A Foodie Fairytale

My Memories Giveaway!

2011-12-19T17:39:00.005-05:00

Are you a big fan of scrapbooking? Do you take a lot of pictures or love to make recipe cards to keep track of your favorite recipes? I've found the greatest software that you can use to make awesome collages of pictures, recipe cards, scrapbook albums, and more! The software is called My Memories Suite and you can find it at www.mymemories.com.

Here is an example of one of the awesome layouts that I made using this product! It was very easy to use, has great layouts, clipart, and fonts. They also offer tons of great add ons for purchase on their website. My favorite part was that it was simple to export my completed project to a jpeg format to share it with you all!

Just think of all the awesome things that you could do with your very own FREE copy of this software! My memories has given me a copy that I can give away to one of my lucky readers! See below for instructions on how to enter!

The giveaway begins today and ends at 8pm on December 23rd, 2011. You can get up to four entries into the giveaway by using the methods listed below.

1. Visit the My Memories website, look at the digital paper packs and then come back here and leave a comment telling me which one is your favorite. (One Contest Entry)

2. Follow My Memories on Facebook, leave a comment here letting me know that you are following them. (one extra entry)

3. Follow The My Memories Blog, leave a comment here letting me know you signed up to follow the blog. (one extra entry)

4. Follow My Memories on Twitter. Leave a comment to let me know you are doing so, please include your twitter name. (one extra entry)

Love the software so much that you want to buy a copy right this very moment? Follow this link and use coupon code STMMMS90012 at checkout!

Autumn Three Bean Apple Chicken Sausage Soup

2011-09-12T20:54:00.003-04:00

It's been quite some time since I posted any new recipes, but now that life is starting to settle down a bit for me, I really want to start keeping track of my recipes and blogging again. Autumn is almost here, and for those of you who didn't know, it's my FAVORITE time of the year! I love all the flavors of fall, the hearty soups, and the delicious baked goods!

Anyway, this soup was absolutely delicious and I will definitely be making it again!

Autumn Three Bean Apple Chicken Sausage Soup

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium sweet or yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 small carrots, diced
1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
4 links chicken apple sausage
1/2 cup baby lima beans
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon italian seasoning
4 cups chicken broth
1 can (15 ounces) Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 ounces) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
Shredded Cheddar (optional)

Directions:

Heat the olive oil and butter in a dutch oven over medium-low heat. Saute the onion and garlic until tender. Add carrots, bell pepper, celery, and sausage; cook until sausage is slightly browned. Add lima beans, salt, pepper, italian seasoning, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Add drained and rinsed beans; simmer uncovered for 15 more minutes. If desired, top with shredded cheddar.

March Shopping Trip

2011-02-25T21:37:00.004-05:00

I stuck right to my list of things I needed for cooking the planned meals and I did really well I think. Luckily, I chose a lot of recipes that I already had ingredients on hand for so I could clean out my pantry a little bit.

My grand total was $213.64. Here's a list of what I got:

Meat:

10.5lb Pork Loin

7lbs ground beef

7lbs boneless chicken breast

14lbs whole chickens

Deli:

1 lb honey ham

Produce:

9 Green Peppers

6 Vidalia Onions

1lb baby spinach

10lb Russet Potatoes

5lb Gold Potatoes

3lbs Mushrooms

1 pkg celery

Dairy:

2lbs Butter

2 32oz Ricotta Cheese

12 Cups Mozzarella Cheese

3 Quarts half and half

3lbs Cheddar Cheese

6 cups shredded parmesan

2 Dozen Eggs

2pkg Cream Cheese

1 pint Sour Cream

Grocery:

200 sq ft. foil

Plastic Wrap

Craisins

Chili Powder

Minced Garlic

Baking Powder

8 jars Pasta Sauce

2 pkg manicotti shells

Rice Vinegar

Old Fashioned Oats

2 -Italian Bread Crumbs

3 pkg Flour Tortillas

8 Cans Kidney Beans

4 Cans Black Beans

Tabasco Sauce

Honey

10lbs Flour

March Meal Plan

2011-02-25T21:18:00.003-05:00

This week I planned our meals for the entire month. I've found that we spend much less on food when we shop/cook once a month. I usually do this with a friend, but this time around I've decided to try it on my own and see how it goes. I've currently got a cast on my right hand, so it should be interesting if nothing else!

Without further delay...here's what I'll be making on my cooking day:

Mango-Cranberry Chicken - 4 Meals

Chicken A La King - 4 Meals

Salisbury Meatballs - 6 Meals

Raging Garlic Pork Stir fry - 4 Meals

Baked Manicotti - 4 Meals

Veggie Lasagna - 4 Meals

Veggie & Black Bean Chili - 4 Meals

Breakfast Burritos - 20 total (hubby's breakfast)

Granola - Triple Batch

Corn Muffins - 4 Dozen

Pumpkin Choc Chip Muffins - 4 Dozen

Garlic Mashed Potatoes - 4 Batches

Cheddar Biscuits - 8 Batches

Butternut Squash Pasta

2011-02-06T19:29:00.003-05:00

Since giving up meat, finding dinner recipes that everyone in my house can enjoy has been quite difficult. My husband is a big meat eater, and well...he wasn't really thrilled at the idea of me going vegetarian on him. However, he's found most of the recipes I'm making to be quite satisfying, despite the lack of meat. I have to say that I was actually a little scared to make this because I absolutely despise butternut squash, but after trying it I was completely blown away. Not only was it healthy, it was absolutely delicious. My kids were completely convinced that this was good ol' mac and cheese and they devoured it! This recipe will definitely be added to our favorites list!

Butternut Squash Pasta - Adapted from Finding Joy in My Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 Box Rotini Pasta
3 Cups Butternut Squash, mashed
1 T Olive Oil
2 T minced garlic
2 T whole wheat flour
2 C milk (I used 1%)
1 Bag Frozen peas
1 Cup Cheddar Cheese
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain and return to pot, set aside.

Heat olive oil and garlic in pan over medium heat, about three minutes or until garlic is golden. In a bowl, whisk together milk and flour. Pour milk mixture into the pan slowly, stirring constantly as you pour it in. Add mashed/pureed squash to the pan and stir until combined. Bring mixture to a boil and then turn down to a simmer, allowing the sauce to thicken. Once sauce is thicked, stire in frozen peas and simmer for another 5-10 minutes until peas are cooked through.

Pour sauce mixture into the pot of drained pasta. Add cheddar and parmesan cheeses and stir until cheese has melted. Serve.

Pasta Stuffed Peppers

2011-01-18T20:24:00.005-05:00

Since giving up meat, I've come up with some pretty interesting recipes. I've done lots of searching online and in cookbooks at the library to come up with some great ways to keep our menu plan fun and interesting. One of my new favorite books is "One Dish Vegetarian Meals" by Robin Robertson. I got the idea for Pasta Stuffed Peppers from her book, I changed it a little bit but overall it was absolutely delicious. In fact, it was one of the best vegetarian recipes I've had so far! I'm a big fan of spicy food so I kicked them up a little bit. If you want less heat, you can omit the crushed red pepper or cut it in half.

P.S. I was totally skeptical about raisins in stuffed peppers but I feel like they actually "made" the meal. I was totally surprised at how delicious it was with the raisins.

Pasta Stuffed Peppers - Adapted from One Dish Vegetarian Meals

Ingredients:

8oz small pasta (they recommend ditalini, but I used tiny chili mac noodles), cooked
6 Large Green Peppers (or pepper of your choice)
2Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Small Onion, minced
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1 14.5oz Can Italian Style Diced Tomatoes, Drained
1/4 Cup Raisins
1tsp Italian Seasoning
1/4tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1/2tsp Salt
1/2tsp Black Pepper
1/2 Cup Italian Style Breadcrumbs (I used whole wheat)
1/2 Cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees.

Cut tops off of the peppers and remove seeds, place in the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish with 1/2 inch water in the bottom, set aside.

Heat 1Tbsp of oil in a large skillet. Add onions and cook until soft and slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, tomatoes, raisins, italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes. Mix pasta with tomato mixture in a large bowl (or in the skillet if you have room).

In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and 1Tbsp of olive oil. Mix with a fork, set aside.

Stuff the peppers with the pasta/tomato mixture and top with bread crumb mixture. Cover casserole dish with foil and place in the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until topping is slightly browned.

I'm BACK...and I've got some interesting news!

2011-01-18T20:18:00.004-05:00

I've been out of the food blogging world for a few months now, and I'm finally in a place where I can start writing and sharing with you all again! So, you want to know what I've been up to for the past few months?

Well, my first reason for my "leave of absence" is that I decided to go back to school at night. I've been taking some very hard courses and needed the time to concentrate on my school work as well as spend time with my kids and work my full time job. I also recently opened my own online shop and began selling my hand-knit and crocheted items. It's been quite a busy few months, but I'm on a break from school this semester and I'm very excited to get back to blogging!

On to the interesting news! At the end of December, I decided to make a big change in the way my family eats. I gave up meat on December 31st and have not missed it one bit. My husband and daughter still eat meat, but my son the "picky eater" and myself have been meat free since the start of 2011. Well...my son has been without meat basically his whole life as he refuses to even try it... just picks it up and throws it on the floor (gotta love 2 year olds).

I'm really excited to share some of my new found recipes with all of you. In fact, I'll be posting my first ever vegetarian recipe later tonight!

The Winner Is...

2010-08-03T21:07:00.003-04:00

I apologize for my absence the past few days and for not posting the results of my giveaway. A stomach bug has attacked our house and we are just finally recovering (I seem to have somehow avoided it, but the kids and hubby have taken it pretty hard!).

I used random.org to generate a random number and here are the results.

I'm happy to announce that the winner of my basket of homemade goodies is... Heather from Out of the Box Into the Kitchen! Congrats Heather and thank for the bunches of recipes that you've sent in to help with our Cookbook Fundraiser!

If anybody else would like to help out by donating recipes for our cookbook (you will be acknowledged in the cookbook), please send them to foodiefairytale@gmail.com.

Thank you all again for your help! Every recipe gets us one step closer to finishing. Keep your eyes peeled for a cookbook giveaway once they are all complete and published!

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

2010-07-28T00:00:00.000-04:00

A few weekends ago, I went up to my dad's for lunch with the kids and he had these frozen black bean and corn burgers that were absolutely delicious. I loved them so much that I read the ingredients on the package and decided to try and do my own thing. I read quite a few different recipes online as well as reviews and everything I read said that people had issues with the burgers falling apart. After reading a few tips and tricks (most of them requiring frying the burger in oil (which kind of defeats the purpose of it being healthier than a hamburger), I decided to go my own way and try something different. I used jalapenos from our garden and they were super spicy. I happen to enjoy very spicy food, but if you don't, I recommend using half of a jalapeno instead of a whole one. We topped ours with a little bit of chili sauce and fresh avocado slices.

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

Ingredients:
3 Cups Black Beans, Cooked and Drained
1 Cup Corn Niblets
1 Jalapeno, seeds removed, diced
1 Cup Onion, diced
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 tsp Dried Oregano
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Bread Crumbs
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Chili Powder
2 tbsp parsley, minced (optional)

Directions:

In a large bowl, mash black beans (it's ok to have a few whole ones but try to get them mostly mashed). Set aside.

In a skillet, saute onions and peppers over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes until no longer crunchy. Add sauteed veggies and corn to the beans, and add breadcrumbs, cumin, salt, chili powder, and parsley to the mix as well.

Form into patties and place on cookie sheet(s) lined with waxed paper. I got nine good sized burgers from my mix but it will all depend on how big you make them.

Place cookie sheets in freezer for 30-60 minutes or until patties are frozen. Transfer to a gallon sized freezer bag.

Grill Option: Place burgers on a piece of foil on a hot grill and cook 5-10 minutes per side or until crunchy on the outside but still soft on the inside. The foil will prevent your burger from falling through the grill if it gets too soft. My husband learned this the hard way unfortunately!

Stovetop option: Heat 2Tbsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle burger with cornmeal on both sides and place in pan. Cook for 5-8 minutes per side. I cooked mine this way and loved how the cornmeal gave it a crispy coating on the outside.

Whole Wheat Strawberry Banana Pancakes

2010-07-27T00:00:00.003-04:00

As a child, one of my favorite things to eat was strawberry banana yogurt. It was my favorite flavor combination for the longest time. This weekend, my husband really wanted pancakes and I had no problem making them, but I just had to try something different than my usual pancake. We had tons of fruit in the house and he suggested strawberries. I love strawberry pancakes, but I decided to try and kick them up a notch by adding banana as well. These were a hit (except for the first few pancakes which I accidentally messed up by trying to flip too early (happens to me every time I make pancakes and yet I still haven't learned my lesson). I hope you enjoy these as much as our family did!

Also, this my first ever Tuesday Tag-Along post and I'd like to welcome anyone who finds me today, I hope you enjoy your stay!

This post is also linked to Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays!

Whole Wheat Strawberry Banana Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/8 Cup Honey
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk (I used 1%, but you could use any type, buttermilk would be good here too)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup strawberries, cut into small pieces

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Set dry ingredients aside. In a medium bowl, combine mashed banana, egg, milk, oil, and honey, whisk until well blended. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix thoroughly (batter may be a little bit lumpy). Do not add strawberries.

Heat a griddle pan or skillet on medium-medium/high heat, spray with PAM or grease pan with butter. Drop batter onto pan by 1/4 cup increments. sprinkle with strawberries. Once bubbles begin to form (about 4-5 minutes), flip pancake and cook until golden brown on both sides. Serve with fresh maple syrup and/or butter. I had mine with just syrup and they were delicious. Hubby had his with both butter and syrup, and both of my kids ate them plain with nothing on them and everyone enjoyed them!

Menu Plan Monday - 7/26/10

2010-07-26T06:47:00.003-04:00

After a few super busy weeks, I finally had a chance to actually plan a menu and I'm really hoping we can stick to it! My husband has decided to join me on my weight loss journey, so you will be seeing a lot of new (and healthy) recipes this week!

Breakfasts:
Whole Wheat Strawberry Banana Pancakes
Crockpot Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
Bagel Thins with Fat Free Cream Cheese
Egg Beater Omlettes (with assorted ingredients)
Cold Cereal
Smoothies
Fruit and Yogurt

Lunches:
BBQ Chicken Salad
One-Point Chili
Baked Potato w/ Chili
Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Dinners:
Apple Cranberry Pork Loin
Spicy Black Bean Burgers
Pasta w/ Homemade Sauce
Whole Wheat Pizza
BBQ Chicken Breast
Tequila Lime Chicken

For more delicious menus, visit www.orgjunkie.com

Calling All Bloggers (and my first EVER giveaway)

2010-07-20T19:03:00.008-04:00

Dear fellow bloggers (and readers),

I have a story I'd like to share with you today - I know I'm not usually one to talk about much besides food and blogging, but today I need your help with one of my current missions in life and I just know that you'll be willing to help me out!

You see, almost four years ago I gave birth to my daughter. She was born 9 weeks early weighing only 3 pounds and fitting from my finger tip to just past my wrist. She had a grade IV hemorrhage in her brain, a hole in her heart, and also a congenital heart defect called patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). She was fighting for her life in the NICU as I stood by completely helpless, going home each night and leaving her behind, an hour from home, not knowing what might happen while I was gone. After 26 days she was finally healthy enough to come home. She received state of the art care in a Level III NICU. Care that without extensive research, might not have been available to her. The March of Dimes helped save my daughter's life by providing the research needed to help her overcome her obstacles.

Two years later, I had another preemie, my son was born only 5 weeks early but was much more sick than his sister despite "baking" a bit longer. He was on a ventilator and was unable to breathe on his own without tiring and causing his heart rate to drop. He also had episodes where he would just "forget" to breathe and would turn blue and need assistance to begin breathing again. Again, we were saved by research funded by the March of Dimes - our son received several rounds of surfactant therapy to help his lungs handle breathing without assistance.

We've been walking in the March for Babies for three years now, and we've been able to raise well over $2,000 in those three years combined for the March of Dimes. This year, we have a goal as a team to raise $2,000 by the time of our walk in April 2011. I've come up with a master plan for fund-raising - We're going to create our very own cookbook to publish and sell - all profits will go to the March of Dimes.

This, my fellow bloggers is where you come in. I'm looking for people to submit recipes to include in our cookbook. We are needing a total of 200-300 recipes in the following categories:

Appetizers & Beverages
Soups & Salads
Vegetables & Side Dishes
Main Dishes
Breads & Rolls
Desserts
Cookies & Candy
Miscellaneous (This & That)

Recipes should be submitted via email at foodiefairytale (at) gmail (dot) com.

For each recipe you submit you will be entered into a drawing for my very FIRST giveaway!

I'm sure you are all dying to know what the prize is, right??

The prize will be a basket full of some of my favorite cooking supplies, including some of my wonderful home-canned mango chutney, homemade vanilla extract, and more! Hurry and submit your recipes - giveaway ends on July 31st at 8:00pm EST. Please make sure to leave an email address in your comment so I know how to reach you if you win!

For each recipe you submit please leave me a comment to let me know the recipe has been emailed to me.

Don't want to submit a recipe, or want some extra chances to win? Here are some other ways that you can win! Please be sure to leave a comment to let me know you've done these as well.

Follow my blog publicly
Follow me on Facebook
Follow me on Twitter (leave a comment with your twitter name)
Blog about my giveaway (leave a link to your post)

I hope you all have a wonderful evening!

Conveniently Homemade - Smoothies

2010-07-18T12:35:00.002-04:00

Today I'll be sharing my next post in my "Conveniently Homemade" series. While trying to lose weight, one of my favorite breakfast options is smoothies. They are easy to make and very portable. In fact, I like to drink mine in the car on the way to work.

The problem you can sometimes run into with smoothies is that if you are using fresh fruit, it tends to go bad quickly and sometimes way before you have a chance to use it all. I came up with a great way to still get my healthy, delicious smoothies and I'd love to share it with you.

This can be adapted for use with any fruit. I have a few specific ones that I make so I'll list them for you here. I make mine in bulk, so I've listed them this way. You can of course cut the recipes down to make just a few servings if you wish.

Fruit Smoothies

6lbs Fresh or Frozen Fruit
1 32oz Container of Fat Free Yogurt (your choice of flavor - I use plain or vanilla mostly)
1 Pint of Frozen Fruit Juice Concentrate (I use orange, but you could use any flavor)
8 - 1 Quart Ziploc Freezer Bags

Flavor Ideas:

Strawberry-Banana
Mixed Berry (Strawberry, Blueberry, Raspberry)
Tropical (Mango, Pineapple, Orange)
Orange-Banana
Strawberry-Peach
Mixed Fruit (Honeydew, Cantaloupe, Strawberry, Banana, Pineapple)

Directions:

Divide Fruit evenly among the 8 freezer bags. Add 1/2 Cup of Yogurt and 1/4 Cup frozen juice concentrate to each freezer bag. Remove air from bag, seal tightly, and freeze. When ready to serve, thaw bag in the fridge until just soft enough to come out of the bag and into the blender. Add 1 Cup of Water and blend until smooth. Each bag makes enough for 2-3 Large smoothies.

Blog Awards!

2010-07-14T06:46:00.009-04:00

First, I'd like to apologize for my lack of posting lately. I've been VERY busy at work and also have decided to start training for my very first 5K run! I've been spending very little time in the kitchen lately. We've been doing a lot of eating from the freezer the past few weeks. However our freezer meals have finally been depleted so we'll be cooking again starting this week!

I've been nominated for two blog awards and I'm very excited. Here they are:

I was honored by Holly at Living in a (Mostly) Happy SAHM World with the Sweet Blog Award. Please check out her blog for some yummy menu plans and recipes. I personally can't wait to try canning some of her roasted red peppers! Thank you SO much Holly for the lovely award!

Here are the Sweet Blog Award rules:

- Give this award to 10 sweet bloggers.

- Make a post about the award including the picture and mention the person who gave it to you.

- Put the award on your blog.

- Let your nominated 10 know you’ve awarded them by leaving a comment.

I've also been nominated for the Sunshine Blog Award by April at Angel Food Kitchens. Her Oreos and Cream cake had me drooling on my keyboard! “The Sunshine Award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blogging world.” The rules once this award is received are as follows:

1. Post the logo on blog.
2. Pass the award on to 12 fellow bloggers.
3. Link the nominees
4. Let nominees know they have won this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person you received this award from.

I had a hard time coming up with so many people to nominate (22 total...eek!). So, I'd like to nominate the people below for both of these awards. I apologize that I didn't meet the minimum number of nominees. I'll try to add some more soon!

These are bloggers who inspire me to do what I do, share fun ideas, and even every day tips and tricks!

Susie B. Homemaker - She is currently doing a giveaway for the "I Hate to Cook" cookbook, check it out! Hurry, it ends on 7/18!

Michelle at All Home Cooking - She is on the same mission as me and I find her to be very inspiring. I highly suggest trying her S'mores Brownies, they are delicious!

Heather at Out of the Box Into the Kitchen - Heather and I were roommates in college and we have a lot in common. She always has something new and interesting to post. Check out her new recipe for Creamy Sausage Rigatoni!

Angie at Angie's Healthy Living - I can't wait to try her meatless meatballs!

Jenn at Jenn's Food Journey - I'm dying to try her strawberry cheesecake ice cream.

Mama Bird at Mama Bird's Nest - You all know I've been doing some canning around here, and these pickles look delicious!

Holly at Living in a (Mostly) Happy SAHM World - Check out her Pineapple Zucchini Bread.

S'mores Cookie Bars

2010-07-07T21:12:00.003-04:00

We had quite a bit of leftover graham crackers, marshmallows, and candy bars from our camping trip. So, here is yet another delicious recipe featuring my favorite flavor combination!

S'mores Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 milk chocolate candy bars
1-2 cups mini marshmallows

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Combine the flour, cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Set aside 1/2 cup for topping.

Press remaining mixture into a greased 9-in. square baking pan. Place candy bars on top of crust.

Crumble remaining graham cracker mixture over top.

Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Store in an airtight container.

My First Adventure in Canning

2010-07-06T20:19:00.003-04:00

I've been wanting to try canning for a while now but I just finally got the courage to give it a try. I spent $18 on a boiling water canner w/ a canning rack and I think it will definitely pay off in the long run.

Last month when I did my freezer cooking day, one of the ingredients I needed was Mango Chutney. I paid $8 for two 8oz jars of mango chutney at the store. I couldn't believe how expensive it was but I needed it so I just paid and walked away. After buying my canning supplies yesterday, I decided the first thing I would make was mango chutney. I bought the ingredients and got to work, and my first canning adventure was a total success. I can't wait to use my homemade mango chutney to whip up some mango-cranberry chicken!

Mango Chutney

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1 cup distilled white vinegar
6 cups mangoes (4 to 5), peeled and cut in 3/4-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon mustard seeds, whole
1/4 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes

Combine sugar and vinegar in a 6 quart pot; bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.

Add remaining ingredients and simmer, uncovered, until syrupy and slightly thickened, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stir occasionally during cooking.

Pour into clean, hot jars leaving 1/2-inch headspace; close jars. Process in a water bath 15 minutes. Remove from water bath and cool on a towel for 12 hours, being sure to keep the jars upright. After cooling, check to make sure the jars were properly sealed (if you press the middle of the lid and it doesn't make a popping sound the jar is sealed properly).

This recipe makes six 1/2 pint jars

*Note you could also freeze this instead of canning if you prefer, or it will keep in the fridge for up to 1 week

Back from Vacation and a new Blog Series!

2010-07-06T13:35:00.007-04:00

I'm back from our little camping vacation and we had a great time. We ate every meal at the campground except for one lunch which we ate out at a restaurant while we were out doing some outlet shopping. We brought a lot of food from our last freezer cooking day and it really worked out well for us. We placed everything in the cooler still frozen and by the time we were ready to eat it had thawed out and was ready for the grill! Oh, and did I mention that our children enjoyed their very first s'mores by the camp fire?

I remember going camping as a child and other than s'mores and maybe a few hot dogs, we never cooked at the campground. We ate out at a restaurant for almost every meal. I'm guessing it was just more convenient to go out than to go through all of the "hassle" of trying to cook over a fire. That got me thinking about my goal of eliminating processed foods from my family's diet. The thing that everyone loves about processed foods is that they are more convenient, right? So, I decided to take this opportunity to teach you all some easy ways to make home cooking from scratch more convenient. Not only is it healthier because you know what is going into your body, but it will also save you some money in the long run!

I've decided to start a weekly blog series on homemade substitutes for pre-packaged foods. It will be called "Conveniently Homemade".

Today, we're going to discuss Cake Mix.

Everyone loves the ease of making a cake from a boxed mix. Here is a way to create your own prepackaged cake mix using ingredients from your cupboard. Not only is it delicious, it costs less than $1 per bag (mine cost about 68 cents) to make it yourself vs. anywhere from $1 to $3 for a store bought mix!

Yellow Cake Mix

Ingredients:

2 Cups Flour
2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 1/4 Cups Sugar
1/2 Cup Vegetable Shortening

Directions:

Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut shortening into the mixture until it becomes crumbly. Store mixture at room temperature in a labeled plastic bag or other airtight container.

When you are ready to prepare your cake, you will need the following ingredients:

3/4 Cup of Milk
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs

To prepare a cake using your homemade cake mix, follow these directions:

Pour one package of cake mix into a large mixing bowl. Add milk and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Add eggs and beat until well mixed. Pour batter into greased pan (note this will make two 8 inch round cakes or one 9x13 rectangle cake). Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

For other cake variations, see below:

White Cake

Follow the same directions as for Yellow Cake replacing the 2 eggs with 3 unbeaten egg whites. Use an electric mixer for beating.

Spice Cake

Add to the package of Yellow Cake Mix: 1/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, and a pinch of ground allspice. Follow Yellow Cake directions.

Orange Cake

Pour 1 package of Yellow Cake Mix into a bowl; add 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange peel (1 teaspoon dried). Squeeze the juice from 1 large orange and add to it enough water to measure 1 cup. Add this orange juice to the mix, beat for 2 minutes as directed previously; add 2 eggs; beat and bake as directed.

Menu Plan Monday (a day late!)

2010-06-29T06:59:00.002-04:00

I got busy yesterday and forgot to post our menu for the week, so here it is! We'll be heading out Friday afternoon and camping until Tuesday of next week, so I'll be MIA for the weekend. If anybody has some yummy camping meal ideas let me know, I'm always up for a new challenge!

Monday ~ Spanish Rice Casserole
Tuesday ~ Chili Mac
Wednesday ~ Mango Cranberry Chicken
Thursday ~ Tequila Lime Chicken

Foods we are bringing camping with us:

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins
Cinnamon Raisin Granola
Beer Basted Pork Chops
Jack Burgers
Hot Dogs
Ingredients for Smores
Smores Snack Mix

Baked Bloomin' Onion

2010-06-27T11:20:00.002-04:00

This is a recipe that I adapted from the Hungry Girl 200 under 200 cookbook. I've always been a huge fan of the various "bloomin' onion" appetizers that you can get at restaurants. This week I was able to recreate it in my own kitchen - and the best part... 1/2 of the onion is only about 190 calories vs. 800+ for 1/2 of the ones you get when you go out to eat! Baking plays a big part in this...but the secret "bread crumb" mixture helps out too!

Baked Bloomin' Onion

Ingredients:

1 Jumbo Vidalia Onion
1 Cup Fiber One Cereal, crushed into "bread crumbs"
1/2 Cup Egg Beaters
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the pointy top of the onion off. Leaving the root at the bottom intact, carefully peel off the outside layer. Starting from the top, carefully cut the onion down the middle from top, stopping about 1/2" from the root. Repeat from the opposite side to create four equal sections. Repeat again to cut each of the 4 sections in half.

Place onion, cut side up in a large bowl and cover completely with ice water. Allow to sit for 5-10 minute or until petals begin to open up. You may need to gently pry them open after they have soaked for a few minutes.

Drain water and dry both the onion and the bowl. Put the onion in the bowl, petals facing up. Pour the egg beaters over the onion evenly to coat, making sure to get in between the petals. Slowly sprinkle with the bread crumb mixture until evenly coated.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and place onion on the cookie sheet. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until outside is crispy and inside is soft.

Iced Blueberry Green Tea

2010-06-27T10:40:00.005-04:00

This adventure of mine started as a journey to eliminate prepackaged and processed foods, but I never really put much thought into what we were drinking. As part of my weight loss journey, I gave up most caffeine. I've traded coffee and diet soda for green tea. I'm not a big fan of hot beverages, so I've been drinking iced green tea. However, I've been buying it bottled at the store. This week I decided to take the time to experiment and make my own. Not only was it much more delicious than the tea I've been buying in the store, I know what is in it AND instead of $1.89 for a 16oz bottle, it cost me a total of $3.50 to make an entire gallon of this tea!

I hope that you all enjoy this as much as I did!

Iced Blueberry Green Tea

Tea Ingredients:

Enough tea bags to make 1 gallon of tea (depends on the brand of tea - mine took 16 bags)
4 Cups boiling water
10 Cups Cold Water
Juice from 1 Lemon

Syrup Ingredients:

1 Pint Blueberries
2 Cups Sugar
2 Cups Water

Directions:

Boil 4 Cups of water. Remove from heat and add tea bags - let steep for 10-15 minutes depending on how strong you like your tea.

While tea is brewing, make syrup. Add all syrup ingredients to a medium sized pot and bring to a boil over medium heat.
Cook until blueberries burst open and sugar has melted. Be sure not to turn the heat up too high so the sugar doesn't burn to the bottom of the pan. Strain the syrup over a large bowl to remove blueberry skins.

Stir in the juice of 1 lemon.

Remove tea bags from the water and pour tea into a 1-gallon pitcher. Add blueberry syrup to the pitcher and stir until well combined. Add the 10 cups of cold water and stir. Place pitcher in the fridge for a few hours to completely cool the tea. Serve with a fresh lemon wedge.

Beer Basted Pork Chops

2010-06-26T11:09:00.000-04:00

I've just recently begun to eat pork. I've never really been a fan of it, but I was really needing more variety in my diet so I decided to go ahead and try some new recipes that use pork. My husband was very skeptical about using beer as a marinade, but after grilling up these chops he changed his mind! We served ours with a side of southwest pasta salad.

Beer Basted Pork Chops

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs Boneless Pork Chops (we used thick cut chops)
1/2 Bottle Beer (We used Sam Adams Honey Wheat)
1/4 Cup Ketchup
1/8 Cup Brown Sugar, Packed
1/8 Cup White Balsamic Vinegar
1/8 Cup Dijon Mustard
3 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper

Directions:

Place pork chops in a large gallon freezer bag or other container for marinating. Whisk together all marinade ingredients in a large bowl and pour over pork chops. Let the chops marinate for 30 minutes or overnight. Grill until cooked through (time will depend on the thickness of your chops, our thick cut chops took about 20-25 minutes).

Menu Plan Monday - 6/21/2010

2010-06-21T20:21:00.002-04:00

Our menu plan this week is mostly meals from the freezer again. I can't wait to share some wonderful new recipes with you this week!

Breakfasts:

Cornmeal Blueberry Scones
Banana Blueberry Pancakes
Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Burritos (Recipe to Come)

Dinners:

Tequila Lime Chicken
Spanish Rice Casserole
Beer Basted Barbecued Pork Chops (Recipe to Come)
Mango-Cranberry Chicken
Jack Burgers (Recipe to Come)
Chicken Tostada Bake (Recipe to Come)
Baked Spaghetti

I hope that you all have a wonderful week! Check out www.orgjunkie.com for more delicous menus!

Tequila Lime Chicken

2010-06-21T20:12:00.002-04:00

Everyone knows that if something has tequila in it that it is totally my style. Who doesn't love a good margarita every now and then, right? This chicken definitely reminded me of drinking a margarita, and brown rice was a perfect pairing for it. I'm still trying to lose weight, so the chicken and brown rice combo is one you'll probably see a lot of on here in the coming weeks. I used up all my veggies, so no veggies tonight, just juicy chicken and tasty brown rice.

This is another marinate and freeze ahead recipe. I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients:

6lbs Chicken Breast
3/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1/2 Cup Margarita Mix
3 Tbsp Tequila
3 Tbsp Lime Juice
3 tsp Minced Garlic

Directions:

Divide chicken breast evenly among 4 freezer bags. In a large mixing bowl, combine remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth. Pour marinade evenly into each bag of chicken. Remove air from bags and freeze. On cooking day, thaw chicken and grill until cooked through. Or, you can bake the chicken at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Or...skip freezing and let the chicken marinade anywhere from 30 minutes to 8 hours and cook on the grill or in the oven. Delish!

Spanish Rice Casserole

2010-06-20T14:15:00.003-04:00

I've always been a big fan of the boxed Spanish Rice, but since my whole goal here is to get away from processed/boxed foods, I decided it was time to attempt my own. I wouldn't say this is anything like the boxed type, but we definitely will be making it again! I forgot to take a picture the night we ate the rice alone, so you'll have to settle for a picture of the leftovers served as a side dish to our tex mex chicken fingers!

Spanish Rice Casserole

Ingredients:
1lb Ground Meat (we used turkey)
4 Cups Red Sauce of your choice (we used homemade)
2 Cups Brown Rice, cooked and cooled
1 Cup Onion, Chopped
1 Cup Green Pepper, Chopped
1 Cup Zucchini and/or Summer Squash (I used half and half)
2 Cups Cheddar, Shredded

Directions:
Mix Meat, Sauce, Rice, and veggies in a large mixing bowl until evenly coated with sauce. Place in a 9x9 or 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle cheese over top and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Tex Mex Chicken Fingers

2010-06-20T13:55:00.003-04:00

My kids, like most, love chicken fingers. In fact, they would probably eat them for every meal of the day if I would allow it! During my freezer cooking weekend, I made 6lbs of these chicken fingers, and everyone has been enjoying them. We've been enjoying them so much that I've decided that these will be a new staple in our household. The great part is that you can make a ton of them in advance and pop them in the freezer and then pop them right in the oven without thawing them out - and you can also make only as many as you need or want at a time. I like to serve these with leftover Spanish Rice casserole (don't worry, that recipe is coming too!). Yum!

Tex Mex Chicken Fingers - From the Book "Fix Freeze Feast"

Ingredients:

6lbs Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
4 Eggs, lightly beaten
6 Cups Plain Breadcrumbs
3 Tbsp Ground Cumin
3 Tbsp Garlic Powder
2 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 Tbsp Salt
1 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper

Directions:

Rinse and trim chicken. Cut each half-breast into three strips. Set aside.

Place eggs in a shallow dish. In a large bowl, combine breadcrumbs, cumin, garlic, chili powder, salt, and cayenne pepper.

Dip each chicken strip into the egg mixture and then into the breadcrumb mixture, being sure each strip is fully coated. Place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment. Cover each baking sheet with plastic wrap. Place in freezer until frozen solid. Once frozen, remove from baking sheet and store in a freezer bag.

When ready to cook, take chicken fingers directly from freezer and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until chicken pulls apart easily and is no longer pink in the center of the thickest portion.

Mango Cranberry Chicken

2010-06-20T13:38:00.003-04:00

This was our first week of eating out of the freezer, and it was a giant success. One of my favorite meals so far was the Mango-Cranberry Chicken. We served ours over brown rice and enjoyed every bite of it, even the kids liked it! I've modified the recipe for cooking right away, but we made a quadruple batch so we'd be able to freeze enough to have it a few times.

Mango-Cranberry Chicken

Ingredients:

1-1 1/2 lbs Boneless Chicken Breast, cut into 1" chunks
1/4 Cup Dried Mango, Chopped
1/8 Cup Dried Cranberries
1/4 Cup Boiling Water
1/2 Cup Mango Chutney
1/8 Cup Rice Vinegar
1/8 Cup Onion, minced
2 tsp Garlic, minced
2 tsp Sesame Oil (or oil of your choice)
2 tsp Curry Powder

Directions:

Place chicken in a gallon sized freezer bag, set aside. Place mango and cranberries in a medium bowl and pour boiling water into bowl over the fruits. Stir. Add chutney, vinegar, onion, garlic, oil, and curry powder, stir. Pour marinade into freezer bag over chicken. Let marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes, or as long as overnight.

Pour chicken with marinade into a large skillet and cook over medium heat until meat is cooked through (about 15-20 minutes). Serve over warm rice or noodles.

*Note if making this for the freezer, make sure all air is out of the freezer bag and place meal in freezer directly after pouring the marinade in the bag. When you take the bag out to thaw the night before cooking, the meat will marinate as it thaws.

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls

2010-06-16T06:50:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite recipes from freezer cooking day was the chocolate chip cinnamon rolls. They weren't too difficult to make, and they were absolutely delicious. The recipe we used made 5 (yes 5) dozen cinnamon rolls in the end! It said it would make 4 dozen but we must have rolled them out a little bigger than the recipe suggested. Either way they were absolutely deliciouys!

I've halved the recipe for future uses (and so it fits in a mixing bowl).

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls - Taste of Home

Ingredients:

DOUGH:

2 packages active dry yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp)
1-1/4 cups warm water (110° to 115°)
1.5 cups warm milk (110° to 115°)
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 eggs
1/2 cup honey
2 teaspoons salt
7 cups all-purpose flour

FILLING:

3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/8 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 package (12 ounces) miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

GLAZE:

1.5 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 4 tablespoons milk

Directions:

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water; let stand 5 minutes. Add the milk, butter, eggs, honey, salt and 1.5 cups flour; beat on low for 3 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a large greased bowl; turning once. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Turn onto a floured surface; divide into two pieces. Roll each into a 14-in. x 8-in. rectangle; spread with butter. Combine the brown sugar, chips and cinnamon; sprinkle over dough to within 1/2 in. of edges and press into dough.

Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal. Cut each into 12 slices. Place cut side down in four greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dishes. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks.

For glaze, in a large bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, butter, vanilla and enough milk to achieve desired consistency; drizzle over rolls.

Freezer Cooking Day - June 12, 2010

2010-06-13T15:40:00.000-04:00

For weeks I've been waiting patiently for my freezer cooking day. I've done freezer cooking before, but it's always been by myself while trying to watch two children. Yesterday, I got together with Heather from Out of The Box Into the Kitchen and we cooking for 8 hours straight. Not only did we get a ton of cooking accomplished, we had childless time together to catch up and get some "adult" time. For our lunch break, we even splurged and had a margarita.

These are the ingredients we started with (except for meat which was in the fridge or coolers)

Here are some of our "work in progress" pictures:

Pumpkin French Toast Sticks:

Breakfast Burrito Filling:

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls:

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins (aka Leaning Tower of Muffins):

Blueberry Scones (they had a small accident but we were able to save most of them)

Veggie Lasagna:

Here is what we had when we were done cooking for the day:

When the day was done, here is what we accomplished:

Denise's Black Beans - 2 meals
Tequila Lime Chicken - 4 meals
Mango-Cranberry Chicken - 4 meals
Breakfast Burritos - 30 burritos
Pineapple Chicken Fajitas - 2 meals
Spanish Rice - 6 meals
Jack Burgers - 4 meals
Veggie Lasagna - 2 meals
Baked Spaghetti - 2 meals
Sausage Calzone - 2 meals
Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins - 4 dozen
Banana Blueberry Pancakes - 30 total
Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls - 4 dozen
Pumpkin French Toast - 6 dozen
Blueberry Scones (I forgot how many we ended up with, probably 2 dozen, maybe more)

Also, I did some more cooking at home to go along with this so I'd have enough food for the entire month.

Here's what I made on my own this morning:

Tropical Smoothie - 8 meals
Berry Smoothie - 8 meals
4 B's Pork Chops - 4 meals
Sweet Chicken Tostada Filling - 5 meals
Chili - 8 Quarts
Cranberry-Apple Pork Loin - 3 meals
Tex Mex Chicken Fingers - 3 meals

I was also able to get 4 quarts of chicken stock from the chickens I made to make the tostada filling. I also have enough frozen veggie scraps to make 2 crock pots of vegetable stock.

Maybe this will give you an idea of just how much food we have prepared in our freezer now.

These are pics of my upstairs freezer:

And this is the freezer in our spare fridge in the basement:

Altogether, between what we made at Heather's yesterday and what I made here today, I have 70 meals worth of food in my freezer. This includes both breakfasts and dinners. I feel very accomplished, and very excited to not have to cook for a while. This was a lot of work but I think it will really pay off when I get home from work at night and I don't have to spend all that time preparing dinner.

Breakfast Casserole

2010-06-08T06:49:00.000-04:00

This weekend I was searching for something delicious to take to a friend's house for breakfast. After battling a double ear infection and sinus infection all week, I wanted something not too time consuming that would taste absolutely delicious. I also didn't want to go to the store so I needed something using ingredients I had on hand. After searching through the Taste of Home website, I stumbled upon a recipe for Amish Breakfast Casserole. It was exactly what I needed, except I didn't have all the ingredients. Instead, I decided to wing it and change a bunch of ingredients...and it was a winner!

Breakfast Casserole (adapted from Taste of Home)

Ingredients:

1 pound apple flavored chicken sausage (or your choice of breakfast meat), chopped
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
6 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1-1/2 cups (12 ounces) 4% cottage cheese
1-1/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

In a large skillet, cook sausage and onion until sausage is browned; drain. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; stir in sausage mixture. Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Menu Plan Monday - 6/7/2010

2010-06-07T12:46:00.000-04:00

Since I've been slacking lately and not meal-planning, I made sure that I jumped back on the wagon today and got to planning even though I'm still not feeling 100% yet. This week is an attempt to clean out the freezer before this week's freezer cooking day on Saturday!

Breakfasts:
Oatmeal Squares
Breakfast Casserole (recipe to come)
Cereal
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (from the freezer)

Dinners:
Monday - Chicken Broccoli Pasta Toss (recipe to come)
Tuesday - Pasta with homemade meat sauce (sauce recipe to come)
Wednesday - Chili Mac
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Chicken Cordon Bleu Pizza (recipe to come)
Saturday - Burgers/Hot Dogs (Freezer Cooking Day)
Sunday - Whole Chicken, Potatoes, and veggies

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Check out www.orgjunkie.com for more yummy menu ideas!

Oatmeal Squares

2010-06-06T20:35:00.001-04:00

As a child, my stepdad used to make the most delicious chocolate oatmeal squares for dessert. I've been asking for the recipe for years but have yet to get it from him. Today I decided to experiment and make my own version and it was a hit! In fact, I think I might have to make these for him and see what he thinks. I like to serve them warm out of the oven, but they are also good chilled with a dollop of whipped cream on top.

Oatmeal Squares

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups quick cooking oats, divided
1 recipe - Chocolate Pudding

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x9 baking pan and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla extract and beat until fluffy. Add flour, baking soda, and 1 3/4 cup of the oats, forming a thick dough.

Press 2/3 of the dough mixture into the bottom of the 9x9 baking pan. Add cooled pudding to top of dough. Add 1/4 cup of oats to the remaining dough. Scatter by teaspoonful over top of pudding, leaving some of the pudding exposed. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes. Serve warm, or chill in refrigerator and serve cool with whipped cream on top.

Chocolate Pudding

2010-06-06T20:23:00.000-04:00

One thing that I've found that I keep buying in boxes instead of making from scratch is pudding. I'm a big fan of it, and I've always just found it easy to pour the box into a pot, add milk, and cook. Today, I took a giant leap and made a batch from scratch and it was delicious - and since it's summer, I attempted it in the microwave and it came out awesome!

Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients:

1/3 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Cocoa
3Tbsp Cornstarch
1/2 tsp Salt
2 Cups Milk (I used 1%)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Add dry ingredients to a 2Qt microwave safe container. Whisk in milk slowly, trying to avoid lumps. Microwave for 3 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir. Return to microwave in one minute intervals, stirring after each minute, until pudding reaches desired thickness. I did mine for the initial three minutes and then 3 one-minute intervals for a total of 6 minutes.

Baked Veggie Chips

2010-06-04T13:51:00.000-04:00

Hello there readers! I've been battling what I thought was horrible allergies for the past week, but after finally going to the doctor today found out that I'm actually battling a sinus infection and double ear infection. Needless to say - I've been living on a diet of chicken broth and ice cream the past few days and my family has been eating from the freezer. However, I wanted to share a fun new recipe with you even though I can't enjoy it myself right now!

I saw this recipe in a taste of home magazine and I thought the chips looked delicious. I have all the ingredients in my fridge just waiting to be made into lovely chips. I can't wait to try these!

Baked Veggie Chips

Ingredients:

1/2 pound fresh beets (about 2 medium)
1 medium potato
1 medium sweet potato
1 medium parsnip
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Dash pepper

Directions:

Peel vegetables and cut into 1/8-inch slices. Place in a large bowl. Drizzle with oil. Combine the remaining ingredients; sprinkle over vegetables and toss to coat.

Arrange in a single layer in two ungreased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pans. Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown, turning once. Yield: 3-1/2 cups.

Freezer Cooking Plan - June 2010

2010-06-01T19:59:00.000-04:00

I've decided to go ahead and try this monthly menu thing. I've been doing a weekly menu for quite some time, but since I've taken up freezer cooking I've decided that a monthly menu just makes more sense.

Next week I'll be doing my first joint cooking day with Heather from Out of the Box Into the Kitchen. We are planning on preparing a total of 16 recipes for a total of 32 meals.

We've decided on a mixture of breakfast and dinner recipes for our first round of freezer cooking. We've also decided on many recipes that can be prepared on the grill or in the crock pot to limit the use of the oven during hot summer days.

Breakfasts:
Pumpkin French Toast Sticks
Blueberry Banana Pancakes
Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls
Breakfast Burritos
Cornmeal Blueberry Scones
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

Dinners:
Monterey Jack Burgers (with homemade burger buns)
Tequila Lime Chicken
Spanish Rice
Vegetable Lasagna
Mango-Cranberry Chicken
Sausage/Onion/Pepper Calzones
Denise's Black Beans w/ Kielbasa
Sloppy Joe's (with homemade rolls)
Three Cheese Baked Spaghetti
Chicken Tortilla Bake

Banana Blueberry Pancakes

2010-06-01T06:51:00.000-04:00

I've been looking for some new pancake recipes lately, and I stumbled upon this one in an old Taste of Home magazine. This made just enough pancakes for my family of 4, so I think I'll try doubling the recipe next time so we have some leftovers. They were delicious and I'll definitely be making another batch to keep in my freezer. Sorry, no picture, they were all gone by the time I remembered!

Banana Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1-1/4 cups fat-free milk
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Combine the egg, milk, bananas and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a hot griddle coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with blueberries. Turn when bubbles form on top; cook until second side is golden brown.

Foodie Friday

2010-05-28T06:43:00.000-04:00

Since I was a slacker this week and didn't get around to cooking much in this crazy 90 degree weather, I thought I'd take a moment to share a list of recipes that have piqued my interest this week.

Buffalo Chicken Pot Pie from Out of the Box Into the Kitchen
Mom's Crustless Pumpkin Pie from Tried-and-True Cooking With Heidi
Wheat Crackers from All Home Cooking
Weekend Company Breakfast Casserole from Mommy's Kitchen

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend - I'll be sharing some yummy recipes this week (I promise!).

Summer is Here (almost)

2010-05-26T06:35:00.001-04:00

Hello readers! I know my posts have been few and far between the past week, but I promise you that there are good things to come in the next couple of days. It's been extremely hot here in Massachusetts (90's the past few days), and so my meal plan this week went out the window as I just can't bring myself to turn on the oven!

Hot or not, I'm planning to do quite a bit of cooking this weekend for my freezer, I'll be including things such as marinades, summer salads, and maybe even a few summer dessert recipes if I get around to make them.

Now tell me - what are your favorite summer recipes?

Cake Batter Ice Cream

2010-05-23T19:30:00.000-04:00

I was out and about on Friday and I came across an awesome deal - a 1.5qt ice cream maker for $19! I couldn't wait to get it home and try it out. All I could think about the whole way home was cake batter ice cream from coldstone creamery. I had all the ingredients on hand except for heavy cream, so I decided to try it out with all low fat milk - it came out delicious, but not as creamy as I would have liked. Next time I'll definitely try it with the heavy cream like the recipe suggests. I cut out a bit of the sugar after reading the comments on the recipe and I think it turned out plenty sweet.

Cake Batter Ice Cream - Adapted from RecipeZaar

Ingredients:

1 Cup Milk, well chilled(I used 1% milk)
1/2 Cup Sugar (original recipe called for 3/4 cup)
2 Cups Heavy Cream, well chilled (I used 1% milk here as well)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2/3 Cup Yellow Cake Mix

Directions:

Place freezer bowl of ice cream maker in the freezer.

In a medium bowl, whisk milk and sugar until sugar has fully dissolved. Stir in cream and vanilla. Whisk in the cake mix, being sure there are no lumps.

Pour mixture into freezer bowl and turn ice cream maker on. Let mix until fully thickened, about 25-30 minutes. Transfer ice cream to another freezer container and place in freezer to harden further. Wash freezer bowl and return to freezer so it is ready to go for your next batch of ice cream.

Graham Crackers

2010-05-22T20:05:00.000-04:00

My son loves graham crackers, you know, the crunchy store bought rectangle ones. For months I have been telling myself I have to try making my own but of course, something always comes up that keeps me from actually doing it. Today, I finally got around to making them, and something tells me that there is no way my little guy will touch a store bought graham cracker again! These come out of the oven soft, but after a few minutes of cooling, they crisp up perfectly. I'll be making more of these very soon - the first batch is almost gone already!

Graham Crackers (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Ingredients:

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar, packed
1 tsp Salt (4 grams)
7 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen
1/3 Cup Honey
5 Tbsp Milk
2 Tbsp Vanilla

Directions:

Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer (or use hand mixer with large bowl). Mix on low until well combined. Add the butter and mix on low, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal.

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, milk, and vanilla extract. Add to the flour mixture and mix on low until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky. Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and dust it lightly with flour, then turn the dough out onto it and pat it into a rectangle about 1-inch thick. Wrap it, then chill it until firm, about 2 hours.

Divide dough in half, return other half to the refrigerator. Spread a thin layer of flour over work surface and roll dough out into a rectangle, about 1/8" thick . Cut into 2" squares. Place crackers on parchment lined baking sheet(s). Repeat with other half of dough. Place sheets in freezer for about 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove sheets from freezer and decorate each cracker with a toothpick by placing 3 rows of 3 dots on each cracker. My 3 year old did the cracker decorating for me and she had a wonderful time doing it, and each cracker has it's own "personality" as she made smiley faces and other pics with the toothpick on the crackers instead of following my 9 dot example. If desired, you may sprinkle the crackers with cinnamon sugar at this point - we did half with cinnamon sugar, half without.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Crackers will be slightly spongy/soft when they come out, but they will crisp up after a few minutes of cooling. I got about 40 2" squares from this recipe.

Creamy Garlic Sauce

2010-05-17T21:21:00.000-04:00

I created this sauce to use in my creamy pepperoni pasta, but I think I stumbled upon a new favorite pasta sauce! I'm a big fan of white sauce, but I don't care for the ones you can buy in the store. Finally I have the perfect solution!

Creamy Garlic Sauce

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash white pepper
1 cup 2% milk

Directions:

In a small saucepan, melt butter and garlic over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Creamy Pepperoni Pasta

2010-05-17T21:12:00.000-04:00

I'm always looking for new ways to make pasta - this one was definitely a winner for me. I think it would have even been great without the meat. In fact, next time I just might make a veggie version!

Creamy Pepperoni Pasta

1 package (16 ounces) pasta (I used Penne)
1 Cup, Creamy Garlic sauce
1 Cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 Cup Pepperoni, Chopped
1/2 cup each chopped onion, green pepper and tomato
1/2 cup half-and-half cream ( I used the fat free version)
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions.

In the meantime, make garlic cream sauce.

Drain pasta. In a large bowl, combine the pasta, creamy garlic sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, onion, green pepper, tomato, half-and-half, broth and seasonings.

Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cover and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until bubbly.

Menu Plan Monday - 5/17/2010

2010-05-17T06:41:00.000-04:00

This week we have a menu plan full of new and exciting recipes. I'm planning to share the recipes as I make them. We finally have a non-hectic week, so I'm looking forward to having time to cook again!

Breakfasts:
Blueberry Banana Pancakes
Cranberry White Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls
Baked Berry Oatmeal
Yogurt
Fruit
Granola

Dinners:
Monday - Creamy Pepperoni Pasta
Tuesday - Leftover BBQ pork from Sunday (Hubby will be at volleyball league)
Wednesday - Zucchini Casserole
Thursday - Easy Chicken Pot Pie
Friday - Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce with Pasta
Saturday - Tequila Lime Chicken
Sunday - Polynesian Pork Loin

For more yummy menus, be sure to check out www.orgjunkie.com

Apricot Granola Bars

2010-05-16T19:00:00.000-04:00

I've always been a fan of granola bars, and up until recently I've always bought the prepackaged ones in the grocery store. I always thought that making granola bars would be really difficult. Imagine my surprise when I found out how easy it was! I made these with my daughter today and we had a ton of fun!

Apricot Granola Bars

Ingredients:

6 Tbsp Butter, softened
1-1/2 cups Mini Marshmallows
1/2 cup Apricot Preserves
1/4 cup Brown Sugar, packed
4 Cups Cinnamon raisin granola
1 Cup diced dried apricots

Directions:

Line a 8x8 pan with wax paper. Grease the wax paper lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a microwave safe bowl, add 6 butter, mini marshmallows, apricot preserves, and brown sugar. Microwave in 30 seconds intervals until ingredients are melted and there are no lumps.

In a large bowl, combine granola and dried apricots.

Add marshmallow mixture and stir until all of the oats are coated.

Press the oat mixture into the prepared 8x8 pan.

Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until mixture is firm. Cut into 16 bars. Store in airtight container.

Cinnamon Raisin Granola

2010-05-16T18:56:00.001-04:00

As a kid, I remember always begging my mom to buy me Kellogg's Low Fat Granola cereal. Every once in a while she would buy it, but most of the time we stuck with cheerios or chex. About six months ago, I found out how easy it was to make my own granola and I've been doing it ever since. This is my basic granola recipe and it has become a staple in our house. I sometimes like to eat it in a bowl with milk, but I also like to use it to top off yogurt or even ice cream!

Cinnamon Raisin Granola

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Butter
1/2 cup Honey
4 cups Old Fashioned Oats
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Raisins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a microwave safe dish, melt butter and honey together. In the meantime, combine oats, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Once butter/honey mixture is melted, pour into the large bowl and mix well making sure that all oats are coated with the mixture (do not add raisins until after baking or they will get really hard).

Spread the mixture onto a cookie sheet and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, flip granola about 1/2 way through to ensure browning on all sides.

Once removed from oven, mix in the raisins and let the mixture cool. Store in an airtight container or separate into single serve bags (1/2 cup servings) if preferred.

Wheat Hamburger Rolls

2010-05-15T11:49:00.001-04:00

I haven't had much time for cooking the past couple of days. My son fell at daycare yesterday and took his first trip to the emergency room. He was running and tripped, when he fell forward he hit his face on a little tykes piano and his two top front teeth were partly pushed back up into his gums and one of them twisted a bit. They treated him for the pain and he had a consult with an oral surgeon who told us that because he is just 18 months old the teeth should come back down once the swelling subsides, and there is no worry about if he did any damage to his "adult" teeth because they haven't fully developed up above the baby teeth yet. So, I admit...we ate takeout last night after a hectic day. This morning he is very swollen, he's got two fat lips and bruising around his mouth and nose, but he is his normal happy self and hasn't complained a bit!

This morning, my daughter went to the playground with my mom and step-dad to play and when I put the little man down for his nap I finally got some much needed time in the kitchen. I have been telling myself for months now that I was going to attempt making my own hamburger buns and this morning I finally got the chance to try it. I've got BBQ Pork in the crock pot right now, so the buns will come in handy tonight when we get home from my daughter's ballet recital. My favorite part about these buns is that they were quick and didn't need rise time - just 10 minutes to rest before popping them in the oven.

Wheat Hamburger Rolls

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast
1 Cup plus 2 Tbsp Warm Water
1/3 Cup Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Cups White Bread Flour
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Stir in the oil and sugar, and let the mixture stand for 5 minutes.

Add the egg, salt, white flour, and 1 1/2 cups of the wheat flour. Combine using paddle attachment on mixer until a soft dough forms. Remove paddle attachment and change to dough hook. Add the additional 1/4 cup of wheat flour to keep the dough from sticking to the hook too much. Knead the dough on low speed until dough is smooth and elastic (about 2-3 minutes).

Divide the dough into 8 pieces, shape each into a thick disc, and place them on baking sheets about 3 inches apart. Cover loosely and let rest for 10 minutes.

Bake rolls for 10-12 minutes or until nicely browned. Cool on wire rack.

Once a Month Cooking

2010-05-14T16:10:00.001-04:00

The past few months I've been doing a lot of researching on once a month cooking (OAMC). I've had a couple of freezer cooking days in the past few months, but it's always been maybe a 1/2 a day dedicated to cooking and I haven't been very good at organizing at all.

I've decided that for June I really want to do a full day of cooking and see just how well I can do with this OAMC stuff.

I've downloaded some great organizational tools from Money Saving Mom and 30 Day Cafe, and I've already got some great recipes I want to try. Now all I have to do is make a plan, make a grocery list, and get to work.

How many of my readers out there do OAMC or even just some freezer cooking? I'd love to hear your thoughts, ideas, or favorite tips for cooking for the freezer, shopping once a month, or even money saving tips for OAMC or freezer cooking.

Banana Bread

2010-05-11T21:17:00.000-04:00

I've always been a big fan of banana bread. There are so many different recipes out there, but this one that I found in my newest Taste of Home cookbook is my new favorite! One recipe makes two delicious loaves. Last night, I decided to make french toast (pictured above) with it and oh my goodness, it was out of this world!

Banana Bread w/ Orange Glaze (adapted from Taste of Home)

Bread Ingredients:

3/4 Cup Butter, softened
8oz Cream Cheese, softened
2 Cups Sugar
2 eggs
4 Medium Ripe Bananas, mashed
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour (I did 2 cups regular, 1 cup wheat)
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt

Glaze Ingredients:

1 Cup Confectioner's Sugar
3 Tbsp orange juice
1 tsp orange zest

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well in between. Beat in bananas and vanilla.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture until combined well.

Transfer batter to two well greased bread pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

In a small bowl, whisk the glaze ingredients. drizzle over loaves when they come out of the oven. Cool for 10 minutes in bread pan then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Menu Plan Monday - 5/10/2010

2010-05-10T06:15:00.000-04:00

We've got a really busy week this week. My daughter's ballet recital is on Saturday and she has a dress rehearsal Wednesday night and I have a late meeting for work on Thursday night. Hubby plays in volleyball league on Tuesday night so that leaves only Monday and Friday where we'll all be here for dinner. Lots of meals from the freezer this week!

Breakfasts:
S'mores Muffins
Banana Bread
Cereal
Yogurt
Fruit
Oatmeal

Lunches - Leftovers as usual :)

Dinners:

Monday - Spaghetti and Meatballs
Tuesday - Burritos
Wednesday - Chicken Tetrazzini
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - BBQ Chicken Pizza
Saturday - BBQ Pork Hamburgers (recipe to come)
Sunday - Hawaiian Turkey Meatballs w/ Rice

S'mores Muffins

2010-05-09T19:53:00.001-04:00

Anybody who knows me knows that one of my favorite flavor combinations in the whole wide world is the classic chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker combo. A few months back, I tried a smores brownie recipe that I found on Joy the Baker, and it was absolutely fabulous. My favorite ice cream is the Ben and Jerry's Marsha Marsha Mallow - who wouldn't love ice cream with giant chunks of fudge, graham cracker bits and gooey marshmallow...really? Anyway, I've been trying to come up with some new breakfast recipes and I hadn't made muffins in a while. I stumbled upon a recipe in a Taste of Home cookbook called "I want s'more muffins". I wasn't thrilled with some of the ingredients (or the fact that it only made 6 muffins), so I decided to experiment a little and come up with my own little rendition of it. When I tried the batter, I wasn't sure if it would even make it to the muffin cups it was so delicious! I think I've found my new favorite breakfast!

S'mores Muffins

Ingredients:

6 Tbsp Butter, Softened
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
1/4 Cup Sugar
2/3 Cup Sour Cream
1 1/3 Cups Flour (I did white this time, next time I'm going to try doing 1/2 whole wheat)
1 Cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 Cup Milk
2/3 Cup Chocolate Chips
Mini Marshmallows

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Stir in sour cream. In another bowl, combine flour, graham cracker crumbs, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and baking soda. Add creamed mixture to dry ingredients, add milk a little at a time. The batter will be a bit thick. Fold in chocolate chips.

Grease a 12-cup muffin pan. Add 1 Tbsp of batter to the bottom of each cup. Add 4-5 mini marshmallows to the top of each muffin cup.

Top with remaining batter filling cups until they are about 3/4 full.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in pan before transferring to wire rack to cool.

Parmesan Garlic Noodles

2010-05-07T06:37:00.001-04:00

When I made chicken cordon bleu the other night, I couldn't decide what to make for a side dish. I originally thought I'd make rice but then I decided that I felt like something with a little more flavor. Back before I changed my eating habits, I would have made one of those lipton noodle pouches to go with it. Instead, I decided to try and make my own. They came out wonderful and we were able to eat the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Garlic Parmesan Noodles

Ingredients:

1 pkg Wide Egg Noodles
8oz Cream Cheese
1/2 Cup Butter, softened, divided
2 Tbsp Parsley
1 tsp dried Basil
1/2 tsp Lemon-pepper seasoning
2/3 Cup Boiling Water
1 Garlic Clove, minced
2/3 Cup grated Parmesan Cheese, divided

Directions:

Cook noodles according to package. In the meantime, combine the cream cheese, 2Tbsp butter, parsley, basil, and lemon-pepper in a small bowl. Stir in boiling water, keep warm.

In a saucepan, saute garlic and remaining butter until garlic is golden in color. Drain noodles, place in a serving bowl. Top with garlic butter and sprinkle with 1/3 cup of the parmesan cheese. Toss lightly. Spoon cream sauce over noodles and sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese.

Mandarin Orange Poke Cake

2010-05-06T06:43:00.000-04:00

While I was cleaning out my pantry last weekend, I stumbled upon three cans of mandarin oranges. Rather than throw them away, I decided to find something to make with them. While searching, I stumbled upon this poke cake recipe on recipe land. I modified it from the original because of my husband's nut allergies. The original contains 1/2 cup of chopped pecans. It was super simple to make and absolutely delicious!

Mandarin Orange Poke Cake - Modified from Recipe Land

Cake Ingredients:

1 Cup Flour
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 can (11oz) Mandarin Oranges (in light syrup), do not drain

Topping Ingredients:

3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
3 Tbsp Butter
3 Tbsp Milk

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix all cake ingredients. Pour into a greased 8x8 pan and cook for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Just before taking cake out of the oven, prepare the topping. To do this, place all topping ingredients in a sauce pan over med heat until they come to a boil (stir frequently to prevent sugar from burning). Once boiling, stir for 30 seconds and then remove from heat.

Remove cake from oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes. Poke holes in the cake using a fork. Pour topping over the cake and let sit uncovered to cool.

Enchilada Sauce

2010-05-05T19:38:00.000-04:00

So here's the enchilada sauce recipe I promised this morning! It was perfect for the burritos I made and much less salty tasting than the canned stuff you can buy in the store.

Enchilada Sauce

Ingredients:

2 cups chicken broth
4 Tbs Chili Powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 heaping tsp. garlic powder (with no salt added)
3/4 tsp. salt
1 pinch ground cinnamon (less than 1/16 tsp.)
1/3 tsp. sugar
5 Tbs. cold water
5 Tbs. white flour

Directions:

Add the chicken broth, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt, cinnamon and sugar in a medium sized sauce pan. Whisk to mix everything together. Heat to a boil, reduce heat to a low boil and cook for 3 minutes. Whisking frequently to keep lumps from forming.

While the sauce is on a slow simmer/boil, add 5 tablespoons of cold water in a small bowl.With another whisk mix 1 tablespoon of flour at a time. Try not to have any lumps in the flour mixture by the time the last tablespoon of flour is added.

After 3 minutes of cooking sauce, turn the heat up to high. Slowly pour the flour mixture into the boiling sauce. Whisk sauce continuously to avoid lumps in your sauce as you add the flour mixture. After all the flour is added, continue to whisk for one minute. Remove from heat and serve.

Burritos For the Freezer

2010-05-05T06:38:00.000-04:00

I've been saying I was going to share this recipe for a while now, but I just finally got around to making these during my freezer cooking day this weekend. I stumbled upon this recipe at Amy's Finer Things and it looked so easy and delicious that I thought it would fit in perfect to our meal plan. I changed a few things, but they were just as delicious as they sounded!

Burritos for the Freezer (Adapted from Amy's Finer Things)

Ingredients:

2 lb. Ground Turkey
2 cans refried beans
1 1/3 c. enchilada sauce (I make my own, I'll post this recipe as well)
1/2 c. water
1/4 Cup onion, minced
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried oregano
3 c. shredded Mexican cheese
20 large flour tortillas

Directions:

Brown ground turkey in a pan, drain and set aside. Add remaining ingredients (except tortillas), bring to a boil. Add turkey back to pan and mix to coat with sauce. Reduce heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Heat tortillas 3-4 at a time. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the mixture onto each tortilla and roll up like a burrito. Because I'm freezing these, I rolled them up in a paper towel first and then in foil for each one as Amy suggested in the original recipe. I found that you can unwrap the foil and then just pop the burrito in the microwave right in the paper towel to heat it up when you are ready to eat. It was very convenient!

I got exactly 20 burritos out of this recipe.

Krispy-Fried Chicken Cordon Bleu

2010-05-04T06:44:00.001-04:00

Growing up, it was just me and my mom for the most part, and I remember as a kid that we would eat a lot of those frozen stuffed chicken breasts that you just pop in the oven. Probably with that we would have either rice or one of those packaged lipton flavored noodle packages. Of course when I grew up, I found myself following that same trend. Let's face it, even though they aren't good for us - they are delicious.

I decided that it was time to try something new and exciting, so here it is. We had no swiss cheese, so we compromised and used mozzarella instead - it was delicious! Also, I made a side dish of homemade garlic parmesan noodles to go with it.

Krispy-Fried Chicken Cordon Bleu

Ingredients:

4 Boneless, Skinless, Chicken breast halves
1-2 Cups Rice Krispy Cereal
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 Cup milk
4 Slices lean deli ham, sliced thin
4 Slices Swiss Cheese (or cheese of your choice, we tried mozzarella)
Lemon Pepper Seasoning, to taste
Thyme (a pinch for each chicken breast)
Toothpicks (total of 8-12)

Directions:

Place one piece of chicken in a large ziploc bag (or between two layers of plastic wrap. Pound flat with meat mallet or rolling pin until chicken is about 1/8" thick. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces.

Lay chicken on a cutting board, smooth side down. Sprinkle inside of chicken with lemon pepper and thyme. Place a slice of ham and a slice of cheese on top of the chicken breast. Roll chicken breast from one short side to the other short side (jelly-roll style). Secure with 2-3 toothpicks.

Beat together eggs and milk in a large bowl. Place rice krispies in another bowl adjacent to the eggs. Dip each chicken roll into the egg mixture being sure to cover all sides. Roll chicken in rice krispies. Place chicken rolls in a greased 9x9 pan (or cookie sheet would work as well) and bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until chicken juices run clear.

Serve over a bed of Parmesan Garlic Noodles.

Chicken Tetrazzini

2010-05-03T21:10:00.001-04:00

I've been wanting to try this for a while and finally got around to it during my freezer cooking day this weekend. It was absolutely delicious and very simple to make. You could cook this as one large casserole instead of 2 for a larger family but half of this recipe (1 casserole) turned out to be just the right size for our family of four with enough for lunch the next day and I popped the second casserole right in the freezer so we'd have it for next week.

Ingredients:

1 (16 oz) pkg Vermicelli
1/2 cup Chicken broth
4 cups Chopped cooked chicken breast
2 cups cream of chicken soup
1 (8 oz) container sour cream
1 (6 oz) jar Sliced mushrooms, drained (I left these out)
1/2 cup (2 oz) shredded parmesan cheese
1 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp Salt
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Prepare spaghetti according to package directions; drain. Return to pot, and toss with chicken broth.

Stir together chopped cooked chicken, and next five ingredients in a large bowl; add vermicelli, and toss well. Spoon mixture into 2 lightly greased 11x7 inch baking dishes. Sprinkle evenly with cheddar cheese.

Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

May Freezer Cooking Days

2010-05-01T21:45:00.001-04:00

I didn't really get around to doing much for freezer cooking in April, but I was hoping to do better for May. I can't really seem to get a full day to work on cooking, so I've decided to do bi-weekly freezer meals this month and see how that goes.

This weekend I was able to get the following done:

Chicken Tetrazzini x 2
Brown Bag Burritos x 20
Honey Wheat Bread x 2

I'm hoping to get in another cooking day this weekend to make some more food as I only got about 1/2 a day's worth of cooking in this weekend.

Veggie Lasagna x 2
Chicken Pot Pie x 2
1 Point Chili x2
Banana Bread x 2

I'm starting my planning for July now as I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and I feel like I need to better organizing. Hoping maybe to get a friend or two together for a June cooking day!

Sweet & Sour Kielbasa

2010-04-29T19:44:00.001-04:00

Being a Polish girl, I can't help but love kielbasa. Ever since I was a little girl, my mom has been making sweet and sour kielbasa. A few years ago I finally asked her for the recipe and I've been making it ever since. Hopefully someday I'll be able to pass it down to my daughter as well. I like to make this and serve it over rice, but it's also good as an appetizer at a party or great to bring to a potluck dinner! (Sorry no pictures right now, this doesn't photograph very well!)

Sweet and Sour Kielbasa

Ingredients:

2-3lbs kielbasa, cut into 1/2" slices (I like to use turkey kielbasa but beef works just as well)
1 32oz Jar Grape Jelly
1 18oz Jar Apple Jelly
1 18oz Jar Orange Marmalade
1 32oz Jar Spicy Brown Mustard (I like to use Gulden's, but any one will do)

Directions:

Add jellies and mustard to 5Qt slow cooker and stir. Add sliced kielbasa and stir into the jelly mixture. Cook over low heat for 2-4 hours or until jellies are melted and kielbasa is cooked to your liking.

Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

2010-04-27T21:07:00.000-04:00

Being a mom of two and having a full time job, I don't get much of a chance to see my friends. Friday night, I had the opportunity to have the girls over for the night and I needed the perfect dessert to serve. It was a potluck and I figured that since most everyone was bringing appetizers and entrees, that I'd do dessert. We all LOVE cheesecake and when I came across this recipe in a Taste of Home book, I couldn't help but give it a try!

Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups Crushed Oreo Cookies
2 Tbsp Butter, melted
4, 8oz pkg Cream Cheese (I used 2 regular and 2 reduced fat)
1 1/4 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Sour Cream
1 tsp Vanilla extract
3 Eggs, lightly beaten
9oz Semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 Cup Seedless Raspberry Preserves

Directions:

Place a greased 9-inch springform pan on two sheets of aluminum foil, securely wrap foil around pan. Combine crushed cookies and butter. Press into bottom of springform pan.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Add eggs, beat on low speed until just combined. Set aside 1 cup of batter. Pour remaining batter over crust.

In a microwave, melt chocolate. Stir in preserves until blended. Stir chocolate mixture into reserved batter. Drop by tablespoonfuls over the plain batter (do not swirl). Place springform pan in a large baking pan. All 1 inch of hot water to larger pan (cooking this way will keep your cheesecake from cracking).

Bake at 325 degrees for 65-75 minutes. Center will be set and top will appear dull rather than shiny. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen. Cool 1 hour longer and then place in refrigerator overnight.

Menu Plan Monday - 4/26/2010

2010-04-26T19:44:00.000-04:00

We've had a ton going on this past week, and I haven't had a chance to post any new recipes...and that makes me sad! I promise this week I'll get back on the ball and post some new recipes. After all, I made an absolutely delicious Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake on Friday night for girls night that I'm sure you'll be dying to try!

My husband is on vacation this week, so things are going to be a little bit unusual this week. Also, tomorrow I'm going in for diabetes testing, so it is possible that our menu may change depending on the outcome of the that.

But, for now...our menu is as follows:

Breakfasts:
Pancakes (from the freezer)
Yogurt
Cold Cereal

Lunches:
Ham/Turkey Sandwiches
Leftovers

Dinners:
Monday - Ravioli with meat sauce
Tuesday - Chicken Nuggets (never got to these last week)
Wednesday - Mexicali Casserole
Thursday - Sweet and Sour Kielbasa w/ Rice
Friday - Pizza Soup
Saturday - Chicken Cordon Bleu
Sunday - Beef Stroganoff

Jelly Donut Muffins

2010-04-21T20:50:00.000-04:00

I found this recipe when going through blogs from the 5 Minutes for Mom Ultimate Blog Party! Honestly, who doesn't love donuts? Even better...who wouldn't want to eat a muffin that tastes EXACTLY like a donut? I'd like to send a special thanks out to Mrs. MamaHen for sharing this delicious recipe! Since we are on a low fat/cholesterol diet here, I swapped egg for egg beaters and regular jam for sugar free strawberry preserves.

Even my picky eater liked them!

Jelly Donut Muffins (adapted from Mrs. MamaHen)

Muffin Ingredients:

3 1/2 Cups Flour (I used 3 cups regular, 1/2 cup whole wheat)
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cup milk (I used 1%)
2/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Egg Beaters (or 2 whole eggs)
Jam or Preserves of your choice (we used sugar free strawberry preserves)

Topping Ingredients:

1 stick butter
2/3 Cup Sugar
2 tsp Cinnamon

Directions:

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, oil, and egg beaters (or eggs). Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix.

Grease two muffin tins (or skip greasing and use paper liners). Place 1 Tbsp of batter into the bottom of each muffin liner or cup. Place 1tsp of jam on top of each Tbsp of batter.

Top with more batter, filling each up until it is about 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Mix sugar and cinnamon for the topping. Melt a stick of butter and pour into a bowl. Dip the top of each muffin in the butter and then in the sugar/cinnamon mixture. After it sits for a few minutes, the sugar will harden and create a nice crunchy/sugary top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac & Cheese

2010-04-21T20:38:00.000-04:00

I saw a recipe for ranch mac & cheese in a taste of home magazine the other day, and I just couldn't help but modify it and make it. One of my favorite sandwiches ever is a chicken bacon ranch wrap. So, naturally when I saw ranch mac & cheese I just HAD to add chicken and bacon to it. It turned out great, nice and cheesy with a little bit of that ranch "tang" at the end.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

1 package (16 ounces) elbow macaroni
1 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon garlic pepper blend
1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
1/2 lb bacon, crumbled
1lb cooked chicken breast, chopped (or shredded)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Colby cheese
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1/2 cup crushed saltines
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Cook macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, combine the milk, butter, dressing mix and seasonings; heat through. Stir in chicken, bacon, monterey jack and colby cheeses until melted. Stir in sour cream.Drain macaroni; stir into cheese sauce with the saltines. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Gingerbread Pancakes

2010-04-19T09:25:00.000-04:00

Confession time! I'm a breakfast food addict...I could eat breakfast food for every meal for the rest of my life and be completely happy. I love all sort of pancakes, but I'm always looking forward to trying new things with them. I found a recipe for gingerbread pancakes, and I decided to go ahead and give them a try. I had to modify the recipe a bit as I found the batter was too thin. Next time I think I'll just cut down the liquid ingredients a bit, but this time, I just added some extra flour to compensate.

Gingerbread Pancakes

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp ground ginger
1 ½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
6 Tbsp molasses
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 cups buttermilk
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, whisk together molasses, oil, buttermilk and eggs. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine. If your batter looks too thin, add a little bit of flour until it looks the right consistency (using the original recipe, mine came out very watery so I just added flour as necessary).

Heat griddle over medium/medium-high heat. Drop by 1/4 cup full onto preheated griddle. When pancakes start to bubble, flip and finish cooking through. Serve with butter, maple syrup, and powdered sugar.

See...even my little guy thought they were delicous!

Menu Plan Monday - 4/19/2010

2010-04-19T09:08:00.000-04:00

It's Monday again and time to post our menu plan. We're trying to eat out of the pantry this week, so our meal plan was a bit of a challenge. Yesterday, I took a full written inventory of both freezers, upstairs cabinets, and our "pantry" in the basement and used that list to decide what we were eating for the week. We're trying to convert over to once a month shopping, but I could use some help. If anybody out there does once a month shopping and would like to help me out, I'll take any advice that you have.

I'm also hoping to do another freezer cooking day for May. I've already got a recipe list in the works!

Anyway, on to this weeks menu. This is a week of ALL new recipes. Daring I know!

Breakfasts:
Gingerbread pancakes (from the freezer)
Jelly Donut Muffins
Fruit
Yogurt
Oatmeal

Lunches - As usual, lunch will be leftovers taken to work. For the kids, they'll eat lunch at daycare.

Dinner:

Monday - Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac & Cheese (will post recipe tonight)
Tuesday - Quick and Easy Beef Stroganoff (recipe to come)
Wednesday - Leftovers (I have a hair appointment after work and hubby will be solo with the kids)
Thursday - Homemade Chicken Nuggets and fries
Friday - Appetizer and dessert night (having the girls over for girls night)
Saturday - Orange Chicken with Rice
Sunday - Mashed Potato Bowls (recipe to come!)

For more yummy meal plans, be sure to visit orgjunkie.com

My Second Blog Award!

2010-04-15T21:02:00.000-04:00

I was so excited to log in and see a comment from Angie at Angie's Healthy Living Blog nominating me for another blog award. I've really been putting a lot into my blog and I'm so glad to see that others are enjoying it! Thank you Angie!!

As is with most blog awards, there are some rules to follow here.

The Kreativ Blogger Award Rules:

1. Post the award.

2. Thank and mention the person who gave you the award.

3. Pass the award on to seven blogs who you think embody the spirit of the Kreativ Blogger Award.

4. Name seven things about yourself that others don't know.

5. Don't forget to notify your seven Bloggers about their award and post a link to their blog.

Thanks to the Ultimate Blog Party, I've "met" a lot of new and wonderful bloggers this week. There were so many to choose from, but I decided that I would pick 7 blogs that I just started following this week to help spread the word about their wonderful and interesting blogs!

1. Cindy at This Adventure, Our Life
2. Mama Bird at Mama Bird's Nest
3. Mrs. Mama Hen at Mrs. Mama Hen.com
4. Susie B. Homemaker at Susie B. Homemaker
5. Rachel at The Atwoods
6. Tammy-Lee at What's TJ Thinking
7. Holly at Living in a (Mostly) Happy SAHM World

And here goes nothing.... 7 things about me!

1. I know how to play three musical instruments - The Flute, Saxophone, and Clarinet
2. I'm an only child (ironically, my husband is also an only child)
3. I have a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and work a daytime job in IT Asset Management
4. I'd secretly love to be a stay at home mom, in fact I'm often jealous of those who can be. Unfortunately with the way the economy is here, I've got no choice but to work
5. I'd love to go back to college for Nursing, specializing in pediatrics or NICU
6. I like to drive alone with the radio turned up, dancing and singing behind the wheel
7. I'm addicted to cloth diapers, sadly I can't use them full time because my son is in daycare. But we use them when he's not at daycare and I wouldn't have it any other way!
8. And a BONUS one for you. I love to knit, in fact it's my stress relief when I'm not cooking my heart out. A second secret passion of mine would be to open my very own yarn/knitting shop.

Mexican Meatloaf with Salsa Noodles

2010-04-14T21:18:00.000-04:00

Due to sick kids and a busy weekend, I didn't have time to plan meals like I usually do. So, tonight was a fly by the seat of our pants kind of night for dinner. I fed the kids leftovers, and attempted to find something to do with the 2lbs of hamburger I had in the fridge. The hubby was in the mood for meatloaf, and I was in the mood for something spicy - so I got to creating! The end result was great, nice moist meatloaf with a side of salsa and cream cheese noodles. My husband was very disappointed at first that I wasn't whipping up some mashed potatoes with this meal, but as soon as he tasted the noodles he changed his mind. We'll definitely be making this one again!

Mexican Meatloaf

Ingredients:

2lbs ground beef (or turkey)
1 cup whole kernel corn
1 pkg taco seasoning (I make my own)
1 cup refried beans
1 cup shredded mexican cheese
1/2 cup salsa

Directions:
In a bowl, mix ground beef, corn, and taco seasoning. Add 1/2 of the meat mixture to the bottom of a bread pan. spread refried beans over the meat mixture and sprinkle with 1/2 of the mexican cheese. Place the rest of the meat mixture on top of the beans and cheese, pinching around the edges to seal the meat layers together. Top meatloaf with the rest of the cheese and pour the salsa over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes. Serve with a side of Salsa-Cream Cheese Noodles.

Salsa-Cream Cheese Noodles

Ingredients:

1/2-1 lb cooked egg noodles
2 cups salsa
4-6oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:

In a sauce pan, combine salsa and cream cheese over medium heat until cream cheese has melted and blends well with the salsa. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream. Mix sauce with cooked noodles. Serve.

Baked Ziti

2010-04-13T18:38:00.000-04:00

One of our favorite meals in our house is pasta. We love it all sorts of different ways, but one of our absolute favorites is baked ziti. We tend to change the recipe here and there, but for the most part we use this recipe. I apologize that I have a lack of pictures today. My camera battery died and I have to wait for it to charge up before I can take some more pics!

Baked Ziti

Ingredients:

1 lb ziti, cooked al dente
1 lb ground turkey (or lean ground beef)
1 onion, diced
2-3 Cups Pasta Sauce
1 Cup Low Fat Cottage Cheese
1 Cup Sour Cream
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

In a large skillet, brown ground meat and diced onion until meat is cooked through and onions are softened.

In a large bowl, add meat mixture, pasta sauce, cottage cheese, sour cream, and garlic. Add pasta and mix until pasta is well coated. Pour pasta mixture into a 9x11 casserole dish.

In a medium bowl, combine mozarella and parmesan cheese. Pour cheese mixture evenly across the top of the pasta in the casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Garden Planning

2010-04-11T19:38:00.000-04:00

Spring is finally here in Massachusetts, and I have gardening on my mind. Last year we had a small garden, but this year I have bigger, better, plans!

I'm hoping to get my husband to work building me a nice big raised garden bed. We're planning to plant zucchini, summer squash, green peppers, jalapenos, tomatoes (2 kinds), cucumbers, green beans, and maybe some lettuce. We tried broccoli last year, but we never got any, so I think I'm going to skip it this year. In my window box, I'll be growing fresh herbs, and in the side yard I plan to grow strawberries. We also have a plum tree in our front yard.

I'm really looking forward to the savings we'll get on produce for the summer. Besides that, there is nothing like fresh veggies right from the garden!

So tell me gardeners, what will you be growing this year? Do you have any handy tips for a 2nd year gardener?

Zucchini Summer Squash Parmesan w/ Chicken Sausage

2010-04-10T20:09:00.000-04:00

I had planned on making homemade gnocci for dinner tonight, but I had so much to do today that I didn't end up having the time to do it. I took a quick survey of what I had in the fridge, and all I had was some garlic flavored chicken sausage, zucchini, tomatoes, and summer squash. At first, I thought I was going to whip up some pizza dough and make some sort of squash/sausage pizza. Then I decided that I was kind of in the mood for pasta since our original plan had been gnocci. I didn't want to just steam the squash, so I decided to come up with my own little "squash parmesan" concoction. What started out as a completely unplanned meal ended up being absolutely delicious! This could also be prepared without the sausage for a vegetarian dish, for the us the sausage was an added bonus and it allowed us to use it before it went bad.

Zucchini & Summer Squash Parmesan w/ Chicken Sausage

Ingredients:

1lb Al Fresco Garlic Chicken Sausage, sliced
2 Summer Squash
2 Zucchini
1 Large Onion
2 tomatoes, diced
2 tsp Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1/2-1 Cup Italian Style Breadcrumbs (make your own using Italian Seasoning if you'd like!)
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1 lb cooked pasta of your choice (we used penne)
Pasta sauce of your choice

Directions:

In a large skillet, cook sliced chicken sausage and onions until sausage is browned on both sides and onions have slightly caramelized. Set sausage/onion mixture aside in a bowl. In the same skillet, add summer squash and zucchini, cook until squash beigns to soften. Add diced tomatoes to the skillet. Once the vegetables have cooked through, put them in the bottom of a 9x11 casserole dish. Top the vegetable layer with the sausage and onions. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle bread crumbs and parmesan evenly over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Serve over pasta with sauce.

**NOTE: An alternate way to doing this would be to dip the zucchini/summer squash in an egg mixture and then coat with breadcrumbs and line the bottom of the casserole dish - however I was out of eggs and this approach worked out good for me because the juice from the tomato helped the breadcrumbs stick to the veggies nicely.

Ultimate Blog Party 2010

2010-04-09T06:38:00.000-04:00

Five Minutes for Mom is hosting their 4th annual ultimate blog party, and I'm very excited to be joining in the fun this year! I've participated in other years on an old blog, but this is my first time participating from this one!

For those of you stopping by my blog for the first time, grab a drink and a snack, sit down, relax, and get ready to enjoy some super yummy recipes while I tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Amy. I've been married to my husband for two years now and we have two beautiful children. Our children were both born premature due to preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome, and truly are our miracles in life. I work a full time job. I love to cook, spend time with my children, go hiking, and of course, I love to blog!

Around Thanksgiving of 2009, our family decided to make some big changes. My husband and I have both gained quite a bit of weight since our marriage back in 2005, and we decided that it was time to lose the weight and get healthy. We joined weight watchers and the weight started falling off. However, after a point we hit a plateau. We realized that a lot of what we were eating was processed foods - when we checked the labels, there were times where we didn't even know what some of the ingredients in our food were. A good friend of mine had recently begun a journey to cut out processed foods, so we decided to join the bandwagon. We were able to cut out canned soups, packaged pasta/rice mixes, and even things like crackers and breads. I started this blog as a way to keep track of our recipes and our journey to getting healthy.

I hope you enjoyed your stay, and I hope you will come back to visit and enjoy some delicious recipes with us! Be sure to head back to 5 Minutes for Mom and visit lots of other fun and exciting blogs that are participating in the Ultimate Blog Party 2010!

Almost forgot! Here are the prizes I'd LOVE to win if I'm lucky! :)

The Grand Prize of course, who wouldn't love a new laptop?
US7 – Tupperware Prize Pack – the winner will receive a box filled with fun Tupperware goodies
US8 – Buds to Bloom Photo Tile Necklace ($95) – Features custom photo tile, hand stamped mom charm & bead cluster. The Ultimate Mommy Necklace!
US16 – A custom-made tutu for a baby or little girl. This can be made in any color combination you like (classic pink or your favorite team colors). Tutus made by Sweet Patootie’s are the fluffiest little girl tutus you’ll find – like a REAL ballerina’s tutu! Great for costumes OR everyday play!
US27 – One lucky winner will receive a Collected Recipes Cookbook binder, coordinating 8.5″ x 11 stationery, full page plastic protector sheets, and a pack of coordinating recipe cards.
US32 – $25 Target Gift Card!
US39 -Be My Guest certificate ($250 value) for one lucky winner, (2 night stay for a family of four) at any Hilton Garden Inn.
US42 – One winner will receive a copy of American Food Writing: An Anthology With Classic Recipes valued at $40!
US43 – A copy of Get Out!: 150 Ways For Kids and Grown-Ups to Get Into Nature and Build a Greener Future and The Frugal Foodie Cookbook will be shipped to one lucky winner.
US47 – Muffintop Mama, a site dedicated to mamas and fitness, is giving away Muffintop Mama attire to one winner: Simple tanks to help you sweat!
US51 – Two winners will receive a lillebaby EveryWear carrier – the carrier you can wear every way, every where. Choose from Style, Sport or Organic.
US83 – Disney Mickey 5-in-1 Tasty Baker by Pop Art. An all in one table top appliance that bakes pancakes, cakes, quickbreads, biscuits and donuts and more into 6 bite sized shapes (Mickey mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto) in about one-third the time. It can even cook eggs.
US96 – A laundry prize pack from Mrs. Meyer’s! 64-oz laundry detergent (HE compatible), 80-ct dryer sheets and 8-oz.room freshener. One winner will pick their choice of scent!
US105 – Get Fit Pack: One “lucky” winner will get a triple threat of Jillian Michaels. Pack contains 30 Day Shred, Yoga Meltdown, The Biggest Loser Last Chance Workout. Pack also includes an aluminum water bottle to help stay on track and stay hydrated!
US110 – A body butter sampler set with three of our most intoxicating scents to pamper your body from head to toe with skin indulgent mango, cocoa, and shea butter for two winners.
US112 – $50 Amazon Gift card
USC 37 – One winner will receive a $50 gift card to Amazon.com on here but that’s not it! There will be many other giveaways listed on my party post that you’ll want to check out!!!
USC 39 – A $50 paypal cash prize for one winner.

Hawaiian Turkey Meatballs

2010-04-07T20:20:00.000-04:00

Our plan for tonight was baked ziti from the freezer, but I forgot to take it out to thaw this morning so I had to come up with another plan. I had one package of ground turkey in the fridge so I decided to search through some of my cookbooks for something I could use it for. We had mexican food the past few days, so I was craving something sweet. While flipping through a cookbook that we got from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the hospital our children stayed at for so many weeks after their births, I found a recipe for Hawaiian Meatballs. I did a lot of modifying to make the recipe a bit healthier, and the result - absolutely delicious!

Hawaiian Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs Ground Turkey
2/3 cup Saltine Cracker Crumbs
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 Egg
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
1/4 Cup Milk
2 Tbsp Cornstarch
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Can Pineapple (reserve juice)
1/3 Cup White Vinegar
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
4 Cups Cooked Rice

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together ground turkey, cracker crumbs, onion powder, egg, salt, ginger, and milk. If mixture is too wet, add more crumbs, if too dry, add milk as needed. Form meat mixture into 1 inch balls (will make approximatley 24 meatballs) and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Mix cornstarch and brown sugar in a small bowl. Stir in reserved pineapple juice, vinegar, and soy sauce until mixture is smooth. Pour mixture into a skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture begins to thicken and boil. Continue to boil and stir for one minute. Turn off heat and add meatballs and pineapple to the sauce. Stir to coat meatballs and pineapple evenly. Serve over rice.

Breakfast Cookies

2010-04-06T20:10:00.001-04:00

I've seen quite a few recipes for breakfast cookies now and I've been dying to try them. This time around I decided to try a modified version of an Ellie Krieger recipe. These cookies are big, moist, and almost cake-like. I thought they were delicious, and just one cookie was enough to keep me feeling full until lunch time! I changed a few of the ingredients due to what I had in my cabinet and also because of my husbands allergy to tree nuts.

Breakfast Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup egg beaters (or 1 egg)
1/4 cup pureed pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup bran cereal flakes
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped peanuts (unsalted)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Combine butter, oil and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high speed, scraping down sides if necessary, until sugars have dissolved and mixture is light in color, about 1 minute. Add egg, pumpkin and vanilla and beat an additional 30 seconds.

Add flour mixture and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add oats, flakes, raisins and peanuts and mix over low speed just until incorporated. Dough will be slightly sticky and less cohesive than traditional cookie dough.

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using between 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter, form a ball and place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, leaving about 3 inches between cookies. Wet hands and use palm of hand to flatten cookies until about 1/4-inch thick. Bake for 12 minutes, until cookies are fragrant but still soft. Let cookies cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Celebrating 100 with a fellow blogger

2010-04-05T20:50:00.000-04:00

I stumbled upon the blog, All home Cooking. All Year Long. one day when searching for a recipe for smores brownies. I instantly fell in love with Michelle's blog and have been hooked ever since. She, like many of my other favorite bloggers, is on a mission to keep her family away from processed foods and eating all homemade foods.

She is celebrating her 100th day of blogging this week and will be hosting a giveaway to celebrate. If you haven't checked out her blog, I think you should. She has some wonderfully delicious recipes and other wonderful kitchen tips! Congrats Michelle on your 100th day of blogging!

Menu Plan Monday - 4/5/2010

2010-04-05T06:42:00.000-04:00

This week we have a lot of new items on our menu thanks to a very successful weekend of freezer cooking!

Breakfasts:
Whole Wheat Raisin English Muffins
Gingerbread Pancakes
Pumpkin Molasses French Toast Sticks
Breakfast Cookies (recipe to come!)
Honey Wheat Toast
Peanut Butter Banana Stuffed French Toast

Dinners:
Monday: Mexican Skillet
Tuesday: White Chicken Chili (recipe to come!)
Wednesday: Baked Ziti (recipe to come!)
Thursday: Brown Bag Burritos
Friday: Make Your Own Pizza Night
Saturday: Homemade Gnocci (recipe to come!)
Sunday: Dinner with Family

To view more yummy meal plans, check out www.orgjunkie.com

Peanut Butter Banana Stuffed French Toast

2010-04-04T20:28:00.000-04:00

I saw the idea for this french toast on a Food Network show a few weeks ago and I've been craving it ever since. As a kid my mom used to make me peanut butter and banana sandwiches all the time This french toast was not only delicious, but brought me back to my mother's kitchen with every bite.

Peanut Butter Banana Stuffed French Toast

Ingredients:

6 Slices honey wheat bread (cut thick)
2 Ripened Bananas
Honey (to drizzle)
Peanut Butter (I used creamy)
4 eggs (I used 1 cup of egg beaters)
1/2 Cup milk
1/4 Cup Orange Juice
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 Tbsp Rum
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat griddle on medium heat.

Spread each slice of bread with peanut butter to your liking. Top three slices of bread with sliced bananas and drizzle the honey over the bananas. Top each slice with a banana-free slice of bread.

Whisk remaining ingredients together in a bowl. Dip both sides of each sandwich into the batter and place on griddle (feel free to grease the griddle with a little bit of butter or non-stick cooking spray). Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes on each side. Cut in half and serve warm with butter and maple syrup (add powdered sugar if desired).

General Tso Chicken w/ Chicken Fried Rice

2010-04-04T11:53:00.000-04:00

My husband and I have a takeout weakness...Chinese food. In fact, it is the only takeout weakness that we have. Most nights we can keep ourselves from the temptations of takeout, but when it comes to Chinese food, we tend to give in more often than not. The takeout tastes wonderful, but it takes a toll on our digestive systems. I decided to try and come up with our own version so that we'd be able to know what is going into our food and maybe avoid the upset tummy that follows takeout too.

We all loved both recipes, so from now on, I think we'll be having Chinese take-in instead! I did fry the chicken this time, but I think that next time I'm going to try baking it instead to make it a little more healthy.

General Tso's Chicken

Chicken Ingredients:
1-2lbs Boneless Chicken Breast cut into 2 inch chunks
2 Eggs
2 tsp Cayenne pepper
salt/pepper - to taste
1 Cup Flour
1/4 Cup Cornstarch

Sauce Ingredients:
Zest of 1 Orange
1 Cup Orange Juice
1/3 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
4 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

General Tso Chicken Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, cayenne, salt and black pepper to taste. In a paper bag, shake together salt, pepper, flour and cornstarch. Dip the chicken in batches, first in egg mixture, then in the flour mixture and shake to coat. Set on a wire rack and let sit 10 minutes. In the meantime, add about 1 inch of oil to a large heavy skillet. Heat the skillet over medium heat and preheat so that oil is ready for frying when chicken is done resting.

While chicken is resting, prepare sauce. In a large straight sided saute pan combine orange zest, orange juice, brown sugar, butter, hot pepper flakes and Worcestershire sauce. Stir, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until thickened, 5 to 8 minutes.

Carefully place chicken in hot oil and fry until golden and crispy, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer to the saute pan with the sauce and toss until evenly coated. Serve with Chicken Fried Rice (recipe below).

Chicken Fried Rice

Ingredients:
4 Cups cold cooked rice
1/2 lb cooked chicken breast, chopped
4 Green onions, chopped
2 Eggs
1-2 Tbsp soy sauce
4 Tbsp oil
Salt/Pepper - To Taste

Directions:

In the bottom of a wok, or large stir fry pan, scramble the eggs until firm. Remove eggs from pan and set aside. Add oil to pan, followed by the rice and soy sauce. Stir fry the rice until warm all the way through. Add chicken and green onions and stirfry for a few more minutes until all ingredients are heated through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Whole Wheat Raisin English Muffins

2010-04-04T11:41:00.000-04:00

My friend Heather has a delicious recipe for whole wheat english muffins, and I've been dying to make a cinnamon raisin version. I finally got around to it this weekend during my freezer cooking day and I couldn't help but eat one hot off the griddle. They were delicious! This morning, I used them to make my husband a sausage egg and cheese sandwich and he loved them as well!

Whole Wheat Cinnamon/Raisin English Muffins - Modified from Out of the Box Into the Kitchen

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup warm water
2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 Cup warm milk
1/4 Cup canola oil
1 Egg
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 Cup All-Pupose Flour
1/2 Cup Raisins
3 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Cornmeal

Directions:

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add the milk, oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, combine the flours, sugar, raisins, cinnamon and salt. Using stand mixer with a paddle attachment, add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, 1/2 cup at a time to form a soft, sticky dough. Switch to dough hook and knead lightly for 1-2 minutes (do not over-knead).

Place in an oiled bowl and cover. Set in a warm place to rise until double in size, about 1 hour.

Roll dough out on a cornmeal-dusted board until about 1/2" thick. Cut with a 3-4" cookie cutter or juice glass. Cover with a dishtowel and put in a warm place to rise another 15 minutes or so. Sides will expand and look cracked.

Heat a griddle over medium-low heat. Cook muffins on the hot griddle, about 7 minutes on each side.

Honey Wheat Bread

2010-04-04T11:29:00.000-04:00

I've been trying to find a good "everyday" bread recipe for a while now and finally I've found it! I knew this one was a winner when my husband looked at me and said "we are never buying bread in the store again".

Honey Whole Wheat Bread (Makes 2 Loaves)

Ingredients:
2 Cups Warm Water
1Tbsp Active Dry Yeast
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp Salt
1/3 Cup Honey
1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
5 Cups All Purpose Flour

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add honey, and stir well. With paddle attachment on a stand mixer, mix in whole wheat flour, salt, and vegetable oil. Work all-purpose flour in gradually. Remove paddle attachment and switch to dough hook. Knead using dough hook attachment for 7-10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic. Place it in a well oiled bowl. Turn it several times in the bowl to coat the surface of the dough, and cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Punch down the dough. Shape into two loaves, and place into two well greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise until dough is 1 to 1 1/2 inches above pans.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

Freezer Cooking Days - April

2010-04-04T08:17:00.000-04:00

A few months back, I attempted a freezer cooking day and was pretty successful. March was a busy month for me so I didn't get around to doing it again, but this month I decided to try it again. With two kids running around and my husband outside doing yardwork, it has been quite difficult to get any done, so I decided to split my cooking into two days this month.

My plan is as follows:

Breakfasts:
Breakfast Cookies (x2)
Raisin English Muffins (x2)
Honey Wheat Bread (2 loaves)
Pumpkin French Toast Sticks (x2)
Gingerbread Pancakes (x2)

Dinners:
White Bean Chicken Chili (x2)
Brown Bag Burritos (x2)
Baked Ziti (x3)
Chicken Tetrazzini (x2)
Gnocci (x2)
Mexican Skillet (x2)
Pizza Dough (x4)
Paprika Chicken Stew (x2)
Chicken Enchiladas (x2)

I went grocery shopping on Friday night and planned on cooking all day on Saturday, but ended up not getting started until 1:00. I still got quite a bit done. I was able to get the breakfast cookies, english muffins, and honey wheat bread completed. I was also able to get the beans and meat prepped for my other recipes. I'm hoping to get a couple things done today before we have to leave for Easter dinner at my Grandmother's house.

Fluffy Frozen Peanut Butter Cups

2010-03-30T19:57:00.000-04:00

When I began my weight loss journey, I joined weight watchers. In the beginning, I had a lot of cravings for sweets but was unaware that there were any "sweets" that were ok for me to eat. A woman at one of my meetings shared this recipe with me, and it was just what I needed to satisfy my cravings.

Ingredients:

8oz container Fat Free Coolwhip
1/3 cup reduced fat creamy or chunky peanut butter
1/.4 cup hershey's light chocolate syrup

Instructions:
Line a 12 muffin tin with cupcake liners (foil works best). Combine 1 cup of cool whip and the peanut butter with a whisk. Fold in remaining cool whip. Divide mixture evenly into the cupcake liners. Top each one wth a squirt of chocolate syrup. Freeze and enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday 3/29/2010

2010-03-29T06:43:00.000-04:00

It's been quite hectic around here lately, but I'm glad to say that even amongst all the craziness that is our lives I managed to get our menu planning done (unlike last week!). After my crockpot had a tragic accident last week (my husband dropped it in the driveway after taking it out of the car from our son's Baptism party), I found a replacement this week and I'm happy to say that it will be working it's way back into our menu!

As always, lunch for the week will be leftovers from the night before with Friday being our eat lunch at work day. The kids will eat lunch as part of their daycare food program.

Breakfast:
Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes (from the freezer)
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (from the freezer - recipe to come!)
Cheerios
Fruit

Dinner:
Monday: Chili Mac
Tuesday: White Chicken Chili (crockpot)
Wednesday: Mexican meatloaf (recipe to come!)
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Make your own pizza night
Saturday: Homemade Chinese (General Tso, Chicken w/ Broccoli, and fried rice)
Sunday: Easter Dinner @ my Grandmother's house

For more yummy meal ideas, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Homemade Chili Seasoning Packets

2010-03-27T11:58:00.000-04:00

I've been trying to come up with my own special chili seasoning for a while so that I could stop buying the premade chili seasoning packets at the store. The packets in the store are obviously convenient, but they are LOADED with sodium and who knows what else!

After lots of experimenting, I finally came up with a mixture of seasonings that worked perfect for my chili recipe, and I'm sure that it will work well in any other dish that needs a little kick! I made a bunch of this ahead of time and packed it into ziploc bags so I don't have to worry about measuring and mixing every time I want to make chili. I think it will work out perfectly! Still convenient, but much more healthy!

Chili Seasoning Packets:

4 Tbsp Chili Powder
2 tsp dried Oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Paprika
2 tsp Cumin
2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp dried Onion Flakes (or onion powder)

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

2010-03-26T19:56:00.000-04:00

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. In fact, I could eat breakfast food for every meal and be perfectly happy. This weekend, I decided to whip up a large batch of pancakes and freeze them so that I had something quick and easy to make the kids for breakfast. They turned out wonderful, and my three year old cannot get enough. She ate three whole pancakes last night at dinner time and said to me "mommy, your pancakes are the most delicious pancakes I've ever ate". My little guy ate a whole big pancake all by himself and seemed quite satisfied as well.

We made ours plain, but this recipe would also be wonderful with blueberries, strawberries, chocolate chips, or even bananas as well!

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes (makes approximately 3 dozen pancakes) - Adapted from Glimpse of Sonshine

Ingredients:

3/4 cup egg beaters
3 ¾ cups fat free buttermilk
6 tbsp. canola oil
1 ¾ cups wheat flour
2 cups all purpose flour

3 tbsp. sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. salt

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Drop by 1/4 cup servings onto pre-heated griddle. When the dough begins to bubble, flip pancakes and cook until lightly browned on both sides.

Pretzel Dogs

2010-03-25T11:36:00.000-04:00

I've always been a sucker for the hot dogs wrapped in pretzels at the little booth at the mall. However, until I saw this recipe on Real Mom Kitchen, I never thought of making something similar in my own home. This recipe was for Bagel Dogs, but I modified it a bit to make it more like a pretzel dog. My daughter was home sick today with a horrible chest cold, so I decided this morning that I was going to make these as a special "feel better" lunch for her.

I just finished the dogs about a half hour ago, and they were a hit with my little food critic! I hope you enjoy these as much as we did.

Pretzel Dogs

Ingredients:

2 cups water (110° F)
4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
3 Tbsp sugar
3 tsp salt
5 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
8 quality all-beef hot dogs
2 tsp baking soda
1 egg yolk plus 1 tablespoon water, lightly beaten
Coarse Salt for garnish

Directions:

Pour the water into the bowl of an electric stand mixer and sprinkle with the yeast. Let the mixture stand about five minutes or until foamy, then stir in 3 tablespoons of sugar and the salt.

Using the paddle attachment, add flour one cup at a time, beating until well-blended and smooth, until you have a stiff dough. Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook and knead thoroughly until smooth and elastic in texture (about 5-7 minutes). Form the dough into a ball and place it into a lightly greased bowl. Turn the dough over to grease the top. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for about an hour or until doubled in size.

Punch down the dough and knead as needed to rid the dough of any air bubbles. Place dough on a lightly floured cutting board and roll out into a 8 x 10 rectangle or until the dough is about 1/4 inch thick. Add flour as necessary to keep dough from sticking.

Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 8 long strips.

Dry the hot dogs. Starting at one end of each hot dog, wrap a strip of dough around the hot dog, overlapping as you go until you reach the other end of the hot dog. Place seam down on a parchment covered baking sheet as you finish them. Let dogs rest on the sheet for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the over to 400°. Fill a stock pot with water and add the baking soda. Bring to a gentle boil. Working two bagels at a time, carefully drop the bagel dogs into the boiling water, turning frequently with a slotted spoon or spatula, for about a minute. Lift out of the water and gently dry each bagel well on a kitchen towel and arrange about 2-inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet, seam side down. Repeat with remaining bagel dogs. I put four dogs to a sheet and used two sheets.

Brush the bagels with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake for about 35 minutes or until nicely browned and crusty, turning the pan about halfway through Serve warm or let cool on a wire rack.

My First Blog Award!

2010-03-24T19:58:00.000-04:00

I am so excited to announce that I've been nominated for my first blog award! I received this award from Michelle at All Home Cooking All Year Long and Heather at Out of The Box Into the Kitchen. Both of these girls have been a great inspiration to me!

Around Thanksgiving of 2009, my family decided to take the plunge into healthier home cooking and started to wean ourselves from the processed foods that we were so accustomed to. My "real life" friend Heather started the same mission a little earlier than us, and she was a great help in getting us started on the path to giving up processed foods.

Here's a link to learn more about the Stiletto Award.

Recipients of the Stilleto Award:

Display the Stiletto badge of honor.
Brag about it-post a link to the page to highlight what the award is about
Say thanks! Include a link to the friend who nominated you.
Share the love-nominate 5-10 more blogs. Leave links to their blogs and leave them a comment so they know they won!
Do what you do! Keep at it and keep inspiring others!

I'd like to nominate the following blogs for this award:

These are all blogs that I've followed for quite some time. I don't comment very often, but I enjoy each and every post I read!

Chicken Caesar Pasta Bake

2010-03-23T19:32:00.000-04:00

Pasta is always a winner in our house, and when you add broccoli and chicken it's a definite winner! I stumbled upon this recipe while browsing through the archives on Cooking During Stolen Moments, and I was instantly eager to try it.

I modified the recipe a bit, but it was absolutely delicious and I'm sure that this will become a regular in our house.

Chicken Caesar Pasta Bake - Adapted from Cooking During Stolen Moments

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
1 lb. penne pasta
1 cup broccoli (fresh or frozen)
1 cup cauliflower (fresh or frozen)
2 cups part skim ricotta cheese
1 c. Reduced Fat Creamy Caesar dressing
1/2 t. black pepper
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Boil water for pasta. Cook pasta until it is al dente. Drain and put aside.

In a skillet, add cubed chicken, garlic. Sprinkle chicken with lemon pepper seasoning and cook until chicken is cooked completely through.

In a large mixing bowl, combine ricotta, dressing, pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, chicken, and pasta. Toss until all pasta/vegetables are evenly coated in the sauce. Pour mixture into a 9x13 casserole dish and sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Breakfast Biscuit Cups

2010-03-22T20:57:00.000-04:00

I've been looking for a quick fix breakfast for a while now, and I think I found a winner! I modified this recipe from one I found at "Cooking During Stolen Moments". I made two dozen of these, and my husband (who despises breakfast food) kept stealing them while I had my back turned so I ended up with only 20 in the end. I froze them and now when we are ready to eat them I can either pop them in the microwave or oven to heat them through. They have been great for fast breakfast in the car on the way to work!

I made these again for brunch after my son's Baptism this weekend, I made a double batch (1/2 with bacon, 1/2 with sausage) for a total of 4 dozen and they were all gone before I even got the chance to steal one for myself!

Breakfast Biscuit Cups (makes 2 dozen) - Modified from Cooking During Stolen Moments

Dough:

2 1/2 c. flour
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 T. sugar
1/2 c. butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 c. milk
1 egg, slightly beaten

Dough Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk or sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in milk and egg until dough comes together. Knead a few times by hand and set aside.

Filling:

1 1/2 cups egg beaters
3 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
1/2 c. 1% milk
1 lb. turkey bacon, cooked and crumbled (I've also used turkey breakfast sausage)
1 1/2 c. reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese

Filling Directions:
Whisk egg beaters in a large bowl. Stir in cream cheese and milk until smooth. Add other ingredients and stir to combine.

To Assemble:

Press biscuit dough into the bottom, and 3/4 of the way up the sides, of lightly greased muffin tins. Pre-bake at 400 degrees for 3 minutes.Fill each biscuit cup with egg mixture and bake for 12-15 minutes longer, until eggs are completely set and biscuit cups are slightly browned.

Samoas Cookie Bars

2010-03-18T19:15:00.000-04:00

I love me some delicious girl scout cookies, and samoas have ALWAYS been my absolute favorite. After seeing a post by Michelle at All Home Cooking. All Year Long where she made homemade thin mints and trying the recipe myself (they were wonderful!), I decided to search for a samoas clone.

Knowing how much hard work goes into the samoas, I was delighted to find that there was a bar version!

Samoas Cookie Bars - Shared from Baking Bites

Shortbread Crust Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

Crust Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly. Pour crumbly dough into baking pan and press into an even layer. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.

Topping Ingredients:

3 cups shredded sweetened coconut
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli and it was delicious)

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula. Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.

When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter (it’s easy to get it through the topping).

Once bars are cut, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish.
Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes 30 bar cookies.

Note: You can simply drizzle chocolate on top of the bars before slicing them up if you’re looking for yet an easier way to finish these off. You won’t need quite as much chocolate as noted above, and you won’t quite get the Samoas look, but the results will still be tasty.

Cheesy Chicken and Corn Chowder

2010-03-18T06:45:00.000-04:00

Chowder is a favorite here in New England. Most Chowder (or as we say in Boston, "chowdah") here in New England is either clam or seafood chowder, but since I'm allergic to shellfish I had to find something that worked for me. I've always been a big fan of soups, and I tend to like them a little on the thicker side so chowder just floats my boat.

I came up with this recipe after having a thick and creamy bowl of corn chowder at Panera Bread one day. I looked up all sorts of recipes, but nothing really sounded healthy to me so I decided to just wing it. This recipe is one of our favorites, even the kids love it!

Ingredients:

2 Cups Chicken Broth
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
2 Cups Diced Red Potatoes (skin on)
4 Ears Corn on the Cob, cut off of the cob (or if out of season, a 16oz bag of frozen corn)
2 Cups Skim or 1% milk
2 Cups Diced Cooked Chicken Breast (I like to use leftovers from a whole chicken for this recipe)
2 Cups of Low Fat or Fat Free Shredded Cheddar Jack Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 Slices Cooked Turkey Bacon, crumbled

Directions:
In a large stock pot, bring chicken broth to a boil. Add chicken, potatoes, corn, and garlic. Cover and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes or until potatoes have softened. Reduce heat and add milk, chicken, and cheese being careful not to boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once chicken has cooked through, remove from heat. Scoop into bowls and add turkey bacon to the top for garnish.

Cheesy Chicken Rice and Broccoli Casserole

2010-03-17T06:49:00.000-04:00

I was really craving comfort food tonight, and this was the perfect way to rid myself of that craving. I've always been a big fan of the packaged rice dishes, so I thought I'd try my hand at making something similar to my favorite one which is the broccoli cheddar rice.

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked whole grain rice
2 cups cooked, diced chicken
2 cups chopped fresh or frozen broccoli
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (divided)
1 1/4 cup condensed cream of chicken soup (or 1 can store-bought)
1 1/4 c. milk
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Directions:
Mix rice, chicken, broccoli, 1 cup of the cheddar cheese, soup, milk, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Pour into a 9x13 pan and top with remaining cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until casserole is hot and cheese is melted and bubbly. Enjoy!

Captain's Chili Mac

2010-03-16T20:21:00.000-04:00

My husband has been told several times that his "celebrity" look-alike is Jason Varitek from the Boston Red Sox. So, as a joke we started calling him "The Captain" because Jason Varitek was the captain of the Boston Red Sox. With that said, my husband LOVES chili mac, but I never made it because it wasn't very healthy. This recipe changed all of that, and it is his new favorite.

Ingredients:

1lb casserole elbows (or pasta of your choice...we were out of elbows today, hence the ziti)
2 cups, 1 point chili
8oz reduced fat velveeta

Directions:
In a saucepan over medium heat, heat chili and velveeta until all cheese has melted. Stir frequently to avoid cheese burning to the bottom of the pan. In the meantime, cook pasta until it is al dente. Drain pasta and pour into large mixing bowl. Pour chili-cheese sauce over pasta and mix until all pasta is covered. Serve.

Menu Plan Monday ~ 3/15/2010

2010-03-15T06:40:00.000-04:00

Meal planning has become a very important part of life in our household. It really helps us stick to our food shopping budget, and also helps us use up what is already stored in our pantry, which in turn also saves us money.

This weekend, we went to our local farm to stock up on meat, and we're finally out of food from our last "freezer cooking day", so this is a fresh new menu!

Since my husband and I both work full time, we rarely have time for breakfast during the week, and we leave so early that the kids don't eat breakfast until they get to daycare. So, we typically only cook breakfast on the weekend. Lunches during the week are typically leftovers from the night before.

Monday: Chicken Paprika Stew *new recipe
Tuesday: ChiliMac (my own creation, recipe to come)
Wednesday: Cheeseburger Soup
Thursday: Leftover night (husband plays volleyball, so it's just me and the kids)
Friday: Pizza Night, we'll be making individual sized pizzas with our choice of toppings
Saturday: Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes, Grilled Cheese, Cheesy Broccoli and Rice with Chicken *new recipe
Sunday: Cinnamon Rolls, Mac and Cheese with Broccoli, White Bean Chicken Chili and cornbread

Check out lots of other yummy menus at orgjunkie!

Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

2010-03-14T12:35:00.000-04:00

There are so many recipes out there that call for cream of chicken soup, and since we're trying to get away from buying canned soups, I've been really searching for a good homemade replacement for these convenient little cans.

Last night, I made some homemade chicken stock, and it was the perfect opportunity to try my hand at making my own condensed cream of chicken soup. The original recipe is only enough to make 2 "cans" of soup, so I tripled the recipe so I'd be able to freeze a bunch to take out as needed for recipes.

Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup- Adapted from Tammy's Recipes

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt (or less; taste to test)
3/4 teaspoon parsley
dash of paprika
4 1/2 cups milk
2 1/4 cup flour

Directions:

In medium-sized saucepan, boil chicken broth, 1 1/2 cups of the milk, and the seasonings for a minute or two (longer if using fresh onions or garlic).

In a bowl, whisk together the remaining 3 cups of milk and flour.

Add to boiling mixture and continue whisking briskly until mixture boils and thickens.

This came out great, and I was able to freeze enough cream of chicken soup to equal 6 10.5oz cans!

BBQ Pork

2010-03-13T09:42:00.001-05:00

My husband loves BBQ, and one of his all time favorites is pulled pork. I found this recipe in one of my Taste of Home books, and we decided to give it a try. We didn't have any barbecue sauce in the pantry, so I made my own and it was quite tasty! We'll be serving ours on whole wheat buns.

Ingredients:

1 boneless pork loin roast (3 to 4lbs)
1-1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup barbecue sauce (See BBQ sauce recipe below)
1 cup cola (I used Pepsi)
8-10 sandwich rolls

Directions:
Cut roast in half, place in slow cooker, sprinkle with seasoned salt and garlic powder. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until meat is tender.

Remove meat, skim fat from cooking juices. Shred meat with a fork and return to slow cooker. Combine barbecue sauce and cola; pour over meat. Cover and cook on high for 1-2 hours or until sauce is thickened. Serve on rolls.

BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:
1 Cup Ketchup
2 Tbsp spicy brown mustard
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbsp white vingegar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp chili powder (to add a little smokey flavor)
Black pepper (to taste)

Hearty Minestrone Soup

2010-03-12T09:40:00.000-05:00

One of my wonderful online friends shared this recipe with me, and it has become a favorite in our house. I used to make this at least once a week, but I found that it freezes very well, so I started making it once a month and freezing it for later. This soup is great on a cold winter day and is wonderful with or without pasta.

Hearty Minestrone Soup

Ingredients:

3 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 medium yellow onions - chopped
2 cups celery - chopped
5 carrots - sliced
2 cups chicken stock (vegetable stock if you'd like to make a vegetarian version)
2 cups water
4 cups tomato sauce
1 can kidney beans - drained.
1 can green beans (15 oz)
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
3 zucchini - half moon, thin slices
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp dried basil
1/2 box of small shell pasta (optional)
1/4 cup grated parmesan

Directions:
Saute oil, garlic, and onion (4-5 minutes); add celery and carrots (2 minutes). Add stock, water, and tomato sauce. Bring to boil. Reduce to low; add kidney beans, green beans, spinach, zucchini, oregano, dash of salt (maybe a teaspoon) and dash of pepper.

Simmer 30-40 minutes.

Boil pasta separately. (This keeps the pasta from getting water logged and soggy.)

Place cooked pasta in bowls. Pour soup over pasta, and sprinkle with grated parmesan.

Weight Watchers 1 Point Chili Recipe

2010-03-11T20:01:00.000-05:00

At one of my weight watchers meetings, I was telling my leader that I was having a really hard time finding lunch options that allowed me to stay within my points range for the day. She then told me that while she was losing her weight that someone shared this wonderful chili recipe with her that was only 1 point per cup. The next week, she brought the recipe in and shared it with us...it has been the secret to my weight loss success and I make it once a week to pack for lunches.

Ingredients:
10 oz. extra lean ground turkey
1 medium onion diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 28 oz cans diced tomatoes (I use mexican style w/ green chiles)
2 medium zucchini – diced
2 medium yellow squash diced
15 oz can black beans – rinsed & drained
2 cans fat free low sodium beef broth
4 celery stalks diced
1 or 2 packages dry chili seasoning or to taste

Instructions:
Saute turkey, pepper, and onion in the bottom of a large stock pot until browned. Add remaining ingredients and simmer over medium heat until veggies are tender (about 30 minutes). I like to simmer mine for a while longer to help the flavors blend, but it's definitely not necessary.

Makes approximately 20, one cup servings.

Giving Up The Goods...

2010-03-10T19:52:00.000-05:00

Canned goods that is!

One of our very first steps in our journey to rid ourselves of processed foods was giving up canned soups. Not only are canned soups full of sodium, they are super expensive. We are big soup eaters, especially during those cold New England winters! After the first few soup recipes we tried, we decided that we'd never buy a can of soup again!

One of our favorite soups to make is Cheeseburger Soup. We are big cheeseburger fans, and what better way to warm up on a cold winter day than with a bowl full of hearty soup (maybe we should call it cheeseburger chowder?). Since our first attempt at making cheeseburger soup, we've tried a few different things and all of them have been delicious!

Cheeseburger Soup - Modified from Taste of Home

1 pound ground beef or turkey (I like to use turkey)
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup shredded carrots (optional)
3/4 cup diced celery
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
4 tablespoons butter, divided
3 cups chicken broth
4 cups diced peeled potatoes (1-3/4 pounds)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups (8 ounces) Velveeta
1-1/2 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup sour cream

Directions

In a 3-qt. saucepan, brown beef; drain and set aside. In the same saucepan, saute onion, garlic, carrots, celery, basil and parsley in 1 tablespoon butter until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add broth, potatoes and beef; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, melt remaining butter. Add flour; cook and stir for 3-5 minutes or until bubbly. Add to soup; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Add cheese, milk, salt and pepper; cook and stir until cheese melts. Remove from the heat; blend in sour cream. Yield: 8 servings (2-1/4 quarts).

Optional Modifications:

Add 1/2 cup chopped hamburger pickles
Add 1 cup iceburg lettuce, chopped
Add 1 can diced tomatoes
Garnish with crumbled bacon
Note, if you add all of these vegetables in addition to those in the original recipe, you may want to add one cup of chicken broth and extra velveeta so the soup isn't too thick (unless of course you'd like it to be a stew, which is also super yummy!).

Once Upon a Time...

2010-03-09T21:14:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, there was a girl who desperately wanted her family to live a healthier lifestyle. She wanted to set an example so that someday, her children wouldn't have to deal with the hardships of being overweight as she had. She wanted herself and her husband to start over and learn to be healthier and eat more "whole" foods and lose weight to set a healthy example for their children. Of course, everyone has to splurge now and then and eat something sweet and delicious. But, the girl really wanted to do her best to make even the sweet things just a little more healthy, even if it meant just making things from scratch and knowing the ingredients that went into it instead of buying processed snack and dessert foods.

This is the start of a new adventure, a new lifestyle, my very own fairytale. The goal - to have a happy ending to this fairytale by making better food decisions, making more food in our home instead of buying processed foods with ingredients we've never heard of, and set an example for my growing children so that they too will continue the pattern when they are older.