Chard stuffed meatloaf

Okay, so I will preface with this by saying that boy says I ruined meatloaf by putting grass inside of it.  Sigh.  I hope that someday he understands the benefits of eating well and can embrace something a bit healthier than fast food and milkshakes.  Two of his favorite food groups.  I guess at 16 these are the great parts of your life!



Now, off to my meatloaf creation.  True to my usual style, I have a very loose recipe to give you.

Combine 2 pounds of ground meat - I used 2 pounds of ground turkey, but any combo would work well.  I mixed in about 2 cups of bread crumbs, 2 T of italian seasoning, about 1/2 c of fresh shredded romano cheese, 1 egg and 1/2 c of skim milk.  Once I had all of that combined, I spread it out into a rectangle on a baking sheet with a lip to catch runaway juices and then put about 2-3 cups of blanched swiss chard and rolled the ends of the rectangle over it.  Then, I made a mixture of dijon mustard, honey, and a bit of water to make it thinner and used a brush to spread it over the whole meatloaf.  I then baked it for about an hour and 10 minutes at 350 or until the meatloaf juices were running clear.

Let the meatloaf rest for about 10-15 minutes to set and slice and serve!

Homemade Cheese Crackers

So, the boy loves cheez-its.  He goes through a box every few days and he buys them for himself because I refuse.  But I will make them for him.  I just forget sometimes because I'm a crazy busy homeschooling mom who does daycare and also writes a food blog.  :) But enough about me...this is about crackers, and love.  Because the things we do for our family help to create a bond that exists even after all of these yummy cheesy crackers are long gone.  So, when he got home from work today I had a treat waiting.  Homemade cheese crackers. I can't take all the credit because I was reminded by Carla's Kitchen Confessions about these Homemade Cheez-its on Christine's Cuisine.



Did I mention he also got me the first birthday gift ever with his own cold, hard cash?  Tapas plates (see above!) some flowers, stone coasters, and a cool placemat for photos on the blog.  Even though it's been a rough year at times and he's getting closer and closer every day to leaving the nest, knowing that he cared enough about something I love made my day.  I am blessed.  Very blessed.  And these crackers were just a little token of my love for my boy.

Gluten Free Brownies

 



 

I have an assortment of flours sitting around in the pantry - it's amazing the amount of ingredients you pick up here and there for different recipes.  I even had a box of King Arthur Gluten Free Baking mix sitting unopened from a thought I'd had about a gluten free recipe.  So, when I heard a friend had given up gluten for lent, my mind went into action thinking of a way to create a treat for her and expand my recipe repertoire.  I went easy on myself this time and made the recipe as is with one tiny change from King Arthur's website.

King Arthur Gluten Free Brownies

I cut the sugar down to a little less than one cup.  I don't think the recipe suffered at all, in fact I think it could go down a bit more than that because they were still plenty sweet.  I didn't add in the optional chocolate chips or nuts and they were perfect.  Very deep and fudgy.  They might even benefit from some espresso powder or a splash of dark coffee to even further enhance the chocolate but they are pretty awesome as is.

I can't wait to share these brownies with her - and I hear there's a bottle of red wine with our name on it waiting to be shared too...sounds like the kind of evening I need! What's better than chocolate, wine and a good friend?

 

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Doughnuts

I love reading other blogs - there's always a new idea, something I can't wait to try and, then, when I try it, and it's as good as it looked?  Well, that's a big plus!  I recently stumbled on this post from Love, Veggies and Yoga.  I have had my doughnut pan for a full week, and have made one basic recipe from King Arthur flour, and another one that involved a large amount of yogurt and looked more like a muffin but the daycare kids loved, so I was ready for something a bit more complex but a bit decadent.  And then I came across this recipe!  Lovely as well as yummy. a perfect combo.  The boy was not impressed.  I asked if he wanted one...his answer?  "Well, I did before you put that peanut butter all over them."  Seriously, how can this boy be my child?  I could exist on peanut butter if the situation was called for.  I love peanut butter.  Well, really all nut butters...cashew, almond, not as much sunflower but I can stand it and do not even mention nutella.  Love the stuff.  Hmm...a nutella doughnut.  I wonder...

But before my mind spins off to go find something that I can use for that...go make these.  If you don't have a doughnut pan, make muffins with it.  I had some leftover batter and I piped it into mini muffin cups and they were adorable and still tasty.  They will need to cook a few extra minutes though, so watch them.

One teensy change I would made is to consider omitting the cinnamon from the recipe because it does change the chocolate taste.  I didn't mind it one bit, thank you very much, but hubby noted it right away and it wasn't his cup of tea.  (more for me!)  Other than that, perfect!!  Now, go make them and be sure to tell Love, Veggies and Yoga how awesome they are!!

Strawberry Balsamic Dressing

It's funny the transformation that begins to take place when you consider what your food is made of, where it's coming from and what it is doing to your body.  And, suddenly, things that seemed so trivial, such as salad dressing, take on a whole new look.  As I was prepping dinner last night - Honey Lime Marinated Barramundi, yummy - I was looking for salad dressing.  Then, I realized that I had none because I hadn't bought any because I was trying to eliminate processed foods from our grocery budget.  So, I pulled out my handy mini chopper and set to work chopping up some strawberries I had frozen last summer and thawed for use in our spinach salad.  Now, instead of an ingredient, they'd become the garnish, or more likely the star attraction because it was the best choice I could have made.  Oh my goodness, that dressing was amazing!!  And, oh, so simple.  Why have I ever bought dressing before?

I tried to get some pictures but awesomeness is hard to capture so you'll have to take my word for it.  These pictures do not do it justice.

The best part?  5 ingredients.  Yup.  That's it.

1 cup chopped strawberries, fresh or thawed from frozen

2 t organic strawberry preserves, or homemade jam

3 T olive oil

1  T balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Either use a food processor on pulse, or whisk by hand.  Let sit for more intense flavor, or you can use right away like I did.  Store leftovers in the fridge.

I found this recipe on the food network site and it was amazing!  I can't wait to make another salad with it.  I tossed it on baby spinach with pecan halves.

A Whole Wheat Bread that we love...finally!

I have been on a mission ever since I started making bread...to find a whole wheat recipe that wasn't too dense, was mostly fresh ground and that actually would rise a bit.  And I think I finally, finally did it!!!

I made two loaves of bread yesterday just experimenting.  The first was a colossal failure and we now enough whole wheat breadcrumbs to last us for quite awhile.  But the second loaf?  True perfection.  I was in awe of how beautiful the loaf was as I started to cut it.  And inside was just as nice.  Perfect texture!  I couldn't wait to make another loaf and make sure it wasn't a fluke. It wasn't!!!  I can't convey through this post just how happy I was.  What a nice loaf of bread....



So, would you like me to share this awesome recipe I have come up with?  Yes?  Ok, here goes..

Ingredients

1 1/2 c hot water

2 3/4 c whole wheat flour

1 c bread flour

1 T salt

2 T butter, melted

3 T honey

1 T gluten

3 t instant yeast

I used my Z bread machine on the dough cycle, put all of the ingredients in the order suggested - wet first, then flour and then yeast on top - and started the machine.  After the first rise, the cycle was over so I put the dough into a loaf pan for the second rise in a warm spot of the kitchen.  Once it was about an inch over the pan, about 35 minutes later, I put it into the oven preheated to 375 for about 25 minutes.  I watched it carefully for the final few minutes to be sure it didn't burn since it was the first time.  I tapped on it to be sure it sounded hollow before taking it out to rest.

And then, I just enjoyed it!

"Better than going out" Chicken Critter Salad

It was a long week filled with stress, sickness and just trying desperately to get back into some kind of a routine.  Friday afternoon came, I got done work a little early and hubby and I hit the trails at our favorite local park for the first run all week.  It was a shorter run than normal so we hadn't made any plans for snacks, etc to take along and when we finished, we were starving!  On the ride home we tried to decide what we wanted for dinner.  One of the places we still like to head out to every now and then is Texas Roadhouse.  I love the deep fried pickles and hubby loves the rolls and we both agree our favorite thing on the menu is the Chicken Critter Salad.  We thought of heading home, cleaning up and going out, but quickly decided that Friday night is not the night to head there, or anywhere in our town, for dinner and decided to make it at home.  I'm so glad we did!

Of course we started off with some fried pickles - easy and simple.  I drained some dill chips while I heated some oil in a saucepan and then tossed the pickles in a flour, cayenne, seasoned salt mix and fried them until crispy.  For a dip I blended ketchup, horseradish mayo, Italian seasoning blend, hot shot pepper blend and paprika.  We nibbled on these while we made the ingredients for the salad.

First, I tossed some cubed leftover bread with a blend of butter, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper and then put it in the oven at 400 degrees.  Then I made a batter of flour, milk, and seasonings for the chicken tenderloins that I'd thawed out.  I dredged the chicken in the batter and hubby fried them in the same oil we'd used for the pickles.  While he did that, I cubed 2 hard boiled eggs and washed the salad lettuce.  Once the chicken was cooked, we sliced it and put it over the egg, greens and tomatoes and put warm croutons on top.  And added just a bit of honey mustard dressing on top.  Perfection!!  We enjoyed our favorite meal without calling ahead, dealing with crowds or forking over any $.  What a great date night!  Only thing missing was the rolls, so next time I will be sure to have some dough ready to go.

One thing we don't get out very often is dessert so it was extra-special to enjoy a dessert after our meal.  I wanted to try a new recipe and I have seen Black Magic Cake on more than a few blogs, so I decided that would be perfect.  I used this recipe from Allrecipes Black Magic Cake and was excited with all of the wonderful reviews.  We weren't disappointed. Of course, it had to have a peanut butter icing because it wouldn't be a chocolate cake in our house any other way.  :)  Nothing fancy, just a Peanut Butter Buttercream essentially.  So creamy it melted in your mouth.  I wish I had a recipe, but it was more of a clean out the odds and ends to concoct a frosting sort of event - in the most delicious way possible.



I think we were so spoiled with our evening in we might have to replicate it the next time we've got a craving for our favorite salad.  Being home, enjoying working together and then having a relaxing dinner was more than worth it!

 

Scampi Scallops...Yum!

Well, now that the household has finally been cleared of the "great stomach virus of 2012," I finally feel like I can cook again.  And eat again.  And, to top it off, I had a helper in the kitchen tonight!  My almost-17 year old has always been interested in the kitchen and now that he's learning at home, we're adding cooking to his list of subjects.   Just before we got sick, we went grocery shopping and got the most beautiful sea scallops.  It was so sad opening the refrigerator and seeing the package, just knowing that there was no way my stomach was accepting that.  But, tonight was our Valentine's.  I know, I know, late.  Germ-stricken households do that sort of thing.  I gave the boy an assignment - look up some scallop recipes and make a plan.  When he first said Scampi Scallops, my mind instantly went to a post by Warren on Table for Two Cookbooks about how scampi meant shrimp so wouldn't Scampi Scallops be Shrimp Scallops.  Oh, I'm so confused!  But I listened and thought that would play great with a nice sear in pan in the scampi butter and then popped in the oven with a nice parmesan and panko topping to brown.  So, the boy and I combined our thoughts and set to work.  It was a fun collaboration and I tried to remember to give him real jobs to do.  I'm so used to spending my days with the little ones that I sometimes forget a whole preteen separates his age from theirs and it has to be a conscious effort on my part to treat him differently.

And our creation was beautiful and delicious!

It was just fun being in the kitchen again, busy at work and enjoying having him there with me - hubby was in the adjoining room looking at Valentine's gifts and just commenting back and forth with us and we were a family.  I've missed that!  If only the girl had been home a bit earlier life would have been perfection, even if only for that moment.  I love those times when food and family come together to make life better.

Enjoy both your food and your family tonight everyone.  Much love to you all!

Chicken Spinach Phyllo Lasagna

Well, that's a mouthful and you haven't even tried it yet!  Sometimes, inspiration can strike in so many ways and this was just one of those ideas that just took hold in my brain and I finally had to make it.  It really was so very simple but completely delicious!

Hubby and I were on our own for dinner and I decided that it would be a great meal since it had many components that our kids aren't fond of.  Namely spinach and mushrooms, both of which we love and the boy hates.

There really isn't a recipe as much as a game plan.

That out phyllo dough, and using a 9' X 13' pan, start layering.  I set down a layer of about 3 thin sheets of phyllo for each layer.  First phyllo, then a layer of spinach, then a layer of phyllo, then a layer of chicken, phyllo again and a layer of mushrooms and Gruyere cheese, phyllo again and another layer of spinach and so on and on until it was all used up.  I topped it off with a fondue mix with Gruyere and swiss melted with milk to soak all of the layers and melt it all together and it worked perfectly!

Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until everything is golden brown and bubbly.  It may need longer depending on the temperature of your ingredients and the amount of layers you created.

It was a great evening in dinner, but it still felt a little decadent, even though it was very healthy.  I can't wait to make it again and see what new combinations I can come up with!

Apple Gouda & Smoked Ham Galette - courtesy of Anne @ From My Sweet Heart

Have you ever read a recipe and just wished it could appear right before you because you wanted it that badly?  Yes?  Well, that was my experience when I read Anne's post about an Apple, Gouda & Smoked Ham Galette.  It was an amazing, amazing, amazing sounding recipe and I knew I couldn't wait long to make it.  And I didn't.  I made it last night for dinner - to rave reviews from the family.  Thank you, Anne!!  If you have never visited her blog before, please do, because she is a wonderful resource of recipes and the pictures look good enough to eat off the screen!

I will mention that as I started to make the recipe I, a) didn't give myself enough time for everything to chill as prescribed between steps, and b) I had no clear jellies of any kind on hand.  So I used a berry jelly that I think worked out just as well, but it wasn't as pretty to look at as Anne's was. 

I will say that today's lunch was phenomenal because there was leftovers!!  And look what I did, just for good measure...



Yep.  I grated smoked gouda cheese all over that slice.  Heaven!!

Now, go on over to From My Sweet Heart to check it out.  I'm not going to post the recipe here...I think I'm headed out for a bit more of that leftover cheese....yummy!

Craving chocolate? How about a Muffin?

I have been on a chocolate kick lately...it's just about all I want to eat.  I'm really not usually like that...I like chocolate but I can usually resist the temptation.  Not these days!  I want chocolate and I really want it a lot.  Who knows or understands these demands the body puts out, but I'm not arguing.  If you want chocolate, I figure, have chocolate.  Yeah, I think being sick for too many days has made me a little crazy, but just bear with me..  :)

I decided on chocolate chip muffins as a way to take care of two problems:

1) No more open chocolate chip bag in the pantry. Very tempting!

2) At least when I eat the chocolate, I'm getting a bit more bang for my buck.

So, I decided on a muffin with chocolate chips and dried cherries.  Oh my mouth was watering just thinking about it.  But, then I had a thought.  Hubby hates cherries and chocolate together.  What to do?  What to do?  Well, I did what I did with the coconut almond cups.  I split the batter in half, and made half of them with dried cherries and mixed peanut butter and sprinkled peanut butter chips on top of the rest.  Crisis averted.  Now back to my baking.

I found a recipe on Food Network and although I wasn't planning on a chocolate muffin, the recipe there just sounded too good and so one more layer of chocolate was added to my muffin plan.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Adapted from Food Network

1 3/4 c all purpose flour

2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

2 T cocoa powder

3/4 c sugar

3/4 c milk chocolate chips

1 c milk

1/3 c vegetable oil

1 egg

1 t vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, and chocolate chips into a large bowl. Pour all the liquid ingredients into a separate bowl and mix gently. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together. At this point, I separated my batters, and added 1/2 c peanut butter to one and 1/2 c dried chopped cherries into the other.  You can mix anything in you'd like.

Pour into either a greased or paper lined muffin tin.  You can sprinkle additional chips on top of muffins before baking if you'd like.  Bake for 20 minutes or until the muffins are risen and springy.

These are really very moist, delicious muffins.  I hope you enjoy them!

 

Chocolate Fudge Cups

So, as far as I'm concerned, chocolate + coconut + almonds is a combination that could just about get me to do anything.  You know that commercial "What would you do for a Klondike bar?"  Yeah, well, Almond Joy candy bars are kinda like that for me.  So, as I was deciding last night what type of cookie to bring along to a run that a group of friends and hubby and I were doing, I happened to spy these on another page.  These were not the cookies I decided to bring to our run - I opted instead for a healthy oatmeal cookie studded with sunflower seeds- but I just had to make these. They seriously tasted like I was eating an almond joy but without the guilt of knowing I ate a candy bar.  Win for me!

They're called Coconut Fudge Cups in the Betty Crocker Cookie Book, but the hubby is not a fan of the texture of coconut, so I made two kinds - one with coconut and almonds and one with just almonds.  Both are pretty tasty!

Fudge Cups

Adapted from Betty Crocker Cookie Book

1/4 cup butter, softened

3 oz cream cheese, softened

3/4 c all purpose flour

1/4 c powdered sugar

2 T baking cocoa

1/2 t vanilla

 

Fudge Filling:

2/3 c sugar

1/3 c baking cocoa

2 T butter, softened

1 egg

1/3 cup flaked coconut

1/3 cup chopped almonds

 

Preheat oven to 350. Beat butter and cream cheese with mixer on medium speed.  Stir in all ingredients except filling ingredients.  Shape dough into 1 inch balls and press in bottom and on the sides of small ungreased mini muffin pan.  There should be enough dough for 24 cups.  Prepare filling by mixing all ingredients except coconut and almonds until spreadable.  If you're mixing the coconut and almonds, add both in at this time.  If you're dividing them, split the filling mix into half and combine each mix with either coconut or almonds.  Keep a couple of pinches handy to mark the top of the cookie cup.  Spoon filling into each cup, until just above the rim of the cup.  Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until filling has puffed up and bounces back when lightly touched.  Remove from muffin pan when slightly cooled, handling carefully.

 

 

 

 

Whole Wheat Stromboli

As far as dinners go at my house, pizza is usually the number one pick.  Hubby and the boy both love it, and it's something that's usually easy to customize to suit everyone's taste.  Especially now that I've got the awesome breadmaker that makes it super easy to have fresh dough at the press of a button.  Well, it's a little more complicated than that, but it doesn't seem like it.  As long as I give it an hour and a half head start, it's ready to go.  Now, something that we don't have as frequently is stromboli - which is interesting because isn't it really just like an inside out pizza?  I don't know why but we don't have it as often.  I was in the mood for it something awful and just had to have it.  I wanted something a bit healthier than the greasy kind from the local pizza place - I mean, sometimes, that will do and it tastes awesome - but for an every day dinner, healthier is better.  So, I decided to go with a whole wheat version of the dough to start...here's my "Z" breadmaker recipe:

 

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

adapted from Zojirushi cookbook

1 1/4 c water

1 1/2 T olive oil

2 c bread flour

1 1/4 c whole wheat flour

1 1/2 T sugar

1 1/2 t salt

1 1/2 t active dry yeast

I put all of that in the breadmaker and set it to the dough cycle.  An hour and a half later...awesomeness.  It really is a wonderful thing.

This recipe will yield enough for 2 large thick crust pizzas or 4 thin crust.  I usually make it, freeze half and use the other half right away.  Then, when I need a pizza dough, there's one only a thaw away.  :) I would imagine this could be adapted to make by hand pretty easily - just let it rise about an hour.  Once I was ready to assemble the stromboli, I rolled the dough out into a large rectangle.  Be sure to oil the dough with a little vegetable oil or it will make a gooey mess!

For this recipe, I used the whole dough for one stromboli because it goes fast around here.  And I like a little leftovers for lunch the next day!

The filling can be adapted to meet whatever you're looking for.  This stromboli had a combo of about a pound of browned and seasoned (salt and pepper) ground turkey breast, sauteed with a small chopped onion, about a cup of pepper strips (I used frozen), about a cup of fresh sliced mushrooms, a small jar of bruschetta topping and then it was topped off with slices of provolone once the filling was spread down the middle of the dough rectangle.  I let all of the cook together and then cool because if your stromboli filling is too hot, it will heat through the dough before a crust can form, or even as you're rolling it all up.  I then lined a cookie sheet with parchment paper and moved the stromboli on over!

I cooked it for about 30 minutes @ 375- checking to be sure it wasn't burning, but wanting a nice crust.

When it came out of the oven, it was gorgeous!  And pretty yummy to boot!  Enjoy!

 

 

Snickerdoodle Cookie Sandwiches

 



I'm not a big snickerdoodle fan.  Just not in my favorites category.  I mean, it is a sweet and I have a major sweet tooth but these, well, I don't know.  I love the cinnamon-sugar combo but there is a tanginess to them that just doesn't do it for me.  So, now that I've spent a few lines saying why I don't like them, let me tell you that these were one of the best batches ever of snickerdoodles that I've ever made....and the hubby LOVES snickerdoodles.  I've been sick for a few days and I've been less than inclined to head into the kitchen, and I feel badly that it's been days since he's had a decent dessert - or meal for that matter.  So, he was due a good dessert.  So, I set to work this afternoon making something that would be extra special and just for him.  First, I made a basic snickerdoodle recipe and then while they cooled, I made a cream cheese filling.  I was a little worried that the tanginess of the cream cheese wouldn't mesh well with the cookie, but it actually made it sweeter.  I even had one and enjoyed it.  I mean, look at that cookie - how could a sweets addict like me resist THAT???

 



Snickerdoodle Recipe:

(from Key Ingredient)

1/2 c butter, softened

1/2 c shortening

1 1/2 c sugar

2 eggs

2 t vanilla extract

2 3/4 c ap flour

2 t cream of tartar

1 t baking soda

 

Preheat the oven to 400.  Cream the butter and shortening with the sugar and vanilla extract.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add flour, cream of tartar and baking soda and mix well.   Form dough into balls - either large or small depending on what you're planning on using them for.  Combine 2 T sugar and 2 t cinnamon in a bowl and toss each ball gently in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes for smaller cookies, and 10-12 minutes for larger ones.  Cookies should be set with dry edges and just a bit soft in the center.

Remove from the cookie sheet immediately and let completely cool.  While cooling, you can make filling if you're planning on making sandwich cookies, or just leave as is.

Cream Cheese Filling:

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 T whipping cream

4 oz cream cheese, softened.

Mix all three ingredients either with mixer or vigourously by hand.  Spread in between cooled cookies.  If cookies are iced, store in the refrigerator.

 

So, now that I'm feeling better, dessert has been delivered and my work day is done - I'm heading out to run.  Or maybe nap.  It's all good either way.  :)