Sunday, September 28, 2008
Buffalo Chicken and Cheese Dip
8 oz. pkg. 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup light ranch salad dressing
1/2 cup FRANK'S® REDHOT® Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce or FRANK'S® REDHOT® Buffalo Wing Sauce
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese
10-15 oz. shredded chicken. I used a store bought rotisserie chicken, removed the skin and shredded the meat. Much easier than cooking breasts and doing it.
1. HEAT oven to 350°F. Place cream cheese into deep dish 9-inch pie plate or 1 1/2 qt. deep casserole.
2. WHISK in salad dressing, Frank's RedHot Sauce and cheese until smooth. Stir in chicken. Top the cream cheese with the mixture and top with a little shredded mozzarella cheese
3. BAKE 20 min. or until mixture is heated through.
Butternut Squash Ravioli
Ravioli
1 large butternut squash - halved lengthwise, peeled and seeded
2 teaspoons butter
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
50 wonton wrappers
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Place the squash cut side up on a baking sheet. Place 1 tablespoon butter in the hollow of each half. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Cover the squash with a sheet of aluminum foil tucking in the edges.
Bake squash in preheated oven until tender and easily pierced with a fork, 45 to 65 minutes.
Scoop the cooked squash into a bowl, and mash until smooth. Mix in the allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and Parmesan cheese until well blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Fill a deep pot with lightly salted water and bring to a boil.
To make the ravioli, place a wonton wrapper on a clean, flat surface. Brush edges with the egg white. Place about 1 tablespoon of the squash mixture in the middle of the wonton. Cover with a second wonton wrapper. Repeat with remaining wonton wrappers and squash mixture until all have been used.
Drop the ravioli into the boiling water, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until tender. Remove, drain, and keep warm until sauce is prepared.
Sauce
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
3 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Dash of nutmeg
Place flour in a medium saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg; stir until smooth.
Chocolate Chip Blondie's
I'm not usually a baker or a dessert person but every once in a while we bake around here and of course, my stepdaughter Emma pitches in. So yesterday we made blondies and they were great. We used Lovestoeat's idea of mixing white and milk chocolate chips. Great dessert. We really liked them!
This recipe originated from Cooking Light, although with the amount of butter in it, there's nothing "light" about them. This is definitely more Paula Deen-esque
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1- 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 large eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1. In a bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Add vanilla and eggs and beat until well blended.
2. Stir in flour, salt, and baking soda until well combined. Stir in butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, and walnuts. Butter a 9- by 13-inch baking pan and spread dough level in pan.
3. Bake in a 350° regular or convection oven until top is browned and a wooden skewer inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30 minutes. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes, then cut into 24 rectangles. Serve warm or cool.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Crockpot Chili
I do have to apologize for my picture. I know it is not pretty but I was really hungry and unwilling to wait!
1.25 ground turkey
2/3 large container fat free beef broth
1 can kidney beans
1 can diced tomatoes, no salt added
1 TBSP chili powder
1 TBSP ground cumin
1 TBSP paprika
1 large shallot, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
2 TBSP hot sauce (optional)
1/2 red chilli pepper, seeded (optional)
Combine all ingredients into the crockpot and cook on the lowest setting for 8-10 hours. Top with 1/4 cup low fat mexican cheese blend and 2 TBSP light sour cream.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Spinach and Cheese Lasagna Roll Ups, Take 2
Potato Leek Soup
2-3 leeks, cleaned and dark green sections removed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Heavy pinch kosher salt, plus additional for seasoning
14 ounces, approximately 3 small, potatoes, peeled and diced small
1 quart low sodium chicken broth
1 pint light cream
3 slices of cooked turkey bacon, chopped
Salt & pepper to taste
Chop the leeks into small pieces.
In a 6-quart saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the leeks and a heavy pinch of salt and sweat for 5 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium-low and cook until the leeks are tender, approximately 15 minutes.
Add the potatoes and the chicken broth broth, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and gently simmer until the potatoes are soft, approximately 45 minutes. Add in the light cream at the end.
Turn off the heat and puree the mixture with an immersion blender until smooth. Add in the chopped bacon. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Baked Eggrolls
Saturday, September 20, 2008
I got an E for Excellent!
In turn, I'm going to pass this along to some of my favorite bloggers.
Lauren at Lauren's Kitchen
Sarah at Simply Living
Elizabeth at Elizabeth's Edible Experience
Lovestoeat's Weblog
Ashlee at A Year in the Kitchen
Now it's your turn to spread the love. Please find at least 10 more blogs of any kind which you deem to be excellent (but if you only know of a few, that's OK too).
Post about the blogs you picked, linking back to me and to them. Once you’ve posted, return here to let me know your post is up, and of course let your 10 award winners know too.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Jamaican Banana Bread
Ingredients
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons stick butter, softened
2 tablespoons tub light cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 bananas)
1/2 cup skim milk
2 tablespoons dark rum or 1/4 teaspoon imitation rum extract (I used Captain Morgan)
1/2 teaspoon grated lime rind
2 teaspoons lime juice (I used the juice of one lime)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1/4 cup flaked sweetened coconut
Preheat oven to 375°. Coat an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray; set aside.
Beat 2 tablespoons margarine and cheese at medium speed of a mixer; add 1 cup sugar, beating well. Add egg; beat well.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; stir well. Combine banana and next 5 ingredients (banana through vanilla); stir well. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with banana mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix after each addition. Stir in 1/4 cup pecans and 1/4 cup coconut.
Pour batter into prepared pan; bake at 375° for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan. Let cool slightly on a wire rack.
Stuffed Chicken Breasts
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Happy Anniversary to Us!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Super Sloppy Joe's
Another quick meal idea tonight before we headed out to Back to School Night. Super Sloppy Joe's, a Rachael Ray recipe. We used ground turkey to make it healthier and with all the other flavors in it, it was still delicious. I'm also submitting this to Joelen's Culinary Adventures: Chef Spotlight: Food Network Celebs contest. I put mine on a whole wheat bun and had a side of tater tots. It was like being a kid again!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Tonight's Dinner: Alaskan Cod with Pineapple Rice and Sauteed Vegetables
I am not really a fish eater. Not because I don't like it but really because I'm never sure how to cook it. These Alaskan cod filets I got from Trader Joe's made it easy. I seared them on a hot pan for 5 minutes on each side then covered and cooked them (just to be sure) another two minutes. They came out flaky and yummy. I coated them first in flour, the seasoned mine and Dave's with a cajun spice mix and Emma's with lemon pepper seasoning. Served with pineapple rice inspired by A Taste of Home Cooking and sauteed vegetables (onions, broccoli, zucchini, and mushrooms in a little soy sauce). A healthy and well-rounded dinner.
Best Jeans of the Season
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Chicken Marsala
My friend over at A Taste of Home Cooking made chicken marsala recently and it looked so good I had to copy her and make it for dinner too. I looked it up online and found the basis for my recipe here at Cooking Light and I made a few very minor changes. I added sundried tomatoes and a shallot along with the mushrooms and upped the quantity of broth and marsala wine to 2/3 a cup because I had 6 chicken breasts (yay for leftovers!) I paired it with my broccoli salad and mashed potatoes which gave us a very wonderful dinner for this rainy day.
Dinner Divas: Apple Pie!
Here's the recipe and instructions at Food Network... I'm too lazy to repost it all (it's pretty long!)
I'm also submitting it for Joelen's September Tasty Tools: Bakeware
And some pictures for your viewing pleasure.
Broccoli Salad
3 cups broccoli florets
1/2 cup chopped onion (I used 1/4)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup chopped raisins
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup low fat plain yogurt (I used fat free)
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
2 TBSP sugar (I used Splenda)
1 TBSP lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste
In a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, mayo, sugar, and lemon juice. In another bowl combine the broccoli, onion, raisins, sunflower seeds, and feta. Toss in the yogurt dressing and season with the salt & pepper. Cover and frigerate for 2 hours.