Toffee

I have always been intimidated when it comes to making toffee, but this recipe is really simple and it turned out the first time I tried it...

Layer a 9x13 pan with 2 layers a foil and 1 layer of silvered almonds.

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp real vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

Combine above ingredients and cook in a heavy pan, on almost high heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon. When the mixture is the color of a brown paper bag, pour into prepared pan. Let cool.
Cover with dipping chocolate and chopped walnuts. ***You can also turn the toffee over & put chocolate & nuts on the other side.
Break into pieces and enjoy!

Crepes

1 1/2 cup flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 dash salt
2 eggs beaten well
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp melted butter

Beat all ingredients on high until smooth. It will seem a little runny but it's right...

Pour into a shallow skillet and kind of swirl the batter around until thinned out in pan. Bake on each side until done and serve with either cinnamon & sugar with butter or with fruit and cream. Delicious!!!

Chicken Tortellini Toss

This is a super quick dish that I make and my family loves.I got it from Better Homes and Gardens and have adapted it for my family's tastes. Feel free to do the same! I find that Emily likes the tortellini, I like the broccoli and Scott likes the aspect of "chunks".

*1 bag cheese tortellini
* 1-2 large chicken breast
* 1/2- 3/4 jar of Classico roasted tomato pesto sauce
* Fresh broccoli (give or take 2 cups. I like more, so I add more!)
* 1 can diced tomatoes
* Fresh grated or shredded Parmesan cheese

- Cook chicken, cut, and set aside. (I've pan seared it, and sliced it, chunked it, or boiled it and chopped it. Do it however you like.) Meanwhile, boil tortellini according directions on package. Add the broccoli to the water at the last three minutes or so. Drain water. Add the can of diced tomatoes and pesto to the tortellini and broccoli. Then add the chicken. Serve with Parmesan cheese on top. (Feel free to add any other Italian seasonings you might like. I think that the pesto sauce is pretty flavorful, so I like to just add more pesto.)

As you can tell, this recipe is easily adaptable. Other substitutions can include doing half broccoli with half califlower.

Happy Eatting!

Ice Cream n' Meringue

This is my new favorite dessert. And its really not too bad for your health AND it works for those with wheat allergies so hey! :)

Preheat oven to 275. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Separate 3 large eggs and let the whites stand at room temperature for 1/2 hour. Add 1/4 tsp cream of tartar to egg whites and beat them until they're light and foamy. Add 3/4 cup sugar a tablespoon at a time. Continue beating on high until stiff peaks form and the mixture is thick and glossy (don't underbeat--very important!). Plop spoonfuls onto the parchment paper, as big or small as you want, and smooth out into pretty mounds. Bake in oven for 1 1/2 hours. Turn the oven off and let them sit in there for another hour. Finish cooling at room temperature and store in an air-tight container.

**Justin and I love eating the meringue shells plain for dessert. If you've done 'em right, their outside are crisp and melt in your mouth and the insides are slightly chewy and sweet like cotton candy.

Get your favorite ice cream and toppings (I like plain vanilla with frozen raspberries) and mash them together Coldstone-style. Put a meringue shell in the bottom of a dish and cover it with your ice cream mixture. Serve immediately or put in the freezer to serve later. We made it for Canadian Thanksgiving last weekend and it was a hit. Here's a picture (we didn't do the ice cream Cold-stone style this time and decided we definitely prefer Coldstone-style to this):

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I got this recipe from a guy that I used to work with. It is super easy can works well for those with food allergies. The cake mix makes them soooo moist. Plus, this is one of those recipes that get me into the Fall season!

Ingredients:
1 box Spice cake mix
1 can pumpkin pie filling (I used small, but you can always add more I guess!)
Chocolate chips (I like semi-sweet)

Mix together and bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes. **NOTE** These cookies do not rise or expand very much from their original shape. So I find it helpful to use a cookie scooper to make sure the dough balls are perfectly round. ALSO- watch the time on these cookies. You want them to be done but not hard.

Variations: add white chocolate chips with minced pecans

Zucchini Bisque

Zucchini Bisque

2 tablespoons butter
2 cups zucchini/2 medium zucs sliced 1/8"
1 cup mushrooms chopped
1/2 cup onion/1 medium union chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley or 1.5 Tbsp dried parsley

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
10 3/4 oz. can chicken broth
1/4 cup whipping cream (I use skim milk and, though it isn't AS creamy, it tastes just as good)
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a 2 quart saucepan, add zucchini, onions, mushrooms and parsley cooking until vegetables are tender. Add half of the chicken broth to vegetables and blend it together in the blender until everything is smooth and creamy. Meanwhile, in another 2 quart saucepan melt 3 tablespoons butter over medium heat; stir in flour until smooth, add remaining chicken broth and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until rue thickens. Stir in rue cream, pepper and blended zucchini mixture. Continue cooking until heated through about 5 - 6 minutes. It's delicious!

Enjoy!

Red Beans and Rice

So I attempted to recreate the tasty red beans and rice dish that my sister in-law Aimee made at our family reunion a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, my local grocery store doesn't carry the Blue Runner brand of red beans. So I was already fighting against the odds. I didn't give up, and I think that I found success! The only thing is that I did a lot of seasoning to taste . . . so I'm not sure how much spice I put in . . . but, here is the recipe I concocted:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1 Diced Onion
1 stalk of celery, diced (optional)
1 Diced Bell Pepper (small to medium size)
2 tsp minced garlic
1⁄4 Stick of Butter

2 Cans of Red beans (I used two cans that advertised that they were Louisiana style and they tasted like plain old red beans to me . . . . hmmmmmm)
1# Sliced Smoked Sausage or Andouille
1 c water
4 large dashes of red pepper (I could have gone for five . . . maybe next time! Or throw in a diced jalapeno!)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp taco seasoning
1 tsp chicken bouillion powder

garlic powder to taste
Salt and pepper (season to taste)

Directions:
Sauté the onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic and butter in bottom of pot until vegetables are soft.
Add the two cans of Red Beans, water, pepper or jalapeno, cumin, taco seasoning, bouillion and sausage to the pot and stir with a reduced heat. (Do not over heat as beans will scorch and burn on bottom). Use a potato masher to make the sauce more creamy. Mash up some beans, but not all of them. Maybe 1/2. Simmer for 10 minutes. Serve over rice. Serves 5-6 complete dinners.

GREG BAIRD’S MANGO SALSA

4 green mangos, diced

4 cloves diced garlic (use one more clove if you are going to eat it immediately. The flavor gets stronger over time.)

2 paper thin slices of onion finely chopped

Cilantro to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

*Mix all ingredients together and serve with tortilla chips. *Optional: add pureed habanero pepper (a few drops) for a light sing or more for a fiery salsa.**Note: The longer this salsa sits, the tastier it becomes. So, you might want to go easy on the garlic if making this in advance.

New York Style Cheesecake

My favorite category, genre, item etc. of food would have to be Cheesecake. I love it! Here is my favorite New York Style Cheesecake recipe. I got it out of my Philadelphia cream cheese cookbook.

Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 T sugar
3 T butter melted

Filling:
4 pkg. (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 c sugar
3 T flour
1 T vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 c sour cream
4 eggs

Crust
Mix crumbs, sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 9 inch springform pan. Bake at 325F for 10 minutes for silver springform and at 300F for dark nonstick pan.

Filling
Mix cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla, and lemon zest with electric mixer on med speed until well blended. Blend in sour cream. Add eggs, mixing on low speed just until blended. Pour over crust.

Bake at 325F for 65-70 min or until center is almost set if using a silver pan (300F for dark pan). Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Don't think about the calories! Just enjoy this decadent dessert!

Yummy Bran Muffins

I know the "healthy" (*gasp* :) ) slam bran muffins have taken but seriously these taste really good! :) It's the recipe my family has been using for years...not sure where my mom originally got it from.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine:
1 cup oat bran
1 cup flour (I like using whole wheat for taste but white works great too)
1/2 cup sugar or 1/3 cup fructose (fructose makes them fluffier for some reason but I have regular sugar on hand more)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Add
1 cup milk
1 large egg
1/4 cup oil

Mix with wire whisk until the dry ingredients are evenly wet (don't over mix). Pour or spoon batter into a muffin pan that's been sprayed with butter spray or lined with muffin cups (I prefer the cups...less clean up and so much cuter). Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean. On a hot, fresh muffin put tons of butter and even homemade jam if you have it or honey and enjoy! Also tastes good the next day broken up in a cereal bowl with milk and honey. Makes about 12 muffins.

Scones with Craisins

I got this recipe out of "The New Cook Book" by Better Homes and Gardens and tweaked it to my satisfaction.

These scones have a wonderful texture and soooooo tasty. Let me know what you think.

Preheat: 375F
Yield: 12 scones
Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 10-12 minutes (or until ridges are a golden brown)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup craisins
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 T brown sugar
1/4 cup butter cut into pieces
1 egg yolk, slighlty beaten
1 cup sour cream

Directions:
Bring about 1 cup of water to a boil. Pour over the craisins (this will soften them up).
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine flour through sugar. Cut in the butter using a fork or pastry blender. Press mixture up against the sides, creating a well.
In a small mixing bowl combine egg yolk and sourcream. Mix until well blended. Spoon mixture into flour/butter mixture. Stir until just combined.
Batter should be thick and sticky. If dry, add a little bit of milk. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or spray with cooking oil. Use a spoon to drop batter onto the cookie sheet. The scones should resemble drop biscuits. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Best if cooled for 5 minutes before eating.

Mini Quiches

I got this recipe from my Taste of Home cookbook, but I changed a lot of it. Here is my take on this dish.

Ingredients:
2 packages (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2-3 tablespoons milk
4 eggs
1 cup shredded colby jack cheese
2 stalks green onion, finely chopped
2 tubes (8 oz.) refrigerated crescent rolls
1/2 cup crumbled bacon

Servings: 24 mini quiches

1. In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and milk until smooth. Add the eggs, cheese, and onions and mix well.
2. Grease 2 muffin tins (each with 12 cups). Use 2/3 of a triangle of dough and press it into the bottom and up the sides of a muffin tin cup. Repeat for the remaining cups.
3. Sprinkle half of the bacon (1/2 tsp for each cup) into the cups.
4. Pour egg mixture over bacon; top with remaining bacon.
5. Bake, uncovered, at 375F for 18-22 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Serve warm.

WARNING: I found that I had to turn the oven down and cook them for longer. This could just be due to the types of pans I was using or our elevation or our oven. Who knows? Anyway, watch them carefully the first time you make these. Enjoy!