Cheesy Tomato Bake

My mom gave me this recipe, and I'm glad she did! It reminds me of pizza, but a little different. You can eat it as a main course or serve it up as an appetizer. Either way it will not disappoint!

To Make The Crust:

2 Cups Biscuit

2/3 Cup Milk

1 t Italian Seasonings

In a bowl mix biscuit and milk until a soft dough forms. Sprinkle in Italian seasoning and mix until incorporated. Knead dough lightly. If the dough is sticky add a little more biscuit. Using a 9x13 pan, press dough into bottom of pan and slightly up the sides. I found this works best once dough was warm and at least room temp.

To Make Topping:

1 Onion, Chopped

1 T Minced Garlic

3 T Butter

3/4 C Sour Cream

1/4 C Light Mayo

1 C Shredded Cheddar

1 C Shredded Mozzarella

2 t Lawry's Seasoning Salt

Dash of Fresh Ground Pepper

3 t Italian Seasoning

Fresh Basil, chopped

3 Ripe Tomatoes, sliced thin

Pepperoni, sliced thin (optional)

1/4 C Parmesan Cheese

In a skillet melt butter and saute onions and garlic until soft and slightly browned. When onions and garlic are done, remove from skillet and place into a bowl. Add sour cream, mayo, cheddar, mozzarella, Lawry's, pepper, and Italian seasoning and mix thoroughly.

Place sliced tomatoes in a single layer on top of dough. Next add pepperoni, and fresh basil. After that spread cheese and onion mixture. Lastly sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top.

Bake in the oven at 400 for 25 minutes. Enjoy!

Easy Chicken Ravioli

This is an easy way to make ravioli using won ton wrappers. I always wanted to try it, but I always thought they would fall apart when you boiled them. I tried making them for the first time last night, and they came out perfect! I was really surprised. I thought it was a great alternative to a traditional ravioli. I liked using the won ton wrappers because they were so light. When I finished eating I didn't feel like I had just ate a lot of heavy pasta. I was full, but didn't have that pasta hang over that you sometimes get after eating a lot of carbs. I definitely would make this again and encourage you to try!

Ingredients:

3 1/2 oz. Minced Chicken

2 T Fresh Basil, chopped

1/4 C Grated Parmesan

3 Spring Onions, chopped finely

1/2 Ricotta

Dash of Salt & Pepper

1 t Italian Seasoning Blend

1 Pkg Won Ton Wrappers

To Make:

Mix first 7 ingredients in a bowl. Lay out 24 won ton wrappers and brush slightly with water. Scoop 1 teaspoon of chicken mixture in the center of each won ton. Make sure not to over stuff. Place another won ton wrapper on top and press the edges together until sealed. You may want to dip your fingers in some water and run them along the edge of each ravioli, just to make sure there is a tight seal.

In a large stock pot add water and a dash of salt. Bring water to a boil, and boil ravioli in small batches. Maybe 5-6 at a time. Cook for 3 minutes. Place cooked ravioli into a large serving dish, drizzle olive oil over the tops to prevent them from sticking to each other, or serve immediately with your favorite pasta sauce.

If you need a recipe for marinara, there is one listed under July recipes.

Tips:

You can fill the ravioli with just about anything you 'd like. Sausage and goat cheese I think would be great. Mushrooms, roasted red peppers, even squash I think would be very tasty as well. You just have to be careful to not over fill the won top wrappers. If you fill them too much you can not get the tight seal you need on the edges, and the filling will fall out when boiled.

Hope you enjoy this one as much as I did!

Citrus-Cranberry Sauce

I recently had someone ask me for my cranberry sauce recipe, so I thought I'd post it. It's perfect for Thanksgiving, and there's nothing better then fresh cranberries versus the tubular shaped g00 that comes from a can. It's easy and not difficult to make. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 Large Oranges
1 Pkg Cranberries (12 oz.)
3/4 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Water
1 t Lemon Juice
1/2 t Lime Juice

How To Make:

Remove the peel from the oranges along with the pith and seeds. Cut each orange section into chunks.

In a sauce pan over medium heat combine cranberries, oranges, sugar and water. Cook mixture 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mixtures should reduce down, and resemble a jelly. Once cooked, remove from heat and add lemon and lime juice. Let cranberries cool, and then cover and chill in refrigerator.

This can be made up to 3 day in advance.

Tip:
Instead of oranges, use raspberries or strawberries. If you decide to use both oranges and raspberries add more sugar and water to compensate for more fruit.

Toffee Bars

This recipe is really easy. Great to make when your craving something sweet. It doesn't have a lot of ingredients, and they are things you typically have around your house. Everyone loves these!

Ingredients:

1 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

Graham Crackers

1 Bag Chocolate Chips

How To Make:

Using a 9x13 inch pan line bottom of pan with graham crackers. Brake apart crackers to fit all corners. In a small saucepan, bring butter and brown sugar to a boil. Boil until sugar is dissolved. Pour hot mixture over graham crackers, making sure to coat all crackers. Last, melt chocolate chips and pour over crackers. Using a frosting knife, spread chocolate evenly over all crackers. Put pan in the refrigerator until chocolate is set. Once set take out, and cut into pieces. Enjoy!

Bars should be stored in the refrigerator.

Beef Bourguignon With Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes

As the weather gets cooler, the more I crave warm and hearty dishes. This dish is a classic, that I've kicked up to make it even more flavorful! Hope you enjoy it, and it keeps you warm during this cold winter season!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Lbs. Sirloin or Tenderloin, cut into 3/4 inch chunks

1 Lb. Bacon

2 Bunches Medium Sized Knob Onions

2 Cups Red Wine

3 Cups Beef Broth

2 t Dried Thyme

1 T Minced Garlic

8 oz. Button Mushrooms, Sliced

5 Bay Leaves

Salt and Pepper to taste

2-3 T Wondra

How to Make:

In the oven or a skillet cook bacon until crispy. Using 2 T of the bacon drippings, in a large pan (about 14 inch) slightly brown meat. Lightly season meat with salt and pepper. When meat has been browned remove meat from pan and set aside. Do not over cook meat.

Quarter the white portion of the knob onions, and chop the green sections. Add onions and minced garlic to the pan with bacon dripping that the meat was browned in. Saute onions and garlic until translucent. Add mushrooms, cook an additional 4 minutes. Next add wine, beef broth, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper to onions and mushrooms. Crumble cooked bacon into bite size pieces and add to the broth mixture. Lastly add the meat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 35-40 minutes.

You can check the meat after a half hour by cutting into it to see if it's cooked to your liking. Some people like the meat still to be a little pink in the center, others like it well done. Adjust cooking time until meat is cooked to you liking.

When meat has been cooked, add 2-3 T of Wondra to broth mixture. This will thicken up the broth slightly. It will not become a gravy, it will still be more on the broth side.

To make the mashed potatoes:

5-6 Large Yukon Golds

1 Stick of Butter

1/4 Cup Milk

Fresh Chives

Crumbled Bacon

Cut potatoes into small chunks and place into a large pot with salted water. I leave the skins on my potatoes, because I think it adds more flavor, but you can remove them if you desire. Bring water to a boil, and boil potatoes 12-15 minutes or until fork tender. Drain water, and transfer hot potatoes to a bowl. Mash potatoes, and add butter so it can melt. Gradually add milk. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, whip potatoes until smooth and creamy. You may have to add a little more milk to help smooth out. Next fold in crumbled bacon and chives.

Serving:

To serve, take one spoonful of mashed potatoes, and place in center of the plate. With a slotted spoon, take a spoonful of meat and vegetable mixture and place on top or the side of the potatoes. Using a regular spoon, spoon broth from meat mixture over potatoes and meat. Add as much as you like.

Put leftovers in containers. Whens storing the meat, make sure you save enough broth to reheat. Everything stores well in the refrigerator.

To reheat meat, I put it back into a pan and reheated it over the stove versus a microwave. I did not want the meat to cook, I just wanted it to be warmed. I think the stove allows you to have a little more control then a microwave. This allows the meat to not become overcooked and stay tender.

Hope you enjoy!

Stuffing With Apples And Sausage

There's nothing worse then going to someones house on Thanksgiving and they serve you Stove Top Stuffing. Granted I do like Stove Top for a quick side dish at times, however it should be considered unlawful on Thanksgiving! It's so easy to make, that anyone can do it! Here is a simple tasty recipe for a nice homemade stuffing!

What you'll need:

2 Large Bags of your favorite stuffing crumbs (I like something that is slightly seasoned)

1/2 Cup Butter

1 LB Ground Pork Sausage (my produce market has a nice ground breakfast sausage at their meat counter that works great for this recipe)

1 Large Sweet Onion, diced

1 1/2 Cups Celery, diced

2 Golden Delicious Apples, cored, peeled, and diced into small cubes

1 t Rubbed Sage

1 t Dried Thyme
1 t Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper, to taste

1 Cup Chopped Pecans

2-4 Cups Chicken Broth

How To Make:

In a large stock pot, melt butter and saute onion and celery until slightly softened. Add apples and saute for an additional 3 minutes.

In a skillet, using a spoon, break up pork sausage and saute until lightly browned and cooked through. Once cooked, transfer to paper towel to drain fat.

Add meat to celery, onion and apple mixture. Stir in rubbed sage, dried thyme, salt and pepper. Add stuffing crumbs and mix until all ingredients are incorporated. You can add additional seasonings based on personal taste. Next mix in chopped pecans and stuffing crumbs. Gradually add in chicken stock. I recommended to use between 2-4 cups of chicken stock only because everyone likes it a little different. I tend to use more stock to make sure all the stuffing crumbs are coated and have a nice flavor. I do not like dry stuffing so I probably use close to 4 cups. Since the stuffing also gets cooked in the oven, its good to use a little more stock then not. Once everything has been thoroughly mixed, put stuffing into your favorite baking dish. Cover with foil, and cook at 350 for 1/2 hour. Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes until top is slightly browned. You can also add a few pats of butter to the stuffing before putting it into the oven to help brown the top. Enjoy!

Tips:

***Add dried cranberries to stuffing for a little tartness.

Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole

Since Thanksgiving is approaching, and everyone is asking me for my streuseled sweet potato casserole recipe, I figured I'd just post it. This recipe is fantastic! It will surely not disappoint anyone! It's a crowd favorite and it's one of those dishes that will become a staple every year for Thanksgiving. Hope you gobble it up and enjoy!!

You'll Need:

14 Cups Sweet Potato, 5 lbs, chopped into 1 inch cubes

1/2 Cup Half-N-Half

1/2 Cup Maple Syrup

1 t Vanilla

1 t Salt

1 Egg, lightly beaten

Cooking Spray

1 Cup Flour

1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup Chilled Butter, cut into small pieces

1 Cup Pecan, chopped

In a large pot, cook sweet potatoes in boiling water until fork tender, (about 15 minutes). Drain potatoes when done.

In a large bowl combine half-n-half, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and egg. Whisk until blended. Add cooked potatoes, and blend with a mixer on medium speed until creamy and smooth. Spoon mixture into a sprayed 9X13 pan.

In another bowl combine flour, brown sugar, and chilled butter. Use a pastry blender or the edge of a fork to incorporate ingredients. Mixture should become crumbly. Add pecans to mix and sprinkle on top of potatoes.

Cover potatoes with foil and make a slit on top to vent. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes covered, and and additional 25 minutes uncovered. Cook until streuseled topping is browned and potatoes have been thoroughly warmed.

Tips:

***You do not have to use the full amount of the streusel topping, you can cut the recipe in half, or use as much as you see fit. The topping is usually everyone's favorite part of the dish, so I tend to use all of it! Enjoy!!

Chicken Soup & Dumplings

It seems like everyone I talk to has a cold or the flu. The changing of the seasons can be beautiful, but also tend to make everyone sick. With this in mind, I made a huge pot of chicken soup and dumplings. The nice thing about making a huge pot, is you can share it with others or freeze it for those chilly winter nights!

What you'll need for the soup:

1 Whole Chicken

J.B. Jameson's Chicken Flavored Soup Base

1 Bunch of Celery, chopped

1 Bunch of Carrots, chopped

1 Onion, chopped

5-10 Bay Leaves

Fresh Ground Pepper

How to make:

Clean chicken thoroughly and place in a large stock pot. Pour water into pot until it covers the chicken. I tend to fill my pot almost to the top because I like to make a huge batch. If your making a large batch, make sure to allow enough room for when vegetable are added. Next add all your chopped veggies and your bay leaves. I think the bay leaves give the soup a wonderful flavor so I tend to use more. Depending on your own personal taste adjust the amount. Next bring soup to a boil, and then reduce heat and simmer for an hour.

After an hour your chicken should be floating and cooked. The chicken may not take the full hour to cook. The way to tell is look at the meat on the legs, if it starts to come apart from the bone, it's done. Remove chicken from pot and place on cutting board. While the chicken is resting on the board, skim any chicken fat that may be floating at the top of the chicken stock. You may have to do this several times to get everything. Once skimmed take the soup base, and add about a quarter of the jar. Stir in, taste and add additional base until soup is well flavored. I typically end up using at least half the jar, sometimes more depending on the amount of soup I make. Add gradually, because if you do add too much, it will be a little salty. If that happens, just add more water. I do not use bullion, I think it is way too salty, and has a generic taste to it. J.B. Jameson's soup base is excellent and rich in flavor. It can be found in your soup isle at the grocery store.

Once you have added enough base, let the soup simmer an additional 20-30 minutes. Remember to keep skimming the fat off the top. At this time you can take the bay leaves out of the soup, and add fresh ground pepper to taste.

Remove chicken from the bone along with skin. Meat should be very tender, and easy to shred or able to be cut into chunks. Once all chicken has been broken into bite size pieces, add to soup.

For The Dumplings:

2 Cups Flour

3/4 Cup - 1 Cup Cold Water

Seasoning Blend ( I use Tastefully Simple Spinach and Dill Blend)

Dash of Salt

In a bowl pour flour, salt, and your favorite seasoning blend. (I used about a tablespoon and a half of the TS spinach and dill blend.) Gradually add water to flour mixture and stir until a dough forms. Once dough has been formed, drop by tablespoon into simmering soup. Dumpling will float to the top once cooked. You'll probably want to add dumplings once you've added all your soup base. The dumplings can take between 10-20 minutes to cook.

Once dumplings are cooked, serve soup immediately! Enjoy!

Tips:

***You can use potatoes in the soup too, just chop into small chunks and add to soup with other veggies in the beginning.

***Store left over soup in gallon Ziploc bags in freezer.

Pot Roast

Fall is in the air, and with that comes hearty warm home cooked meals! The air is crisp and makes me think of being a kid. Those days I'd spend countless hours outside raking piles of leaves and jumping into them. The best part was coming in from the outside. My mother always had something wonderful cooking to warm our souls. One that I remember most is pot roast. The warm tender meat with root vegetables was a staple recipe for the fall. Here is my mothers recipe, hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 lb. Chuck Roast

1 Can Mushroom Soup

1 Pkg Dry Lipton Onion Soup Mix

16 oz. Cola

Salt & Pepper

Carrots

Red Potatoes

How To Make:

Clean potatoes and carrots and rough chop them. I use just enough vegetables to cover the bottom of my crock pot. Once vegetables are placed, put chuck roast on top of them. Season meat and veggies with salt and pepper. Pour mushroom soup over ingredients. Next sprinkle dry onion soup over meat. Lastly gently pour cola over everything. Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove meat from crock once finished and shred. Serve immediately.

I know the cola sounds weird in this recipe, but it really gives the meat a nice flavor. I used Pepsi. You can really use whatever you like most. You can even cut up onions, squash or any other hearty vegetable that will benefit from a slow cooking process to add additional flavor. Hope you like this great home style dish!

Chocolate Covered Pralines

These pralines are a sweet treat to make as gifts for friends and family! They are easy to make, and look great when finished. A nice way to say thank you or just thinking of you! They will be truly appreciated by others. That's if you can resist the temptation of not eating them all yourself! They are very tasty, and quite addicting!

What you'll need:

1 1/2 Cup Sugar

1 1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar, packed

1/4 t Salt

3 T Corn Syrup

1 Cup Evaporated Milk

2 T Butter

1 t Vanilla

1 1/2 Cups Chopped Pecans

2 Cups Chocolate Chips

How to make:

In a 2 quart saucepan, add sugars, salt, corn syrup, milk and butter. Stirring constantly over medium heat, mix until sugar dissolves and comes to a boil. Using a candy thermometer, boil until mixture reaches 236 degrees. Remove from heat and cool 10 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken. When slightly cooled, stir in vanilla and nuts.

Spray 2 small muffin pans (12 count) with cooking spray to prevent candy from sticking. Spoon mixture into bottom of each muffin pan and transfer to refrigerator to set up and cool. Once cooled, remove from frig. Flip muffin pans over to release pralines.

In a small saucepan, melt 2 cups chocolate chips, and add a spoonful to the top off each praline. Transfer chocolate coated pralines to a cookie sheet and put in refrigerator to allow the chocolate to set. Once set remove from frig and store in an air tight container.

Hope you enjoy this super sweet treat!

Grilled Apple And Brie Cheese Sandwich

I have another great fall recipe to use all those beautiful fresh picked apples everyone seems to have this time of year. You might think an apple and cheese sandwich sounds a little strange, but the flavors work so well with each other that it makes you think "Why haven't I made this before?" This is a simple recipe, great with soup or salad.

This is what you'll need:

2 Slices 7 Grain Bread, buttered

1 Apple, cored and sliced thin

3-5 Slices of Brie

Dijon Mustard

How to make:

On medium heat, warm up a small skillet on stove. Take a slice of bread, buttered side out, and spread Dijon mustard to taste. Build sandwich with brie and then apples, and the other slice of bread. Place in warmed skillet, and brown on each side. Remove sandwich from heat when cheese is soft and melted. Slice in half and serve immediately.

Idea:

Add some fresh cranberry relish to sandwich to add additional flavor.

Sweet Potato, and Sweet Dumpling Squash

My mom recently introduced me to sweet potato and sweet dumpling squash; and I'm glad she did! They are absolutely delicious and make a nice side dish to any fall entree. They actually reminded me a little of a Yukon gold potato, but much better. These squash along with many other kinds are in abundance right now, and simple to make. Simply cut squash in half and remove seeds. Set oven to 350. Place squash on tinfoil face down. With a fork poke several holes into the skin of the squash. Place in oven for 35-45 minutes and cook until soft. Serve with butter and salt or a little brown sugar. Hope you enjoy these wonderful fall squash as much as I did! Enjoy!

Note:

**I bought my squash at a local farm. They may be sold at farmers markets and or other produce markets.

Caramel Apple Oatmeal Bars

These bars are a great spin on caramel apples that we all know and love this time of year. They are packed with flavor and super moist! A must make recipe for the fall!

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup Shortening

1 1/2 Cups Packed Light Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup Buttermilk

1 3/4 Cup Flour

1 t Baking Soda

1/2 t Salt

1 t Baking Powder

1 1/2 t Cinnamon

1 t Apple Pie Spice

2 1/2 Cups Quick Cooking Oatmeal

1 t Vanilla

1 1/2 Cups Chopped Dried Apple Rings

1 1/2 Bags Werther Caramels Chopped into pieces

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray and set aside. Using an electric mixer cream butter, shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and then buttermilk. In a small bowl sift flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and apple pie spice. Gradually add this mixture to bowl. Stir until combined. Fold in oatmeal, apples and caramel. Pour mixture into pan and bake 20-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cut into squares and serve! Enjoy!

These bars should be stored in an air tight container, and can be stored for two weeks.

Caramel Corn

Fall is in the air, and there are so many great recipes to make this time of year! One of my favorite is this caramel corn recipe. It is easy and great for fall parties, kids Halloween parties, and treat bags. I make this every October to kick off the fall!

Ingredients:

5 Quarts Popped Corn

2 Cups Light Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup Corn Syrup

1 Cup Butter

1/4 t. Cream Of Tartar

1 t. Salt

1 t. Baking Soda

Pop 5 quarts of popcorn and place in a large foil or roasting pan coated with cooking spray.

In a medium sized saucepan combine brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, cream of tartar and salt. Bring mixture up to a rapid boil, stirring constantly. Using a candy thermometer, cook mixture until 260 degrees. Once temperature has been reached, remove from heat and add baking soda. Mixture will grow in size and become fluffy. Stir until baking soda is completely mixed in.

Pour caramel over popcorn and stir until all corn is completely covered. This may take some time, but just keep stirring and all kernels will get covered.

Place caramel corn in preheated oven set to 200 degrees. Cook for 1 hour, stirring every fifteen minutes. If after an hour, corn is still sticky cook a little longer until done.

When finished, take out and cool. You may have to stir it occasionally as it cools to avoid it from clumping. When cooled, place in air tight container. Enjoy!

Napa Salad With Grilled Shrimp And Mustard Vinaigrette

Tonight I felt like salad for dinner. I thought I'd make a napa salad, and grill some shrimp to put on top of it. This dish paired with homemade mustard vinaigrette is fantastic! This salad is great, because there are so many different flavors! All of the ingredients work perfectly together, and create a symphony of balance in your mouth. Sweet, tart and savory all in one dish, this recipe will make you want salad every night for dinner!

For The Salad:

2 Cups Spinach

4 Cups Mixed Greens (I like Romaine and Butter Lettuce)

1/2 Cup Gorgonzola Cheese

1 Fuji Apple (Chopped)

1 Cup Dried Cherries

1 Cup Corn

1 Avocado (Chopped)

1/4 Cup Slivered Almonds

2 Roma Tomatoes (Chopped)

Salt & Pepper To Taste

Cooked Shrimp (Any amount you want)

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except for shrimp. Skewer shrimp and season with salt and pepper. On a hot grill, grill shrimp about a minute a side or until warm. Place shrimp on top of salad. Toss salad with Dressing and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Mustard Vinaigrette: (This is a must for this salad)

1 T Minced Garlic

1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar (I use a 25 yr balsamic)

2 t Dijon Mustard

1 Cup Canola / Olive Oil Blend Oil (If you do not have this oil, make your own. Use 75% canola and 25% olive oil)

Sea Salt to taste

Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

Pinch of Thyme

Combine all ingredients into a bowl and whisk until blended. This dressing can be stored in the refrigerator.

Tip:

***Use chicken instead of shrimp.

***If you do not have a grill, saute shrimp in a skillet until warm.

Granola Bars

I'm always looking for great tasting, healthy snacks. I like making homemade granola bars, because there's so many things you can do with them. You can change what kind of dried fruit you want to use, add some different spices, and use what ever nut you want to. This recipe is for a dried cherry chocolate chip granola bar.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats

3/4 Cup Slivered Almonds

1/2 Cup Wheat Flour

1/2 Cup Honey

1 Ounce Butter

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar (I like to use the Splenda brown sugar)

2 t Vanilla

1 t Sea Salt

2 Cups Dried Cherries

1/2 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Put rolled oats on a cookie sheet and toast in the oven at 350 for about 8-10 minutes. Stir halfway through, and make sure they do not burn.

In a small saucepan, combine butter, honey, brown sugar and vanilla. Cook over medium heat until sugar has completely dissolved.

Take oats out of oven and pour into a bowl. Add wheat flour, and mix. Pour butter mixture over oats and stir until coated. Add dried fruit and chocolate chips. Put mixture into a 9x9 inch sprayed pan and bake at 300 for 20-25 minutes. You want the bars to be slightly browned. When bars are done cooking remove and cool on a rack. Once cooled, cut into bars. These can be stored in a Ziploc bag or an air tight container. Enjoy!

Other Combinatons to try:

***Dried apples, pecans and cinnamon.

***Dates, dried cranberries and walnuts.

***Dried blueberries, almonds and coconut.

***Sunflower seeds, dried tropical fuit mix, walnuts

Basil Pesto

Basil to me is the best herb! I can never get enough of it, and it tastes fantastic fresh! Since I have quite a bit of it growing on my patio, I have decided to make fresh pesto. It's easy to make, and taste great on pasta, pizza and sandwiches!

What you need:

2 Cups Packed Fresh Basil Leaves (I like to mix my regular basil with some spicy basil)

1/4 Cup Toasted Pine Nuts

2 Cloves of Garlic

1 t Sea Salt

1/2 t Fresh Ground Pepper

2/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 Cup Fresh Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese

How To Make:

Put first 5 ingredients into a blender or food processor, and pulse. Gradually add enough olive oil to make a smooth and thick mixture. Once desired consistency has been met, transfer pesto to a bowl and stir in cheese. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Store in refrigerator in air tight container. Enjoy!

Corn Salsa

Since fresh corn seems to be everywhere now a days, I like to make corn salsa. It's a simple recipe and great to bring to that Labor Day barbecue!

Ingredients:

Juice of 3 Limes

4 Cups Sweet Bi-Colored Corn, Cooked

1/3 Cup Finely Diced Red Pepper

1/2 Cup Black Beans

1 Finely Diced Jalapeno, Seeded

2 Green Onions Chopped

Chopped Cilantro (to taste)

1 t Sea Salt

1/8 t Cumin

1/8 Chipotle Powder

Instructions:

Combine corn, beans and all chopped vegetables with lime juice, salt, and cumin. Toss and serve with your favorite corn chips.

***I like to grill my corn, and make it slightly charred for this recipe.

Cheesecake

Cheesecake is one of those recipes that is great for any season. There are a number of things you can do with it, and depending on the season you can top it with just about anything. To me, it's pretty hard to find a good cheesecake recipe. I think the secret to a good cheesecake is that thin layer of sour cream on the top. No one really knows what it is, but knows it tastes great! The other thing that makes a great cheesecake is cooking it in a water bath. This allows the cake to keep moist while cooking and avoid cracking. I made this for family, and decided to go with the over all crowd pleaser cherry cheesecake!

To Make The Crust:

1 1/2 Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/2 t Cinnamon
1/3 Cup Melted Butter

Combine ingredients, and press into a 9 inch spring form pan using the bottom of a rounded glass. Go about 2/3 of the way up the sides.

For The Filling:

4-8 Ounce Packages of Cream Cheese (room temp)
1 1/4 Cups Granulated Sugar
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
2 1/2 t Vanilla
5 Eggs

Combine cream cheese, sugar, sour cream and vanilla in an electric mixer. Blend until mixture is smooth and creamy. Whisk eggs in a bowl and gradually add them to cream cheese mixture. Blend just until eggs have been incorporated. Pour filling into crust. Wrap outside of pan with foil to ensure cake will not get wet when placed into water bath.

Heat oven to 475 with a large pan filled with 1/2 inch of water. Pan needs to be big enough to put cheesecake inside of it. Allow pan to sit in oven while it preheats. Once oven is ready place cheesecake inside of large pan and cook for 12 minutes at 475. Turn oven down to 350 and cook an additional 50-60 minutes. You want the top of the cheesecake to be slightly browned.

When cheesecake has cooled take 1/2 cup sour cream and 2 teaspoons of sugar, blend, and spread on top of cheesecake. Cover and chill for several hours before serving.

Once cheesecake has been chilled, pour one can of cherry pie filling over top of cheesecake and garnish with fresh whip cream! Enjoy!

Grill - Baked Scalloped Potatoes

I made this recipe over the weekend and it's perfect for a barbecue! Since Labor Day weekend is upon us, I thought it was a good one to share!

What You'll Need:

1 Stick Melted Butter

8 Cups Thinly Sliced Russet Potatoes (I use a mandolin to get thin slices)

1 Sweet Onion Sliced Thin

1/4 Cup Flour

Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper

3 1/2 Cups Milk

1 1/2 Cup Shredded Cheese (I use white cheddar)

8 Slices Cooked Bacon Chopped

2 Green Onions Chopped

How To Make:

Drizzle about 4 tablespoons of butter on bottom of a foil 9x13 inch pan. Spread butter around. Line bottom of pan with sliced potatoes, sprinkle some sweet onion, flour, cheese, salt and pepper to layer. Drizzle some butter, and repeat layer until potatoes have run out. Gently pour the milk down the side of the pan so you do not disturb top layer. Add cheese, bacon and green onion to the top and wrap pan with foil. Cut a slit in top of foil to vent. Place potatoes on hot grill. If you do not have a grill, you can cook the potatoes in the oven. Whether your using a grill or oven, the temperature should be at 400. The potatoes will take a least 60-75 minutes. Check them after an hour and adjust cooking time if needed. I like to take the foil off the last 10-15 minutes to slightly brown the top. When potatoes are done, pull them off the grill and allow to cool for a few minutes. This will allow the sauce to thicken. Sprinkle some fresh shaved cheese over top to garnish!

This one's for you Frank!

Apple Slices

I can't believe it is September 1st all ready! Where did the summer go? As much as I enjoy summer, I absolutely love the Fall! It's my favorite season! The days are getting shorter, and the nights are getting cooler...apple season is just around the corner! I had a request for my apple slice recipe, so I figured I'd post it since it's perfect for this time of the year! It's a little time consuming, but is well worth the effort. If you make this recipe, make sure to make the dough, and do not use store bought pie crust. It is not the same. The dough for this recipe is what makes this recipe fantastic! My father loves these apple slices! He likes them so much that when I make them I usually have to make two batches because the first one disappears rather quickly! Hope you enjoy it, as much as he does!

Apple Mixture:

10-12 Apples, peeled and sliced (I like to use golden delicious)

1/2 t Salt

2 C Sugar

1 t Cinnamon

4 T Flour

2 T Butter (for top)

To Make Filling:

Mix apples with dry ingredients. Save butter until crust is ready for filling.

Dough:

1 1/2 C Shortening

4 C Flour

1/2 t Salt

3 T Lemon Juice

2 Eggs

6 T Water

Directions:

Sift flour and salt together. Add shortening into flour until mixture becomes coarse. Beat eggs, lemon juice and water together. Add to first mixture. Mix and turn out on wax paper and press into a ball. Cut ball in half (top & bottom crust). Roll bottom crust out on floured surface to fit a 15x11x2 inch pan. The bottom crust should line the bottom of the pan, and the sides. Once bottom crust is ready, pour filling in, pat the apples with butter. Roll out top of crust, place on top of filling. Take a fork and prick top crust with a few holes to vent. Bake slices at 450 for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Icing:

While slices are still warm, make the icing. Take one whole bag of powdered sugar, enough hot water to make spreadable, 1 tsp vanilla and a dash of salt. Drizzle all over the hot slices and allow to cool on a rack.

The apple slices taste good warm, but they taste even better cooled! You can cut and freeze these too! Enjoy!

Zesty Macaroni And Cheese

Since it's a gloomy rainy day, what better way to lift your spirits then nice home made comfort food! One of my all time favorites of course is macaroni and cheese. This recipe is a nice twist of your traditional mac-n-cheese.

What You'll Need:

2 Cups Milk

4 T Butter

1/4 Cup Flour

1 1/2 Cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1 1/2 Cups Monterrey Jack Cheese

1 Jar Of Your Favorite Salsa or 16 Oz. Fresh Salsa

1 t Sea Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

1 Lb. Pasta (Spiral Rotini, Corkscrew, Elbow Macaroni)

How To Make:

In a large pot cook pasta according to directions.

While pasta is cooking, melt butter using a medium saucepan. Add flour to butter and whisk until it turns a golden color, (about 2 minutes). Put the milk in the microwave for a minute to warm up, then add to butter mixture. Whisk constantly until mixture has thickened and comes to a boil (about 4 minutes). Add salsa to mixture and turn heat to low. Add cheese, and stir until fully melted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once cheese has melted, remove from heat and pour over pasta. Toss and serve immediately. Enjoy!!

Tips:

***Make sure to constantly stir the milk and butter mixture to avoid clumping.

***Put mac-n-cheese in casserole dish, top with bread crumbs, and spring green onions and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until slightly browned around the edges.

***Add slow raosted tomatoes. Recipe for them is listed under August file cabinet.

Garlic Pita Chips

I'm always looking for a nice healthy snack! Something you can eat, and not feel guilty afterwards. Pita chips are great because you can make so many different flavors! You can eat them plain, serve them with a dip, or crumble them on top of salads. The best part of making them yourself is they are fresh, and dirt cheap to make.

What You'll Need:

1 Pkg Pitas (I use Lebanese Pitas because they are thin and come out crunchy in the oven)

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Garlic Powder

How You Make Them:

Cut Pitas into strips, and then into pieces. Place pieces in large bowl. Drizzle enough olive oil over chips and toss until all chips are coated. You do not want to saturate the chips with oil, but you do want a nice light coat on them so they will get nice and crunchy in the oven. Next sprinkle sea salt and garlic powder and toss to coat. Season to your own taste. I love garlic, so I tend to use a lot. You can taste a piece before they go into the oven to make sure they are seasoned the way you want them to. Once they are seasoned to your liking, take a jelly roll pan and line with parchment paper. Spread chips on pan. Heat oven to 350, and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Flip chips about halfway through to make sure they cook properly. You want them to be slightly browned, and not look wet. They should be dry.

I have a convection setting on my oven, which works fantastic for this recipe. The chips really cook evenly, and get nice and crunchy. If you have this function on your oven I suggest using it.

The chips are so good when they just come out of the oven. They are warm, and crisp, and everyone loves them! You can put them in a large Ziploc to store.

Tips:

***You really can make any flavor you want. I've made B-B-Q, Parmesan garlic, sea salt & pepper, rosemary / dill, chive & garlic, southwest and ranch. The possibilities are endless.

I buy my Lebanese Pita's from my local produce market (Caputo's). I find the Greek Pita's are too thick, and don't taste as good as the Lebanese.

Thanks John for telling me how to make pita chips! I can't get enough of them!

Lemon Dressing

I enjoy making homemade salad dressings. It's fresh, you know what's going into it, and you can tweak the ingredients to accommodate to your taste. I have such a hard time buying dressing from a grocery store. I find a lot of them to have too much vinegar, not enough flavor, and I find it kind of scary that they sit on the store shelf for so long.

This recipe is a great dressing for the summer. It's light, refreshing, and super simple!

Ingredients:

1/4 C Sugar

3 T Lemon Juice

1 Egg Yolk

6 T Vegetable Oil

Directions:

Place sugar in bowl. Add lemon juice and whisk until most of the sugar is dissolved. Add egg yolk and whisk until all of the sugar is completely dissolved. Gradually add one tablespoon of oil at a time, whisking constantly. The dressing should be thick and creamy. Cover and refrigerate immediately.

Tips:

***Serve over a nice bed of spinach with jicama, feta and slivered almonds. This dressing is great paired with any type of fish dish or poultry.

This recipe comes from another great cook, my Aunt Char! Thanks!

Cooking Tip For Salad Dressing

Don't you hate when you make homemade oil and vinegar based salad dressing that it turns into a solid when you put it into the refrigerator? I learned last night at a cooking class at one of my favorite local restaurants that you should mix your oils. Meaning if your making an oil and vinegar dressing, instead of just using straight olive oil you should use a blend of olive and canola oil to prevent forming a solid when placed in the refrigerator. This blend should be 75% canola oil and 25% olive oil.

I went shopping this morning at my local produce market, and needed to get some more olive oil. As I was walking down the isle, I noticed that they actually make oil that is all ready blended with the exact percentage you need for dressing. I was not even aware that this existed! How fantastic I thought, that the work had all ready been done for me. It was really inexpensive too!The photo above is a picture of the bottle I took. If you can not find one at your local store, e-mail me and I will let you know where I found mine and the brand name.

Double Chocolate Mousse Cake

This cake is the ultimate chocolate lovers cake! It is a flourless cake which makes it very dense and extremely rich. I made it for my father's birthday since he is a chocolate lover. It was a nice break from the traditional birthday cake. It's easy to make, and will definitely take care of any sweet tooth you may be having! Just beware, this cake has absolutely nothing healthy about it...which is why it's so good! I hope you enjoy this as much as my family did!

For The Cake:

16-1 Oz. Squares of Semisweet Chocolate

4 Sticks of Butter

1 Cup of Sugar

1 Cup of Half-and-Half

1 T Vanilla

1/2 t Salt

8 Large Eggs

Take a 10 inch springform pan and spray with cooking spray. In a 3 quart saucepan over low heat, heat the first six ingredients. Stir frequently until mixture is smooth and creamy. In a large bowl, whisk all 8 eggs lightly. Once chocolate mixture has been melted, add it to the slightly beaten eggs. Gently stir until chocolate and eggs have been well blended. (Do not use a mixer for this.) Pour batter into pan and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean 2 inches from edge. Cool cake completely. Once cool, wrap cake and put in refrigerator for 6 hours. (I let mine sit overnight in the refrigerator.) After cake has set, take out of refrigerator and remove side of pan.

For The Glaze:

1 Cup Semisweet Chocolate Pieces

2 T Butter

3 T Milk

2 T Light Corn Syrup

In a 2 quart saucepan, melt chocolate with butter. Once melted, remove from heat and add milk and corn syrup. Stir until smooth. Spread warm glaze over cake allowing it to drip down the sides. Refrigerate until served.

Tip:

***If you want the cake to be extra decadent take some heavy whipping cream and beat until stiff peaks form. Pipe whip cream around edge or just serve with a doll-up of cream on top. Anyway you serve it, it will be over the top delicious!

This recipe comes from Good Housekeeping.

Chicken Empanadas

All I have to say is yummy! This recipe is simple and delicious! You can make this as an appetizer or as a main course. Either way they are sure to be a hit!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Cups Chopped Chicken (cooked)
8 Oz. Pepper Jack Cheese
4 Oz. Cream Cheese

1/4 Cup Red Bell Pepper (chopped)

1 Jalapeno (seeded and chopped)

1 1/2 t. Salt

1/2 t Pepper

1 T Cumin or Fajita Seasoning

1 Pkg Refrigerated Pie Crusts

Water

Directions:

In a bowl combine chicken and next 7 ingredients. On a lightly floured surface roll out pie crust to a 15 inch circle. Cut out rounds using a 3 inch cookie cutter. Repeat process until all dough is used. Lie rounds on clean surface and brush ends with water. Take 1 heaping teaspoon of chicken mixture and place in center of the round. Gently fold over dough, and pinch ends closed. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until slightly browned. Serve with sour cream, enchilada sauce and any other of your favorite condiments. Enjoy!

Wine Country Potato Salad

The one thing I don't always enjoy about potato salad is all the mayo that is put into it. I tend to avoid any kind of store bought potato salad because it seems like most of them have more mayo then anything else. I'm always looking for recipes that are different, and offer other options then just mayo. This recipe does just that! It's a great summer side dish and doesn't have that heavy feel of your typical potato salad.

Ingredients:

2 Lbs. Medium Red Potatoes

1 Small Red Onion, halved and sliced into half moons

2 Spring Onions, chopped (white and greens portion)

24 Pitted Kalamata Olives, lightly chopped

2 T Fresh Dill

1 T Fresh Oregano

Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper

1 T Champagne Wine Vinegar

1/4 C Lemon Juice

1/4 C Olive Oil

Instructions:

Clean potatoes, and place in 6-8 quart saucepan. Cover with water, add a dash of salt, and bring to a boil. One water has reached a boil, reduce to a simmer and let potatoes cook for 20 minutes. Potatoes are done when you can pierce with a knife. Once cooked, remove from pot and allow potatoes to cool. When potatoes have cooled cut then into quarters.

In a bowl combine chopped red onion, spring onion, olives, dill and oregano. Add cooled potatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

In another bowl whisk together champagne wine vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil. Pour mixture over salad and toss to coat. Refrigerate until served.

This is a great picnic recipe and good for all the outdoor summer barbeque's! Enjoy!

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

Ahhh.... the smell of slow roasting tomatoes! My house is so fragrant right now, it smells like a little Italian cucina! I had said in my last post that I had 20 lbs of tomatoes to roast. So far I've done about half. This process is very easy, but very timely! Prep time is about 10 minutes. Cooking time is 10 hours. It may sound like an eternity, but it is so worth it! I can't even begin to tell you how good the little slices of heaven that come out of your oven 10 hours later are! The intense flavor of tomato is absolutely fantastic! This is a great recipe if you grow a lot of tomatoes, or have access to a local farm that you can buy them by the half or full bushel. The whole reason behind me doing this is so I can freeze them and enjoy them in the winter months. You can use them in pasta, soup, chili, sauces, salsa, and stews. They are great by themselves too, I had a full plate right when they came out of the oven! Delicious!

What You'll Need:

Plum Tomatoes (the amount is up to you, and what your oven can hold)

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Dried Italian Herbs

Garlic

How You Roast:

Wash your tomatoes and dry them. Slice tomatoes in half. Take a jelly roll pan or roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil. You'll want to use a pan with a lip so oil and juices do not drip into your oven. Next take your sliced tomatoes and place cut side down in pan. Sprinkle sea salt, herbs, and minced garlic over tomatoes. Lastly drizzle a little more olive oil over the tops of the tomatoes. Set your oven to 200 and roast for 10 hours. When tomatoes are done roasting, pull them out of oven, slightly cool, and remove skins. Once cooled, place in containers and refrigerate or freeze. Enjoy!

Tomato Tart

My obsession with tomatoes continues! I can not get enough of them in the summer time! I like them so much I have 20 lbs of them sitting in my kitchen waiting to be roasted. That recipe will be posted in the next few days. I think I'm one tomato away from a 12 step program! This recipe is an old favorite of mine, and is great if your doing a brunch!

For The Crust:

4 Oz Cream Cheese
1/2 C Margarine (Room Temperature)
1 1/2 C Flour
2 t Fresh Rosemary
2 t Fresh Oregano
1/2 t Sea Salt
1 t Orange Juice
1 t Orange Zest

Cut together the cream cheese, margarine and flour until coarsely blended. (I like to use a pastry blender for this process.) Once blended add the remainder ingredients. Knead the dough for about 1 minute, wrap in plastic and place in refrigerator for 1-2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400. Roll out dough on floured surface to fit the size of your tart pan. (I use an 11 inch tart pan with removable bottom. ) Spray bottom and sides of pan with cooking spray for easy removal. Place crust in pan and gently press dough into the bottom and sides. Poke holes in crust and bake 18-20 minutes until crust is light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely.

For The Filling:

1/2 Large Red Onion, Sliced Thin
1 T Minced Garlic
2 T Olive Oil
2 T Balsamic Vinegar
4 large Tomatoes, Sliced Thin
Fresh Basil (chopped)
Sea Salt
1/4 Lb. Parmigiano Reggiano

In a sauce pan on low heat, saute onion and garlic in 1 T olive oil. Cook until translucent, add 1 T of balsamic and cook for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and cool.

Drizzle a little olive oil over crust and begin to add a layer of sliced tomatoes. Alternate onions and tomatoes. Drizzle the rest of the olive oil and balsamic over the top. Sprinkle with sea salt, and fresh basil. I tend to use a lot of basil because it taste great with tomatoes. Use as much as you see fit for this dish. Bake tart in oven set to 350 for 15-20 minutes or until tomatoes are tender. Remove from oven and sprinkle fresh parmigiano reggiano. Serve immediately.

***I like to use different types of tomatoes in this dish. One in particular is the yellow tomato that is low in acid and tastes great paired with an heirloom. Most of these tomatoes can be found at local farmers markets.

Bon Appetit!

Freezing Sweet Corn

Who doesn't love sweet corn?! There's nothing like fresh corn from the farm! Luckily for me, I have a couple of local farms that I like to visit and pick up their produce in the summer time. One item in particular that I always get this time of year is the corn! Here's a recipe for freezing corn that you'll be able to enjoy during the winter months.

Ingredients:

4 Qts. Raw Corn (cut off cob)
1 Qt. Water
1/2 Cup Sugar
4 t Salt

Instructions:

In a large stock pot, add all ingredients and bring water to a boil. Once water has come to a boil, reduce to a simmer and let corn cook for 3 minutes. When cooking is done, remove from heat, and put corn and some liquid into freezer containers. Let corn cool completely before freezing. This recipe makes about 7 pints.

This recipe comes from: Goebberts Farm and Garden Center

Grilled Chiles Rellenos

The one thing I do not like about chiles rellenos is most recipes say to fry the peppers. Since I'm not a huge fan of frying food, and I love to grill, I thought I'd try this recipe on the grill.

I took 4 poblano peppers and put them on the grill set to high heat. I let them cook for about 7-8 minutes per side until they became charred and blistered. When they were done, I wrapped them in foil and set them on the counter to steam for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes I unwrapped them and allowed them to cool. Once cooled I peeled the charred skins off of them, slit them open on one side and removed the seeds. (Do not cut all the way through the pepper because they will be stuffed.)

For the stuffing:

Fresh corn from two cobs
1 Cup Crated Queso Fresco
Chopped Cilantro (to taste)
Dash of Chipotle Pepper

In a bowl combine corn, cheese, and cilantro. Mix all three ingredients and begin to stuff peppers. Place stuffed peppers on a sheet of heavy duty foil. Cut a large enough piece to bring two sides up and roll over several times to seal. Fold the ends tight enough that juices to not run out. Once foil packet is created, turn your grill to medium heat. Put foil packet on the grill for 10 minutes or until cheese has melted.

Serve peppers immediately with sour cream. This recipe was easy to make and is a healthier version of the typical fried chiles rellenos. It's great for summer and packed with flavor! Hope you enjoy!

Tomato Watermelon Salad

I like to eat lighter in the summer and use as many fresh vegetables as I can since they are now all in season. If your looking for something quick, easy and fresh to eat tonight for dinner you may want to try my tomato watermelon salad!

Ingredients:

1 Medium Tomato, chopped
1 Cup Watermelon, chopped (I use the seedless black diamond watermelon)
Mixed Spring Greens
Olive Oil
Balsamic
Salt & Pepper
Feta Cheese
Slivered Almonds

Directions:

When I make this, I'm usually making it for just myself. If your feeding it to a family you will need to adjust the amounts. Simply double or triple the recipe.

Take the chopped tomato and chopped watermelon and mix together in a bowl. You may want to make this an hour ahead of time just so the juices can mix a little. Place spring greens on a plate. The amount is entirely to you, it depends on how much of them you want to eat. Next take the tomato and watermelon mix and place on top of greens. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic over salad. Add a dash of sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Sprinkle feta cheese and slivered almonds and toss. You can even add diced grilled chicken to this salad if you wanted to add some protein.

This summer salad is really easy to make and is packed with flavor! Hope you enjoy!

Pineapple Zucchini Bread

Since zucchini is in abundance right now, I thought I'd post another zucchini recipe. This is the first time I've ever made this bread, but thought it sounded good since it wasn't your typical zucchini bread recipe. I thought it would be nice to use my mini loaf pan instead of your typical loaf pan so I can give it to friends and family as a gift. I baked the bread this morning, took it out of the pan and had all six of my mini loaves cooling on a rack. While they were cooling I decided to go upstairs and do some work. I went upstairs, received a phone call, and proceeded to talk. Out of the corner of my eye, I see my little dog walking with something in his mouth. Mind you I have two well mannered dogs, one is 12 lbs. and the other is 20 lbs. Both are small and by no means can reach the top of a kitchen counter. I have no idea how they got one of the loaves. I seriously think one stood on the others back. One was the look out, and the other one was the thief. It remains a mystery! In all of the years I've lived in this house, this has never happened before! I have left all kinds of food on the counter, and they have never managed to steal anything! I thought to myself, this bread must smell so damn good that it literally was driving the dogs crazy and they just had to have some. At least they shared and split a loaf! Since it was irresistible to them, I thought for sure this was going to be irresistible to others!

Ingredients:

3 Eggs
1 C Oil
2 t Vanilla
2 C Shredded Zucchini
8 oz. Can Crushed Pineapple (drained)
3 C Flour
2 t Baking Soda
1/4 t Baking Powder
1 t Salt
1 t Cinnamon
3/4 t Nutmeg

Directions:

Beat eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla until thick. Add zucchini and pineapple. Once combined add the remainder of the ingredients to the mix. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Notes:
***I added raisins and chopped pecans to the mix. If you use mini loaf pans like I did, this recipe will make six.
***I also took some powdered sugar a little warm water and some vanilla to add a drizzle to the top of each loaf.


This recipe comes from cooks.com.

Fresh Guacamole

What goes better with salsa, margaritas and Mexican food then guacamole?! I admit, when I was younger I could not stand avocados. One trip to Mexico, when I graduated college, changed all of that! The great thing about Mexico, is everywhere you go, they give you a bowl of chips, salsa and guacamole. This was perfect for me since I had a college graduate's budget and the salsa and guacamole was free! I still was a little unsure of the whole liking avocado thing, but it was something that did eventually grow on me. It seemed like the more I ate it, the more I liked it. Which made me wonder "What's in this stuff?" A friend of our family is from Mexico and can make the best guacamole ever! After a couple of years of wondering how he does it, I finally got my hands on the recipe!

Ingredients:

6 Avocados
5 Tomatoes
1 White Onion
4 T Chopped Cilantro
4 Serrano Peppers
1 Quarter of a lime
2 T Olive Oil
2 T Sugar
1/4 t Oregano
1/4 t Black Pepper
1/4 t Onion Powder
1/4 t Cinnamon
1/4 t Italian Seasoning
Pinch of Salt

Direction:

Chop tomatoes, onions and peppers (remove seeds from peppers). Place ingredients in a bowl and add cilantro. Next break avocados into small pieces. Do not chop or smash. Add the remainder of the ingredients and mix everything breaking the avocados up more. The mixture should be chunky, and not entirely smashed. Leave 2-3 avocado pits in guacamole to keep the fresh color.

Notes:
***This guacamole is spicy. It's not flaming hot, but it does have a kick, which I think is nice. If you do not want it real spicy cut down on the amount of Serrano peppers or use a jalapeno which is a little more mild then a Serrano.
***If you decide to use Serrano peppers you may want to wear rubber gloves when dicing. If you have any cuts on your fingers, you will be feeling the sting from the oil of the pepper for hours! I know from experience!

Now make a margarita, grab some chips, and enjoy this great summer time snack! Thanks Daniel for the recipe!

Leek Quiche With Potato Crust

I just made this recipe today, and it is a perfect summer dish! Real simple to make and a great use of leeks! I of course added additional ingredients because I like a lot of flavor. The nice thing about this recipe is that there are not a lot of ingredients, they are probably things you all ready have in your fridge. Why not try this one out tonight?!

Crust:

3 Cups Potatoes, grated
3 T Oil

Grate potatoes, and squeeze out excess water. Mix potatoes with oil. I used an infused garlic and basil olive oil. All though the recipe does not call for it, I added sea salt, pepper, garlic powder and about a 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. Once potatoes have mixed with oil, place in a 9 inch pie pan pressing along the sides and bottom. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. While that is baking, make the filling.

Filling:

1 Cup Leeks, chopped
1 Cup Cheese, grated
3 Eggs
1 Cup Evaporated Milk
Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper

Thoroughly wash the leek. They do tend to have a lot of sand in them. Once clean and dried, chop one cup (about one leek). Grate cheese. I used two different types of cheese to add some contrast, white cheddar and baby swiss. Layer the leeks and then the cheese on top of the crust. In a bowl whisk eggs, evaporated milk, salt & pepper. Pour mixture over leeks and cheese and bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 for another 25-30 minutes. Bake until top is nice and browned.

My oven allows me to bake convection, if you have this setting on your stove this dish would benefit from it. The convection setting allows everything to cook very even, with nice browning from top to bottom. Hope you enjoy this great dish as much as I did!

Thanks Shawna for the recipe! shawnaskitchen.blogspot.com

Candied Sweet Pickles

There are pickles everywhere you go! They're dirt cheap, and are being sold buy the bucket. I enjoy fresh pickles that are nice and green and that aren't a weird shade of neon yellow like you see in the jars at the stores. Those aren't pickles to me, those are science experiments! I went to a local farm, and bought literally a bucket of pickles yesterday! I decided to make refrigerator pickles that my grandma used to make. They are simple to make, and require no cooking. This recipe makes a ton, and can be stored in the frig for weeks. Actually the longer they sit, the better they taste! They're great to bring to picnics, and a nice homemade gift to give to friends and family!

Ingredients:

1 Gallon Jug full of sliced fresh pickles
3 Cups Apple Cider Vinegar
4 Cups Sugar
Pickling Spice 3oz. (can get at grocery store)
Dill (optional)
2 Cups Water

Directions:

Slice all pickles and place in a gallon container. (I use a mandolin for even slicing.) In a bowl, non metal, mix apple cider vinegar, sugar and pickling spice. Use a whisk until sugar dissolves. Pour mixture in container, and add just enough water to cover pickles not exceeding 2 cups. Add additional dill to taste and mix. Cover container, and place in refrigerator. Stir occasionally. Let pickles sit for 5 days before using.

**You can use other vegetables besides just pickles for this recipe, remember to not exceed a gallon.
**Pickling spice can be usually found by the fresh pickles in most produce markets or down the spice isle. Since pickles are in season now, I've noticed a lot of stores putting the ingredients near each other, knowing it's a popular thing to do in the summer.
***You can use a sugar substitute, just make sure it's equivalent to 4 cups of regular sugar.

Stuffed Turkey Burgers

It's grilling season! The best time of the year! There's nothing better then having a great grill and doing all my cooking outside! I know...a little strange coming from a female to say how much she loves to grill, but I really do! I put anything and everything on the grill! Easy clean up, and the food always tastes great! I like burgers, but not your ordinary burgers. My burgers are kicked up, packed with flavor, and perfect for the grill!

Ingredients:

2 lbs Ground Turkey
1 Egg
4 Slices of Cheese (I use a Monterrey Jack, Habanero Cheese)
1 Small Red Bell Pepper, roasted, skinned, and diced
1 Sweet Onion, sliced thin
2 Portobella Mushrooms, sliced thin
2 T Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 t Thyme
Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper
2 T Olive Oil
4 Fresh Bakery Buns

Instructions:

Turn grill to high, and roast peppers. About 7-10 minutes per side. Your looking for them to blacken, and blister. You can really use any kind of pepper you like, I always tend to use red because they taste great roasted. Once they are nice and charred take them off the grill and allow them to cool. Once they are cool, peel of the blackened skin and dice.

In a skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and onions. Cook for five minutes and then add mushrooms and diced peppers. Add a little salt and pepper to taste and allow to cook for another 5 minutes. When done, remove from heat and slightly cool.

While vegetables are being sauteed, in a bowl mix ground turkey, egg, Worcestershire, thyme, salt & pepper. You don't really have to use an egg, but I do because it binds the meat better. Once meat has been mixed, form into 8 patties of equal size. A burger press works best for this recipe, it allows the burgers to be formed perfectly.

When all burgers have been formed take a slice of cheese and tear in half. Place cheese on the center of the burger, not allowing it to touch the edges. Take a scoop of the sauteed vegetables and place on top of the cheese. Lastly, take another burger, and place on top of the other. With a fork, crimp the edges of the burger together so filling does not fall out.

Heat grill to a medium heat, lightly season burgers (I use garlic powder, and a general seasoning blend), and grill for 6-8 minutes per side depending on your grill. Just before burgers are done, place buns on grills to lightly toast.

Place cooked burger on a bun and top with your favorite condiments! Enjoy!

Options:
**You can make this burger so many different ways. Use different cheese, different vegetables, anything you like!
***If you do not have a grill, you can do these in your broiler.
***These burgers are great without a burger and drizzled with a Merlot steak sauce.
***You can butter the bun and then toast to make it richer.

Don't Forget The Doggies!

When I came home today, I was greeted by my two crazy dogs who spun in circles, stood on two legs and gave out slobbers to greet me. To think they did all that just because I walked in the door, imagine if I really did something impressive what they'd do! Since I am a dog owner, and I know a lot of my readers are also dog owners, I thought I'd post a recipe my dogs love! It's a simple carob chip and peanut butter biscuit.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 Cup Natural Peanut Butter
1 Cup Skim Milk
1/2 Cup Carob Chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375. Mix peanut butter and milk together. Add the carob chips, and slowly incorporate dry ingredients. Mix until a dough is formed. Turn out dough on a floured surface and knead. Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutter (dog bone shape). Place on greased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Cool on rack and store in an airtight container.

My Thoughts:

My dogs love these biscuits! They're easy to make, and they make a lot. The biscuits store really well in a container, and can last a good amount of time. A good gift idea for other fellow dog owners is to put biscuits in cute little bags from a party store and tie with ribbon. You can even melt some carob chips and dip the ends of the biscuit. What dog doesn't like peanut butter?! Woof!

Coconut Cake

Kim this one's for you! I know how much you like white coconut cake! It's very easy to make, and I think you'll really enjoy it!

Ingredients:

1 Box White Cake Mix (The Super Moist Mixes, Taste Best)

1 Can Condensed Milk

8 oz. Cream Of Coconut

8 oz. Cool Whip

1 Bag Angel Flake Coconut

Instructions:

Mix cake batter to instructions on cake box. Add 1/2 a bag of flaked coconut to cake mix. Bake cake according to directions on box for a 9x13 pan. While cake is hot poke holes in it with a meat fork. Mix condensed milk and cream of coconut. Pour mixture over hot cake. Let cake cool to room temperature. Once cake has cooled, spread Cool Whip over cake and sprinkle remainder of flaked coconut on top. Cover and refrigerate.

Special Notes:

** Cream of coconut can be found in the liquor department of your grocery store by the pina colada mixes. The most common name brand is Coco Lopez. I think the can is 12 oz., so make sure when you mix it with the condensed milk you measure out only 8 oz.

Suggestions:

** Some other ides for this cake are to put a little lime juice in the cake with some lime zest, or do orange or pineapple instead. You can put sliced fruit or berries on the top as well to make it more decorative, or to give it a little more flavor. Hope you enjoy!

Fire Roasted Marinara

What is better then summer tomatoes and fresh basil? In my opinion, nothing! I can not get enough of it! I recently went a little crazy at my local produce market buying tomatoes because they were dirt cheap. How can you go wrong with extra large tomatoes at $.49 a lb. I quickly grabbed a basket full of them. I brought them home and let them sit on my counter until they reached their perfect ripeness. Since I had all these beautiful tomatoes, I decided to made a big pot of marinara. Not just regular marinara, fire roasted! This would be new to me since I usually just make a basic marinara. The regular recipe is very simple. I however, like to kick up the flavor and experiment! This is what I did:

Basic Ingredients:

10 lbs. Ripe Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Basil
Garlic
Salt
Sugar

Instructions:

Wash tomatoes and place on a grill set to high heat. Grill tomatoes 10 minutes per side, flipping once. When 20 minutes is up, the tomatoes should be really nice and roasted. Remove from grill and slightly cool. In a food processor or a blender puree all tomatoes. I used the whole tomato. Some that were really charred, I removed the skins and and then pureed.

In a large sauce pot, pour 3 Tablespoons of olive oil. Turn your stove to low heat, and add 3 Tablespoons of freshly minced garlic. Let the garlic sweat for 5 minutes giving the oil a nice flavor. Once garlic is slightly browned, add the pureed tomatoes to the pot. At this time you may want to add additional olive oil. I added another 3 Tablespoons. You can add more or less based on personal taste.

Since I love basil, I used a ton! I have basil growing in a large pot on my patio, and probably used almost three plants worth. I started with two, and ended up adding more. If you do not have access to basil plants, I would use at least two handfuls of fresh basil. Of course if you are not a basil nut like me, adjust the basil to your taste. Cut up basil before adding to tomato puree. Once basil has been added, add sea salt and sugar to taste. (Depending on the acidity of the tomato you can use less or no sugar at all.) Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium and let mixture reduce down until it is not soupy anymore. About an hour.

That is a pretty basic recipe, I however like a lot of flavor and added additional ingredients. This is what I added:

1 Cup Minced Sweet Onion
1 Cup Baby Portabella Mushrooms
1 Cup Red Wine
Fresh Oregano
A Splash of 25 yr Old Balsamic Vinegar

Other options for this recipe is to add ground beef or ground Italian sausage. You can add any diced up vegetable you may like. Zucchini is great in this!

Serve marinara over your favorite pasta or any other dish you want to add a little sauce to. This does make quite a bit, but the nice thing is you can freeze it and use on those cold winter days! Enjoy!

Peach Sorbet

I went to the farmers market today, and quickly was drawn to all the beautiful peaches that were on display. There really is nothing like a peach when it is in season! Their sweet and juicy, and makes you instantly think of summer! Since peaches are in abundance, I thought I'd make a peach sorbet. It's very simple, but does require an ice cream machine.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 Cups Sugar
1/2 Cup Water
3 T Fresh Lemon Juice
3 lbs. Peaches (7-8 cups)

Directions:

Combine sugar and water. Boil until all sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat to medium and cook an additional 3 minutes. Take pot off of heat and place pot in a bowl of ice water until syrup is cool. Once cooled, stir in lemon juice.

Remove skins of peaches, slice and take out pit. In a blender or food processor with knife blade puree peaches with sugar syrup until smooth. Place mixture in ice cream maker as manufacture directs. Store in freezer.

Other ideas for this recipe:

I have made this recipe in the past and I have used strawberries and peaches. If combining with another fruit you have to adjust the measurement of the peaches. 7-8 cups total of fruit. I have served this sorbet over pound cake or you can use short cake with fresh blueberries and sprinkle of powdered sugar. To really make this dessert stand out you can purchase raspberry sauce in some specialty grocery stores, and add a drizzle of that! This sorbet is a very nice light, refreshing summer desert. Enjoy!

Key Lime Martini

How can you go wrong with a martini? So many different kinds, and such little time! This key lime martini is one you will be sitting around and saying "It's five o'clock somewhere"! The hard part about finding a good recipe for a key lime martini, is either their too sweet or too tart. My mother, a martini connoisseur, was dedicated to the cause to come up with the perfect blend of sweet and tart. Like a trooper she sampled dozens of martini's figuring out how much of each ingredient should be used. It was a tough assignment, but someone had to do it! Like all good mom's she did not disappoint her daughter! She had me over to her house, to reveal her delicious concoction. With a shaker in one hand, and a glass in another, I knew she meant business! I had to get serious, if I was going to give some honest feedback. She poured me the nicely chilled frothy beverage, and I began to sip! It was creamy goodness, the flavors complimented each other perfectly! It was just like having a piece of key lime pie from Southwest Florida! Made you wonder if Jimmy Buffet could come over and play a little tune! With smiles on our faces, we looked at each other and said "this is a keeper"! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Ingredients:

2 oz. Vanilla Vodka
3 oz. Key Lime Liquor (Ke Ke Beach)
2 oz. Pineapple Juice
1 oz. Heavy Cream
Graham Cracker Crumbs

Directions:

Take a martini shaker and pour vanilla vodka, key lime liquor, pineapple juice and heavy cream into shaker with ice. Shake for 30 seconds. Dip rim of martini glass into graham cracker crumbs, and pour martini into glass. Serve immediately.

Beef Kabobs

My mother is a fantastic cook! One of those people who are naturally good at it, and really knows how to taste with all of her senses. She knows immediately what a recipe is lacking and what it really needs to make it taste great. Like most good cooks, she does not use measurements. A little of this, a little of that, and perfection is served an hour later! Since I love to cook, and I enjoy her cooking, I wanted to duplicate one of her signature dishes. Beef Kabobs...I asked for the recipe, doesn't exist! I sat down with her one afternoon, and we had our very own test kitchen to figure out exactly how much of what we needed to recreate this recipe. The beef is marinated, which is the key! Without that it's just beef! The marinade makes it tender and savory and really makes the whole dish. This is a great summer time dish because it is fantastic on the grill!

Marinade:

2 lbs. Beef Sirloin

6 T Bourbon

6 T Soy Sauce

6 T Olive Oil

6 t Sugar

1 bunch Green Onion (chopped)

2 T Minced Fresh Garlic

A Dash Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper

Trim fat off of sirloin, and slice into small chunks that will cook evenly on the grill. Mix Bourbon, soy sauce, olive oil and sugar in a measuring cup and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Once sugar is dissolved add green onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Place meat with marinade in a bowl or a Ziploc bag. Put meat in refrigerator to marinade for a couple of hours.

Making Kabobs:

1 Green Pepper (cut into chunks)

1 Red Pepper (cut into chunks)

1 Yellow Pepper (cut into chunks)

1 Sweet Onion

1/2 Container of Baby Portabella Mushrooms

1 Pkg Bamboo Skewers

Take skewers and alternate meat and vegetables until all ingredients are used up. Grill on medium heat until meat is slightly caramelized, and vegetables are cooked.

My suggestions for this recipe:

When I make this recipe I skewer all my meat on their own skewers, and all the vegetables on different skewers. The reason for this is because the vegetables take a little longer to cook then the meat. I like my veggies slightly charred, tender but still crisp. I season my veggies with a little olive oil drizzle, and some salt and pepper before grilling. Once they are grilled, I take all the veggies off of their skewers and put them in a bowl to make a roasted vegetable salad. I use a fantastic 25 year old balsamic, and a nice basil / garlic infused olive oil. I add a pinch of sea salt and toss, that's all there is to a quick easy side dish to your grilled sirloin.

Some other suggestions are to marinade the meat over night. I think the longer the meat sits in the marinade the better it tastes. The bourbon really gives the meat a great flavor! Some other variations to this recipe are to add red pepper flakes to add some spice or orange zest to add a little citrus. No matter how you cook it, it's a great summer favorite of mine! I've been enjoying this simple dish since for many years, hope you will enjoy it as well!