Lemon Honey Turkey

Recipe number 2 is a success too! It is so nice to add new foods to our menu. I get sick of eating the same stuff over and over again.

Sorry there isn't a picture. Dinner time was a little hectic last night.


Lemon Honey Turkey

1/4 c honey
1/3 c lemon juice
1/2 tsp rosemary (I used parsley since I didn't have any rosemary)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 lb turkey breast fillets or tenderloins
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine honey, lemon juice, rosemary, and red pepper flakes. I heated the honey slightly to make it easier to mix together.

Put turkey into small baking dish and pour half the sauce over. Bake for 40-45 minutes occasionally basting with remaining sauce. Cook until turkey it done through.

Combine water and cornstarch until smooth. Pour sauce from baking dish into small saucepan and add cornstarch mixture. Bring to a boil and boil for 1-2 minutes until thickened. Serve sauce alongside turkey.

Another yummy and healthy dinner!

Sun Chip Chicken

New recipe #1 for the week turned out really good. I found the recipe in a Pampered Chef 30 minute meal cookbook.

Sun Chip Chicken

1 lb chicken tenders or breasts cut into cubes about 1 1/2 " big
1 egg white
1 TBSP dry ranch dressing
5 oz (about 6 cups) sun chips (I used French Onion)
Pam

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray baking sheet with Pam.

Combine egg white and ranch dressing. I added a little water because it was pretty thick.

Crush Sun Chips in plastic bag. Make sure the crumbs are pretty small and uniform in size. It will make them stick better. From the picture you can see I didn't do that.

Coat chicken pieces in egg/dressing mix.

Add chicken in two batches to bag of Sun Chips and toss to coat. Place pieces on prepared baking sheet.

Once done you can spray tops with a little Pam to help them crunch up, but I didn't do that and they came out fine.

Bake for ~15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Yummy and healthy!

Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta

Ignore the horrid picture. I took it after we had already ate. I really need to get some photo editing software to make these look better.


From the Taste of Home Busy Family Cookbook


Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta

Ingredients:


8 oz uncooked penne pasta


1 lb ground beef (or you could use ground turkey)


6 bacon slices


1 can undiluted tomato soup


1 cup shredded cheddar cheese





Directions:


Cook pasta according to directions


While pasta is cooking, cook hamburger in skillet. Cook bacon as you usually would.


Drain both and crumble bacon. Set aside until pasta is done.


Drain pasta and return to pan. Add hamburger, bacon, and tomato soup.


Heat through. If it is a little dry add some spaghetti sauce.


Once heated through, add cheese and cover. Cook until cheese is melted.

Homemade Donuts

We love donuts in this house, but the only kind we can have is Entenmann's because of Cooper's nut allergy. I have wanted to try and make my own for awhile, but just never found the time. Since Cody had a snow day today I figured it was the perfect time. I found this recipe online at http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Make-Delicious-Homemade-Donuts and it is really yummy. Next I want to try and find a baked donut recipe because the frying is unhealthy and time consuming.

4 1/2 c flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 c sugar
2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
1 c milk
1 tsp vanilla

Sift together the dry ingredients.

Beat eggs with sugar until light. Add butter, mil, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix until a soft dough is formed. Do not over mix. If dough is too soft to roll, chill it for an hour.

Roll dough out 3/8 inch thick on a floured surface and cut with donut cutters. Fry in 370 degree oil until golden on both sides, turning once.

Remove from oil, hold over hot oil for a few minutes to drain, and then finish draining on absorbent paper. While still warm shake in sugar, sugar- cinnamon mixture, dip in glaze of choice, or dust with powdered sugar. 3 dozen

I made a powdered sugar glaze with 1/3c boiling water, 1 tsp orange extract and 1 c powdered sugar to dunk them in.

My favorite jam

I love toast with peanut butter (or in our house sunbutter) and jam. Usually we just had strawberry or raspberry that my mom or MIL made. Then last April I went to a Taste of Home Cooking School and they made a Apple Berry Pomegranate jam that looked and smelled really yummy. Since hubby loves Pomegranate I figured I would give it a try. Oh my goodness it was heavenly. It made 5 small jars and we had it gone within a month. It has just the right combination of sweet and tart.

Apple- Berry Pomegranate Freezer Jam
Ingredients:
1 pkg (1.59 oz) Ball Simple Creations Freezer Jam Pectin
1 ½ C sugar
4 cups peeled, cored, and chopped apples
½ C pomegranate juice
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 C crushed frozen raspberries (don’t completely unthaw leave a little frozen)

Directions:
* In a large mixing bowl, combine freezer jam pectin and sugar, stirring until evenly blended
* In a medium saucepan, combine apples, pomegranate juice and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer 5 minutes. Lightly crush apples and allow to cool 15 minutes
* Add apples and raspberries to pectin mixture, stirring until just combined. Continue stirring for a full 3 minutes. Ladle ham into clean 8 oz freezer jars, leaving ½ inch headspace. Apply lids. Let stand until thickened, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate up to 3 weeks or freeze up to 1 year.

Apple bread

I have been in serious apple baking mode since we went to the apple orchard. A 1/2 bushel of apples is ALOT! Luckily I only have a few left to use.

Here is one of my favorite apple recipes. It is super yummy and moist.

Apple Bread
Ingredients:

3 eggs
3 C flour
2 c sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 C vegetable oil (I used all applesauce. You can also use half applesauce and half oil)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp vanilla
4 C chopped, peeled apples
1 C chopped pecans (I obviously left these out and just added about 1 TBSP more flour)


Topping:
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
 Preheat oven to 325₀
 Grease and flour 2 loaf pans (make sure you do this really well)
 Stir together eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla
 Combine flour, soda, and cinnamon on flexible cutting mat
 Add to wet ingredients and mix until just combined
 Stir in apples and pecans (batter will be lumpy and thick)
 Divide between loaf pans
 Prepare topping and sprinkle over both loafs
 Bake for approximately 1 hour 10 minutes. When toothpick comes out clean it’s done It sometimes takes a little longer. Make sure you check it right in the middle of the loaf.

You can also make a bunch of small loaves and freeze some. It freezes prefectly.

Caramel shortbread cookies (TWIX bars)

If you love Twix bars this recipe is for you. It really does taste a lot like a Twix.

Chocolate Carmel Shortbread (aka Twix cookies):
1 cup butter
generous 2 cups flour
generous 1/2 cup light brown sugar
12 oz chocolate, either milk or dark depending on your taste

caramel:
3/4 c butter
generous 1/2 cup light brown sugar
3 T light corn syrup
1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If you want, line the bottom of a 9x13 pan with parchment paper. (I never do. it just protects your pan from the knife and makes it slightly easier to get the cookies out.) Process the sugar, butter, and flour in a food processor until it starts to bind together. (stand mixer will work fine) Press into the prepared pan and level the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden.

while the crust is baking, make the caramel. Place the caramel ingredients in a heavy bottomed pan. Heat gently until the sugar has melted (I use medium heat.) Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 6-8 minutes, stirring, until very thick. Pour over shortbread and let chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours or until firm.

Melt the chocolate and let cool, then spread over the caramel. Let chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours, or until set. These are easier to cut if they are at room temperature, so you can let them sit out for a bit before you cut them. Once the chocolate is set, they don't really need to be refrigerated any more. Be sure to cut them into small pieces because it's a very rich cookie. I usually do 42 (6x8) small cookies.

The only thing I would do different next time is maybe make the shortbread layer a little thinner. It is pretty thick and sometimes takes over the caramel layer.

I swear crafty pictures are coming. DH conned me into doing a ton of baking for his work yesterday so I didn't even get to walk into my sewing room.

Sugar cookies

I have always loved sugar cookies, though I hate the process of making them. I am good until they are out of the oven and then the thought of having to frost them just made me want to throw them away. I had never found sugar cookie recipe that was good enough to eat without the frosting.

Until now.

I tried this recipe the other day when I was trying to keep Cooper occupied. We took our our big bag of cookie cutters and went to town. He loved picking the shape and "helping" cut the cookies.

We baked the first batch just as hubby was coming home. He went straight for the rack and I said to wait and we will frost them when they are cool. Of course being him he dove right in and declared that we wouldn't be frosting them since they didn't need it. Never one to believe my husband when it comes to food (the man will eat anything pretty much), I decided I better check this out for myself. Low and behold the man was right. They were soft, chewy, with just a little crunch around the edge. And they weren't bland! I was in love.

Sorry there aren't any pictures. I forgot to take some when we baked them. I made another batch that I cut into circles and just used powdered sugar icing to pipe softball laces onto for DH's championship game. They were gone in an instant. Definitely give this one a try!

I have been busy in my craft room so expect pictures soon!

"granola bar" recipe

I love granola bars, but since we are a nut free household we can't just go to the store and buy them. I have been searching for awhile and find a recipe to make at home.

I finally found one last night. It isn't a true granola bar. It's more like a granola muffin, but they are really good and filling. They will be great to freeze and have when the baby is born as a quick snack.

I found the original recipe online and made some changes based on comments left and just our own preferences.

"Granola Bars"
2 1/2 cups rolled oats (I used quick oats this time)
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup flour
3/4 - 1 cup raisins
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 cup applesauce
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Liberally grease a 9X13 baking dish. In a large bowl combine oats, sugar, cinnamon, flour, raisins, chocolate chips, and salt. Once well combined make a well in the center of the mixture. Add honey, egg, applesauce, and vanilla to well. Mix until well combined. Pour into greased baking dish and spread to desired thickness. Bake for 15-25 minutes or until edges just start to turn brown. Remove from oven and let cool about 10 minutes. De pan and cut into desired size.

The original recipe called for wheat germ, but we don't like it so I added a little extra oats. This time I used craisins instead of raisins because it's what I had on hand. You can really change it up however you want. Leave out the chocolate chips, add more raisins, add peanut butter, whatever sounds good to you. If your not a nut free house you could always add some nuts too. In other words, go wild!

Macaroni and Cheese

I have never had good luck making macaroni and cheese. It either turns out into a big lump or is curdled and runny.

A few weeks ago my mom sent me a recipe that was in her paper and said that they both
loved it. I was skeptical, but figured I would give it a try.

My husband who hates anything but the blue box kind actually ate three helpings of it so I know it must be a winner.

Macaroni and Cheese

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground mustard (I used Dijon mustard instead)
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheese (I used extra sharp cheddar)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook macaroni as directed on package. While macaroni is cooking, melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce.

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for one minute, remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted.

Drain macaroni. Gently stir macaroni into cheese sauce. Pour into ungreased 2 qt casserole. Bake uncovered for 20-30 minutes or until bubbly.

Enjoy!

Cupcakes

I have been trying to find a good chocolate cake/cupcake recipe for awhile now. I've tried at least 5-6 and they just haven't fit what I wanted.

Finally it is Martha Stewart to the rescue. I found the recipe while searching yet again for a new recipe and I have to say these are a keeper.

The recipe is here: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/one-bowl-chocolate-cupcakes. It is super moist and chocolaty.

These aren't the prettiest cupcakes I've ever made, but they taste good and that is all that matters!

There are days that I wonder what else can happen during this pregnancy. I am pretty sure that I either really jammed my toe or broke it last night. I was walking around our bed and slammed my toe into the corner. It is swelled a little and black and blue tonight.

It made doing all my errands a little more painful today. I'm hoping it is better soon because I really don't want to walk around the amusement park with an injured toe.

Nothing much else is happening here. I haven't spent much time sewing because of trying to get stuff together to go. Plus hubby has been working a lot of hours this week. I made chocolate chip cookies to take to work tonight because they have been working so many extra hours I figured they needed a little treat.

I also plan on making monkey bread for breakfast tomorrow morning. Definitely not healthy, but oh so yummy. There are lots of different ways to make it, but here is how I do it.

Monkey Bread

1 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
4 cans Pillsbury refrigerated biscuits (they usually come in a four pack)
1.5 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter, melted

Combine sugar and cinnamon in a plastic bag. Cut biscuits into quarters and place in bag. Shake to coat.

Place biscuit pieces into a bundt pan. Combine brown sugar and butter. Pour over biscuits.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 28-32 minutes or until golden brown and not gooey. Cool for 5-10 minutes in pan. Invert pan on to plate. Pull apart and enjoy!!

Sorry I've been MIA for awhile, but this morning sickness stuff is kicking my butt! It has been rough trying to keep up with the boys and all the stuff around the house. Luckily Jeremy is awesome and has been picking up the slack as much as his schedule allows.

Because of this crudiness not much has been happening here. I did finish my grandma's mother's day project. Just have to get it matted. I'm hoping to do that tomorrow so maybe I'll have pics soon. I also did some retail therapy for shoes and spent way too much. Luckily I should be all set for summer and now I can throw out some of those nasty ones I've had for awhile.

My pregnancy baking thing is starting to kick in so the kids and I are making ricotta cheese cookies today. They are so yummy and great because I don't have to worry about Cooper eating them. If you decide to give them a try just know that they make a ton of cookies. Around 6 doz normal sized or about 7-8 doz smaller sized ones. We'll keep some here and then ship the rest off with Jeremy to work.


Ricotta Cheese Cookies

Ingredients:
1 C soft butter
2 C sugar
3 eggs
1 15 oz Ricotta cheese
2 tsp vanilla
4 C flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda

Frosting:
1/4 C butter
½ tsp vanilla
3-4 C confectioners’ sugar
3-4 Tbsp milk

Directions:
* Preheat oven to 350₀. Mix all cookie ingredients together. Drop by teaspoon full on cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 min until just brown around the edges.
* Mix frosting ingredients together and frost when cookies are cooled.

Soo tired...

I am so tired. Cooper is sick and I've been up with him since around 3. He just couldn't get comfortable and we kept going from his room, to my room, to the living and then repeating the cycle. Thankfully he seems to be feeling better today so maybe we'll get some sleep tonight.

I am feeling the need for some serious chocolate today. I think I will make some brownies. They are way better than the boxed kind and take less time to make. YUM!


Best Brownies
Ingredients:
½ C butter, cut up
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
2 oz semisweet baking chocolate
1 ½ C sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 C flour
Salt

Directions:
* Preheat oven to 350₀
* Grease 9X9 (or 8X8) baking pan, line with foil, grease foil making sure foil extends over edges
* In large saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over medium low heat, stirring often
* Remove from heat and add sugar and vanilla
* Push batter off to side and add eggs. Lightly beat before adding to batter
* Stir in flour and salt
* Spread batter in pan
* Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side comes out clean

The trick to these is taking them out of the pan immediately and using a pizza cutter to slice them. It works way better than a knife!

Pumpkin Roll Craziness

I baked 6 pumpkin rolls tonight for hubby to take to work on Saturday. I will have to fill them tomorrow, but they are at least baked. It sounds like a lot of work, but it actually isn't because I do them assembly line style. The guys love them and it gives me an excuse to bake without worrying about having it around the house. The recipe is super simple too. It is a great recipe to make for a lot of people because you can slice it pretty thin.


Pumpkin Roll
Ingredients:
Cake:
2/3 C pumpkin
3 eggs
1 C sugar
¾ C flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
½ C sugar
1 ½ tsp vanilla

Directions:
* Beat pumpkin, eggs, and sugar together on medium speed until well combined
* Add flour, baking soda, salt , and cinnamon
* Line cookie sheet with waxed paper and spray with Pam
* Spread mixture evenly over waxed paper making sure there are no thick spots
* Bake at 350₀ for 15 minutes
* Roll up (along with waxed paper) from long side, cool
* Mix cream cheese and sugar together until well combined, add vanilla and mix
* Once roll is completely cool, unroll and spread filling evenly over the middle
* Reroll tightly, removing waxed paper as you go. Cut into slices and keep refrigerated

Other than that not too much going on here. Cody is off for a few days because of Easter. He is not happy about that. We have to take Jeremy's car to the garage tomorrow to finally get the door panel replaced that was ordered about 2 months ago.

I am also happy to report that the snow is slowly starting to melt. There is still a lot out there, but at least we can see the grass around the edge of the driveway.

Snowy pics and a recipe

We got about a foot of snow last night. It is still snowing today, but luckily it is just light snow so hopefully it won't add up. The boys and I went out this morning to play, but they had a hard time walking around because it was so deep.


Cooper is on day 7 without his binky. I am hoping that we have finally turned a corner. I love seeing him without that thing in his mouth. Of course he talks non stop now, but that's ok. You never know what is going to come out of his mouth!


Cody's face says it all about how we feel about winter. We are ready for it to be other with. Cody doesn't like having to wonder if they will have school and I don't like having to deal with all the crap that comes with snow. I had so much snow on my car last night when I came home that it leaked from the garage into the utility room. I guess we have to add fixing that to the list of projects for this spring.


Here is the view from the road towards our house. As you can see most of the bushes are buried under all this snow.

Someone came and snowblowed our driveway today and I don't have any idea who it was. I wish I could find out because I would like to take something to them. That is not an easy task.

As promised, here is the recipe from our dinner last night. It is adapted from a recipe in the You on a Diet book. That one called for eggplant, stewed tomatoes, and no spices. It is really yummy and really healthy for you.


Pasta Provencale
Ingredients:
1 box whole wheat rigatoni
1 zucchini, chopped
1 squash, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 14.5 oz cans crushed tomatoes
¼ C parmesan cheese
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Directions:
* Cook pasta according to directions
* In meantime, sauté zucchini, squash, and pepper in 1 Tbsp olive oil
* Once softened, add tomatoes and Italian seasoning
* Simmer until warmed through
* Drain pasta and add to tomato mixture
* Mix in parmesan cheese and serve

Talk about a non productive weekend. I didn't get anything done that I wanted to.

We did take the boys bowling Sunday morning and they had a blast. Sadly until the 6th frame they were beating both Jeremy and I. I guess all that WII bowling really doesn't translate!

We also spent a couple of hours chipping the 3 inch layer of ice out of the driveway. We didn't get it all done, but it's better than it was. I am so ready for winter to be over with.

I made a couple of really yummy recipes this weekend.

For breakfast I made Jam and Cheese loaf. It is really good and I love it because you make it the night before and all you have to do it bake it in the morning.


Jam & Cheese Loaf
Ingredients:
½ C warm water
1 pkg dry yeast
2 ½ C Bisquick
1 beaten egg
1 Tbsp sugar
8 oz cream cheese, softened
½ C sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
¼ C jam (or more)

Directions:
* Dissolve yeast in water. Mix Bisquick, egg, yeast mixture and Tbsp sugar. Knead for 20 strokes. Place in center of greased baking sheet. Roll to 14” X 9”
* Combine cream cheese, sugar, and lemon juice
* Spread cream cheese mixture down center of dough. Make 3” long cuts approximately 1” apart down both sides. Fold strips over filling. Cover and chill overnight. Bake at 350₀ for 20 mins. Spoon jam down center of mixture and bake another 5 minutes.


Then for dinner I made Rachael Ray's Turkey and Stuffing Stromboli. I normally don't like her stuff, but this is really good.


Turkey & Stuffing Stromboli
Ingredients:
1 can refrigerated pizza crust
¼ C Strawberry jelly or cranberry sauce
3 C shredded turkey breast
2 C stuffing
2 C cheddar cheese

Directions:
* Preheat oven to 400₀
* Unroll pizza crust onto floured surface
* Cut into four equal pieces
* Spread jelly along the diagonal of each piece of dough
* Place turkey and stuffing on top of jelly
* Sprinkle with cheese making sure not to overstuff
* Roll opposite edges over so you have stuffing down the middle and sticking out each end
* Place on baking sheet making sure they don’t touch
* Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown

The only thing I did different was make one big stromboli. It is a really good use of leftovers. I don't recommend using deli turkey meat because it won't shred or have the same texture as regular turkey breast. You can buy precut turkey breasts that you can bake or grill and they work great.

Hopefully this week is more productive than the wekeend!

New recipe

We tried a new recipe last night and it turned out really good. I have been trying to find ways to get veggies into the kids. They are pretty good eaters, but they could always be better.

The recipe is creamy chicken stir fry and it came from a Betty Crocker email.

Creamy Chicken Stir Fry

Ingredients:
1 lb chicken breasts cut into strips(I used about 3 and it was perfect)
1 10.75 oz cream of celery soup (I would think about cream of chicken next time)
3 small heads fresh broccoli
2 C chopped carrots (I used carrot coins cut in half and they were the right size for the boys)
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp soy sauce

Directions:

• Spray wok with vegetable spray and heat over medium high heat
• Add chicken and cook until juices run clear and liquid has evaporated
• Push to side and add in veggies
• Cook until crisp tender slowly mixing in chicken
• In small bowl mix soup, garlic powder, and soy sauce
• Pour over veggie chicken mixture and cook until everything is well coated and the sauce is warm

I served it over brown rice which worked good to soak up the sauce. I also used the Healthy Request soups so it wasn't so salty with the soy sauce.

We have been trying to do one new recipe a week. I am getting sick of the same old thing all the time. So keep your eye out for something new next week!