Ranch Roasted Red Potatoes

4.5 Stars

With the weather warming up, this makes the perfect side dish along side a juicy steak. What makes it even better is that it is so easy to make, but tastes like it is anything but easy!

Ingredients

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

1- 1.5 lbs. red potatoes

1 package Ranch dressing mix

salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Cut the potatoes into eighths making sure each piece has red skin. Place the oil, potatoes, and ranch mix in a gallon size plastic bag. Shake until coated.

Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the coated potatoes on the baking sheet making sure that they are spread out evenly.

Place in hot oven for 15 minutes. Take out and turn to coat. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until roasted.

Lightly sprinkle with salt before serving.

Enjoy!

Ranch Roasted Red Potatoes

Irish Soda Bread

2 stars

Let me first say, I have never had Irish soda bread or even heard of it before.  Until the wonderful world of facebook, I got a message to join a month long Irish Soda Bread making group. Just in time for St. Patrick's Day.
For more information about Irish Soda Bread go here.

I guess there are a number of recipes floating around for this.. The basic soda bread is made with flour, baking soda, salt, and soured milk (or buttermilk).  That's it! 

It was easy to make and turned out cute. I only made one, but this recipe makes two.   The flavor is not something I am used to and was not a fan of it.  I guess that means I have no Irish in me?  I was still glad I made it, just to say that I have. 

Irish Soda Bread


Ingredients:
6 cups all purpose flour
2 teasp baking soda
2 teasp baking powder
3 tblsp cornstarch
2 teasp sugar
l teasp salt
2 l/2 cups buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Add all of the dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix very well. Pour all of the buttermilk into the bowl at once and stir, using a wooden spoon, just til a soft dough is formed.

3. Pour the contents of the bowl onto a lightly floured counter and knead for a minute or so till everything comes together.

4. Divide the dough into two portions and shape each into a round loaf, pressing the top down a bit to just barely flatten it. Place the loaves on a large ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle with some addition flour on the top of each loaf and, using a sharp paring knife, make the sign of a Cross in slashes on the top of each.

5. Allow the loaves to rest for 10 minutes and then bake on the middle rack for 40 mins or till the loaves are golden brown and done to taste.

Irish Soda Bread

Very Moist Banana Bread

5 stars

I can't believe I finally found it.. The perfect Moist flavorful Banana Bread.  I have made many banana breads before.. most just been ok.. But this one is it. I was so excited about it I had to post this tonight. I have many other recipes waiting to be posted.. but this one I just had to share.

I found this recipe on youtube here.

The very Moist Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flower
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 stick butter (room temp) (½ cup)
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 tablespoons of sour cream
• 6 small banana or 4 large very ripe
• 1 small package of chopped pecans (optional)

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, mash the banana until it they are smooth.  Then,  mix together the eggs, vanilla, sour cream, butter and sugar.   Use a sifter to add the flour, baking powder and baking soda and salt. Then add your pecans or other nut you like.

Spray your bundt pan with cooking spray. Pour your batter into pan. 

Cook for 1 hour. Let it cool for about 30 minutes then transfer to a serving tray. 

Very Moist Banana Bread

Ooie Gooie Lemon Bars

5 stars

This recipe is super easy and full of lemon flavor.  Ooie Gooie tartness best describes these lemon bars. .  They are so good that while my mother and my grandmother was at my house they ate a few before leaving and my grandmother could not stop thinking about them, so she had to call to get the recipe so she can make for her church group.  :) You can also make this recipe as lime bars, just substitute the lemons for limes and also good idea to add about 2 drops of green food coloring.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

 

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 lemons, juiced
• 2 lemon zest
• powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an 9x13 inch pan.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/12 cups sugar and 5 tbs flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice and zest. Pour over the baked crust.
4. Bake for an additional 25 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top when cooled, and cut into squares.

Ooie Gooie Lemon Bars

Zuppa Tuscana Soup

5 stars

The first time I had this soup, my friend made it and brought some to work.. It was so yummy.  I had to wait about a year for her to make it again.  I finally asked her for the recipe because I like this soup that much.  I  hoped that I would be able to make it the same as she did. Im happy to announce that I think I pulled it off.
You will find this is super easy to make, with only about 5 ingredients. 

Ingredients:

• 64oz chicken broth
• 1 cup milk
• 16oz heavy cream
• 5-8 small to med pototoes cubed
• 1 med onion chopped
• 2 bunches of kale
• 1 1/2 packages seasoned or spicy hot Italian sausage

Directions:

1. In a large pot fill with water half full. Bring to boil, add 1 teaspoon of salt. Clean and cut your kale.  Add to boiling water. Boil for about 6-8 minutes.  Drain and set aside. 
2. In a pan, add sausage by squeezing the it out of the skins.  Cook like you would ground beef.  Once done, drain off oil and set aside.
3. In a large pot, add chicken broth and bring to boil. Add your cube potatoes and cook until done about 8 minutes.  Add onions and your cooked sausage, milk and heavy cream.  Cook for about 3 minutes on medium heat.  Add kale and cook for another 5 minutes. 
4. Serve and enjoy! 

Zuppa Tuscana Soup

My Fried Rice

5 stars

 Fried Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame seads
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup matchsticks carrots chopped
• 1 cup frozen sweet peas (or more I love these)
• 5-6 cups cold cooked rice (this time I used 1/2 brown and 1/2 white)
• 2 eggs scrambled
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Hoisin Sauce (or to taste.. it can be a bit spicy)
• 2 teaspoon of ginger sauce (I used orange ginger grilling sauce it was fine)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sesame seads, garlic and onion and saute until soft, then add carrots 2 tablespoons soy sauce and the other sauces and stir-fry for 5 to 6 minutes.
2. Then add rice and stir thoroughly. Add more oil if needed.
3. Finally, stir in scrambled eggs and frozen peas and 1/3 cup soy sauce, heat through and serve hot. 

 

 

Tips: 

Use cold rice, otherwise it will turn out very sticky.  Dont add peas in the begging or they get really wrinkled and over cooked.   Have fun with adding or substituting veggies and rice.  Asian tastes are with ginger, garlic and sesame.  You can use sesame oil instead of veggie oil.  Also add any meat you like, chicken, pork, steak or shrimp.

My Fried Rice

Rice Balls

3.5 Stars


I got this recipe from the book Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. I've had this book for a few years now and have made a handful of recipes.  They have all been "okay" to "good".  The one thing that is deceptive about this cookbook is the time involved.  Her whole basis is to "hide" vegetables and fruit in dishes and desserts.  So, you need to factor in the time to cook/puree/store the ingredients needed for each recipe.

Yesterday, I spent basically the entire day doing the cook/puree/store part of the recipes.  It took me a little bit longer than average because I was taking care of my children (preschool/shopping/lunches/naps).  I would say to put at least an afternoon aside and get this done ahead of time so you don't have to prepare each puree right before you cook/bake.

Prep Time: She says 30 minutes, but it took me around 50.
Total:  She says 40, but it took me around 1 hour, 15 minutes
Serves 6 to 8, makes about 40 rice balls.  My version made about 20, so I guess my proportions were a bit off.

Rice Balls
Ingredients:

1/2 c. short -grain brown rice (I made this the night before for our stir fry, so this was ready for lunch) or 1 c. leftover cooked rice
Cooking Spray
3 t. olive oil
1/4 lb. chicken cutlets, rinsed and dried
1 1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
1/2 c. sweet potato puree
1/4 c. shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
1/4 c. lowfat buttermilk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 c. spinach, broccoli, or butternut squash puree (I used broccoli)
1 1/2 c. whole-wheat cracker crumbs or breadcrumbs. (I used regular breadcrumbs)

Cook the rice according to package directions.  Like I said, we had stir fry the night before so I just made more than usual and stored it overnight in the fridge.

While the rice is cooking, spray skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat.  When the pan is hot, add 1 t. oil.  Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Cook until no longer pink in center. I went ahead and cut my chicken into strips before cooking to cut down on cooking time.

Cut chicken into small chunks and place them in a food processor or blender. Add the sweet potato puree, cheese, 1 t. salt, and buttermilk.  Blend until smooth.  Remove blade and mix in rice.  Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls and place them on a sheet of waxed paper or aluminum foil.

In a shallow bowl, beat the egg and vegetable puree of your choice (I used broccoli) with a fork.  Put the crumbs in another bowl.  One at a time, dip the rice balls in the egg mixture, then roll them in the crumbs to make an even coating.

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the remaining 2 t. of oil.  Add the rice balls and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, turning occasionally and spraying with cooking spray until browned and crisp all over.

Serve warm.

This recipe has the potential to be very good. Next time I'm going to use less chicken (I used 1 medium chicken breast), more cheese, and some red pepper flakes to add a bit of a "kick".  I'm also going to use some sort of dip. Maybe ranch dressing? Any ideas?

If you try this one, please let me know your thoughts or changes you would make.

Enjoy!

Rice Balls

Classic Stuffed Bell Peppers

5 stars

This is a long time favorite of mine. My mother made these when I was younger.  I only recently (well about 10 years ago) realized that these are actually very easy to make.  Before then, I would buy only the frozen ones. So if you are like me and think these are too hard to make for your family... keep reading!

I gave these 5 stars.. but really they deserve more than that. They have so much classic American flavor.  My entire family loves these so much.

Ingredients:

• 6 green bell peppers
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1 (14.5 ounce) diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup uncooked rice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup shredded cheese (cheddar or mozzarella)
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 tbs ketchup
• 1/4 tsp basil
• water as needed  

Directions:

1. Cut the tops off the peppers, and remove the seeds. Cook peppers in boiling water for 8 minutes or steam peppers about 10 minutes; drain. Sprinkle salt inside each pepper, and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, saute beef and onions for 5 minutes, or until beef is browned. Drain off excess fat, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the tomatoes, rice, 1/2 cup water and Worcestershire sauce. Cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until rice is tender.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (175 degrees C). Stuff each pepper with the beef/rice mixture, and place peppers open side up in a baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine tomato sauce, ketchup and basil. Spoon over the peppers.
4. Bake covered for 25 to 35 minutes, until heated through. Sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Classic Stuffed Bell Peppers

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

4-stars

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies (Cholesterol Free)

I really was craving something sweet to eat, so started out looking for a recipe that was easy and something I had all the ingredients.  Chocolate chip cookies sounded good, then in the middle of looking for a good recipe, I started feeling guilty about them being bad for us. So I found a recipe and adjusted it with other ingredients that would be better for us. Like Ultra Grain all purpose flour.  It has 9 grams of whole grains and double the fiber.  I also opted to use egg beaters instead of real eggs. Egg beaters are about 1/2 the calories and no cholesterol.  I substituted the butter for vegetable shortening as well.  Vegetable shortening has no cholesterol and also has 50% less saturated fat than butter.  If I use this again, I will opt for the butter flavor though.. I think it would have tasted better.
I gave these 4 stars, because they did not taste exactly like chocolate chip cookies. You can taste the grains in the flour.. Which is not a bad thing, but different.  We like them, but we didn't love them, which is also a good thing LOL.  The kids love them I think. Tyler is on his 4th cookie.. I dont feel bad giving him them either. :)

Ingredients:

1 cup vegitable shortening Crisco (butter flavored would be better)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup egg beaters
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups Ultra Grain all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp hot water
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth.  Beat in the eggs, then stir in the vanilla.  Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour and chocolate chips.  Drop by large spoonfuls or roll balls and smash down.  I use non-stick foil.
Bake for about 10-13 minutes in preheated oven.

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

German Leibniz bisquits topped with Nutella and strawberries

5 stars

I totally forgot about World Nutella day on Feb. 5th... but I still wanted to celebrate the day with this easy peazy yummy treat! Whats a few days late right?
My sister-in-law introduced this yummy combination on New Years and wow.. I could eat them all.. Even my husband was at first trying to say he was allergic to hazelnuts (which is mostly all nutella is besides the chocolate) until after I "made" him eat one, he wanted 3 more after that.. hahahhaha I love that the most as a parent and wife of a picky eater.  Having them think they will not like it, to really enjoying it and asking for more...
When I was younger, (middle school and high school age) my family and I lived in Europe. Nutella was very popular in Italy. We bought it all the time and ate it on white bread. I still do today, but not as much because I can easily eat the entire jar. :)  Sometimes in Italy, the Nutella was in fun jars and bowls for you to keep after the Nutella was all gone. My parents to this day still have a few of the bowls that it came in one year.

For this recipe you only need 3 things... well 4 things.
Nutella, Leibniz cookies, strawberries and a hungry mouth.  LOL

Directions:
slicing  your strawberries is the most you will have to do.
lather your Nutella on the cookie, using as much as your heart desires.
Layer your strawberries on top and eat! Oh so yummy!

It is best to make them all at once, as many as you think is appropriate, then put everything away. If you leave everything out and make one at a time, you will easily look down and the entire jar of Nutella is gone along with all the strawberries and the cookies...

German Leibniz bisquits topped with Nutella and strawberries