the mixture is combined well. Heat and grease griddle, then cook pancakes.

White Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes

These were made up using a vanilla cake mix and an easy white chocolate glaze. I had seen a photo that was just darling and thought I'd have a go...

1 vanilla cake mix
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup oil
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup water

Start by beating the cream cheese, then add other ingredients and beat well. Bake as cupcakes for 18-20 minutes.

After cooling, top with this glaze:
1/2 cup white chocolate chips, melted and stirred smooth
1 Tablespoon butter, melted with chips
2-3 Tablespoons evaporated milk, room temp
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Beat smooth, cool for a few minutes to thicken up a little bit, then spoon over cupcakes, garnishing with extra chips as desired.

These weren't amazing, but if you bake just right and have super moist cupcakes, they would be great (as far as non-dark chocolate treats go!).

Stuffed Bell Peppers

My friend Belle had recommended this idea to me years ago, but it wasn't until today that I decided to try for myself! It was so easy and super tasty!! I took ideas from a couple recipes, so I'll just explain pretty much what I did...

4 Bell Peppers (I used Yellow, but any color works!)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Cut the Tops of the peppers off, then gut and rinse out to get rid of all the seeds (with kids you could cut the peppers down the middle and turn them on their side to "stuff" so they're more shallow and easier to eat). Brush the outsides with Olive Oil. Line up on Baking Sheet or Baking Pan (I used a pan so the excess wouldn't topple off.)

1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 Medium Onion, Chopped finely
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 Tbsp Oil
Basil
Red Pepper Flakes
Salt & Pepper
Chili Powder
Onion Powder
1 Fresh Tomato, chopped. (this is what i used, but a few recipes called for canned diced tomatoes and tomato paste...I think this would make it too saucy though...)

Slices of Cheddar, Mozzarella, Provolone, or Munster Cheese

Brown the onions and garlic in the oil, then add the ground beef and spices and brown. At the very end add the fresh diced tomato and toss together.

Put the beef mixture into the bell peppers, stuffing so it's full. Place a slice of cheese on top of each pepper.

Bake at 400 Degrees in the Oven for 20 Minutes, or until cheese is melty and bubbly brown.

Let cool for at least 5 minutes before eating!

(Alternatively, you can put the empty peppers in the oven for 5 minutes before you stuff them. I just didn't because I forgot and only 1/2 the recipes called for it)

Happy Eating!

Australian Chicken

Well, this is really just my friend Anne's recipe for grilled chicken, and since she is from Australia....
Australian Chicken

3/4 cup Reduced Sodium La Choy soy sauce

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

3/4 cup Sweet Baby Ray's Barbeque sauce, (or any other sauce will do!)

Mix it together and marinade for an hour or longer if you like. Make sure the chicken is fully defrosted before marinating, it just tastes better. Plus I do not use the chicken breast that has been flash frozen. --from Anne

We just estimated all of Anne's ingredients, for simplicity, and that's what she says she does, so... Wade did the grilling and says everyone knows how to grill chicken, just preheat the grill on high, then turn down to medium as soon as all the chicken is on and turn it over several times until done. We also had pineapple to grill on this day, just to add to the joy!

Pineapple Upside-Down Biscuits

I found this Paula Deen recipe about a month ago and I have made it a few times now. And I really like it. I don't have any maraschino cherries so I haven't used them. Also one time I added a little cinnamon to the butter, sugar, and pineapple mix, I really liked it and will probably add cinnamon every time now. If you like pineapple upside-down cake you will probably like these too.

• 1 (10-ounce) can crushed pineapple
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 10 maraschino cherries
• 1 (12-ounce) package refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (10 count) or homemade biscuits

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Grease 10 cups of a muffin tin. Strain the can of crushed pineapple, save juice for later. Combine the pineapple, sugar, and butter, and mix well. Divide the pineapple mixture among the muffin cups. Place a cherry in the center of each muffin cup, making sure cherry hits bottom of cup. Place 1 biscuit in each cup on top of sugar and pineapple mixture. Spoon 1 teaspoon reserved pineapple juice over each biscuit. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden. Cool for 2 minutes. Invert the pan onto a plate to release the biscuits. Serve warm.

Meatloaf Muffins

This may not be a new idea to many of you, but I thought it was ingenious. One of Mary's friends recommended making meatloaf in a muffin tin.

The other day I tried it and it was tasty. I liked that there was a lot of crispy crust. Plus, it baked so quickly. Rachael Ray recommended baking for 20 minutes on 450. (edited to note: the first time I did these, I baked at 350 for 20 minutes... they actually needed a few minutes more. The second time I did it at 450 for 20 minutes and they got a bit burned. So - just watch them. Maybe 20 minutes at 400 would be perfect)

I basically used my mom's recipe with a few changes. I added a little green pepper, with a sauce of A1, Worcestershire, tomato sauce, and a wee bit of ketchup. I used Italian bread crumbs which I had on-hand. I also put a little extra sauce on top before baking.

Here's the original that was in the family cookbook:

Meat Loaf (Shari Price)

1 pound ground beef
1 egg, beaten
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup sauce (ketchup, barbeque sauce, tomato or chili sauce)
3/4 cup dry bread cubes (some wheat and some white)
1/2 cup quick oats
1 Tbsp grated onion
just under 1/4 cup finely chopped celery

Beat egg, sauces and spices together. Add remaining ingredients. Form into 1 or 2 loaves.

Bake in 350 oven for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours with foil or sauce spread on top for last 10 minutes.

Here are some other tasty-looking meatloaf recipes posted on this bloggie too.

Simple Wheat Bread

I am feeling very lazy today so i am not going to copy the recipe but this is seriously the best wheat bread recipe I have tried.  I use more wheat flour to white flour than the recipe calls for but it works out great.  I think I may try the flaxseed suggestion next time.

Here is the link

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Simple-Whole-Wheat-Bread/Detail.aspx

Katie's Famous Granola

My roommate Katie used to make this granola almost every week. I have to say it's among the best ever. And you don't need a granola roaster pan!!

3 cups oats (I use whole oats, not the quick kind)
1/4 cup and 2tbsp of brown sugar
3/4 cup shredded coconut
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup walnuts/pecans (or really any kind of nut you want)
1 tsp cinnamon (if you like cinnamon, I do)

1/4 cup and 2tbsp maple syrup
1/4 cup oil (vegetable, olive, canola whatever ya got)
1 tsp salt

Mix the two sets seperately, then combine.
Put on jellyroll sheet.
Bake for 1 hour on 200, stirring every twenty minutes. For the last twenty minutes you can add about 1/4 cup of light karo syrup and mix it in if you want clumpy granola. If you want it cruchier, bake it for an extra twenty minutes.

Cool for 30 mins, then add mix-ins. (My personal favorites are dark & white chocolate chips and craisins.)