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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Kreativ Blogger Award Rules:
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!
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.
**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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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".
