December Daily - December 18

My mom got this recipe from the mom of my best friend when I was in 3rd or 4th grade. We lived in Topeka at the time, and I had two best friends. Our house was in the middle of the street, Crystal's house was at one end and Abby's house was at the other end. Crystal's mom and my mom became pretty good friends and at some point, her mom gave my mom a recipe for "Crunchy Air". This stuff is not as well known as it's popcorn counterparts, but possibly even more delicious because there is no kernel. The corn is puffed so if you coat the puffed corn in enough caramel, it tastes like you're eating caramel covered air. So addictive.


Crunchy Air (aka Caramel Puff Corn)

Ingredients
10oz of butter corn puffs*
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Put the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup in a medium/large sauce pan and bring to boil. Allow to boil for two minutes, stirring regularly.

While that is boiling pour corn puffs into a large roasting pan.

After the caramel sauce has boiled for 2 minutes, remove from heat and add the baking soda. Stir until it get foamy.

Pour the caramel sauce over the puffed corn and stir to coat the puffed corn.

Bake at 250 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring it around every 15 minutes. When finished, dump onto wax paper and spread out to cool. Break apart clumps of puffed corn once it is cooled. Store in an air tight container.

*Butter Corn Puffs are NOT the cereal. This is found in the chip/popcorn aisle. The three brands that I know of are Art & Marys, Jays/O-KE-DOKE, and Chesters. The different brands are sold in different sized bags. I usually can find Art & Marys or Jays in an 8 oz bag, so I buy two bags and use about 1 & 1/3 bags to 1 & 1/2 bags depending on how much caramel coverage I want. If you want more caramel coverage, just use one 8 oz bag.

(the pictures are actually from when I made it a couple of weeks ago, but I am planning to make more tomorrow night)

30 Days Of Lists
I'm joining in on the 30 Days of Lists - December Edition challenge. Each day they post a list topic and then we make a list. Here is today's list:

On my shopping list...

• Stocking stuffers
• One more Christmas present for Justin
• Groceries for next week
• TDaP vaccines for Justin & I

Freezer Cooking - Casserole Edition

On Saturday, I made 22 casseroles.


2 Lasagnas (probably 6-8 servings each)
2 Cheeseburger Casseroles (6 servings each)
2 8" Garlicky Chicken Noodle Bake (4-6 servings each)
1 9x13" Garlicky Chicken Noodle Bake (10-12 servings)
4 Taco Pies (4-6 servings each)
4 Chicken Spaghetti Casseroles (4-6 servings each)
4 Tex-Mex Chicken Casseroles (4-6 servings each)
3 Chicken & Dressing Casseroles (4-6 servings each)

Originally I was going to just double these whenever I made them for dinner, but instead I just did it all in one day. It took about 5 hours and we spent $125.00 on groceries. That does not include ground beef because I still had enough beef left from the cow that we bought from my uncle in February.

I could've gotten the meals all made in a little less time if I would've planned a little better. My ground beef had been in the fridge about 24 hours, but it was still frozen. So before I could start cooking, I had to thaw all the ground beef. I also thought I'd be able to cook all of the chicken in my big stock pot, but it wouldn't all fit, so I had to cook the chicken in two batches. I did use my Kitchen Aid mixer to shred the chicken - it was so easy! Not being able to cook all of the meat as quickly as I thought I would be able to is what really slowed me down since I also needed to cook spaghetti, egg noodles and rice. I thought I would spend about 30-45 minutes cooking meat and instead it took closer to an hour and half.


Only 20 of them are in the freezer. I kept one of the Chicken Spaghetti Casseroles out for dinner that night and the 9x13 Garlicky Chicken Noodle Bake was the lunch the next day (my parents & brother's family were coming over). I ran out of foil pans so one of the Taco Pies is in my Pyrex pie pan.

I do plan to have another batch cooking extravaganza, but I have to wait until I forget how much I hurt and until Justin forgets how annoying it was for me to be in the kitchen for 5 hours. Next time I'm going to whip up about 3-4 crock pot recipes.

There are a few things I should've done differently. I should've cooked my rice and/or spaghetti and/or egg noodles while I was waiting for my beef to thaw - I reached a point where I needed at least one of those things done and it wasn't done (or even started). I should've put my lasagna's in smaller pans, same with my cheeseburger casserole since those are in the same type of pan. I should've planned my freezer space better - I used circular pans for quite a few of the recipes, but I probably could've used 8x8 square pans, I could've packed them into my freezer better. I should've made Anaya help more. I should've had a better plan for what to do with Claire, she really wanted someone (preferably me) to sit down and play with her and no one was doing it. I should've washed more dishes as I went, although then in exchange for letting Anaya have a sleepover tonight we made her do all the dishes anyways!

Things I did right: I got started quickly (even with the frozen meat set back; I had a hair cut scheduled for 7:50 am on Saturday, as soon as I got back, I started pulling things out of the fridge to get started. I made a master shopping list, checked my pantry and managed to get all my groceries in one trip (YAY!). I used my mixer to shred my chicken (that was seriously awesome). I just did it, and now we have 20 meals for the next couple of months.

Recipe Links:

Lasagna, Cheeseburger Casserole, Tex-Mex Chicken Casserole and Chicken & Dressing Casserole all came from The Shabby Creek Cottage's freezer cooking post.

Chicken Spaghetti Casserole came from Pioneer Woman.

Garlicky Chicken Noodle Bake came from my Not Your Mother's Make Ahead & Freeze Cookbook.

Taco Pie is a mixture of a bunch of different recipes, basically it is 3 layers of tortilla, refried beans, taco meat and cheese. Top with another tortilla, pour about half a can of enchilada sauce over the top and sprinkle with more cheese. Then bake it at 350 for about 30 minutes or until it's all melty and yummy looking. And I make it in a pie plate, so it's a pie...not a casserole.

Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Muffins

When I'm pregnant, my "nesting" generally takes the form of baking. I've been resisting the urge this time because I don't want to gain as much weight as I did with Claire. Plus, now that I have Claire that means my baking wouldn't start until later and I'd have to wash dishes and I just don't have the energy for all that like I did 5 years ago. But this weekend, I decide to roast a pumpkin to make homemade pumpkin purée. I don't own a food processor (at least I won't until Christmas) so I used my immersion blender to purée the pumpkin which means it is better for putting in breads instead of soup or pie.

After roasting the pumpkin, I put it in the fridge until the next night because that was all the baking energy I had. Plus I couldn't decide what to make...there are so many delicious looking pumpkin recipes floating around on pinterest right now!



I eventually settled on my tried and true (and delicious) pumpkin spice muffins that I have been making every fall for 5 years - made the first time the year I was pregnant with Claire! It's one of the best kinds of recipes with stains & hand-written notes all over it.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup butter (melted and cooled)
1/2 cup pumpkin purée (canned or fresh)
2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, grease or paper line muffin tins. This will make 12 regular muffins, or about 36 mini muffins.

Combine flour, sugars, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger and nutmeg in a large bowl using whisk. Combine butter, pumpkin, eggs and buttermilk in a medium bowl using a fork or whisk. Add wet mix to flour mixture, stir (with a wooden spoon or spatula, not a whisk) until just moistened. Spoon into prepared muffin tins, filling about 3/4 full.

Bake regular muffins for about 17 minutes, cool in pan for 5 minutes then remove to wire rack to cool.
Bake mini muffins for about 10 minutes, cool in pan for 5 minutes then remove to rack to cool (or just dump them in a plastic container but leave the lid off until they are cool).



These muffins are delicious! I actually doubled the recipe when I made these on Sunday and ended up making 12 smallish, regular sized muffins and 60 mini muffins. We ate at least a dozen of the mini muffins and then I took the rest of the minis to work on Monday morning. One of my co-workers said they taste like autumn. And they all disappeared rather quickly!

Recipe: Homemade Hot Pockets

For dinner tonight I made Homemade Hot Pockets. I made a couple different varieties using things I had on hand: Ham & Cheese, Turkey & Cheese and Pizza. Delicious.

I can't entirely claim these things, my mom used to make Taco Pockets using Grands Biscuits & Taco Meat. I've changed it up a little bit by making my own biscuit dough because it is easier to handle than Grands biscuits and I've experimented with different fillings.



This is the biscuit recipe that I used. I need to change it up a little bit and flavor the dough a bit to make it a little more savory - I think it would go better with everything. Next time I'll probably add a little onion salt or garlic or paprika or some combination of all those things. And only go through the step where you make the dough, don't actually cut into biscuits!

After you mix up the biscuit dough, divide it into 18 balls (assuming you used the full recipe for 24 biscuits). Lay them on a cookie sheet and place in the fridge or freezer to keep cold while you assemble the pockets.

On a floured surface, roll one ball out, place your filling down the middle of the dough.

Then fold both sides & the ends up and press all edges together. (it should look about like a hot pocket) Place on a baking sheet and poke a few holes in the top of it to release steam (otherwise your hot pockets might explode).

Bake at 450 degrees for 15-18 minutes - make sure all of the sides are browned. I pulled my first patch out a little early and some where a little doughy on the sides.

After baking them, you can either go ahead and eat them...or wrap in individual pockets of foil or ziploc bags, label with the type of filling and place in the freezer. To reheat, put in the microwave for about 2 minutes (or until filling is hot).

Recipe : PB Spreads

These cookies are based on Pioneer Woman's Spreads. This is probably my second favorite re-incarnation of these. My favorite way to make them is to make the cookie base the way she says to (only with salted butter, instead of margarine & salt) and then sprinkle dark chocolate & mint chips on them. However, Justin is not a huge fan of mint which means I ate WAAAAY too many of them so this batch was specifically for Justin.



Ingredients:
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Salted Butter (softened)
1/2 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 whole Egg
2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Vanilla
6 ounces, weight ( To 8 Ounces) Chocolate Chips

Directions:
Cream Butter & Peanut Butter. Add Brown Sugar and mix well, then add egg and vanilla and mix well again. Add the flour and mix it until it is all combined, scrapping sides as necessary.

Dump the dough in the middle of a large ungreased cookie sheet. Spread it out so that it is about 1/4 inch thick. I used a combination of my hands and an offset spatula to spread it out.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle Chocolate Chips over the top and put back in the oven for a minute or two. Then using an offset spatula, spread the chocolate over the cookie based until the entire cookie covered.

Let them cool on the cookie sheet for a while and then cut into squares (I use a pizza cutter). The longer they sit the more the chocolate with firm up. It will probably take a couple of hours before the chocolate is firm enough to put them away in a container where they will be stacked...assuming that you manage to not eat all of them between the time they get done and they time you can put them away.

Recipe: Maple-Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies

One of my co-workers asked if I would bring in cookies on Monday, and instead of my normal Chocolate Chip I decided to do something a little different. I was going to make normal Oatmeal Cookies, using the recipe on the lid of the oatmeal, but as I was getting started on the cookies I changed my mind. My favorite flavor of Oatmeal is Maple-Brown Sugar. So I made a few little changes and these are delicious. Just a bit of Maple flavoring and switching out some of the white sugar for brown. Also, there could very well be a recipe for these somewhere on the internet. I don't know. This recipe was entirely made up as I was throwing ingredients into my mixer.



Maple-Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies

• 1 cup Butter, softened (2 sticks, salted)
• 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp Maple Extract
• 1 3/4 cups Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• a pinch of cinnamon and/or nutmeg
• 3 cups Oats

Directions

Cream butter & sugars. Add eggs and maple extract and beat well.

If you're lazy like me, add flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices to mixer, stir just the dry around a little with the measuring spoon and then turn on the mixer. If you aren't lazy, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices in a separate bowl and stir. Then add slowly to the mixer. Either way, let the mixer mix it all together really well. Then add the oats and mix it some more.

I like to use my small cookie scoop, about 1 rounded tsp, and drop cookies on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool for a minute or two on sheet and then remove to cooling rack. This made 66 cookies, so 5 1/2 dozen.

This recipe was loosely based on Quaker's Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies. Although that was really just a starting point...and I didn't even start it out right because I used two sticks of butter since when I put the butter in the mixer, I still thought I was going to make chocolate chip cookies.

I thought these were delicious. I have now searched online and found other recipes that actually use real maple syrup in them, so I might try that sometime instead of using extract. Maybe.

Recipe: Cheesy Potato & Corn Chowder

Last week, I wanted to make Potato chowder. I have three or four recipes for potato chowder and none of them were quite what I was wanting. I knew I wanted to make it in the crock pot (out went the stove top recipe). I knew I wanted it to have bacon in it (out when the one with cream of chicken soup as its base). I thought it would be good with corn. I knew I wanted to use real potatoes in it (not hash browns). I wanted it to be cheesy (not just creamy by using half-n-half). Since none of my recipes were quite RIGHT, I ended up making up my own based on bits and pieces of each recipe. Some of my measurements are more guesstimates that exacts. For example, I put in about half a bag of frozen corn; a bag is 16 oz, so I'm calling that 8 oz in the recipe, but it could've been slightly more or less.

Ingredients

• 8-10 Russet Potatoes (I used 8, which seemed to be about 2.5 lbs), diced into 1/4" cubes
• 8 oz of frozen corn (about half of a 16 oz bag)
• 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth (enough to almost cover all the potatoes)
• 8 oz of bacon cooked to crispy, crumbled and drained
• 1 cup Cheddar cheese (I used shredded but anything would work since it just needs to melt)
• 8 oz of Cream Cheese (about half a 16 oz block)
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Put the cubed potatoes, frozen corn and broth in the crock pot - the broth should just barely cover all of the potatoes & corn. Add the bacon and stir it all around. Turn the crock pot on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 hours. Or be like me and forget to put it on high, so leave it on low for about 4 hours and wonder why your potatoes aren't getting mushy, realize it is still on low and turn it to high for about 2 hours.

Using an immersion blender, blend up about half of it. Add cheese & cream cheese and stir around until melted. Add salt & pepper to taste - I probably used about a tsp of each. This is a VERY thick chowder which is what I wanted. You could always thin it with a little bit more chicken broth, or mlik, or half-n-half.

We had ours with homemade English Muffin bread - VERY delicious. This fed 2 adult, 3 teenage girls, one toddler and had an adult size serving leftover. So 6-8 servings depending appetites & what else you have with it.

Recipe: Gingersnaps

On Saturday, my sister-in-law made Gingersnaps. I didn't know it at the time, my brother told us about it on Sunday but didn't bring us any to share! So I went home and made my own batch of Gingersnaps later than evening. (And then my mom made Gingersnaps on Monday).

Since I don't particularly have a Gingersnap recipe, I searched online and found Smitten Kitchen's recipe. Since her stuff is always delicious, I decided to just use it instead of searching anymore.



I baked my cookies for about 11-12 minutes and they were just right. A little crisp on the edges but nice and chewy in the middle. Justin thought they were too crisp (he likes gooey almost under-baked cookies). I thought they were great. However, my tongue started getting tingly after having a few. Not sure if it was because of the white pepper or the fancy (expensive) ground ginger that I used. My mom didn't use white pepper in hers because she didn't have any and her's weren't quite as spicy. But she also used a different brand of ground ginger. So who knows.

I was playing with my cookies and different ways to take pictures of them and ended up with them all piled up and framed it so the stack would be on the far right of the picture...then I did this in photoshop:



Kind of fun. I think this would be fun with a recipe you are particularly known for to include in a scrapbook. Or to just use as a recipe card - print as a 6x4 and you have a pretty & functional recipe card. I just stacked them on a cloth napkin on my counter and then balanced a piece of white foam board against the cabinets behind it.

Recipe: Taco Soup

Justin commented the other day that he knew it was fall because I pulled out my enamel coated cast iron dutch oven. And it's true. That thing hardly sees the light of day during the summer months because I just want to keep the house cool and eat "cool" things. I pulled it out again this week to make Taco Soup. My mom actually gave me this recipe and I think she got it from WeightWatchers. I'm not sure how closely this follows the original recipe, but this is how I make it. It's kind of like taco chili, although this time it didn't have much broth which was unusual.

Ingredients

• 1 lb Ground Beef or Turkey
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 can of Corn, drained
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 package of Ranch Dressing mix
• 1 package of Taco Seasoning (I used Penzy's Taco Blend this time)
• 3 cans of Beans (Pinto, Great Northern, Kidney) drained & rinsed
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can mild Rotel (drained if you like less spice)

Directions

In a large dutch oven (or whatever you have, I've made it in a 12" skillet before), brown the ground beef/turkey and drain.

Add the garlic, corn and onion to the meat and cook for a few minutes

Add the ranch mix and the taco season, stir until dissolved

Add the beans, tomatoes and Rotel. Simmer for about 20 minutes (or more, it's like chili, the longer it simmers the more flavorful it is, okay there is probably a limit on that, but you know what I mean).

We like to top ours with a little bit of shredded cheddar. I like adding some sour cream, but our sour cream was...not good. It's also good with corn bread, but I was lazy so we had saltine crackers.

Recipe: Pizza Soup

I can't remember where I found the basic recipe for this. I changed ours due to our lack of vegetable acceptance. But this could include whatever toppings you like on your pizza. The original included mushrooms, but we left those out.

Ingredients

• 1 jar (14 oz) pizza sauce
• 3 jars of water
• 1 bell pepper, seeded & chopped
• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 lb Italian Sausage, browned & drained
• 1 cup pepperoni slices, quartered
• 1/2 Tbsp basil
• 1 Tbsp oregano
• 1/2 cup dry pasta
• shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

Put the bell pepper, tomatoes, sausage, and pepperoni (and any other toppings you might like) in a 5 to 6 quart or bigger crockpot. Pour the pizza sauce and water. Add the seasonings (I ended up using Pensezy's Pasta Sprinkle mix because I was too lazy to dig through the cabinet to find basil and oregano). Stir it around a little. Turn the crockpot on low and let it cook for at least 6 hours, or all day if you want. Everything is already cooked, you just want to flavors to meld.

About 30 minutes before dinner time, add the dry pasta and turn the crockpot to high. Watch it, my pasta only took about 20 minutes to be soft.

Spoon into bowls and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. We had a nice loaf of Italian bread with it.

Our Thoughts

We really liked this recipe. Justin is a huge fan of pizza, so I figured this would work for him. I think it might be fun to mix up what is it, kind of like I do with pizza toppings. It would also be easy to make this vegetarian by just leaving out the meat and adding more vegetables. Justin thought a different pizza sauce would be better. I used Prego this time because it was on sale. Next time I might see if they have a restaurant brand that might be better.

Apple Spice Muffins

We went apple picking last weekend which means I now have a ton of apples that I need to use. This started out as Apple Strudel Muffins, but when I made them last week they were REALLY dry. I hadn't made them since I was pregnant with Claire, I think, so I'm not sure if I was doing something different back then or if my standards were lower. They were good, but just dry. I ended up taking them to work and got a lot of compliments on them, but when I was getting ready to make them to take as a morning treat for my Sunday School class, I decided to try changing it a little bit.



1/2 cup Butter (salted)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup White Sugar
2 Eggs
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 cups Apple (peeled & diced)
2 cups Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
a pinch of Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1-2 Tbsp Milk
Raw Sugar (for sprinkling)

Cream together the butter and sugars, then add the eggs and the vanilla.

Stir in apples

Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon) in another bowl and then add to wet ingredients and stir until combined.

Stir in 1-2 Tbsp of Milk, the batter should be creamier than cookie dough, but not liquidy like cakes. The first time my batter was thicker like cookie dough.

Spray muffin tins, I make this recipe to make 48 mini muffins, it will also work as 12 normal muffins. Divide the batter evenly amongst muffins. (For mini muffins, I use a small cookie scoop to fill the muffin tin.)

Sprinkle with Raw Sugar. Bake at 375 degrees. For mini muffins, bake for 10-12 minutes. For regular size muffins, bake for 20-25 minutes.

Instead of Raw Sugar, you can make a strudel topping with 1/2 c brown sugar, 1 Tbsp Flour mixed together and then cut in 1 Tbsp of Butter. Both ways are yummy, but the Raw Sugar is easier for me.

Frozen Cookie Dough

Last Thursday was Claire's first day of Pre-school so I decided to make her cookies that evening. I only wanted to make one cookie sheet worth and using my favorite cookie sheet that is 15 cookies. Which left me with quite a bit of dough to freeze for another time. My mom usually freezes already baked cookies, but I LOVE having fresh baked cookies so I like to freeze the raw dough.

What I do to freeze cookie dough is line a large cookie sheet (not one that has been in the oven recently - it needs to be room temperature or cooler) with parchment paper or wax paper. Then I use one of my cookie scoops - I didn't have a cookie scoop for a long time and now I don't know how I survived with out one - and place a bunch of cookie dough balls on the cookie sheet until the sheet is full or you run out of dough. The spacing between the cookie dough balls doesn't matter as long as they aren't touching. I have two cookie scoops, this small one and this medium one, I use the small one usually, but this time I went with the medium one.



Then put the cookie sheet in the freezer for a few hours or over night, they need to be at least mostly frozen. I like to store mine in a gallon size Ziploc bag, but they could be stored in any resealable container. Label it with the type of cookie and baking instructions - for most cookies 375 for 10 minutes is pretty good, watch the first batch and adjust the time as needed. Then put all the cookie dough balls in the container and put back in the freezer until you need to bake some cookies. The nice part of storing them this way is you can easily reach in the bag and get out just what you need.



You can also easily reach in the bag and grab a frozen ball of cookie dough and eat it raw...not that I would do that...

These are some cookies that Pioneer Woman recently posted on her blog and they are DELICIOUS (recipe here). She likes to freeze them in long roll/tube and then slice off what she needs. But that's too much work for me when I need a cookie now.

Recipe: Kung Pao Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 lb Chicken Breasts, Diced
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Cornstarch
• 1 tsp Soy Sauce
• 1/2 cup Peanuts
• 1/4 cup Oil
• 2 stalks Celery, sliced
• 2 Carrots, sliced or diced
• 2 Tbsp Chinese Oyster Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Sesame Oil
• 1 tsp Red Pepper Paste (more or less depending on how spicy you want it)

Directions

Combine Chicken, salt, cornstarch and soy sauce. Set aside.
Using a large skillet or wok, roast Peanuts over med-high heat until the pop. Move them around (or you'll end up with burnt peanuts like I did) until they are a golden brown. Remove them from skillet to bowl.
Heat oil over med-high heat in the same skillet, add chicken and saute until cooked. About 5-6 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove - leave the oil in the pan.
Add the carrots and celery to the skillet and cook until crisp-tender.
In a small bowl combine Oyster Sauce, sugar, sesame oil and red pepper paste. Whisk to combine.
When carrots & celery are ready, return chicken & peanuts to the skillet. Add sauce and stir to coat. Allow the sauce to come to a boil (adding water if it is too thick).
Serve over steamed rice (preferably with a side of broccoli and an egg roll, that just wasn't happening the night that I made this).

Recipe: Mexican Manicotti

I meant to post this over the weekend since I actually made this last Friday, but I never got around to it. But hey, better late than never!

I got the recipe from the Taste Of Home website and pretty much followed it...although I did double it since we were having friends over for dinner. I think I could've made one batch and it would've been enough (especially with chips & dip and veggies and dessert). The recipe says 8 servings, which is almost 2 Manicotti shells per serving. My 8oz boxes had 14 shells I think which means we had 28 shells for 6 adults, 2 tweens and 4 young-ish kids. And we had at least 10 shells leftover. And I didn't realize it until about 10pm the night before we were having this, but the recipe calls for assembling it the night before and then refrigerating it until the next day - that ended up working in my favor since I had to work before we had friends over and Justin could just pop it in the oven.

The Recipe

Here's the original recipe: Mexican Manicotti from Taste of Home.

I did tweak the seasonings a little, so here's my recipe (single batch):
1 pound lean ground beef
1 can (16 ounces) refried beans
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoons Penzey's Adobo Seasoning blend
1 package (8 ounces) uncooked manicotti shells
2-1/2 cups water
1 jar (16 ounces) picante sauce
1-1/2 cups (12 ounces) sour cream
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack or Mexican cheese blend

Mix together beef, beans and seasonings until well blended. Using a spoon (or whatever other method you have) stuff the beef & bean mixture into the manicotti shells. (It's really gross, I got my step-daughter to help me because I was tired of doing it after about 5 shells and since we were making a double batch I still had 23 shells to go.) Anyways, grease a 9x13 pan and arrange the manicotti shells however they will fit. Mix the Picante and water and pour over the top of the shells. Then cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge until the next day (or later that day, but probably no more than 24 hours).

Bake at 350 for a hour, remove from over and spread with sour cream and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes to melt the cheese.

Our Thoughts

Everyone said they liked it. We didn't finish all of the leftovers, but we did eat it two more times before it went bad. I'm not sure how I feel about the beans in the meat. I think the texture was a little weird for me. It was good, just kind of weird. But definitely something we'll keep around, it's quite a bit of work for a normal week night dinner, but if I want something to prep the night before and just have Justin put in the oven, this recipe would work for that.

Recipe: Mexican Chicken Panela

Tonight I made what I am calling Mexican Chicken Panela. For anyone not familiar with it, Panela is a type of cheese. I could not find it at my grocery store, but I'm still calling it Mexican Chicken Panela because I like that name better than Mexican Chicken Jack - the Jack cheese that I got is actually "Golden Jack" it's from the fancy cheese area. The recipe also calls for Cotija which I finally found in the "processed/shredded cheese" area instead of the fancy cheese area.


This recipe is adapted from Mexican Style Chicken Parmesan. I kept the ingredients mostly the same. I did change the directions to match how I make Chicken Parmesan in a skillet; I didn't want to turn the oven on.

2 to 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts sliced into two thin pieces
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp chile powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 cups picante sauce
1/4 lb panela (or jack) cheese sliced thin
1/4 cup cotija crumbled
1 teaspoon oil

Mix the cornmeal, salt, cumin and chile powder together. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Dip chicken in the cornmeal, then egg, then cornmeal again to coat. Brown the chicken on both sides, approx 6 minutes.

Remove chicken from skillet and drain oil. Return chicken to skillet, place one slice of Panela cheese over each piece of chicken, then pour chile sauce over chicken. Simmer until chicken is cooked through (about 10 minutes).

Serve with cotija crumbled on top of each piece of chicken.

The Verdict:
I think we all liked it. Claire ate her entire piece of chicken without me having to prompt her to eat it. Justin would like to try it with flour instead of cornmeal. We also weren't entirely sure about the Cotija cheese - it was good when fresh, but once it got wet from the picante it had a funny texture, almost rubbery. I liked it with jack cheese, if I ever see Panela cheese and I'll have to try it that way too. Overall, it will definitely be on the menu again.

Recipe: Apple Pie

For the Fourth of July, my brother specifically requested an Apple Pie with a pie bird in it. Being the awesome sister that I am, I humored him and made an Apple Pie using a pie bird (borrowed from my mom).


I couldn't decide on which Apple Pie recipe to use. So I kind of made up my own based on Smitten Kitten's Apple Pie recipe plus a few notes she made about the pie afterwards. And I switched out 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar for brown sugar since so many of the other recipes I saw used a mix of both. I couldn't find McIntosh apples and ended up using Golden Delicious.

2 9" pie crusts (this recipe makes two)
3 Golden Delicious apples (cored, peeled and sliced)
3 Granny Smith apples (cored, peeled and sliced)
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 egg - beaten
1/2 cup Granulated White Sugar
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Flour
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Allspice
1/4 tsp Salt


Put apples & lemon juice in large colander and toss carefully.

Carefully put one pie crust in the pie plate lifting the edges of the dough to push it down into the bottom corners of the pie plate - try not to trap air bubbles under the dough. Brush with some of the egg (helps the crust not get soggy while baking). Place in fridge while preparing filling.

Combine the sugar, flour, spices and salt in a large bowl. Add the apples and mix gently until all dry ingredients are wet.

If you are using a pie bird, place your pie bird in the middle of your prepared crust. Dump apple mixture into prepared pie crust around the pie bird, create a slight mound in the middle of your pie. If using a pie bird, cut a slit in the middle of the top crust to allow the bird to come through. Carefully lay second pie crust over the filling and press the edges together with the tines of a fork (or however you want to do it). Brush top crust with remaining egg. If you are not using a pie bird, cut slits in the crust to allow the pie to vent.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 30-35 minutes. If crust browns quickly, cover with foil, or a pie shield, for remaining cooking time. Pie filling will probably be bubbling through slits when the pie is done.

The Verdict:

My pie was REALLY soupy. I'm not sure if it was because it needed to cook longer - the crust wasn't very brown. Or it I had too much sugar - although that was pretty much standard between all the recipes I looked at. The taste was great, there was just lots of liquid. I may have to try it again to see if I can get the filling right.

Recipe: White Cheese Sauce

This cheese sauce tastes very similar to the white cheese sauce that I used to get at Miguel's in San Diego while I was in college. We would go there and eat the chips and the cheese sauce and barely have room for dinner. That could be part of why my freshman 15 turned into a sophomore 30, but it was delicious!

Ingredients:
1.5 cups Whipping Cream
1 cup Sour Cream
1 tsp Chicken Bullion Granulars
2 Tbsp Salted Butter
1 Tbsp Flour
1 jalapeno, minced
1 Tbsp juice from bottled jalapenos
6 oz (or more) Shredded Cheese (cheddar & jack)


Directions:
Heat whipping cream in saucepan over high heat, when the cream is about to boil, stir in the sour cream. Once the sour cream has melted (dissolved), reduce heat to medium. Stir in chicken bullion and jalapeno juice and simmer.

In a small skillet make a roux: melt butter over medium heat, add flour and mix with a whisk until the mixture turns a pale gold.

When the cream mixture is about to boil, add the roux whisking constantly until roux is incorporated. Turn heat to low and stir in minced jalapeno and shredded cheese until cheese is melted.

Serve with tortilla chips. Makes about 3.5 cups.


The original directions called for 2 oz total of cheese, which I tried the first time I made this and it wasn't nearly cheesy enough. Since I upped the amount of cheese, I also decreased the amount of whipping cream (originally it was 2 cups). For the minced jalapeno, I usually just get about 6 slices out of my jar of sliced jalapenos and dice them up. Much easier than using a fresh jalapeno.

I love this sauce, I could probably eat about half of it by myself which is why I don't make it that often. But it is so freaking delicious. And much easier than flying to San Diego just for White Cheese Sauce. You definitely want to keep it warm, the last time I made this I put it in a mini crock-pot on the "warm" setting.

Father's Day Cakes

I made two cakes for Father's Day. My dad specifically asked for a Pineapple Upside-down Cake and I knew that wasn't what Justin would prefer. So on Saturday evening as an "early father's day", I made a Peanut Butter Cake for Justin.

The Peanut Butter Cake was delicious, although the icing was ALMOST too rich. Justin prefers thicker cakes so even though the recipe said to make it in a 10x15 Jelly Roll pan, I used a 9x13 Cake pan. But I made the same amount of icing/glaze so it was pretty thick on my cake. It almost tasted like Peanut Butter Caramel - soooo good, but so rich. I'm thinking about making it again and making the peanut butter sheet cake but with the chocolate icing you put on a Texas Sheet Cake, or maybe make the chocolate sheet cake with the peanut butter icing.


Then on Sunday after we got home from church, I threw the Pineapple Upside-Down Cake together. I don't have a link to the recipe because it is out of Pioneer Woman's first cookbook - the Pineapple Upside Down Cake in a Cast Iron Skillet. I was a little worried about the batter because it was REALLY thin, but it turned out amazing. So delicious. I probably should've squished my pineapple together a little bit more than I did, but live and learn!



Then this evening I made everyone go outside and I took a picture of them. Justin & his girls...on Father's Day 2012:

Recipe: Chicken BLT Pasta Salad

This recipe is a bit of a mixture of a couple of different recipes that I found online. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect.

• 1 1/2 cups uncooked pasta (I went with bow-tie)
• 3 cups torn lettuce/greens (I went with romaine)
• 1 lb of chicken, cooked and in bite-size pieces
• 1/2 lb of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 3 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 tsp BBQ sauce
• 3/4 tsp white vinegar
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Cook pasta according to package directions and rinse with cold water. I cooked my pasta, chicken and bacon last night and then just put them all in the fridge for easy assembly tonight.


2. Salad: Combine pasta, lettuce, chicken, bacon and tomatoes in a large bowl.

3. Sauce: Combine mayonnaise, BBQ sauce, vinegar, salt & pepper in a small bowl. Whisk together well. Depending on the BBQ sauce, it may be a bit thick, if it is too thick to pour, add up to 1/2 tsp of water.

4. Pour sauce over salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately. This made about 4-5 large servings. (the picture above is a sm-med serving, the picture below is what was leftover)


The recipes that I modified all had this as a side-dish. I decided to make it my main dish so I increased the amount of chicken and bacon. I think it would also be good with some additional veggies - cucumbers, shredded carrots, peppers, corn, etc. I meant to add cheese to it, but then I forgot until we were already at the table eating and no one wanted cheese enough to go get it.

It definitely needed more of the sauce, double or even triple it. I ended up making some more before I put the leftovers in the fridge. I cooked the chicken with Penzey's Arizona Dreaming seasoning mix - I love that mix. The sauce was delicious, just needed a lot more of it.

I'm not sure how well this will keep in the fridge since the lettuce is already mixed it. I guess I'll find out tomorrow. Next time I will probably just serve it with a bowl of lettuce so that I don't have to worry about the lettuce wilting and ruining the rest of it.

For easy printing, I also posted this on TastyKitchen.

S'mores (over the stove top)

Maybe everyone else had already thought of this, but I hadn't. It was actually Anaya's idea.

One of the things on our summer to-do list is make S'mores. I had planned on roasting the marshmallows over the grill. I went ahead and bought the stuff for S'mores on Saturday while we were at Target, but wasn't planning to make them this weekend.

When we were coming in from playing outside on Sunday evening, Anaya asked if we could make S'mores. I kind of hemmed and hawed because I didn't feel like dealing with the grill and it was supposed to start storming at some point. So Anaya asked why not just make them over the stove top. I just kind of hemmed and hawed because roasting marshmallows over a burner just seemed WEIRD. But I talked to Justin and decided to give it a try...what's the worst that would happen? We have a flat-top stove so a fire was unlikely and if the marshmallow fell on the burner it make a mess, but could be clean up.



I was definitely right about feeling like an idiot roasting a marshmallow on a kabob skewer over a burner. But it worked!



If we do this again we'll cook them over the back burner, Claire got a little closer to the stove than I liked which resulted in Anaya and I simultaneously telling her loudly to back-up and get away from the stove. She wasn't trying to touch the stove, she was trying to steal a graham cracker, they were just on the counter near the very hot burner.