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Junior Chefs

At PlayDate.com, we realize that there’s no shortage of recipe books out there and even more online cooking sites than ever before. While we appreciate the resources and look forward to providing you with great tasting recipes, we created Junior Chefs corner to focus more on the interactions that occur when you cook together. It’s a great opportunity to talk to your kids about what’s going on in their lives.

A great icebreaker can be to discuss the occasion for which you are cooking. Use this time to share funny stories about family members, reminisce about past birthday parties, and talk about the meaning behind certain holidays. You’d be surprised how many people attend holiday functions just because it’s a party and have no idea of the significance behind it. While we at PlayDate.com don’t subscribe to any one religion, we see this as a great opportunity to enhance your experience and add meaning even as basic as cherishing the golden rule. Many of us are often intrigued by other cultures and religions yet don’t necessarily have a good grasp on our own heritage.

Anyone can break out with ingredients and a recipe book to make chocolate chip cookies and pop them in the oven while the kids watch television. While there may be a time and place for that, we’re talking about taking it a little further. It’s about preparing healthy meals and teaching them about having good eating habits. It’s about setting aside a certain portion of your freshly baked goods and perhaps handing them out to neighbors or those in need. It’s more memorable and adds meaning.

The best learning generally occurs from total immersion. That means if you’re trying to learn a language or any subject for that matter, it’s always best to surround yourself with people only discussing that which you are trying to learn versus just sitting in a sterile room and repeating phrases to yourself.  This helps create a learning urgency in order for you to get around and communicate. If you find yourself in a foreign country and need to use the restroom, I’m sure you’ll figure that one out pretty quickly. Your first priority was to get your needs met and the incidental learning (or secondary gain) of learning the language occurs faster and with less effort.

Cooking provides that perfect forum to achieve that secondary gain you want to impart on your children. It may sound a little sneaky but it works well for both sides. While you’re both engaged in preparing food, various secondary lessons can be taught. This may include, but not limited to, eating habits, cultural sensitivity, helping others, and etc. Please share your recipes or cooking stories with us so that we may try them at home.

• Recipes from our Junior Chefs

  • Apple Pie (Traditional)

  • Ingredients:

    2 piecrusts

    1/2 c plus 1 tsp granulated sugar

    1/2 c packed light-brown sugar (I use dark brown)

    3 tbsp cornstarch

    1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

    1/4 tsp salt

    1/8 tsp ground cloves

    2 lbs granny smith apples, peeled and cored

    2 lbs Fuji apples, peeled and cored

    2 tbsp unsalted butter

    2 tbsp lemon juice

    1 large egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water

    1.   Heat oven to 400 degrees.

    2.   Place one piecrust into a 9” deep dish pie plate, covering bottom and sides of plate.  Prick bottom of crust with a fork; refrigerate while assembling filling.

    3.   In a small bowl, blend 1/2 c of the granulated sugar, the brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt and cloves.  Set aside.

    4.   Cut apples into 1/2-inch pieces (I cut each apple in half and then thinly slice each half).

    5.   Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add apples, lemon juice and sugar mixture.  Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pan juices thicken. Cool on rack for 25 min.

    6.   Pour cooled apple mixture into prepared crust-lined pie plate.  Unroll second pie crust and roll out to 12 inches.  Cut 1-inch vent hole in center of dough.  Transfer dough to pie, centering over filling.  Crimp edge together and flute decoratively.

    7.   Brush pie with egg mixture; sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp granulated sugar.

    8.   Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake an additional 25 minutes.  Cover pie with foil if it browns too quickly.

    9.   Cool at least 1 hour before slicing and serving.

• Banana Bread

• 1 c. sugar

  1/2 c. butter or margarine

  2 eggs

  2 bananas

  1/3 c. milk

  1 tsp vanilla

  2 c. all purpose flour

  1 tsp baking powder

  1/2 tsp salt

  1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Grease bottom or a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
  3. In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter/margarine until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs.  Blend in milk and vanilla.
  4. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.  Mix well.
  5. Add 1/4 of the flour mixture to sugar/butter mixture.  Add 1/2 of a banana to mixture.  Alternate between adding flour and bananas until all ingredients are combined.
  6. Pour into prepared pan.
  7. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.  Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
  8. If not consuming, wrap and store in the refrigerator.

• Best Ever Oven Fries

• My kids, like most kids their age love French fries. I will not deny that I am a fan myself. Being a bit older and wiser though, I tend to steer away from most fried foods. Which is sad really, because sometimes you just need a French fry. So for years I tried oven fry recipes, one after another. Noting the things I liked about some, and the things that just didn’t work from others. My poor kids have suffered through many oven baked fry mishaps. All was not for naught however, I have finally come up with a recipe worth repeating!

  You will need about four russet potatoes. Peeled, and cut into your desired French fry shape. I often cut them into wedges, or thick cut style. However, you can make them as thin as you want, just know that your cooking times will be shorter so you should pay extra attention while baking.
  You will also need:
  6-7 tablespoons of vegetable oil
  A teaspoon (or more to taste) of salt
  1/2 teaspoon (or more to taste) of garlic powder

  Heat your oven to 475. Get it good and hot! While the oven is preheating boil a pot of water. Place your potatoes into a large mixing bowl. When the water begins to boil pour it over the top of your potatoes. Let them soak for about fifteen minutes.
  Drain the water and use paper towels to thoroughly dry the fries.

  Spread five tablespoons of your oil onto a cookie sheet. Spread it around so it covers the entire thing. Sprinkle some salt and garlic directly onto the pan.
  Place your potatoes back into their now dry mixing bowl and toss with the remaining oil and a pinch or two of garlic and salt. Lay the fries onto the oiled cookie sheet in a single layer.
  Bake for fifteen minutes. Remove from oven and flip the fries. Return to the oven and continue to bake another 10-15 minutes. Your fries should be perfectly golden brown (and delicious). Place them onto a plate lined with paper towels to absorb any rogue oils. And enjoy!

• Best From Scratch Brownies

• Sometimes you just need chocolate. Sometimes baking with your kids can turn a bad day into a great one. Some days you just want brownies. Now, I honestly don’t have much against a good brownie mix, they are easy and awfully convenient. However, as with many things I think making something completely from scratch every now and again will return better results. And for those days I am giving you my go to rich, chewy, delectable, brownie with fudge frosting recipe.

  Brownies
  3 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
  1 stick of butter, unsalted
  3 room temperature eggs
  3/4 cup dark brown sugar
  1 cup white sugar
  3/4 cup all purpose flower
  1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  1/2 teaspoon salt

  Place the chocolate and the butter into a sauce pan over low heat. Cook until chocolate and butter have melted together, stirring occasionally. Set this aside until cool. I usually put the whole pan in the fridge to help it cool.
  Beat the eggs in a stand mixer until foamy. Add the sugars and mix well. In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients together.
  By this point your chocolate mixture should be at least room temperature. Slowly pour into the egg sugar mixture, with the mixer on low. Stir until the chocolate is all incorporated. Mix in the flour.
  Pour the batter into a buttered rectangular pan.
  Bake at 350 until set.

  As soon as the brownies are out of the oven make the frosting.

  Brownie Frosting:
  6 tablespoons milk
  6 tablespoons softened butter
  1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
  1 teaspoon vanilla

  Place the milk, butter, and sugar into a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Bring to a boil stirring frequently. Allow it to boil for about thirty seconds, turn off the heat and stir in the chocolate chips. Stir until the chips are well melted and the whole mixture is smooth. Then pour over your warm brownies. Allow it to set for about 15 minutes while your kids help you clean up (especially, the left over batter and frosting from the bowls, which are finger-licking good).  Sit back with a tall glass of milk and enjoy!

• Candy Cane Syrup

• Breakfast on Christmas morning is always special at our house.  I know many folks try to do the big lunch, or fancy dinner, but not us.  We spring for a fantastic breakfast. I’m talking, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, the whole deal.  I love putting a small spin on the traditional elements to make them more Christmas-y.  There is just something almost magical about a recipe that you only make once a year.  For us, that has been candy cane syrup.  It is easy to make, and is super delicious.

  There is just something almost magical about a recipe that you only make once a year

  My kids do not actually enjoy peppermint candy canes, but they dig candy cane syrup. Figure that out! Here is what you need, 10 regular peppermint candy canes, 2 cups of white sugar, and one cup of water (holidays can’t always be healthy!).  Woo, long shopping list.  I love this recipe because on Christmas morning, I can just grab the candy canes off the tree, and put them to good use.  Of course, this is not just for Christmas morning, pour this stuff into a mason jar, tie a bow around it and you have a fantastic gift!

  To make the syrup, mix the sugar and water into a medium sauce pan over medium heat.  While that is heating, break up your candy canes into smaller pieces.  The smaller the pieces the faster they will dissolve.  Add your candy canes to the sugar and water.

  Stir, then stir some more.  As the candy canes dissolve your sugar mixture turns more and more red.  Please resist the urge to taste it.  Hot sugar burns.  Once the mixture is transparent red, and no longer opaque-ish you will know you are getting close. Bring the mixture to a boil.  Allow it to boil until it thickens.  It may be as quick as 3 minutes, and as long as 5.

  Allow it it to cool about ten minutes before smothering your pancakes with it.  Let it cool completely and pour it over ice cream.

  Just a hint, you can make cinnamon syrup using cinnamon hard candies instead of peppermints (or just add cinnamon). Hello tasty!

• Carnival Style Hot Dogs

• Little kids and birthday parties go hand in hand. There is not much more fun than a birthday party in the eyes of a child. Even when it is not their party, they are still the best things ever. For us parents though, they can be a bit of a pain. All the planning, food, cleaning, keeping track of everything can be quite overwhelming. Am I right? I am a sucker for a good back yard party for the sole reason that cleaning my backyard is not as hard as cleaning my entire house. I digress.

  Now I know that my husband loves his grill time, but cooking twenty some hot dogs can even make him twitch

  What I don’t like is my husband or myself being a slave to the grill while the party is going on. Now I know that my husband loves his grill time, but cooking twenty some hot dogs can even make him twitch. And then I learned that you can cook hot dogs in a crock pot. A crock pot folks! The turn it on and forget about it crock pot. I don’t know how I didn’t discover this sooner!

  You need absolutely nothing special, just your package of dogs and a crock pot.

  I was amazed to learn that you don’t even need to add water. The hot dogs will release their own tasty juices while cooking.

  Hot dogs cooked this way, are not boiled, not barbecued, but instead are steamed and taste like the hot dogs you can get at the fair off of those cool hot dog roller things. Because they cook in their own juices they are super juicy and flavorful.

  Just grab your dogs, and throw them into your slow cooker for two hours on high, or four on low. Once they are all piping hot you can switch the slow cooker to warm and leave them there for nearly ever. Or at least as long as your party lasts.

• Chili from the Heart

• 4 tbsp olive oil

  3 lb ground beef or ground beef substitute

  1 1/2 cans tomato juice

  1 1/2 cans tomato sauce

  1 1/2 cans kidney beans

  1 1/2 cans pinto beans

  2 1/4 c. chopped onion

  1/3 c. chopped red bell pepper

  1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

  3/4 tsp white sugar

  3/4 tsp dried oregano

  3/4 tsp ground black pepper

  1 1/2 tsp salt

  2 1/4 tsp ground cumin

  1/4 c. + 2 tbsp chili powder

  1. Heat oil in a large pot.
  2. Add onion and bell pepper.  Sautee until onions become clear.
  3. Add ground beef/beef substitute to pot.  Stir and simmer for 5 minutes.
  4. Sprinkle cayenne pepper, oregano, salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder and sugar into pot.  Stir.
  5. Add tomato juice, tomato sauce, kidney beans and pinto beans.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for a minimum of 30 minutes.

• Chocolate Banana Ice Cream

• 

  I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! My family loves ice cream. In fact, ice cream might have been responsible for those ten pounds I can’t seem to get rid of. Yum, ten pounds of ice cream. Okay, that might be excessive. My kids are no exception, they would eat ice cream until they were blue in the face. I don’t know about you, but I don’t much like any of the “diet” ice creams out there. In fact, I’m sort of against “diet” products all together.

  they would eat ice cream until they were blue in the face.

  They are usually loaded with things that I cannot pronounce. Things I for sure don’t want my kids eating. Because of all this, we have limited our ice cream consumption to once a month. Or for special occasions. In order for us to get our fix of the good stuff we have turned to this banana “ice cream.” All you need is a banana per person, one tablespoon of cocoa powder per banana, and enough milk to make your blender happy. Peel your bananas, and give them a rough chop. Put them into the freezer and allow them to completely freeze. At least a few hours.

  Once they’re good and frozen throw them into your blender with the cocoa powder and the milk. On a side note, yogurt also works well in lieu of the milk. Then blend everything together. It takes a few minutes but you will eventually have a tasty, creamy mixture that closely resembles soft serve. You can definitely eat it at this point or, if you have the time, you can cover it and put it back into the freezer to re-freeze. If you’re feeling extra creative, you can also pour it into Popsicle molds. I have been known to add extras into the mixture as well. Protein powder if I’m making it for myself, or things like flax meal to add some extra punch for the kids. Super yummy and healthy, you cannot beat that!

• Clean Strawberry Muffins

• 
  Breakfast around here is one of the hardest meals. Okay, it is the hardest meal for my family. Between getting my husband out the door for work, the kids ready for their school day, the baby just up and dressed, and me, well I try to get dressed most days too but it is chaos. Because of the chaos that breakfast time tends to be over here I am constantly trying out new “make-ahead-of-time” breakfast dishes. Our family is doing our best to attempt to eat cleaner. That means that we try to eat only whole natural foods, like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc. We are by no means perfect about it, but eighty percent of the time we rock the clean eating right out of the park. So when I saw this recipe on Dashing Dish (www.dashingdish.com) for clean strawberry muffins, you know I went straight to the cupboard to whip them up. Luckily, I had all that I needed ready to go.

  Ingredients
  2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
  1 cup low fat Greek yogurt (I have in a pinch used regular unsweetened yogurt, but the Greek has a better flavor)
  1/2 cup baking stevia (I like these to be sweet, but you can use a little less sweetener if you would like)
  1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  2 cups fresh sliced strawberries
  1 teaspoon lemon juice

  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

  Place all ingredients except for strawberries into your stand mixer. Beat until everything is well combined.
  With the mixer on low, I add in the 2 1/2 cups of the strawberries.

  I didn’t listen to the original recipe the first time I made it and I used regular cupcake liners. Don’t be like me. Either use a silicone muffin pan, or buy the foil cupcake liners and use only the foil portion. Trust me. If you don’t, you will waste half of the muffin on the paper and cry at all that you cannot eat.

  Pour the batter evenly among your muffin pan. Grab the remaining 1/2 cup of strawberries and place one or two slices on top of each muffin.

  Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick comes out clean. About 20 minutes or so and you’re ready to go!

• Coconut Rice

• 3 c. rice

  1/2 c. + 2 tbsp diced onion

  3 c. coconut milk

  3 c. water

  3-6 slices fresh ginger root

  1 tbsp curry powder

  3/4 tsp salt

  1. Soak rice for atleast 30 minutes.  Rinse.

  2. Combine all ingredients, boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

• Creamy Macaroni & Cheese

• 2 tbsp butter

  1 c. cottage cheese (not lowfat)

  2 c. milk (not skim)

  1 tsp dry mustard

  pinch cayenne

  pinch freshly grated nutmeg

  1/2 tsp salt

  1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

  1 lb sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated

  1/2 lb elbow pasta, uncooked

  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Place oven rack in upper 1/3 of oven.
  2. Use 1 tbsp butter to grease a 9 inch square or round dish.
  3. In a blender, puree cottage cheese, milk, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
  4. Reserve 1/4 c. of grated cheese for topping later.
  5. Combine remainder of grated cheese in a bowl with milk mixture and uncooked pasta.
  6. Pour into prepared pan, cover with foil.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
  7. Uncover.  Stir gently.  Sprinkle with 1/4 c. grated cheese and 1 tbsp buter.
  8. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, until browned.

• Custom Cookie Cutters

• The Holiday Season is upon us, and we all know that means it’s time to get into the kitchen and start baking some Cookies. We all have our favorite cookies for the season, and mine just happen to be a good shaped sugar cookie decorated with some royal icing. Simple, classic, and yummy. My biggest problem are the cookie cutters. Store bought cutters are expensive, and don’t always have the shape I want. And that is why I have started creating my very own cutters.

  For a cutter that you imagine only using for one batch, something specific to a party. You can try to make a cutter out of aluminum foil. This method is cheap and easy. It really only works for shapes that don’t have a ton of intricacies.

  Store bought cutters are expensive, and don’t always have the shape I want

  To make one out of aluminum foil grab a long sheet of foil. Cut it in half, lengthwise. Now fold your foil in half lengthwise, over and over again. Repeat until you have one long strip of aluminum foil that is about one inch tall. Use a rolling pin to flatten it down if necessary. Take that long strip and bend it and mold it into your desired shape. When you are done, staple to the two loose edges together. You should have a close and bluntly sharp edge on one side, which you will use for cutting. This type of cutter is pretty fragile, but absolutely works in a pinch. This is a great method for kids to come up with their own creations and try their hands at personalizing their design.

  You can also use an aluminum disposable roasting pan. Just cut it into strips and shape away. Staple the edges to finish.

  Another method I have tried involves old soda cans. Use caution when making these because aluminum cans can be very sharp and absolutely can cut you.

  Grab an empty soda can and cut it in half. Then cut the top and bottoms off (or some leave them on as a protective grip for your cutter). You should be left with two circle shaped pieces of can. You now have two options, you can reshape the circles however you want, or you can cut the circles to open them and mold them similar to how you molded the foil. Again, be careful not to cut yourself.

  Even more sturdy on the lists of cookie cutter ingenuity is simply starting with an inexpensive circle shaped cutter from the store. You will want to choose one that you can squeeze and the shape gives a little. Take it home and use some pliers to make it the shape you desire.

  Finally, the most labor intensive way to create a custom cookie cutter is to purchase some copper ribbon from your local hardware store. This method is best left to an adult, the ribbon can in fact be sharp. Once you have molded your shape, you will need double sided tape (specific to metal) and some clamps. Apply the tape, clamp it shut and allow it to rest enough time for the glue to mature. This method is the most difficult but it will last the longest. Personalized cookies are always more fun to eat!

• Easy Garlic Vinaigrette

• 
  We all know that creamy salad dressings can add a bit too much fat and calories to our diet. Personally I am not a huge fan of most store bought vinaigrette dressings either. Not just unwanted calories, but unwanted other stuff too. Have you taken the time to read those labels? Yuck! So I took the time to come up with a dressing for my salads that my waistline and taste buds could agree on.

  I needed something quick, easy, and most importantly delicious. Here is where I ended up:

  8 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (I usually use just a plain flavor, but you can use some fun infused oils too)
  1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  2 garlic cloves
  Pinch of salt and pepper

  That’s it. Just blend all of your ingredients in your blender for about two minutes until a pink smooth consistency has formed. You can store your dressing in an old salad dressing bottle that you have cleaned out.

  I like to keep mine at room temperature, after all it is just oil and vinegar really. What I love about this recipe is that it is so basic and can act like a fantastic base for more complicated recipes. Blend in a few raspberries for a raspberry vinaigrette. Try a squeeze or two of lemon.

  I like lime juice and cilantro added for a cilantro lime version. Absolutely easy, good for you and extremely tasty!

• Fish Shticks

• Ingredients:

  • Canola or vegetable oil cooking spray
  • 1 cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs, or ½ and ½ with plain breadcrumbs
  • 1 cup whole-wheat cereal flakes
  • ¼  teaspoon ginger
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 large egg whites, preferably organic
  • 1 pound tilapia or sea bass fillets

  Preparation

  1. Cut your fish into ½X3-inch strips
  2. Preheat oven to 450°F. Set a wire rack on a baking sheet; coat with cooking spray.
  3. Place breadcrumbs, cereal flakes, ginger, garlic powder, paprika and salt in a food processor and process until finely ground (or mix well in a large bowl). Transfer to a shallow plate.
  4. Place flour in a second shallow dish and egg whites in a bowl. Coat each strip of fish with the flour, dip it in the egg and then coat all sides with the breadcrumb mixture. Place on the prepared rack. Coat both sides of the breaded fish with cooking spray.
  5. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or the fish is cooked through and the breading is golden brown.

• Fish Tacos

• Lime Cream
  1/2 c. mayonnaise

  1/2 c. sour cream

  2 tbsp fresh lime juice

  1 tsp finely grated lime peel

  pinch of salt
  Fish
  2 c. buttermilk

  1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro

  3 tbsp hot pepper sauce

  3 tsp coarse kosher salt

  1 tbsp fresh lime juice

  2 lbs skinless halibut or sea bass, cut into 1/2 x 1/2 inch strips

  16 corn tortillas

  2 c. flour

  Vegetable oil

  Fresh Salsa

  Guacamole

  1. Combine all of the lime cream ingredients, whisk, and refrigerate.
  2. Mix buttermilk, cilantro, pepper sauce, 1 tsp salt and lime juice in a large bowl.   Add fish and toss.  Cover.  Chill for 1-3 hours.
  3. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Wrap tortillas in foil and place in oven to warm.
  4. Whisk flour and remaining 2 tsp salt in medium bowl.
  5. Add 1 inch of oil to a large pan, heat until thermometer reads 350 degrees.
  6. Working in batches, remove fish from marinade and coat in flour.  Add fish to pan, cover partially, fry until golden brown, turning occasionally.  Transfer to a paper towel lined baking sheet to drain and then transfer to oven to keep warm.
  7. Set up a buffet with tortillas, fish, lime cream, salsa and guacamole.

• Frozen Grapes

• 

  I love cold treats in the summer time. What I don’t enjoy, are the calories that are typically associated with cool summer treats. One of my go to snacks in the warm months are frozen grapes. Red, green, it doesn’t matter. I love them frozen. I remember my grandmother used to make sugared grapes by coating them in sugar before freezing them. They were amazing. Then, just the other day, I had a friend suggest I use sugar free gelatin to coat them. The look on my face must have been priceless, because I stopped everything and went home to give it a shot.

  But holy cow, once they were ready it was nearly impossible to stop eating them.

  For this I let my kids do all the work. Even better a snack when someone else makes it. We used one pound of red grapes. Removed them all from their stems and placed them into ice cold water. Once they were cold and clean I used a colander to drain the water. Then, easy as pie I began to sprinkle Jello on top. We used tropical punch (sugar free, woot!) on these. Once every grape had a good even coating we put them on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer. It takes about two hours to get them completely frozen. But holy cow, once they were ready it was nearly impossible to stop eating them. I was a planning on bringing them to a family barbecue tomorrow, but whoops, they are all gone. I am excited to give other flavors a shot as well with green grapes. So simple, and so satisfying!

• Frozen s’mores

• 

  It is outrageously hot out. Hot and dry enough that our area has issued a no grilling ban. That’s right, we aren’t allowed to grill in our own backyards due to the increased risk of fire at the moment. That sort of kills our traditional s’mores night after some good grilled burgers. And to be frank, it’s too hot for that anyway. I bet our marshmallows and chocolate would just melt on their own. Of course, I suppose you’re thinking I could always just make them inside with the broiler. It’s  a valid option. If I wasn’t avoiding heating up my kitchen and causing my air conditioner to go out. That’s where this fantastic recipe for frozen s’mores comes in. Creamy, melty, decadent, absolutely perfect for a summer treat!

  You will need:
  1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (that’s roughly 18 individual squares)
  1/3 cup butter, melted
  2/3 cup milk chocolate chips (I actually used a combo of dark and milk to make my 2/3 cup)
  1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  2 cups mini marshmallows
  1 1/2 cups whole milk
  1 3.9 oz box instant chocolate pudding
  8 ounces Cool Whip, thawed
  Graham cracker crumbs for topping, or you could use mini chocolate chips.

  If you are starting with whole graham crackers throw them into a food processor until they are good and crumbly. Drizzle in the butter and mix until well combined. Don’t try to eat this, as you will not stop.
  Grab your cupcake pan and put in cupcake liners, then give each a spray of nonstick spray. Divide the crumbs into each cup as evenly as possible. I used one of my kid’s cups to really squish them down to solidify into the crust. The people who make graham crackers should really just start making them in disk shapes for for me.
  Mix your chocolate and cream into a bowl and begin microwaving for ten to twenty seconds. Stir, and repeat until you have an oozy yummy, hot chocolate mixture. Spread the chocolate onto of the graham cracker crusts. I used a spoon, but the original recipe suggested using a pipping bag, or Ziplock with the tip cut off. Do what makes you happy.
  Spread out your marshmallows on top of the chocolate and graham crackers. Yum. Set all of that aside to firm up a little. Mix your milk and pudding mix on medium speed for 2 minutes and then fold in 1/2 of your Cool Whip. Try really hard not to eat all of this. Spoon your pudding mixture on top of the marshmallows. Once you got it all in, pick up and gently tap the cupcake pan on your counter. That will help your pudding get into all the nooks and crannies between the marshmallows. This will also help to level everything off. Freeze for at least four hours, but over night seemed to be perfect. When frozen allow it to sit at room temp for about five minutes to loosen from the cupcake pan. Pull them out and pipe the rest (or spoon if you are lazy like me) on top. Then sprinkle with your graham cracker crumbs for an extra dose of pretty.

• Fun with Pancakes

• 

  It seems that all kids like pancakes for breakfast. I can’t blame them, a good, fluffy pancake is amazing. I like to jazz up my pancakes every now and again to keep things fresh and exciting. A super easy way to do this is to add fresh fruit to your pancake batter. Our favorite to add is apple. We like to slice it thin and dip it into the pancake batter then toss it onto our griddle. If you do it right you end up with a little ring of pancake and apple, that is fantastic. Otherwise I like to chop the apples into small bite size pieces and mix them in. The heat of the griddle cooks them perfectly.

  I like to jazz up my pancakes every now and again

  If you are looking for something extra special, try cooking your apples in some butter and brown sugar before mixing them into your batter. Now, I know that apples may not be your thing. What about adding in some black berries? Your kids will get a kick out of the color your pancakes will turn. Or the ever popular blueberry? Okay, so maybe you don’t have time in the morning to whip up a fresh batch of pancakes. It happens. Think about serving your pancakes with fresh fruit and a dollop of whipped cream in stead of the super sugary syrups? You can also live on the wild side like my family and put peanut butter before the syrup. At least this adds some goodness from the peanut butter. Even better if you choose a natural unsweetened variety.

• Ginger Snap Cupcakes

• Nothing says fall like a ginger snap, right? The smell, the snappy spicy cookie just screams cold weather. Makes me think of reading next to the fire. But here’s the thing, I love cupcakes. And we all know that cupcakes are the latest trend, so I thought to myself, lets make a ginger snap cupcake. Oh. Yeah. That’s what I’m talking about. A spicy, snappy cupcake covered in a dollop of cream cheese frosting.

  Alright, no more talking, lets get to baking!

  Your ingredient list:

  2 cups all purpose flour
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  1 cup dark brown sugar
  1 tablespoon ground ginger
  2 teaspoons cinnamon
  1 teaspoon cloves
  1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  1/2 – 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  1 egg
  1/4 cup molasses
  3/4 cup milk

  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line your muffin tin with cupcake liners.

  In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter and the sugar until nice and fluffy. Add in the egg, and mix until well incorporated. Add your spices. Smell the snappy goodness. Pour in your molasses, mix it all in.

  Add your salt and baking soda followed by half of the flour mixture. When that is completely mixed in add the milk. Mix some more. Add the remaining flour. Mix one more time.

  Bake for 15-20 minutes

  Allow them to cool and frost with the following dreamy frosting.
  You will need two bricks of cream cheese (approx 12 ounces each) well softened.
  1 1/2 powdered sugar
  2 teaspoons of vanilla
  1 cup of heavy whipping cream. That’s right, cream.

  Beat your cream cheese and get it good and airy. Mix in the powdered sugar, and cream them together. Get the mixture super fluffy. Set aside.

  Grab your cream and whip it, whip it good (sorry, I could not resist.) Whip it until you have good firm peaks. Then add your cheese mixture to your whipped cream and mix it together. Do not eat with a spoon. Spread it on your cupcakes and enjoy!

• Gingerbread House Alternatives

• Every year I get super excited and plan to make some epic gingerbread house with my kids.  Every stinking year (I’m a little discouraged in case you couldn’t tell).  And every year my gingerbread houses are more of a huge epic failure.  I have purchased kits, I have house shaped molds yet they never stay together the way they are supposed to or the way they look on all those cooking shows.  It is infuriating!  This year, I have derived to try something new and hopefully more manageable.  I got these ideas from other moms, who like me, got frustrated making gingerbread houses.  My favorite idea was to skip making houses altogether and instead make a Christmas tree.

  This year, I have derived to try something new and hopefully more manageable.

  To make your Christmas tree all you need are waffle cone shaped ice cream cones, some frosting, and small candies to decorate.  Spread the frosting all over the cone, including the bottom.  Press the cone onto a plate.  When the frosting dries, it will stick to the plate really well and not fall over.

  While the frosting is still soft allow your kids (or you, if you’re like me and love these types of projects) to decorate your trees.  You can use a piping bag, or in the interest of time, buy green and red frosting in the can or tube made for writing to make garlands on your trees.  Super easy, super cute!

  Another fun way to skip the gingerbread, is to use graham crackers.  Two full sheets of graham crackers (four square sized crackers) can easily be put together to make the base of a house.  Use frosting as the glue, as always.  Another two square Grahams can make a roof on your house.  Let the frosting glue set, then decorate your house as usual.

  The newest and possibly the most fun you can have making a non-gingerbread gingerbread house is to use rice crispy treats.  Make a batch with your favorite recipe. Then once cooled, they are fairly easy to mold.  My kids love helping in the molding phase, shaping their own houses just like with play dough. And again, decorate as usual.  A lot fun, very manageable and always a treat!

• Home Made Taco Seasoning

• 
  Who doesn’t love taco night? Around here it is one of the more popular things that I make for my family to enjoy for dinner. Maybe it’s the fact that my kids get to dish themselves up and decide what they want on their tacos. Maybe it is because there is an abundant amount of cheddar cheese. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s because tacos just taste good!

  Making your own tacos is generally pretty easy, especially if you purchase a seasoning packet. However, due to the amount of sodium and other unpronounceable ingredients I opt to make my own taco seasoning.

  I think that it tastes much better than what you buy at the store, and it does not take that much more effort. My favorite part about it is that I can control the amount of flavors for our dinner. I control how spicy it is, as well as how strong the flavors are.
  Most likely you have all of the needed spices in your pantry already.

  This recipe was adapted from Alton Brown. My main changes were to add some garlic powder, and to use water instead of beef broth when making my taco meat.

  Here is what you do.

  2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
  1 Tablespoon of Cumin
  2 teaspoons cornstarch
  2 teaspoons salt
  1 1/2 teaspoons hot paprika
  1 teaspoon coriander
  1/2 teaspoon cayenne
  2 teaspoons garlic powder

  Mix all of the spices together. Smell it’s taco-y goodness.

  To make your tacos brown 1 1/2 pounds of ground meat. Ground beef, pork, and/or ground turkey work as well. I imagine even ground chicken could work too. I’m a traditionalist, so I shoot for the beef or pork. When your meat is browned all the way, drain it. Return it to the pan.

  I sometimes add a diced onion at this step. When the onion is done cooking, throw in your taco seasonings and 2/3 cup of water. Again, you can use beef broth, but I don’t find it to be necessary.
  As it cooks the sauce will thicken and stick to the meat really well.
  That’s it! You have made your tacos. Use hard or soft shell taco, cut up your vegetables, put out the shredded cheese and load it up to capacity as you normally would.

• Homemade Apple Sauce

• 
  My kids do not always make the best decisions about food. If they had their way they would eat pizza, macaroni and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every meal.

  They might occasionally spring for some Lucky Charms, or chicken nuggets. Healthy eaters, they are not. At least when left to their own choices. Luckily, all three of my kids, and my husband to boot like apple sauce.

  For me, applesauce is one of those things that I cannot stand buying. Sure, it’s convenient, especially for school lunches, but for eating here at home it’s homemade all the way. It is so unbelievably easy. I got my recipe and adapted it from Alton Brown. His recipe is pretty perfect as is, but I don’t always have the same type of apples on hand. And quite frequently, I don’t have the booze he calls for either. Either way it is good.

  You will need

  Six apples (I used three Granny Smith, and three Fuji). I have made this several times, with lots of different apples. They have all been good.
  1 cup apple juice
  2 tablespoons butter
  3 tablespoons honey (I have also subbed in brown sugar with good results)
  1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

  Peel and core all of your apples. Chop them into big chunks.

  Put all of your ingredients into a microwave safe bowl. Cover, but leave one corner open to allow for steam. The first time I forgot to do this and nearly had a heart attack when the lid blew off of the container. Whoops.

  Microwave for 10 minutes.

  Carefully remove from the microwave, this stuff is hot, and there is lots of steam.

  Using a fork (or a potato masher, or a food processor depending on your desired results) mash everything together until you like it’s consistency. I prefer the apple sauce just this side of chunky. So I use a fork. But if you like it smooth, use your processor to get the job done.

  I serve this warm, usually with pork or turkey. Then I refrigerate the remainder and enjoy it the rest of the week. The best part about this recipe is that it is totally easy to double or triple. My friends are always impressed when I whip out the homemade apple sauce!

• Homemade Chocolate Syrup

• 
  My kids love chocolate milk, but I love it even more. I am not ashamed to admit that. But recently I have been trying to cut back on processed foods, which became a problem when I realized that chocolate syrup is in fact processed. So, what is a girl with chocolate milk loving kids to do? Make my own of course. It has become my favorite thing to do, think of the most ridiculous junk food stuff and find a way to make it at home in a slightly more healthy fashion.

  It turns out that making your own chocolate syrup is super easy. I mean, super duper easy. And fast too. What is even better, is that you end up with a more velvety smooth syrup, that potentially has a more intense chocolate flavor. The flavor depends on the brand of cocoa you choose. You might need to play around a little bit until you find the type of cocoa that makes the best flavored syrup.

  You will need:

  1 1/4 cup sugar (think organic sugar or equivalents that are better for your options)
  1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  1 cup water (filtered if you have it)
  1/2 teaspoon salt (please don’t skip the salt!)
  2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

  Place all ingredients except the vanilla extract into a medium sauce pan. While whisking, bring the mixture to a boil. Try to break up any clumps of cocoa or sugar while you stir. Once it begins to boil continue to stir frequently. After about three minutes the mixture will begin to thicken. Avoid tasting at this time,unless you fancy the idea of a burned tongue.

  After it has thickened remove it from the heat and let it sit for about five minutes. Stir in the vanilla.

  Your syrup will last covered in the refrigerator for one month, however, mine is usually gone long before then.

  If you are using the syrup for something other than chocolate milk you have the ability to be quite creative.
  Instead of adding vanilla extract you can add other extracts to change your flavor profile. Peppermint extract for a chocolate peppermint sauce. Cayenne for a spicy chocolate, and so on.

• Homemade Cookbooks

• 

  In the last few months several of my cousins have decided to get married. I love the ideas of gift registries, and browsing all of the things that they have picked out to start their new life together. It’s almost like taking a tour into their dream home.

  There are times however, when creativity strikes me and I would much rather give something creative. Most of the brides I knew didn’t know how to cook. Cooking is such a fun thing for me, I thought that I should do my best to give each couple the gift of cooking. I know what you’re thinking, “But isn’t buying someone cooking classes considered rude?” I don’t know about all that, but in order to stay on everyone’s Christmas card list I refrained from the formal lessons. Instead I made them cookbooks.

  It was extremely fun adding in my own commentary and little jokes along the way.

  First I sent a secret email to their parents for a list of dishes that each family enjoys. Things like grandma’s cookies, or aunt so and so’s burritos. Then I added some of my own recipes as well. Then for six months (yes, six months!) Don’t panic if you don’t have that much time. This project could be made much more quickly if necessary. It all depends on how many recipes, and how fast you cook, type, and photograph. I spent extra time assuming that I was teaching someone with absolutely no clue on how to boil water. I did it in a teasing fashion so they understand I wasn’t being condescending, but that I was also not assuming that they knew everything.

  I made each dish and photographed individual steps along with the final presentation. After enjoying each meal I typed up the how to and any helpful hints I could add. It was extremely fun putting in my own commentary and little jokes along the way. It was a great way to expand my own recipe database, experiment with new foods and make something memorable for people I love.

  Once you have typed and photographed everything it is time to print it out. Just about every photography website out there offers bound photo books. I think I ended up spending about $40 a book which wasn’t too bad for a homemade wedding present filled with love.

• Homemade Salted Caramels

• 
  With the holidays right around the corner it is about time to start thinking about your Christmas, Hanukkah,  Kwanzaa, Boxing Day (celebrated in England) and other holiday gifts. I do my best to give out as many homemade treats as I can muster. And nothing seems as impressive as a homemade candy. Toffee, taffy, and caramels. Some of my favorite things! Nothing beats a good soft and chewy salted caramel.

  Here are the ingredients that you will need:
  1 can sweetened condensed milk
  2 cups of granulated sugar
  1 cup unsalted butter
  1 teaspoon kosher salt
  1 1/2 cups light corn syrup

  It also helps to have a candy thermometer, but it is certainly possible to make these without one.

  Grab a nine by thirteen pan and heavily butter the bottom, sides, and corners. Then set aside.

  Put all your ingredients into a heavy bottomed pan. Turn your heat to medium. Continuously stir the mixture while it comes to a boil. It’s will take what feels like a long time, but keep stirring! Be sure to not scrape any crystals from the side of the pan back into the boiling sugar mixture. Just keep stirring, and stirring, until the molten sugar turns the color of a light caramel. You can also check the texture by placing a small amount into a glass of ice water. The candy will stay in a ball as it sinks, but flatten into a disk like shape when it hits the bottom. Or you can check your candy thermometer for 240 degrees.

  Carefully pour your burning hot goodness into your buttered 9×13 dish. Allow it to cool for ten minutes and then sprinkle with kosher salt.

  Continue to cool completely to room temperature.

  Grab a knife and run it along the edges of your fully cooled caramel. Just get it loosened. Then you should be able to turn the giant sheet out onto a cutting board. I prefer to use a pizza cutter to slice my caramels into bite sized morsels. Wrap with parchment paper and place it into pretty tins for a fantastic homemade gift.

• Homemade Thin Mints

• 

  I love Thin Mint cookies. They might possibly be my all time favorite cookies. In fact, I have been known to buy enough boxes from my local Girl Scouts so that I can freeze some to make them last longer. Actually, who am I kidding, freezing them doesn’t help. I still eat them by the bucketful. They might even be tastier when frozen. But what is a Thin Mint lover supposed to do when it isn’t Girl Scout cookie “season?”

  You make your own, of course!

  This recipe is adapted from Six Sisters Stuff

  Cookie Ingredients
  1 cup softened unsalted butter
  1 cup granulated sugar
  1 heaping teaspoon of vanilla extract
  1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  1 teaspoon kosher salt
  1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

  Beat butter until it is pale yellow and fluffy. Carefully add in your powdered sugar. If you add it too fast you will poof sugar all over yourself. Ask me how I know. Anyway, mix the butter and sugar well. Add in cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla. Mix well. Add the flour in two batches, being sure to mix well between each. Your dough will be a bit crumbly, and resemble a sugar cookie dough. Except it will be brown and chocolatey. Chill it in your fridge for about half of an hour.

  Sprinkle your work surface with cocoa powder (just like you normally would with flour when you roll out dough). Knead the dough until it is soft enough to roll into 1/8 of an inch.

  Use a round cookie cutter to cut out your cookies and place it on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes. Remove the cookies and place them on a cooling rack.

  Wile the cookies are cooling it is time to make the minty chocolate coating.

  Mint Chocolate Coating

  3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  2 1/4 peppermint extract

  Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or in your microwave if you’re so inclined. For me, I prefer the old fashioned way.).
  Stir in the extract until velvety smooth.

  Now the fun part. Dipping the cookies. One at a time dunk the cookies into the warm chocolate mixture. Use a fork ( not your fingers!) to flip the cookies and to remove them when they are completely covered in chocolate minty goodness. When covered place them on parchment and allow for the chocolate to set. Absolutely place them in the refrigerator to hurry the process if needed.

• Homemade Vanilla Extract

• This time of year is full or parties. Christmas parties and New Years parties are the two biggest. Of course you cannot go to a party without offering a hostess gift right? It seems that the normal hostess gift these days is a nice bottle of wine. I have no issues with that, but I like to be a bit different. This year I made some vanilla extract. It was so easy to do.

  You need:

  • Vanilla beans
  • Vodka (roughly 375ml per bottle you plan to make)
  • Fancy bottles that seal up well.  Make sure they are big enough to hold 375mls or so (I got mine at the local craft store).

  Pour your vodka into the bottles. Cut your vanilla beans in half lengthwise. Place one in each bottle. Seal them up, put a sticker and a bow on and you are good to go.  Really?!  And I’ve been paying all this money for those tiny little bottles? Ouch!

  Ideally you would make these at least a few weeks in advance. But if you are like me and are running behind on life, just add a note giving the recipient a date of when the extract will be ready. The cool thing about this, is truly the longer they wait to open it the better it will be. You can make them this year to give out next Christmas and call it “aged” vanilla extract. How fancy does that sound?

  For a nice touch, give a few recipes that would really benefit from some good vanilla extract. Cookies, cakes, ice cream, whatever you think works the best.

• How to Make Chocolate Covered Strawberries

• 
  The Valentine holiday is notorious for chocolate. I mean the two are practically synonymous. Even though my husband and I traditionally don’t go out on Valentine’s day we do our best to spoil each other. One of my favorite ways is to make him a home made chocolate covered fruit. My favorite of course is the chocolate covered strawberry, but any and all fruit seems to taste darn good covered in chocolate.

  You do not have to be intimidated by chocolate covered fruits, they are unbelievably easy to make on your own, and they hardly take any prep work. And of course, do not forget that they are incredibly tasty. They could be considered half way healthy too, I mean eating the fiber in the fruit with the chocolate must be better than just eating the chocolate itself. At least, this is what I am going to continue to tell myself as I plan to make these for my husband this year.

  The first thing you want is to find good fruit. Something good and ripe. For strawberries I try to find some without any green. Bananas are best when the skins are bright yellow, without any brown. Bananas are indeed sweeter and more ripe when they begin to get brown streaks on their skins, but they become too soft at that point. Grapes are perfect when they are firm. You get the idea, fruit that is in season and ripe.

  Prep your fruit by giving it a good cleaning. For strawberries, remove the hulls if you desire. Or you can leave them on for a more gourmet look. I like to core and slice apples, then cut each slice in half to make them more of a one bite deal. Place tooth picks into your pieces of fruit so they are easier to dip into the chocolate later.

  Next paper dry your fruit. You want them to be nice and dry because water in the chocolate makes for a disaster. Okay, maybe not a full blown disaster, but it surely makes it harder to work with and could possibly make the chocolate seize up on you.

  Now onto the chocolate. You can actually purchase chocolate specifically made for you to dip fruit into. You microwave it in its little container then dip in your fruit when it is nice and melted. That is a perfectly acceptable option! However, for me, I like being able to tell my husband that I slaved in putting in the extra effort for him.

  You will need 16 ounces of good chocolate. Keep in mind that the better your chocolate, the better the chocolate covered anything will taste. You can use dark, milk, a combination, whatever you prefer.

  Using a double boiler is the most reliable way to melt chocolate. If you don’t have one, don’t worry you can rig one up pretty easily. Grab a pot half full or water and a glass bowl that fits into it. Turn on your stove to medium. Put your chocolate and two tablespoons of shortening into the glass bowl and stir while it melts.

  Once it is all melted you are ready to dip in your fruit. Each 16 ounce batch of chocolate will cover about one pound of fruit. Dip your fruit into the chocolate, turn to coat, then place onto some wax paper to cool and set. Don’t forget to remove your toothpicks. Repeat until you are out of fruit or chocolate.

  For extra fancy fruit, melt some white chocolate (no shortening needed here) and drizzle it on top of your fruit after they have been dipped. There you have it, chocolate dipped goodies. Don’t stop at fruit either. You can dip pretzels, chips, crackers and just about anything!

• In N Out Copy Cat

• I was born and raised in Southern California and as an adult made the (crazy) decision to move east of the Mississippi. And one of the many things I miss is In N Out. I will not lie to you, on our last vacation back home we ate at In N Out at least four times. There was one fateful day when we drove through twice. I am not ashamed, not even one little bit.

  There was one fateful day when we drove through twice…

  I have spent the last six years living here in the south attempting to convince people that In N Out does in fact make the best drive- through burger in the entire universe. And of course, I have been doing all in my power to replicate the deliciousness of their Double Double.

  It all started when I was pregnant, and those nasty pregnancy cravings told me that I needed In N Out. I needed it as much as I needed air, and water.

  Maybe even more than water.

  Let us get down to business.

  

  First up is the secret sauce:
  1/3 cup mayo
  2 heaping tablespoons of ketchup
  2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
  1 teaspoon yellow mustard
  1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

  Mix everything together and refrigerate until ready to eat!

  Now for the burgers themselves. When I think about a good In N Out burger and why I think it is the tastiest around, I usually dream about the cheese to meat ratio. Their patties are thin, and seared really well, which means high heat. So heat your grill, or iron skillet up high.

  1 pound ground beef. The higher the fat content the better.
  1 egg white
  1/2 cup minced onion
  1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  1/2 teaspoon pepper
  Three dashes of Worcestershire sauce

  Mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Shape into six patties. Nice and thin and slightly larger in diameter than the size of your hamburg buns. Sear on each side, for about two to three minutes each side. For the last minute add a slice of American cheese to each patty. When the patties are finished cooking make stacks of to patties each. The build your burger!

  To assemble the burgers you will need:
  Fresh tomato slices
  Iceberg lettuce
  Onion slices
  Seedless burger buns
  Secret sauce
  Two patty burger stacks
  Butter

  Spread some butter on the insides of your buns, toast them until golden brown.
  Slather on some secret sauce on the top inside of the bun
  Place the meat stacks onto the bottom bun, top with onion, tomato,and lettuce, and finally the top bun.

  I am aware this is not exact, but at least it helps this Southern California native survive a little easier.

• Meatloaf

• Crouton mixture
  6 oz croutons

  1/2 tsp black pepper

  1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

  1 tsp chili powder

  1 tsp thyme

  Glaze
  1/2 c. catsup

  1 tbsp ground cumin

  dash worcestershire sauce

  dash hot pepper sauce

  1 tbsp honey

  Vegetable mixture
  1/2 onion, roughly chopped

  1 carrot, peeled and broken

  3 whole cloves of garlic

  1/2 red bell pepper

  1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

  1 egg

  36 oz ground beef

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  2. Combine all crouton mixture ingredients in a food processor until the texture is smooth and fine.
  3. Combine carrot, onion, garlic and red pepper in food processor, finely chop.
  4. Combine vegetable mixture, crouton mixture, egg, salt and meat.  Avoid squeezing the meat.
  5. Put into a 10 inch loaf pan and mold the shape.  Flip out onto a parchment paper lined tray.
  6. Cook at 325 degrees for 10 minutes, then brush with glaze.
  7. Return to oven at 325 degrees.  Done when temperature probe reads 155 degrees.

• Minestrone Soup

• 1 cup onion, peeled & diced

  ½ cup celery, diced

  ¾ cup carrots, diced

  1 tsp. crushed garlic

  ½ cup cabbage, shredded

  ½ cup spinach

  1 cup zucchini, peeled & sliced

  1 cup string beans

  ¾ cup cooked bean mix (kidney, brown, lentils, chickpeas, & etc.)

  1 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped

  2 tsps. salt

  ¼ tsp. black pepper

  1 tsp. oregano

  1 tsp. basil

  ¼ cup parsley flakes, minced

  2 tblsps. vegetable oil

  2 cups tomato sauce

  4 cups water or stock

  ¼ cup wine

  ½ cup macaroni

  1.  In an 8-quart pot, heat the vegetable oil and sauté the onions, celery, and carrots for 10 minutes.

  2.  Add all the ingredients except for the macaroni, bring it to a boil, and simmer for 30 minutes.

  3.  Add the macaroni, and cook for another 30 minutes.

  4.  Check water level during cooking and add if necessary.

• Mulligatawny Soup

• (makes 4 servings)

  4 tsp butter or margarine

  1 medium onion, sliced (2 cups)

  2 medium carrots, sliced (1 cup)

  2 celery stalks, sliced (1 cup)

  1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch pieces

  1 tbsp curry powder

  2 tbsp flour

  2 tbsp freshly chopped ginger

  3 c. chicken broth

  2 c. water

  1 c. coconut milk

  4 tbsp. Fresh chopped cilantro

  8 lemon wedges

  2 cups of hot cooked rice (optional)

  1. Heat butter/margarine on medium heat in a large pot.
  2. Add onion, carrot, celery and chicken.  Sautee for 5 minutes.
  3. Add curry powder, flour, ginger and sauté for 1/2 – 1 minute.
  4. Add chicken broth, water and coconut milk.  Stir and simmer for 10 minutes.
  5. Salt and pepper to taste.
  6. To serve- if including rice, spoon rice into 4 large soup bowls.  Ladel soup into bowls.  Sprinkle with cilantro and place lemon wedges on side (add to taste).

• Nutella Brownies

• 
  I might be the very last person to get obsessed with Nutella, but it has officially happened. I swore t never try it, simply because of how crazy people were about it. But, alas, someone bought me a small jar and now I am just like everyone else in my Nutella obsession. I have been spreading it on toast, baking it into cookies, swirling it into pancakes and you name it.

  My latest creation was a brownie. You read that right, a Nutella brownie. Not a swirled brownie. Instead a straight up Nutella brownie. Stop licking the computer screen. Here is what you need.

  1 cup of Nutella
  2/3 cups flour
  2 room temperature eggs
  Pinch of salt

  Mix everything together until it comes into a batter texture. Try your best to not eat the entire bowl. I know it will be hard. I do.
  Pour it into a lightly greased brownie sized baking pan. (I used an 8×8 pan).

  Bake at 325 for about 30 minutes or until the brownies are set.

  For an extra dose of yum, before baking, add dollops of your favorite peanut butter on top of the batter. The peanut butter will melt during cooking and swirl in. We all know that chocolate and peanut butter is amazing.

  If you would rather try to go a bit healthier, use whole wheat flour and mix in a few tablespoons of flax meal. Sprinkle with unsalted peanuts for a nice crunch.

• Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

• 
  As a parent, I am always looking for more things I can prepare for my kids to eat for breakfast. It is so easy to get into the cereal rut, or even the pancake rut, and I just don’t like ruts much. Therefore, I search and search the internet for breakfast ideas. Preferably ones that are healthy and not completely full of sugar. Sometimes, I even just get into the kitchen and experiment myself. At times this is successful, and others not so much.
  This recipe came recommended to me by a friend who shares my healthy breakfast ambitions, and I have to admit it is good enough to work into my routine. To me, these pancakes taste just like oatmeal cookies. Boy do I love oatmeal cookies. It is a win, win. These are not overly sweet, even though they taste like cookies. I’m not sure how or why, but I’m going to roll with it and enjoy the mystery. What is important, is that my kids and my husband all love these. They are good for you, and very filling.

  Ingredients:
  1 cup milk
  2/3 cups of oats (I have used steel cut, rolled oats, and quick oats all with similar success. Use what you have)
  2/3 cup whole wheat flour
  2 tablespoons dark brown sugar (you can decrease this some if you use very sweet toppings. Or if you stir in a few chocolate chips into each one while cooking. Chocolate chip oatmeal pancakes!)
  1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  2 eggs, beaten
  2 teaspoons vegetable oil
  1/4 teaspoon vanilla

  In a microwave bowl pour your milk. Microwave about one minute, or until hot but not boiling. If yours start to boil, let them sit for a few minutes. Stir in your oats. Cover and let stand for about five minutes. Which is about how long it takes to do the next steps.

  Mix your flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center to pour your wet ingredients.

  In a separate bowl, mix your eggs, vanilla, and oil. Pour them into your well that you made in the flour mixture. At this point, your oats will look kind of gross, and will not have absorbed all of the milk. Don’t worry, this is what you need! Pour them on top of the other liquid ingredients.

  Mix.

  I like to let my batter stand for about five minutes to rest, but it is absolutely not necessary. Get your griddle hot. Spray with cooking spray and ladle your pancakes onto it and cook like you would cook any pancake. I generally measure my pancakes by 1/4 cup. They seem to make just the right size for me and my kids. Using a 1/4 cup you will get about 8 pancakes total.

• Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

• Baby, it’s cold outside.

  For me, that means cozy pajamas, blankets, movies, and snuggling with my husband and kids while watching a movie or two. Oh, and don’t forget the slippers! What better way to warm you up on a cold evening than a steaming mug of hot cocoa, right? Darn right. It is the drink straight out of heaven. Now, if you know me, you know that I am obsessed with the combination of peanut butter and chocolate. All is right in the world when those two things get together and mingle. So when I saw the recipe for Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate on The Cooking Actress blog. I knew that this was the new go to drink for my cold evenings.

  Now, if you know me, you know that I am obsessed with the combination of peanut butter and chocolate

  Her recipe only serves one.  And lets face it, one serving size, on those ‘Nutritional Information’ charts you find listed on packaged food items might sound great on paper, just doesn’t cut it for me.  Especially chocolate and even more so chocolate with peanut butter.  So, I adapted the recipe (in case I decide to share), to serve my family (about four servings).

  Whisk together four cups of milk, four tablespoons of cocoa powder, six tablespoons of white sugar, and one and a half tablespoons of vanilla extract together in a pot. Turn the heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a soft simmer.
  Mix in four tablespoons of smooth peanut butter into the mixture. Watch the peanut butter melt into the chocolaty goodness.
  When the peanut butter has finished melting into the hot chocolate scoop it into four mugs.

  We top ours with marshmallows (on principle. Hot chocolate gets marshmallows) and peanut butter chips. I am sure that regular chocolate chips would also be Divine, but I am a sucker for peanut butter.

  The only way to describe how good this is, is to call it decadent. With most of those ingredients already sitting in your pantry, it might be too easy to whip up. Try not to indulge too often!

• Peanut Butter Popcorn

• 

  Popcorn in all it’s salty goodness is a staple around here. If I could, I would eat eat it every single day. I am not a huge fan of the microwave variety, but I prefer to pop my own on the stove top. If you’ve never done it, I suggest you stop what you’re doing right now and get to it. It is super easy, and unbelievably good. Grab a big heavy pot with a lid, add in one quarter cup of vegetable oil and one half of a cup of popcorn kernels. Turn on your stove,put the lid on the pot, and get your hot pad holders on. While its cooking you need to gently shake the pot back and forth over the heat. After a few minutes you will be rewarded with fluffy pop corn. Add a tablespoon of melted butter and a pinch of salt and you have a killer snack. If you’re like me though, you might want to spice things up a bit every now and again. Caramel corn, honey corn, and kettle corn are some of my favorites. I even enjoy mixing in some chocolate chips for some sweetness. But, sometimes nothing in the world is better than peanut butter. And peanut butter popcorn is fantastic. Sweet, salty, creamy, crunchy. Yum.

  Pop yourself some popcorn. You will want 5-6 cups of popped popcorn. Do your best to filter out any kernels.
  In a nonstick pan, cook over low heat 1/2 cup of butter with 3/4 cup of brown sugar, a pinch of salt, and 20 large marshmallows. Cook until it all blends together into sugary goodness. Mix in 1/2 cup of peanut butter. I like to use crunchy for the added texture. I Stir until well mixed. Pour the peanut butter mixture on top of your pop corn and quickly stick to coat it all. Let it cool, then devour it. Or eat it slowly, and savor it. Either way this is one that you will come back to again, and again.

• Potato Kugel

• Ingredients: Serves about 8

  6 Potatoes Peeled

  2 Zucchinis

  4 Carrots Peeled

  1 Onion (white)

  3-4 Eggs

  ½ Cup all-purpose flour

  ⅓ Cup of oil (Canola or Vegetable)

  ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper

  ¼ Teaspoon salt

  1 Tablespoon of Baking Powder

  Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
  2. Use cooking spray or butter to lightly coat the bottom and sides of a baking dish, which should be at least 2-inch deep and 9 X 12-inches wide. We prepare both steps one and two prior to peeling and working with our products to reduce browning of our vegetables.
  3. Peel the carrots, potatoes, zucchinis, and onions. Then shred them either manually or with a food processor into a large bowl.
  4. Add the rest of your ingredients and mix with a large spoon to an even consistency.

  Pour the contents into the baking dish and bake for approximately 45-60 minutes, depending on your oven, until it is golden brown. For a firmer consistency, allow the Kugel to cool for 20 minutes before eating.

• Soft Sugar Cookies That Hold Their Shape

• I love cookies. And I might be a tad unusual in that I do not discriminate about what type of cookie I eat. If it’s a cookie, I am happy to eat it. But I am especially partial to a good soft sugar cookie. One that holds its shape really well when being rolled out using a cookie cutter. One that is delicately frosted with a killer frosting. Can you envision what I am getting at? The perfect cookie! Over the years I have tried so many cookie recipes trying to create the “perfect cookie.” I will tell you that this was no easy task! My waist line has particularly suffered. But alas, I have been victorious. And I am here to share my bounty with you.

  Perfect soft sugar cookies:
  3 sticks of unsalted butter
  1/2 cup powdered sugar
  1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  2 teaspoons vanilla
  Zest from one lemon
  5-6 cups of flour
  1 1/2 teaspoon salt
  2 teaspoons baking powder

  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
  Cream your butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. A minimum of four to five minutes. Add the eggs one at a time taking the time to ensure that they are each well incorporated before adding the next. Mix in the vanilla and lemon zest. Add the flour one cup at a time, again making sure it is well mixed in before adding the next. After five cups of flour add salt and baking powder. If your dough is still very sticky add remaining flour until the dough is smooth.
  You can chill this dough, as you would traditional sugar cookies, but let us be honest. I don’t have time for that. I just go ahead and start rolling right away.
  I like my sugar cookies to be a bit on the thicker side, so I roll them pretty thick. Somewhere between 1/4 of and inch and 1/2 of an inch. Use your cookie cutter of choice and then bake for 7 minutes and 30 seconds. You want the cookies to come out evenly cookies, without browning on the bottom.

  Personally I could eat these just as they are, without any frosting. But seriously they are extra special when you add your favorite frosting. Enjoy them at your own risk!

• Sour Cream Cake Mix Sugar Cookies

• 
  I know that I cannot be alone in my love for Lofthouse sugar cookies. You know the ones I am talking about, the super soft, cakey, moist, thickly frosted cookies. Oh my goodness they are so good. I am slightly ashamed to admit that I could eat those things by the handfuls. I don’t because that would be bad. Very bad. Mostly for my thighs. So when I found a recipe that claimed to be better than my arch nemesis cookie, you know I couldn’t resist. I did cartwheels in an attempt to counter balance the calories I was sure to partake.

  Ingredients:
  1 box of white cake mix with pudding
  2/3 cup of all purpose flour
  2 large, room temperature eggs
  1/3 cup vegetable oil
  2 tablespoons sour cream
  1 tablespoon vanilla

  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  In the bowl of your stand mixer (you could do this by hand, or with regular beaters, but why?) mix the four and cake mix.
  Add your eggs, one at a time until completely blended. Add the remaining ingredients and mix on medium speed until everything is well incorporated and a dough has formed.

  Using a cookie scoop (I used a #60) to portion your dough. Place on a cookie sheet about two inches apart. Gently flatten the cookies just a tad before baking. Bake for about ten minutes. You want to remove the cookies when they just set, if the bottoms of your cookies are brown, bake a minute less next time. Allow them to sit on the cookie sheet for two minutes before removing to cool completely.

  Frost these bad boys with your favorite butter cream frosting (or use store bought if you are so inclined, but home made is infinitely better in this application.) Frost and then decorate with a few sprinkles and you are done!

• Squash Pie

• Ingredients: Serves about 8

  1 Deep Dish Pie Shell (9-inches)

  12 Ounces of Squash (fresh or frozen pack)

  ½ Stick of Melted Butter (or applesauce)

  3 Eggs

  ½ Cup all-purpose flour

  ½ Cup of Sugar

  1¼ Cup of Coffee Rich (or water)

  1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

  Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Boil and peel 12 OZ of Squash or just buy the frozen package. Mix all of the above ingredients in a large bowl to an even consistency.
  3. Pour the contents into the pie shell and bake for approximately 70-80 minutes, depending on your oven, until it is a light brown. For a firmer consistency, allow the Pie to cool for 20 minutes before eating.

• Squash Soup

• 1 large butternut squash

  1 large sweet potato

  2 stalks celery

  3 carrots

  1 cup shredded cabbage

  2 medium zucchini

  2 cups water

  1 tsp. marjoram

  ½ tsp. cumin

  ½ tsp. salt

  1.  Peel, seed and dice squash. Then peel and dice sweet potato, celery, carrots and zucchini. Place them all in a 4-quart pot.

  2.  Add water and seasonings. Then bring it to a boil and simmer until vegetables are tender (approx. 1-hour).

  3.  Puree in food processor.

  4.  Return to pot with remaining broth, reheat, and serve.

• Sweet and Spicy Pecans

• 1 c. granulated sugar

  1 tsp salt

  1/2 tsp ground cumin

  1/2 tsp cinnamon

  1/2 tsp ground red pepper

  1/2 tsp chili powder

  1/4 tsp ground ginger

  2 c. pecan halves

  1 large egg white

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Grease a large cookie sheet.
  3. In a medium bowl whisk sugar, salt, cumin, cinnamon, red pepper, chili powder and ginger.
  4. In a second medium bowl toss small batches of pecans in egg white to moisten.  Shake off extra egg white.
  5. With dry hands coat small batches of pecans with sugar mixture.  Shake off excess sugar and transfer to greased cookie sheet.
  6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until all of the pecans are coated and on greased sheet in a single layer.
  7. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, until sugar mixture is golden brown.
  8. Loosen pecans with spatula and let cool completely.

  Pecans will keep for up to four weeks in an airtight container.

• Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

• 

  Fall is an amazing time of year for me, and my family.  One of our favorite things about fall is the food. Pumpkin everything! I’m fairly certain that there isn’t much that has pumpkin in it that I do not enjoy eating. Right up there on my list of favorites are roasted pumpkin seeds. I eat them plain, by the handful, on salads, even baked into some homemade granola or granola bars. And of course, they are the type of food that you can prepare with your kids. Start by opening a pumpkin just like you would if you were to carve it. Reach in and remove all of the seeds from inside of your pumpkin. This is the part that my kids love to do. When you have removed all your seeds, clean them thoroughly making sure to remove any stringy pulp that may still be attached to your seeds. Pat them dry with a paper towel.

  You want them to be crispy and crunchy. Almost like a sunflower seed.

  The next step is actually toasting the seeds. You can do this one of two ways, first in the oven. Spray your seeds with non stick spray. Lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Cook at 325 for about 20-25 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes. Check readiness  by tasting. You want them to be crispy and crunchy. Almost like a sunflower seed.

  Your other toasting option is in a heavy bottomed pan, like a cast iron skillet.

  Turn the heat to medium, once the pan is hot pour in your pumpkin seeds. Stir them continuously so that they do not stick or burn. You will know they are finished when they start to peel or split-open a little. Again, check for readiness by tasting.

  At this point, it is time to think about flavorings. I usually go for a sweet and salty combo, but whatever you like is fine, including just regular old salt.

  To make my sweet and salty ones you need brown sugar, olive oil, and salt. Easy! Remove your seeds from the oven or pan, and toss with a teaspoon or two of olive oil. Just enough to coat them. Then sprinkle them with the brown sugar and salt. Return to the heat (or oven) and cook just until the sugar melts. Keep your eyes on them, sugar can burn fast!

  Now just allow them to cool, and enjoy!

  For other fun flavors, consider a flavored olive oil. Garlic olive oil and some salt, lemon olive oil and salt.

  Yummy!

• Tomato Basil Soup

• 3 c. canned peeled plum tomatoes

  3/4 lbs carrots, peeled and chopped

  3/4 lbs onions, chopped

  1 tbsp dried basil

  1/4 c. olive oil

  8 c chicken or vegetable stock

  3 c. heavy cream

  1 tbsp kosher salt

  1 tbsp black pepper

  1/2 c. fresh basil leaves

  Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

  1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil.
  2. Sautee the carrots and onions at medium heat for 15 minutes.
  3. Add the dried basil, salt, pepper and tomatoes.  Bring to a simmer.
  4. Add the chicken/veggie stock to the pot and bring to a boil.
  5. Simmer for 45 minutes.
  6. Puree the soup using a hand blender while adding the heavy cream until it has a smooth, thin consistency.
  7. Once in individual bowls sprinkle with fresh Parmesan, add a fresh basil leaf, and serve.