Thanksgiving Dinner

So I thought I should mention that Thanksgiving turned out pretty well. There were some last minute late night trips to the store(s) the night before and phone calls to my sister for turkey cooking advice the morning of, but it all worked out and we had a delicious meal (even if the kids only ate the store bought rolls).

Thanksgiving

I'm starting to think we should skip Thanksgiving this year. I mean, just the food part. We'll still remember to give thanks. There's not really any point in making a big meal that my kids won't eat. I guess there's the pie. Maybe we'll just eat pie tomorrow.

Roasted Winter Vegetables/Soup

The cool weather has made me feel like making soup. This one is made from the leftovers of the Barefoot Contessa's Roasted Winter Vegetables. Delicious! And so easy:

1 lb carrots, 1 lb parsnips, 1 large sweet potato, 1 small butternut squash

Peel, cut, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake at 425 for 25-35 min. (Sprinkle w/ fresh parsley if you like.)

The Roasted Vegetable Soup is simple. Coarsely puree the roasted veggies in a blender/food processor, add chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you want to make it vegetarian) and heat it up! If you have an awesome blender like a VitaMix this would take minutes!

My husband really liked the soup but I think I like the veggies better.

Green Smoothies

We've been sick the last two weeks (my daughter, though immunized twice, even managed to catch the chicken pox). We are are still dealing with lingering coughs and runny noses so I've been making a lot of 'green' smoothies.

I have no exact measurements, just add what you like. If your kids (or you) don't like so much greens start with just a little spinach and then add more each time as you get used to the taste.

Banana Berry Smoothie

1. Fill blender with spinach and about a cup of water/juice, blend

2. Add 1-2 kale leaves, blend

3. Add one banana, blend

4. Add frozen berries (I use blueberries & strawberries- about 1 cup each), blend until smooth

Tropical Green Smoothie (This one actually turns out green)

Follow 1-3 above (I like to use orange juice with this one)

4. Add frozen mango & pineapple (about 1 cup each), blend until smooth

(I don't know why this keeps downloading sideways, sorry.)

safety first

I sliced my thumb while chopping carrots today. Be careful with your fingers when cutting everyone. :P I might have to keep cooking to a minimum for a week or so.

Hot Fudge Sauce

Hot Fudge Sauce (Dani Carbajal)

1 bag chocolate chips

1 stick butter

1 can condensed milk

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter and chocolate over a low heat in a heavy saucepan. Slowly add canned milk and powdered sugar alternating a little at a time. Turn up heat and cook for 8 minutes stirring constantly. Take off heat and add vanilla. Refrigerate any unused sauce.

(…but make sure your kids don’t know you put it in there. ‘Cause they might get up early and eat it all for breakfast while you’re still sleeping- which is why I have no picture for you.)

Crustless Spinach Quiche

My wonderful friend Chelsea told me about this fabulous last minute recipe. Just keep a some frozen chopped spinach in the freezer and you'll be ready anytime you need a quick and easy dinner. Usually I garnish it with chopped tomatoes with salt and pepper and, since it's crustless, some french bread. This time though we had bruschetta (see post below) along with it- even better!

Crustless Spinach Quiche (allrecipes.com)

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 5 eggs, beaten
• 3 cups shredded Muenster cheese (I just use whatever I have- cheddar, monteray jack)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
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• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
• Cook onions in oil until soft. Stir in spinach and continue cooking until excess moisture has evaporated.
• In a large bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Add spinach mixture and stir to blend. Scoop into prepared pie pan.
• Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Tomato Basil Bruschetta

The other day I had a craving for bruschetta so I asked a friend if she had a recipe. She told me she just buys the stuff at Trader Joe's, so that's what I did. I know, kind of cheating, but it was SO yummy. I brushed the bread with some olive oil, broiled it for a minute and then pilled the bruschetta on top. Maybe next time I'll try making it from scratch. Like this recipe at allrecipes.com.

Pumpkin Cookies

These just say "autumn" to me. It seems they are the first of the holiday baking that I make each year. I always have to give away half cause it makes so many and I can't stop eating them. ;)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c margarine/butter
3 c sugar
3 eggs
2 t vanilla
1 large can Pumpkin
5-6 c flour
3 t baking soda
1 1/2 t salt
2 t nutmeg
3 t cinnamon

1 t cloves

1 bag chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS: In large bowl cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, pumpkin. In separate bowl sift together dry ingredients. Combine with wet ingredients. Mix well and add chocolate chips. Spoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375º 10-15 min. (In my oven it's always 15.)

Chicken Curry with Cashews

I have two curry recipes I like to make. I think of this one as my fancy curry. Probably because my friend, Karen, made it for a fancy Enrichment dinner. She went all out and decorated everything and even had little recipe cards next to the plates- which I'm so glad she did.

Also, this one has some extra ingredients that I don't usually have on hand and that my other recipe doesn't include like fresh ginger, cilantro, and cashews so I have to plan ahead when I make it. It also calls for cumin which I think gives it a kind of sweet aroma. It really is delicious.

(Sometimes the pictures just don't do the dish credit.)

Chicken Curry with Cashews (KAREN GREGSON)

¼ c. butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped (2 cups) (I also added a chopped bell pepper this time)
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 TBSP finely chopped peeled fresh ginger (I forgot to buy this so I just substituted ginger powder)
3 TBSP curry powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp cayenne pepper (Next time I might half this or add it at the end so the kids will eat it. I thought it was a bit spicy but my husband said it was perfect.)
3 ½ -4lb. chicken pieces (I just use 10 tenders or 3 or 4 breasts)
1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes
¼ c. fresh cilantro
¾ c. cashews (1/4 lb)
¾ c. plain yogurt
Cooked basmati or jasmine rice

Heat butter in a 5-6qt. wide heavy pot over low heat until foam subsides, then cook onions, garlic, and ginger, stirring until softened, about 5 minutes. Add curry, salt, cumin, and cayenne, cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Add chicken and cook, stirring to coat, 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, including juice, and cilantro and bring to a simmer, then cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through, about 40 minutes. Then just before serving, pulse cashews in a food processor until finely ground, then add to curry along with yogurt and simmer gently, uncovered stirring until sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.

Chicken Tortilla Lime Soup

This is one of my favorite soups. I think the cilantro and fresh lime juice make it taste just like some I had in Mexico. Mmm The recipe has you make your tortilla strips, but I usually just use tortilla chips.

Chicken Tortilla Lime Soup (Raylene Hadley)
1-2 lbs chicken breasts or tenders seasoned with garlic powder, salt, pepper and 1/4 tsp cumin

(I usually just use 2 breasts)
olive oil cooking spray (I just use olive oil)
1 onion, chopped
1 red jalapeno, chopped (I can only find green, so that's what I use)
1 Anaheim chili, chopped
1/4 tsp chili powder
7 cups chicken stock or broth
1 c white sweet corn, fresh or frozen
1 can black beans, rinsed
1/3 c cilantro, chopped
2-3 medium avacadoes, chopped (into small chuncks)
juice of 1 large lime (1/4 cup)
½ c grated low fat jack or chedder cheese
tortilla strips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place seasoned chicken in one layer on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes for tenders or 25 minutes for chicken breasts, or until jucies run clear. Remove from oven and cool. Then shred or cut into 1-inch pieces and set aside.

Spray a large Dutch oven or stock pot lightly with cooking spray and heat over medium high. Add onion and red jalapeno peppers to pan and sauté until onion is translucent. Add Anaheim pepers and 1/8 tsp. chili powder to onions and continue to sauté for another minute.

Add chicken broth to onion and pepper mixture along with chcken and corn, beans, cilantro, and lime juice. Simmer for 5-10 minutes over medium until all ingredients are heated through. Adjust seasonings if necessary with salt, cumin, extra lime juice and fresh pepper. Add chopped avacadoes.

Pour soup into bowls top with tortilla strips and cheese.

Yeild six 2-cup servings each at approximately 295 calories; 4.5 grams of total fat; 1.4 grams sturated fat; 31 grams total carboydtrate; 4.4 grams dietary fiber; and 33 grams of protien.

Strawberry Shortcake

We checked out this book from the library and my daughter insisted we make the recipe, so we did. It was a fun book with little facts, tips, and explanations about cooking along the sides of each page. I even learned something: strawberry shortcake is called "shortcake" because of the shortening in it (though we used butter). Maybe I'm behind, but it was news to me.So pretty much it's like a gigantic biscuit slathered with whip cream and strawberries. I've always thought real strawberry shortcake (not those little angle food cakes they sell by the strawberries in the store) was rather dry and bland, but this was really good. The only thing I did different from the book was add some sugar to the strawberries and let them sit to bring out the juices while the cake baked.

Birthday Cakes

Here are a couple birthday cakes I made recently. Finally putting that cake decorating class knowledge to use. This one was for my sister who was visiting on her birthday. She loves football and is a big Packer's fan. (I didn't use supports and by the time I took the picture it kind of smooshed down on itself. :P Oh well, you get the picture.) It was fun working with fondant.

Conference Donuts

This conference weekend instead of making cinnamon rolls we tired something new. We made our own donuts! My friend and cooking mentor referred me to this recipe at Allrecipes.com (love that site!). She told me to double the glaze, which I was glad I did; there was just enough for all the donuts. They weren't the most perfectly shaped, but they still tasted great and were a lot cheaper than Krispy Kream!

I think the oil was too hot at first. They were cooking really fast and got too dark. (I had no way to measure if it was the 350 it called for). So I turned it down and waited a few minutes before doing any more. That seemed to do the trick.

I used a spatula to slide them in the oil, but ended up just using a fork to flip them and pull them out.

I had one cookie sheet with cookie rack to place them on right out of the oil. Then I would dip them- still hot- into the glaze and on another cookie sheet w/ rack:

I kept the glaze on the stove. It needed to be reheated often as the surface cooled and started to crust over. When there was a lot of glaze that had dripped off on the cookie sheet I just scrapped it back into the pot on the stove.

Maybe next time I'll try a chocolate glaze. Mmm

Anyone else have have a good recipe or idea for donuts?

Graduation Day

Here is my final cake for my final Wilton cake course. It's been fun and I've learned a lot. I still need a lot of practice with fondant -the back of the cake had so many folds in it :( But I thought it turned out pretty anyway. I decided my favorite (fondant) flower is the calla lilly. They are just so elegant.

Fruit Pops

You might have seen these "All Natural" Dryer's Fruit Bars. Well, I made some by chance the other day. Only better, and healthier.

I was starting to make a smoothie by blending some frozen strawberries with a little apple juice and when it was pureed it smelled so good I just wanted to eat it straight from the blender. And I did. Like Strawberry Sorbet. Mmmm So then I had the idea to scoop it into these Ikea popsicle forms and voila! The kids loved 'em. With summer coming I'm going to have to try some other popsicle recipes.

chicken cacciatore

Chicken Cacciatore from Better Home's Cookbook:

• 6 frozen chicken tenders
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• (added 1/2 cup chopped green pepper)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
• 3/4 cup dry white wine (used chicken broth instead)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary (didn't have this)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley (skipped this)
• Hot cooked fettuccine or linguine (used spaghetti instead)

In a large skillet brown chicken on all sides in hot oil over medium heat about 15 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove chicken from skillet, reserving drippings in skillet; set chicken aside.

Add mushrooms, onion, and garlic to drippings in skillet. Cook and stir about 5 minutes or until vegetables are just tender. Return chicken to skillet.

Mix together undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, sugar, spices, salt, and pepper and add to chicken in skillet. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 30 to 35 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Serve over hot cooked pasta.

Yes, that's a paper plate. I forgot to take a picture at dinner so later when I had a before bed 'snack' I snapped this. Mmm

strawberry freezer jam

I don't do step by step instructions much, but I wanted to show how simple this is for anyone who hasn't tried making freezer jam.

Wash Strawberries

Remove stems

Crush them, one layer at a time

Measure out amount called for in recipe, set aside

Whisk pectin into apple juice (no sugar pectin calls for juice)

Bring to a boil that you can't stir down

Pour into strawberries (don't take a picture while doing this, because you'll miss the bowl) and stir
Add sugar (if using) and stir. Usually I do half the sugar of regular jam, but I used agave this time (no picture sorry).

Ladle into containers (one day I'll have one of those awesome wide mouth canning funnels)
And you're done. Refrigerate over night too cool and then place in freezer until ready to use. Mmmm

peach sauce with raspberries

These were the Barefoot Contessa Banana & Sour Cream pancakes minus the bananas. The whole reason I made them was to try out the idea I got from this post on a friend's blog. It was actually a post about pancakes, but she mentioned pureeing a can of peaches to top them and I thought it sounded delicious.

I used canned peaches in juice, and when I tasted it I wanted it sweeter so I ended up adding some agave. I think if you used peaches in light syrup that would help, but I'll probably just stick to adding a little agave.

And then I happened to have some raspberries so I figured why not add those. The picture kind of looks like I just spilled orange juice on my plate, but it really was good.

breakfast for dinner

Sometimes we have breakfast for dinner. Usually when I haven't started dinner or planned something or realize there is no food in the house cause I didn't go shopping. Usually it's something like pancakes or waffles, maybe even french toast. Tonight I actually planned to make breakfast for dinner. We had eggs and "home fried potatoes." My mom used to make this with left over boiled potatoes so really there's no recipe, you just kind of wing it. But I did found something like it in a cookbook and discovered a good way to prep the potatoes when not using left overs.

Fried Potato Cubes

(tonight's version included:)

3 potoatos, peeled cubed

1/3 ? onion diced

1/2 bell pepper

Salt & Pepper

butter

chopped dill to taste (I had some in the freezer from another time)

Place potatoes in pot of water and bring to a boil and then continue to boil for 1 min; drain. Heat butter in large skillet. Add potatoes, onions, bell pepper, salt and pepper. Cook 10-15 min until browned, turning with a spatula (wait 5 minutes before turning them so they can brown). Add dill at the end.

Basket Cake

Here is my 'grand finale' for the second Wilton cake course. We made different flowers each week out of royal icing (which is pretty much just sugar, so it hardens and stores for years) and then on the last day we iced the cake and placed the flowers. I think I need to work on mixing and matching frosting colors. Also the white butter cream icing on the cake is a bit more like 'cream' or 'egg shell' because I didn't feel like buying the 'no color' vanilla (why buy something when I already have vanilla at home). It's not really noticeable except when I put the white royal frosting flowers on it. Then is looks kind of off. :P Oh well.

(I like it better without the birds.)

Gurken

Cucumbers taste like summer to me. I think when I was little I didn't like these pickled cucumbers my mother would always make for 'midsommers' along with the Swedish Meatballs. It's hard to remember exactly though because I love them so much now it seems weird to imagine ever not liking them. Now whenever English (hot house or seedless) cucumbers go on sale I always buy a few and use one of them to make this recipe. It's definitely one of my comfort foods.

Pickled Cucumbers

(this is the recipe the way my mother gave it to me, I'm not sure why it only uses half the cucumber, I always just double it and put the whole thing in)

1/2 cup water

4 Tablespoons Vinegar

2 Tablespoons Sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8-1/4 teaspoon pepper

fresh chopped parsley (I just used dried parsley flakes this time)

1/2 cucumber, very thinly sliced (I use the cheese slicer)

Mix together first ingredients then add cucumbers. Cover and let sit at least over night.

Sprinkles Cupcakes

These lovelies cost over $3 each! But they were certainly yummy. I wouldn't spend that much on cupcakes very often (seriously, that's probably even an overstatement... or understatement? anyway, you know what I mean.), but it was a special occasion (Sabrina was visiting!) and I thought I should show her what this cupcake craze is all about. Clock-wise (starting with the dot sprinkle): Chocolate Marshmallow ("It's like a glorified Hostess Cupcake."), Dark Chocolate, Vanilla, and (my favorite) Coconut.

Challa French Toast

While Sabrina was visiting we tried this Barefoot Contessa recipe for french toast. Mmm... It was delicious. We found the Challa bread on our trip to Trader Joe's (Sabrina went crazy buying stuff to take back home). The bread totally made it so rich. I can't decide if I like this (with the orange flavor) better than regular cinnamon french toast it was that good. Anyway, if you can find some Challa or Brioche you should make this.

Tequila Lime Chicken (minus the Tequila)

For a (late) Cinco de Mayo celebration I made this Taquila Lime Chicken Recipe from the Barefoot Contessa cookbook. Mmmm, I love lime so I couldn't resist. Only I didn't use tequila. I didn't feel like buying tequila so I just decided to use lemon-lime soda instead. It was really yummy, but once again I forgot to take a picture.

(I made it on the grill so it had this great, uh, grilled flavor. Only problem was it took me like an hour to cook it on the community grill cause I had no idea what I was doing. I've only used that thing twice.)

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oven roasted carrots

Here's another example of roasted veggies. Just drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast for 20-40 minutes (depending on thickness).

My daughter said they were "too spicy" (the pepper) so my husband and I ate these and I made some more- steamed- for the kids which they gobbled up.

Wilton Cake Course 1: Completed

I finally got around to taking a cake decorating class. I have had the course 1 kit for over a year and used the decorating bags and tips, but I didn't really how how to use all of them. I figured this would be a good skill to learn so I could make the kids birthday cakes myself. Plus I love cooking/baking and this falls in that category.

At the first class we learned how to make the icing and frost the cake. I discovered that the "Buttercream" frosting (recipe follows) is hardly what I would consider food. I don't eat it. Instead, I tend to think of it as an art medium like paint or clay.

Class 2; cake 1: Stars(Since the outer frosting isn't very appetizing, I like to fill the cake with something yummy. This one had strawberry cream cheese frosting in the middle.)

Class 3; cake 2: drop flowers and shells

Class 4; cake 3: roses and leaves

Next week I start course 2.

Wilton's Buttercream Frosting

1 c shortening

2 T water

1 tsp vanilla

1 lb powdered sugar (about 4 cups)

Cream together first three ingredients. Slowly add powdered sugar and blend until smooth. (for thinner consistency add 1 T water at a time and blend)

Late Lemon Bars

Lemon Bars are Kurt's favorite so I make them for his birthday instead of cake. I was a little late this year.

I kind of used different parts of the Barefoot Contessa recipe and the Better Homes Recipe because I was low on some ingredients.

(The powdered sugar melted into the top before I took the picture.)

Lemon Bars

1/2 c sugar

2 c flour

1/4 tsp kosher salt

3/4 c butter, room temperature

4 eggs slightly beaten

1 1/2 c sugar

3 T flour

1 T lemon zest

3/4 c lemon juice

1/4 milk

powdered sugar

Cream butter and sugar. Add flour and salt. On low speed add butter until just mixed. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Chill for a minute, then bake 18 min at 350.

Mean while whisk eggs, sugar, flour, lemon juice and zest and milk. Pour over crust and bake 20 minutes- until filling is set. Cool completely and sift powdered sugar on top.

Lasagna

I always use cottage cheese instead of ricotta cheese when I make lasagna because it's cheaper and has more protein. It's the only time I eat cottage cheese. I don't like it. Mostly it's the texture. To remedy this I blend it in the blender to make it smoother.

Also, I usually use marinara sauce when I make lasagna and add some shredded veggies (carrots, zucchini) for added texture, but I had leftover homemade meat sauce so I used that this time.

Lasagna

6 lasagna noodles, cooked as directed on package

32-40 oz Spaghetti sauce* (4 or 5 cups homemade, I always like more)

16 oz cottage cheese

1 egg

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

8 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded

optional:

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp dried marjoram

1/4 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried parsley

1/4 tsp garlic powder

In a blender put egg and cottage cheese and blend until smooth. Scoop into a bowl and add parmesan cheese and dried herbs and garlic powder.

Spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce over the bottom of a 9x13 casserole. Place 3 of the noodles in a row (they might overlap a bit). Spread half of the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles, then half of the spaghetti sauce, and next half of the mozzarella cheese. Place remaining 3 noodles and repeat layers of cottage cheese, sauce and end with mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

*I use canned spaghetti sauce for most pasta. I always bought Hunts because it was the cheapest ($1 32 oz) and that's what my family always used. But then I thought I'd look for a better brand. I tried out 5 other brands before deciding we just like Hunts (Garlic & Herb). The other brands were just too sweet (had more sugar). I only wish it was a little thicker.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

I decided since the frosting we are supposed to make to decorate the cakes for my cake decorating class is not very good (to be honest, it seems completely inedible to me) that I would make a yummy filling.

This buttercream frosting actually uses butter (amazing, huh). A whole pound of it! It's in the first Barefoot Contessa cookbook. It was so light and fluffy it seemed like chocolate mousse. I couldn't help but lick the beater afterwards.

It was a bit involved to make, so I don't know how often I'd use this recipe, but it was fun to try it out.

*caution: it calls for unsalted butter (her recipes usually do) and I only had salted butter and forgot to reduce the amount of salt it calls for to compensate. Kurt said it tasted a bit on the salty side. Also I used regular salt since it didn't specify kosher, so that might have been the problem.

10 oz bittersweet chocolate

6 oz semisweet chocolate

1/2 c egg whites

1 teaspoon salt (kosher?)

pinch cream of tartar (1/8 tsp?)

1 lb unsalted butter

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons instant expresso, dissolved in 1 tsp water (I just used some cocoa powder mixed with a little water)

Chop the chocolates and place them in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan simmering water. Stir until melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

Mix the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Place the bowl of egg whites over the pan of simmering water and heat the egg whites until they are warm to the touch, about 5 minutes. Return the bowl to the electric mixer and whisk on high speed for 5 minutes, or until the meringue is cool and holds a stiff peak.

Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, while beating on medium speed. Scrape down the bowl, add the melted chocolate, vanilla, espresso, and rum, if using, and mix for 1 minute or until the chocolate is completely blended in. If the buttercream seems very soft, allow it to cool, and beat it again.

This recipe is pretty much the same as her Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipe at foodnetwork.com it just looks to be reduced 2/3.

Cheddar Corn Chowder

This is another great soup recipe from my Barefoot Contessa cookbook. I don't make it as much as the others because, well, it doesn't seem as healthy with the bacon, cream, and cheese. ;) But it was cooler than usual outside today and overcast. A perfect soup day and this one is delicious! The kids even ate it, though that might have been because they were starving since dinner was an hour late. Watch out cause it makes A LOT. I always half the soup recipes and they still don't fit in my 3 quart pot! So there's tons of left overs, which is okay with us.

(Sorry this picture doesn't do it justice, I didn't remember to take one until all the bacon was gone so it just looks like a bunch of yellow.)

*whenever things call for half-and-half I usually just make my own with milk and cream. I don't want to bother buying a whole thing of half-and-half, plus you can use the left over cream to make whipped cream. Mmmm

(Sabrina, this one also calls for turmeric- so go buy some.)

Family Home Evening Treat

I heard about these cookies from some friends who said a nurse that worked in oncology gave them the recipe. The nurse said they call them Cancer Cookies because they give these to the cancer patients who have a hard time keeping food down because they are high protein, high calorie. I also did a search for the recipe on the internet and found the recipe listed as "diabetes friendly" on Every Day Health.com.

They're nice because they are super simple and quick to make and really yummy. Plus, I'm always trying to find ways to fatten Eleanor up and get her to eat more protein.

3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup Peanut Butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg

Mix together and place balls of dough on a cookie sheet and flatten with a fork. Bake at 350 for about 8 minutes.

Cheesy Beef Enchiladas

I'm almost embarrassed to post this recipe (actually, I'll just add a link). I'm just trying to "keep it real." I don't make things with "cream of [whatever]" soups much anymore. But it seemed there was no food in the house so I did a search on allrecipes.com for the ingredients I did have and found this one. It turned out pretty good and the kids even ate it. If I make it again I might just try substituting sour cream for the cream of chicken soup.

bbq chicken sandwiches

Tonight we had barbecue chicken sandwiches. I often make these when I have left over chicken, or when I just have a craving for barbecue sauce. I found a recipe for bbq sauce in my Better Homes Cookbook a few years ago and started making it from scratch most of the time because I didn't like that corn syrup was a main ingredient in bottled sauce. Once I discovered Trader Joe's bbq sauce (no corn syrup) I use that if I have it. But I still like to make it myself.

I recently found this recipe that uses agave (on the Xagave.com website) and wanted to try it. It's a lot different from the other one I use, but it was good. It seemed like it was going to be too tangy/vinegary, but it turned out okay. I might decrease the vinegar next time.

2 cups tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup Xagave
1 1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. French’s mustard
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and whisk together. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes.

I left two chicken breasts cooking in the crock-pot all day so it was super tender and just fell apart when I took it out. I mixed it together with the sauce and served it on whole wheat hamburger buns and had corn on the cob as a side.