This is a recipe that I got from Martha Stewart’s website and it is fantastic! I actually used goat cheese in place of Gruyere cheese and I think it turned out even better. (I mean really, who doesn’t like goat’s cheese?) It was also super easy to make with all of the ingredients being already chopped up, all you have to do is mix it up! And it makes a lot too. From this recipe, I got two of the dishes that are in the pic. And I’m a huge fan of anything that you can store for baking later!
Ingredients:
Butter, for baking dish 3 packages frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry 1 1/2 cups half and half 3 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 1/2 cups Gruyere cheese Coarse salt and ground pepper 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a shallow 1-quart baking dish.
2.) In a large bowl combine spinach, half and half, eggs, 1 cup of cheese, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg and pepper; stir to combine. Spread evenly in prepared baking dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake until set and top is golden brown, about 30 – 35 minutes. These can be prepared one day in advance and placed in the fridge. When ready to serve, take them out of the fridge and bring them up to room temperature and baking.
Who doesn’t love banana bread? It’s just one of those foods that’s sweet, filling, and very very comforting. I don’t know where I got this recipe originally but I recently dug it out from the waaaay back of my recipe box and am I ever glad that I found it! So simple to prepare and you can add anything in it that you’d like. I actually added the lemon zest myself because I’ll take any chance I can to throw a little lemon into something. And the one on the left hand side in the picture is actually made with white chocolate chips instead of pecans and I can’t even tell you how good that is! (But I would suggest leaving the lemon zest out of that recipe!) The chocolate melts and oozes out all over the top, giving it a crisp and sugary crust. Now what’s wrong with that?! And so cheap too!
Ingredients:
5 tablespoons butter 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar 1 large egg 2 egg whites 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 2) 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/3 cup chopped pecans Zest of one lemon
Directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bottom only of loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2.) Beat butter in large bowl with an electric mixer set at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat well. Add egg, egg whites, and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Add mashed banana and beat on high for 30 seconds.
3.) Combine flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and lemon zest in medium bowl. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with cream, ending with flour mixture. Add pecans to batter; mix well.
4.) Pour batter evenly into prepared loaf pan. Bake until browned and toothpick inserted near centre comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
5.) Cool bread in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan; cool completely on wire rack.
I came up with this recipe one day when I really wanted macaroni and cheese, but I wanted something different. And this one’s pretty good! The rice sort of takes on a creamy texture due to the sauce, and the spice of the Italian sausage adds a really good punch of flavour to it. And green peppers go so well with sausage, don’t they? Although there are quite a few steps to this recipe, it’s actually pretty simple, especially if you have some frozen rice that you can just thaw out for it. Good ol’ fashioned comfort food, in a slightly different way!
Ingredients:
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs, soaked in 2 tablespoons melted butter 2 tablespoons melted butter 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour Salt and pepper to taste 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard 1 1/2 cups milk 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese 1 onion 1 green bell pepper, julienned 4 mild Italian sausages, cut into 1″ rounds 2 cups cooked rice 2 tablespoons canola oil
Directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.) Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute for 5 minutes, or until soft. Add Italian sausage and brown.
3.) Meanwhile, place butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Wait until butter just starts to bubble and add flour, pepper, salt, and mustard. Stir until all ingredients are well combined. Slowly add the milk while stirring and bring to a simmer. Continue simmer for 10 minutes. Make sure that you stir constantly while the milk is simmering or it will burn. Continue stirring until the milk has started to thicken, about 10 minutes. Once milk has thickened, remove pan from heat and add cheese. Stir the cheese until it has melted.
4.) Drain the sausage and place in a 9″ x 13″ casserole dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
5.) Add the rice and green peppers to the sausage in the casserole dish. Pour cheese sauce over the entire thing and stir until it is well combined. Sprinkle the butter-soaked bread crumbs over the entire casserole.
6.) Place in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes, until the cheese sauce has started to bubble and the top is golden brown and crispy.
I was lucky enough to be given a bunch of acorn squash and wanted something more to do with it than just roast it. So I came up with this stuffed squash recipe and it is delicious! To be honest, I didn’t even know if I was going to like it. But, pork and cheese, what more could you ask for? And, even though it looks like you slaved over it, the most you really have to do is brown the sausage. The rest of it pretty much takes care of itself.
This squash can be used as a side, an entree, or an appetizer at a dinner party. I also froze a few of mine and they freeze beautifully. Just remember to either thaw them fully or to cover them and keep them in the oven for at least an hour, if you’re baking them from frozen. They take a long, long time to cook after you’ve frozen them – but they taste just as great!
And the best, and most surprising part of this recipe? My 2-year-old loooooooves them!
Ingredients:
4 acorn squashes 1 onion 4 cloves of garlic, minced 2 tablespoon canola oil Salt and pepper to taste 4 Italian sausages, casings removed 1 1/2 cups Ricotta cheese 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1 1/2 cups Asiago PDO cheese, shredded
Directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Then cut the bottoms of the squash and remove the seeds. Stand the squash up so that the open tops are on top and place them in a casserole dish. Brush the inside and the top of the squash with the canola oil, season with salt and pepper, and bake for about 25 – 30 minutes.
2.) Once the squash has been removed from the oven, preheat the broiler.
2.) Meanwhile, heat up 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute for about 5 minutes. Then add the garlic and the red bell pepper. Break up the sausage so that it’s in small pieces and fry until it’s browned. When browned, remove everything from the pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a large bowl.
3.) Add the ricotta cheese to the sausage mixture and mix until it is all well combined. Stuff each of the squashes with 1/4 of the mixture. Once stuffed, top each squash with a handful of the Asiago cheese.
4.) Place the squash about four inches under the broiler and broil until the cheese on top has melted and is bubbly and golden brown.
Another classic soup for a cold winter or fall day! This one combines deliciously sweet flavours with salty and deep flavours. All for one perfect bowl of wonderfulness! This soup freezes beautifully, so you can make a huge batch of it and freeze it for another cold day. For some reason though, my kids gobble this one up the day I make it and won’t touch it when it comes out of the freezer. It’s a mystery to me, I can’t tell a difference.
1.) Place olive oil in a large heavy pot set over medium heat. When oil is hot, add onion and garlic and saute for about 5 minutes. Then add diced squash and cook for about three minutes.
2.) Add chicken broth, cloves, nutmeg, salt and pepper and turn heat to medium-high. Allow to cook for approximately 20 – 30 minutes, until squash is very tender and falling apart.
3.) When ready, transfer to food processor and puree until smooth. Transfer back to soup pot and heat up to boiling. Once boiling, turn down to medium-low. When soup has cooled down, add milk and heat until just heated through.
4.) Once milk is heated through, remove from heat and sprinkle top of soup with fresh or dried parsley flakes.
I got this recipe from Cooking Bread, and while it was titled “Buttermilk Bread”, and I thought I was just going to make a rich and delicious white bread, it turned out to be sourdough bread. Whether that’s because it’s actually a sourdough recipe, or because the substitutions I made turned it into sourdough, I don’t know. I didn’t have buttermilk (as usual), and so I did what I always do – add a teaspoon of lemon juice to 2% milk. It looked like it had the same effect, and did look a bit curdled, so I wasn’t worried. I also had just ran out of sugar and so, only used about a tablespoon or so of it.
But whatever I did, and whatever kind of recipe this sourdough bread was originally intended to be, it is delicious, and we ate an entire loaf of it in just one dinner! I imagine it would freeze well too but both loaves are gone so now we won’t know until next time, I suppose.
Ingredients:
5 – 6 cups bread flour 3 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons salt 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 package dry yeast 1 cup water 1 1/3 cup buttermilk 1 teaspoon olive oil 1 egg
Directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2.) Add buttermilk and water to a saucepan. Over medium heat, warm liquid until it is lukewarm; it may start to look as though it has curdled. Make sure not to make the mixture too hot or else it will kill the yeast.
3.) In a large bowl mix two cups of flour; sugar; salt; baking soda; and yeast. Add the lukewarm buttermilk to the dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon or your hands and mix for two minutes. Then add another cup of flour and mix just until it’s combined.
4.) Pour out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 – 10 minutes, add more flour 1/2 cup at a time as necessary, until dough is silky and smooth. Do not feel as though you have to use all the flour, just enough to get you to this point.
5.) Place the teaspoon of olive oil into the bottom of a bowl and then place the dough on top. Turn the dough to make sure that it’s completely covered in olive oil. Then, wrap bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot; allow dough to rise until nearly double in volume.
6.) Once the dough has nearly doubled, punch it down lightly. Divide the dough into two equal sections and place in two greased loaf pans. Cover and let it rise again for another 45 minutes.
7.) When dough is ready, mix the egg with a little bit of water, then brush this mixture over both of the loaves. Place in the oven for 45 minutes or until top is lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to completely cool before removing from loaf pans.
There are tons of different ways to make meatballs. You can bake them, cook them right in the sauce, throw them straight into the slow cooker, or cook them just about any other way that you want. I’m sure you could even try poaching some! But breading them and then frying them has got to be my new favourite way to eat meatballs! I came up with this idea one night when I really wanted meatballs, but I wanted to do something a little bit different with them. As I just said, there’s not a whole lot that hasn’t been tried with meatballs. And even though I’m sure I’m not the first one to try this method of cooking meatballs, I also know I won’t be the last – these were simply delicious!
Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup bread crumbs 1 egg, lightly beaten 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley 6 cloves garlic, minced 1 onion, diced 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon dried basil Salt and pepper 1 cup all-purpose flour 2 eggs, beaten 2 cups bread crumbs 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Directions:
1.) In a large bowl mix together: lean ground beef; 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese; 1/2 cup bread crumbs; 1 egg; fresh parsley; garlic; onion; worcestershire sauce; basil; and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix with your hands until thoroughly combined.
2.) Then, prepare your breading area. In one large bowl, place 1 cup all-purpose flour. In another large bowl, place 2 beaten eggs; and in the third bowl, place two cups of bread crumbs.
3.) Using the meat mixture, take a tablespoon of meat and form it into a ball with your hands. Then, roll the meatball around in the breading flour. Then dip it into the egg, rolling it to make sure it’s entirely covered. Lastly, roll the meatball in the bread crumb mixture until the entire ball is covered with bread crumbs. Set aside on a plate and do this with the rest of the meat mixture – first forming it into small balls, and then breading each of the balls separately.
4.) In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add enough meatballs to fill the pan, but still leave them enough room to breathe. You may have to cook them in batches. Cook first one one side, and then turn, making sure that all sides of all balls are thoroughly browned and cooked. When meatballs are done, place onto plate and continue with another batch, if necessary.
People say that you should make your own pasta dough for a reason! There is a huge, hugedifference between what you buy in the store and what you make at home. And it’s not hard. I have been making my own pasta dough for years, although it used to only be reserved for special occasions. Perhaps that’s why I feel as though I’m only now perfecting it. But all it takes is a few tricks, and I’ve tried to include some of them (such as using a fork and thenyour hands) in the actual recipe.
It is worth mentioning that it also much, much easier if you have a pasta machine. You can roll it out until it’s extremely thin but that’s much harder and it takes much longer. And you probably won’t enjoy making pasta dough so much.
I don’t know if it made a difference or not but last time I made this, I ran out of all-purpose flour. So I used 1 cup all-purpose and 1 cup bread flour. They were some of the lightest and most delicious noodles I’ve ever eaten! I don’t know if it was that minor substitution or whether I really am just getting better at making pasta dough, but it was wonderful!
And another bonus? If you let your kids watch you put it through the cutter, you get to hear them squeal, “Ooooohhh! It looks like hair!!!!!” Try it once and you’ll see just how easy it is!
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour 3 large eggs 1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions:
1.) On a countertop or other large work surface, place the flour in a mound. Make a fairly large well in the centre. In the centre, place the eggs and the salt.
2.) Start by lightly whisking eggs and salt together, being careful not to touch the flour. Once the eggs are beaten, slowly incorporate the flour. Do this very slowly! Take about a teaspoon of flour each time and mix well with the egg mixture. When fully incorporated, take another teaspoon of flour with the fork and fully incorporate into the egg mixture. Keep doing this until it becomes difficult to move the fork through the flour and egg. Once that happens, mix the flour and eggs with your hands, mixing until it’s just combined and a nice, elastic dough forms.
3.) Form the dough into 2 or 3 small bowls. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rest for 30 minutes. Then use immediately, or freeze for later use.
4.) When ready to use, roll the dough out as thinly as possible using a pasta machine – this will be the “1″ setting. Follow the machine’s instructions, which is usually to start with the thickest (the biggest number) and work your way to the thinnest (the smallest number.)
5.) Once your dough is rolled you can make whatever kind of pasta you want! For these long noodles, you can put the rolled pasta dough through the cutters on the pasta machine. You can also cut it yourself with a sharp knife.
6.) When noodles are ready, bring a large pot of salted water up to a rolling boil. Add the fresh pasta noodles for two to three minutes, until el dente, and drain. Toss with your favourite sauce.
I’ve had this recipe crammed into my recipe box for so long that I can’t even remember where I got it from. And it’s covered with so much crusted flour and icing drops that I can barely even read it anymore. I like to think it’s these kinds of recipes that my children will cherish the most some day. But I digress…on to the actual recipe.
I make it every year, among the three different cookies that I make to give to my family and friends. These, along with the other two, were my very first introduction to baking and I’ve been making them for about four years now. They’re delicious and light and flaky inside and just a little bit crispy outside, like you would expect sugar cookies to be. But this year, there are a few things I’m going to do differently.
Out are the cute Christmas cookie-cutter shapes. These shapes yes, are very cute but, they’re a pain. Spending all that time rolling and cutting and reshaping, please. It’s Christmas! Who has time for that? Not only are they painstakingly time-consuming, but you throw them into the basket, or Tupperware bowl, or other container and all those little pieces break. So you’re left with oddly misshapen curved sticks that were once candy canes, and long rectangles that have a missing bell-top somewhere. This is what I’m doing instead, and what I recommend you do as well.
Roll the dough into a log that’s about a foot long and maybe 2″ wide. In about 1″ – 2″ slices, slice the dough so that a circle is formed. Place these onto the baking sheet and continue baking as directed. You’ll have uniform circle sugar cookies that you can still decorate with icing, sprinkles, or whatever else floats your Christmas sled, but it’ll be a lot easier for you to do. And if you really want to be on top of things, make the dough this weekend, roll it into the log, wrap it and throw it in your freezer. On Christmas Eve, thaw the dough out, slice it up and Santa has fresh cookies!
1.) In a large bowl, beat 3 cups powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, 1 teaspoon almond extract and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed. Stir in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
2.) Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Divide dough in half. On lightly floured surface, roll each half 1/8″ thick. Cut into desired shapes. Place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. At this point, place any sprinkles, shapes, or other decorations excluding icing that you wish to include with your cookies.
3.) Bake 5-7 minutes or until edges are lightly brown. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool completely before icing (optional.)
This has been something that I’ve been cooking since Brent and I first moved in together almost 14 years ago. I’ve updated it some and made it a little more sophisticated with an actual deep-fryer and a ton of dried herbs; but every time I make it, it still reminds me of when we used to throw them on for a midnight snack. Brent still loves them as much as he did back then and the kids are always thrilled when I make them too. I also like to make a big batch of them with 8 or 10 chicken breasts and then freeze what we don’t eat, which is a lot. They freeze beautifully and can be reheated in the oven easily.
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 2 cups all-purpose flour 3 eggs, beaten 2 cups bread crumbs 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 tablespoon dried parsley 1 tablespoon dried basil 1 tablespoon dried oregano Pinch of cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoon garlic powder Salt and pepper Deep fryer full of oil; or at least 12 cups of vegetable oil for deep-frying
Directions:
1.) Heat your deep-fryer, or other oil, to about 400 degrees Fahrenheit. You can tell that the oil is hot enough by dropping a few bread crumbs into it. If they lay flat, don’t move and don’t begin to sizzle, the oil is not hot enough yet. If they start sizzling and browning, your oil is ready. If the oil starts splattering too high and the oil seems to attack the bread crumbs, your oil is too hot and you will need to turn it down before placing chicken in there.
2.) While oil is heating, mix together in a large bowl: bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, basil, oregano, dried mustard, chili powder, cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix until ingredients are thoroughly blended.
3.) Place flour in a separate large bowl and eggs in another large bowl. Line all three bowls in the order of: flour, egg, bread crumb mixture.
4.) Rinse chicken breasts and pat dry. One by one, place chicken breasts in a resealable plastic bag. With a rolling pin, gently pound chicken breasts, moving outwards. Continue to gently pound until chicken breast has even thickness, about 1″.
5.) After all chicken breasts have been pounded out, thinly slice them into 1″ slices.
6.) Dredge chicken breasts, a few at a time, through flour, making sure to entirely cover the chicken with flour and then shaking off excess. Dip chicken breasts into egg mixture, again making sure that chicken is entirely covered with egg. Drop into bread crumb mixture and completely coat chicken with bread crumb mixture. Set chicken aside until all chicken strips have been breaded with flour, egg, and bread crumb mixture.
7.) After all chicken strips are breaded, drop them (about 7 or 8 at a time) into the oil. Cook in oil, uncovered if in a large pot of oil and covered if in a deep fryer, for about 10-15 minutes turning regularly so that oil can evenly cook chicken. When chicken becomes thoroughly browned, remove from oil and place on paper towels to rest and remove excess oil. Sprinkle very slightly with salt.
8.) Continue until all of chicken is completely cooked and has drained on paper towels. Place on serving platter.
