Time Flies

Well it has definitely been quite a while since I've posted, but let me say that it has not been a while since I've cooked! I've been actively cooking and baking all year, just haven't had the time/energy/interest in blogging about it. At least the resolution stuck, even if the blog hasn't.

Anyway, here I am trying to play catch up if for no other reason than to have a catalog of all the recipes I've made. So here we go!

First up - Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes Stuffed with Blue Cheese and Spinach. The ingredients/instructions below are for 4 servings.

Ingredients:
- 4 medium sweet potato
- 1/3 cup reduced fat sour cream
- 4 tbsp shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 oz goat cheese
- 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
- 4 oz crumbled blue cheese

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse and dry potatoes and prick holes with a fork. Microwave them for 4-5 minutes or until tender enough to slice easy with a knife.
- Scoop potato flesh into a small bowl and combine with sour cream, cheeses, and spinach. Mix until ingredients are well blended and scoop about 1/3 cup filling back into each potato, distributing evenly.

- Top each potato with equal amounts of blue cheese. Bake until blue cheese is bubbly and melted. Let stand five minutes after removing from the oven and serve warm.

These were really good! I just made one sweet potato and don't remember what the points values are (this was from a while back), but it was a good dish! And easy enough.

Super Bowl Eats

Black and Gold (yellow) for Steelers!
Too bad the Steelers didn't win, but at least we had good eats!

Super Bowl - MAC

Second recipe for Super Bowl was obviously Macaroni and Cheese! I've had this recipe saved for a while and it was a total coincidence (and surprise) realizing it was a recipe created by the mother of Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley - Janice Staples's Mac n Cheese.

Ingredients:
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 1 (16 ounce) package small pasta shells
- salt and pepper
- 1 pinch garlic salt
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3 (11 ounce) cans condensed cream of cheddar cheese soup
- 2/3 cup shredded Havarti cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the diced onion in a large pot of lightly salted water; bring to boil. Cook the pasta until close to done (about 8-10 minutes) and drain. Transfer the onion and pasta to a casserole dish. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic salt.
- Stir the butter and brown sugar into the pasta mixture until the butter melts. Add the cheddar cheese soup, Havarti cheese, Parmesan cheese, and 1/3 cup of Cheddar cheese; stir well. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar cheese over top of the dish.
- Bake in preheated oven about 45 minutes.
- Change oven setting to broil and cook until top is golden brown, about 4 minutes.

This was so good! Another top macaroni and cheese recipe. It was the perfect combination of sweet and savory, with the brown sugar and onion. A big hit at the party and really really delicious!

Super Bowl - PB Truffles

Super bowl time! For the past four or five years I have made 7-layer dip for Super Bowl Sunday because it's an easy, chilled recipe that doesn't require any cooking. Well this year I broke that tradition and broke out some cooking - two recipes in fact! First up, Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
- 1/4 cup crushed salted pretzels
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
- Combine peanut butter and pretzels in a bowl. Chill for 15 minutes in the freezer. Roll mixture into balls (about the size of a tsp) and freeze 1 hour till firm. Roll balls in melted chocolate and refrigerate until set.

Super easy, but I totally messed these up! I forgot to freeze the balls before dipping them in chocolate, no wonder I got such a mess! They obviously still ended up tasting awesome, but would have worked better had I actually read the directions right. I also made the balls bigger than recommended, but in the end they tasted great and the Super Bowl party attendees loved them! That is, all the boys devoured them.

I got about 27 (should've been like 40 though had I sized them right) and were 3 points/serving.

Pumpkin Mac

Next up - Pumpkin Mac n Cheese from a new blog I've become obsessed with called (never home) maker. I recommend checking it out!

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cup macaroni
- nonstick cooking spray
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 1/2 cup shredded low-fat cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup pureed garbanzo beans
- 1/8 tsp paprika
- 1/8 tsp pepper

Directions:
- Cook the pasta according to directions on package.
- Puree the garbanzo beans. Add beans and a few tbsp of water to a food processor (or magic bullet, which I used) and pulse until smooth.
- While the pasta cooks, spray the inside of a large sauce-pot with cooking spray. Pour in the olive oil and cook over medium heat. Then stir in the flour and keep stirring until the mixture is thick, but not browned (about 1 minute).
- Add the milk and stir constantly for 2-3 minutes, until thick.
- Add the pumpkin puree, cheese, pureed garbanzo beans, paprika, and pepper. Stir until everything is melted.
- Drain the pasta and add to the cheese mixture. Stir for a minute or two, then turn off the heat and serve.

Do you even have to ask? This was awesome!! I've found all these interesting recipes that use pumpkin and though it's normally such a Fall ingredient, recently I've been craving it. This was quite a success! I think I got about six 1/2 cup servings out of this, making it 6 PointsPlus/serving. Not too bad, though a 1/2 cup is not very much!

The BEST Brussel Sprouts

My new go-to vegetable has become brussel sprouts. They are so good and easy to make!
I recently made roasted brussel sprouts and cauliflower to take to book club and it was a huge hit! I am now required to bring them every month!

Ingredients:
- brussel sprouts
- cauliflower
- olive oil
- Parmesan cheese, grated
- salt and pepper

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- Wash vegetables. Cut brussel sprouts into quarters and chop cauliflower in small pieces.
- Toss vegetables in oil, cheese, and salt and pepper. [I used probably 1 tbsp olive oil and 1/4 cup Parmesan for a large bunch of vegetables]
- Line baking sheet with foil and lay vegetables in one layer.
- Roast for 15 minutes, flipping once half way through.

This so easy and delicious! The amount of oil and cheese is totally a preference thing. Definitely recommend!

Rice, Beans, and Pineapple

I am super behind in recipes, so let's just got to the chase.
My sister visited about a month ago and one of the nights we decided to stay in and make dinner! Took a while to decide (or agree) on a recipe, but finally we settled on an interesting recipe from Everybody Likes Sandwiches - Mexican Black Bean and Roasted Pineapple Bowl.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup brown rice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red onion, diced (separated in two halves)
- 1/2 red pepper, diced
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 fresh pineapple, sliced in rounds
- 3 small tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 lime zested and juiced
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro
- 1/4 tsp hot sauce
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 c grated cheese (we used Trader Joe's Mexican)
- sour cream

Directions:
- Prepare rice as directed on box. While cooking, create a quick salsa by combining the tomatoes, half of the onion, lime juice and zest, cilantro, and spices. Set aside.
- Roast pineapple under the broiler until it chars in places. Flip, roast, and dice. Set aside.
- In a large pan, heat oil and add in garlic, the other onion half, and red pepper. Saute until it gets soft, add in spices and black beans. Heat through.
- Layer all ingredients into a bowl. Rice on the bottom, then black beans, pineapple, salsa, topped with cheese, sour cream, and hot sauce.

The final product was great! I'm a huge rice and beans fan so it's hard to mess up. We were both thoroughly satisfied and happy with the choice! Plus I had plenty of leftovers. Probably made about four servings and with all the fix ins came out to 10 points/serving, but it's definitely a huge serving!

My Tuna Melt

Further proof that cooking has become a part of my everyday life, the other night I created my own tuna melt and it was delicious!

Ingredients:
- 1 6-ounce can tuna in water, drained
- celery, diced
- dill pickles, diced
- mayonnaise, to taste
- Dijon mustard, to taste
- handful of mushrooms, sliced
- 1/4 avocado, sliced
- 1 slice Muenster cheese
- 1 slice whole wheat bread

Directions:
- Drain tuna and mix in celery, pickles, and preferred amount of mayo and mustard.
- Layer 1/3 of the tuna on bread, top with mushrooms, avocado, then cheese.
- Broil on high in the oven, until cheese is melted.

The final product was awesome and I had tuna left over for lunch during the week! Definitely a great, quick, easy, impromptu dinner!

Perfect Lasagna

Been a while since I've updated the blog, but it has definitely not been a while since I've cooked!! I've made a whole lot of new recipes lately (big and small) and just need to find the time to post them.

The same day I grocery shopped to make salmon patties, I stocked up on the ingredients for lasagna. I've been wanting to try my hand at lasagna for a long time and now that I have Pyrex and some cooking confidence, it was time. I followed Rachael Ray's recipe for Kinda-Classic Lasagna and it came out great!

Ingredients
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb. Cremini mushrooms, thickly sliced
- 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 9 8-inch lasagna noodles (I used whole grain)
- 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
- 1 egg white
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 6 oz. low-fat mozzarella cheese, shredded
- salt and pepper

Directions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and half the mushrooms, season with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat with 1 tbsp oil and the remaining mushrooms.
- In the same skillet, heat the garlic over medium-low heat and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir 3/4 cup of the tomato sauce into the mushrooms, season with pepper.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 deg F. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water.
- In a food processor, puree the cottage cheese, egg white, and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Season with pepper.
- Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish and spread 3/4 cup of the remaining tomato sauce in the bottom. Place 3 noodles on the sauce and spoon half the mushrooms on top; top with half the cottage cheese mixture. Top with a third of the mozzarella and repeat with another layer of noodles, the remaining mushrooms and cottage cheese mixture and another third of the mozzarella. Top with the remaining noodles and 1 cup of tomato sauce.
- Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
- Remove the foil and top with the remaining 2 tbsp Parmesan and the remaining mozzarella and bake until melted, about 5 minutes. Dollop with the remaining tomato sauce.

Lasagna in Steps... layer #1, pre-cooked, final yum!

The original recipe said it made 6 servings, but I cut it into 9 and froze half. This was awesome! So tasty straight out of the oven and the next day for lunch. It was a lot easier than I expected it to be and can't wait to try another lasagna, especially knowing their are no-boil noodles out there (I didn't use them this time, but they exist)! The recipe also came out to 6 PointsPlus/serving (9 servings), so definitely worthwhile! Mmm mmm. See below for the perfect slice and the most perfect bite!

Salmon in the New Year!

First recipe of the New Year!

I decided to make Salmon Patties from Everybody Likes Sandwiches because I've had this recipe bookmarked for a while and it was something different than I've made recently. The grocery was so packed this weekend and was out of a lot of things on my list, so I ended up leaving out a couple ingredients (noted below). But all in all a great way to kick off the New Year!

Ingredients:
- 1 can of Salmon, undrained
- 3 tbsp bread crumbs
- 2 green onions, finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tsp paprika
- salt and pepper
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp flour
- 4 tsp extra virgin olive oil
[ingredients I didn't use: 1 tbsp capers, 1 tsp dried dill]

pre and post mashed ingredients

Directions:
- Combine all ingredients, mashing everything together with a fork until well blended.
- Form into balls and flatten into patties.
- Fry in olive oil until golden brown on both sides.

pre and post fried up

I got 5 patties out of the recipe, but easily could have gotten 4 or 6. The original recipe suggested serving them on a bun with some tarter sauce or on a salad. I went the salad route and made a colorful salad of spinach, red pepper, cucumber, mushrooms, celery, topped with a tbsp of Parmesan, and dressed with some balsamic vinaigrette.


The patties came out pretty good, but I think would've been better with the capers and dill. There was something missing and also a little bit of a floury taste, which those ingredients probably would've hid. But in the end it was a pretty easy, fast, and tasty dish! And I have leftovers for lunch this week! WW PointsPlus wise it came out to 3 points/patty, not a bad deal!

Looking Back...

That's it, folks. My 2010 New Year's resolution has come to a close.

So, how did it go? What do I think looking back? To be honest, this was the most successful resolution I have ever made in my life! And that is not an exaggeration.

Last year I found myself looking at recipes, but constantly eating microwaveable food. I was scared and lazy and unmotivated to tackle any of the recipes I found. I wanted to, but a) didn't have the confidence, b) didn't think I had the time, and c) didn't really have the kitchen experience and/or tools. But I made a resolution to make two new recipes a month and I more than exceeded that goal and my own expectations. I went well beyond 24 recipes for the year, but more than that I changed my way of thinking and doing when it came to cooking. Now I would consider myself someone who likes to cook! There are definitely still recipes that scare me, tools I don't have, and foods I'm just not ready to tackle, but that just means this resolution doesn't have to end.

The very best thing about this past year's resolution is that it has become a habit. My cabinets are now usually stocked with foods that are often used for recipes, even if I don't have a recipe in mind. I actually take the time to make a recipe, my own creation, on almost every given night with what I have on hand. I want to cook and try new things and am looking forward to that party or get-together to make something new! Plus with all my new kitchen gadgets my repertoire of recipes has greatly increased.

The problem with resolutions is that often they aren't tangible. You can't see the results immediately and so get off track or give up (at least for me). But the difference with this resolution was that I was able to see my habits and attitude change and the blog was a big part of that. I kept track of all the recipes I made - the good, bad, and just plain ugly - and can look back at my progress. This may have started as a resolution, but it has become a lifestyle. I plan to continue this blog and document the new recipes I make. In my very first post I referenced how I didn't want to become a wife who didn't know her way around the kitchen (in so many words) and now I am positive that that won't happen.

As far as my favorite and/or most successful recipes from this blog, the ones that stand out are:
- Pumpkin Muffins because they were so easy and so good! Plus this was the first recipe I made because I realized I already had all the ingredients on hand.
- I find myself cooking way more than baking, but these Chocolate Cherry cookies were so good and easy!
- All the mac n cheese recipes have been good, but I would say my favorite was the recipe using squash.
- Helping my mom prepare Thanksgiving was definitely a high point, especially since it was a big time first for me!
- And getting out of my comfort zone to make Quinoa (twice) and Spaghetti Squash has been great and both have now become staples in my diet.

As for my resolution for 2011... I'm still tweaking it, but am planning for it to be something along these same lines. Something I can see happening and really commit to. And in the meantime, onward to a new year and a whole slew of new recipes!

My Final Recipe of 2010

Only fitting that my final recipe for 2010 would be for a New Years Eve party. Looking for a good finger food appetizer I decided to make Ricotta-Stuffed Roma Tomatoes from one of my favorite blogs - The Kitchen Sink Recipes. I stayed pretty true to the recipe and if anything just made more than the original called for.

Ingredients:
- 30 small to medium sized roma tomatoes
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp dried basil
- salt and pepper
- dried bread crumbs

Directions:
- Half and hollow out the tomatoes and drain of excess liquid and place on foil lined baking sheet, hollow side up.
- In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, herbs, pepper flakes, salt and pepper.
- Using a small spoon, fill each tomato half with about a tablespoon of the ricotta filling so the tomato is completely filled creating a slight mound.
- Pour bread crumbs in a small, shallow bowl.
- Take the filling tomato half and invert it into the shallow bowl of bread crumbs, pressing lightly so the crumbs adhere to the ricotta. Place the tomato back on the baking sheet, bread crumb side up, and repeat with the remaining tomatoes.
- Roast for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F until the bread crumbs have browned and the tomatoes softened.

I ended up hollowing out the tomatoes and mixing the ricotta on NYE morning and then before I went to the party I filled the tomatoes, covered the baking sheet with lots of plastic wrap (which ended up blowing off anyway), and then roasted them at my friends house.

The final product was good, but I think they would've been better if I had prepared them immediately. The filling was delicious, though, something I might use for another recipe one day. It ended up being the perfect recipe to round out all the other food and was pretty easy. The hardest part was hollowing out the tomatoes, but I managed. It's really hard to find a recipe, specifically an appetizer type recipe, that you can prepare in advance so I think these worked out well!

And that's it. My final recipe of 2010, my final entry of this resolution. Wow! Final thoughts and recap to come...