August 27, 2011

A day late... and even though I had an extra day, there are no new recipes to share. This was a tough cooking week at our house, though not for lack of trying. I tried two new chicken pasta entrees, and while neither should be classified as a flop, they haven't yet earned "keeper" status. One is close, it just needs a bit of tweaking on the spice/herb side of things. Fresh tomatoes and basil, a bit of a creamy sauce, chicken and pasta. Close! Maybe with the addition of some garlic, a bit more salt and pepper, it just might be good enough to share!

The other realistically won't ever make "keeper" status. Ryan had high hopes, though, since one of the ingredients was bacon. It was okay, and I ate the leftovers for lunch for a few days (I hate to throw out perfectly good food), but I didn't like it enough to keep the recipe. Oh well! If you don't try new recipes you can't ever find new great ones to make over and over.

What was a big hit in our house this week, you ask? Fresh cantaloupe and honeydew melon. We devoured it! And I will remind you to visit your local farmer's markets...they are typically still going strong into October, and so many great varieties of produce are hitting the tables! So, as the kids head back to school and sports team practices start up again, find the time to stop by a market; you'll be glad you did! One thing I picked up this week...fresh yellow beans! I love them even more than green beans!

Here's hoping the new week will bring some keeper recipes!

While I don't have any recipes to share, here is a tip. Make fresh breadcrumbs! You can use the heels of any kind of bread, or rolls that are not fresh enough to enjoy for a sandwich anymore, but still perfectly fine to eat. Tear them up a little, toss them in your food processor, and pulse a few times. Fresh breadcrumbs are delicious to use when breading fish or chicken, or topping a casserole. I keep the breadcrumbs in my fridge, or keep the heels and rolls together in the freezer until I need breadcrumbs.

August 19, 2011

The big kids are home, and school begins next week. My in-laws brought them home to us, and we got to spend some extra time with Ryan's parents before they headed back west. They spent a few days with us and we played games, hung cabinet doors, and enjoyed the time. My father-in-law loves all things peanut butter (even PB & pickle sandwiches!), so in honor of him I just had to try out this new Peanut Butter and Jelly bar recipe that crossed my path. It made a lot, so I individually froze quite a few and will be adding them to the kids' lunches. Thankfully the elementary school here is not a peanut free school.

While the big kids were still out of town last week, I enjoyed a lunch date with a dear friend. We went to a little cafe that we used to frequent when we were co-workers. They have the most delicious chicken salad over mixed greens. I've never made chicken salad before, but when we had some leftover chicken in the fridge, I decided to try to make some. I used a recipe for inspiration and tweaked it to my liking. It turned out delicious, and I hope you enjoy it, too.

Lastly, I hopped on the "buffalo" train this week. I made Buffalo style Chex mix for my book club, and the same night we had Spinach Topped Buffalo Chicken. I plan on making the chicken again to change it a bit, and then I will share the recipe. We all enjoyed it, but I think one step in the recipe has to be altered, and I want to test it out first. So, look for that one in the weeks ahead. The Chex mix was decent, but not fabulous enough to earn "keeper" status.

Have a great week!

New Recipes
Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
Cranberry Chicken Salad

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Ingredients

* 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 2 large eggs
* 18 ounces/ 2 cups creamy peanut butter
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
* 18 ounces/ 1 1/2 cups raspberry jam
* Handful of salted peanuts, chopped if desired (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper, then spray it.
3. Cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow.
4. Add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix until all ingredients are combined.
5. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
6. Slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.
7. Spread 2/3 of the dough into the prepared cake pan.
8. Spread the jam evenly over the dough.
9. Drop the rest of the peanut butter dough evenly over the jam, but don't worry if all the jam isn't covered; it will spread in the oven.
10. If desired, sprinkle the peanuts over the top. Bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown.
11. Cool completely and cut into squares.

Notes
Wow! These really taste like a PB & J sandwich!!!! We enjoyed these, but next time I would use a larger pan to make them a little thinner. I might need to increase the amount of jam to make sure there is still enough for the amount of PB cookie layer. I used seedless raspberry jam, but use whatever flavor you most enjoy. We've put a bunch in the freezer so the kids can take them in their school lunches.

Cranberry Chicken Salad

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups chicken breast meat, cooked and chopped
* Just under 1/2 cup mayonnaise
* Just under 1 tbsp white wine
* 1/4 tsp garlic powder
* 1/2 tsp kosher salt
* 1 stalk celery, diced
* 1 green onion, chopped
* 1 tbsp dried cranberries

Directions

1. For the dressing, combine the mayo, wine, garlic powder and salt in a small bowl.
2. Add in the chicken and moisten with the dressing. Add the celery, scallions and dried cranberries. Mix everything together.
3. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.
4. Serve on a roll, wrapped in a tortilla, or on a bed of mixed greens.

Notes

I saw a chicken salad recipe that appealed to me, but not quite. It called for raisins, some curry powder, and chutney, but I knew I could use that recipe as the basis of inspiration for my first chicken salad. I had some leftover chicken breast from a previous meal, and I changed the recipe to better reflect my taste. Instead of raisins, I added cranberries. I simply left out the chutney, and traded curry powder for a hint of garlic powder. I let the salad rest, and then served in on a roll (leftover from the previous night when we had Chicken Parmesan Meatball Subs). I must admit, I thought it was delicious. I've never made chicken salad before, but I can see myself making this whenever we have leftover chicken but not quite enough for another family meal!

August 12, 2011

Wow...middle of August already. Where has the summer gone? For us, we traveled a lot, and didn't get much cooking in the last few weeks! But, now we are back home, and I can't wait to get cooking again!

To make cooking in my kitchen even more enjoyable, I've been painting my kitchen cabinets. Slowly but surely we've been redecorating our kitchen. I took down some ugly wallpaper and painted, we installed a new tile back splash, got a new fridge and oven, and once the cabinets are painted, the space will be complete! A work in progress, but I am nearing the finish line on this project. Once it is complete I will post some before and after pictures. To me, the change is amazing, and my kitchen has moved out of the late 1970's and joined us in the current year. :)

As for recipes, this week I only have 2, and both are desserts. One is actually more of an idea than a recipe, hamburger cupcakes, and the other is pumpkin snack cake. I still have fresh pumpkin in my deep freezer from last fall, so before a new crop comes in, I wanted to use up what I have. This snack cake is great with cream cheese frosting, but we also love it plain, so no need for the extra calories if the kids like it just as it is!

New Recipes
Pumpkin Snack Cake
Hamburger Cupcakes

Pumpkin Snack Cake

Ingredients
* 4 eggs
* 1 2/3 cup sugar
* 1 cup oil
* 2 cups pureed pumpkin
* 2 cups flour
* 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice *your choice)
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1 tsp salt

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Mix the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin together until light and fluffy.
3. Add the flour and remaining ingredients to the wet ingredients. Combine well; batter should be smooth and without lumps.
4. Pour batter into 2 greased 8 x 8 pans, bake for about  25-28 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out clean. If you want to make these as cupcakes, grease the cupcake pan and bake them for 22 or so minutes.

Notes
This is such an easy recipe!!! No sifting of flour, just keep adding ingredients to the batter. This snack cake also freezes wonderfully well. Enjoy one of the cakes with your family, and freeze the other for the future. If you do want to kick this up a bit, add some cream cheese frosting. It is absolutely delicious with cream cheese frosting! While I use pumpkin that I've processed myself, I am sure you could use canned pumpkin for this recipe. Just make sure you buy pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.

Hamburger Cupcakes

Ingredients

* Chocolate cake mix
* Yellow cake mix
* vanilla frosting
* shredded coconut
* food coloring - yellow, red, green
* sesame seeds

Directions

1. Make the yellow and chocolate cake mixes as directed on the box. Each box should yield 24 cupcakes.
2. When making the yellow cupcakes, don't use a cupcake liner - this will ensure your yellow cupcakes brown a little more, which is more realistic looking for "hamburger buns".
3. After cupcakes have fully cooled, slice the yellow cupcakes in half, and the chocolate cupcakes right under the top. (Reserve the chocolate tops for future snacking...we froze ours!)
4. Place the bottom yellow cupcake on a plate or platter, then top with chocolate cupcake bottom.
5. Coloring some frosting with yellow (for mustard) and some with red (for ketchup). Tint the shredded coconut with green coloring for lettuce.
6. Using a piping bag, ring the top outside of the chocolate cupcake with "mustard" and "ketchup", then add the "lettuce"
7. Place the yellow cupcake on the condiments and sprinkle with a few sesame seeds!

Notes
Use whatever box cake mixes you like. You can add other "toppings" - perhaps candy apple rings chopped for relish, or some rolled and cut fondant for cheese or tomatoes. You could even add a frilly toothpick to keep your burger together when serving! My kids were a little skeptical about the sesame seeds, but you add just a few, and they said they couldn't even taste them! The sesame seeds really do add a lot to the realism of the hamburger! If you want to make a giant hamburger, just use 8 or 9 inch cake pans and use the same ideas for decorating!