Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Double Quick Pumpkin Bars


This is another recipe I got from my church meeting called Apples of Gold. When I had this dessert, I immediately fell in love. It was amazing. They are the perfect way to begin autumn! I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and I do!
Double Quick Pumpkin Bars
BARS:
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups canned pumpkin
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsps baking powder
2 tsps cinnamon
2 cups flour
FROSTING:
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
6 tbsps margarine, softened
1 tsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups confectioner's sugar
Preheat oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl, cream oil, eggs and sugar. Add remaining cookie ingredients and mix well. Pour batter into an ungreased 15x10 ince jelly roll pan. (I don't have this size pan, so I used a 13x9x2 cake pan - which is why mine are more cake like)
Bake at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes. (Mine took the whole 25 minutes, if not 1 or 2 more minutes). Cool completely and frost with cream cheese frosting.
To make frosting, cream together all frosting ingredients. Spread on colled, uncut cookies. After frosting has set, cut into equal size bars. Store any leftover bars, covered, in the refrigerator.
Variation: Add 1/2 cup choppd walnuts or raisins to the recipe.
Yield: 36 bars (Since mine was baked in a different pan, I had 24 pieces)

TWD: Dimply Plum Cake

Life was hectic this week, so I wasn't able to make the recipe of the week for Tuesdays with Dorie. But head over to the blog so you can check out how everyones recipes turned out!

Thanks to Michelle of Bak-en for choosing this weeks recipe! Check out Michelle's blog for the recipe!

Spicy Garlic Herbed Pasta

I found this recipe from Katie at Good Things Catered. Katie has one of my favorite blogs, so I knew when I saw this recipe it would be amazing. And it really was - soo good. I served this dish with Lemon Velvet Chicken and topped it with a little of the leftover sauce from the chicken. It was amazing.

Spicy Garlic Herbed Pasta

Ingredients:
1 lb pasta of choice (I used egg noodles)
2 tsp olive oil
5 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed (I used a large spoon full of the already chopped stuff, I'm a cheater!)
1/2 tsp dried hot red-pepper flakes
1/2 c. dry white wine
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
5 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 c. fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced
1/8 c. fresh thyme, minced
juice 1/2 lemon

Directions:
-Bring a 6- to 8-quart pot of salted water to a boil.
-Cook pasta in boiling water until just tender, according to package instructions.
-Reserve 1 c. pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta in a colander.
-Meanwhile, heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking.
-Add garlic to skillet and cook until beginning to brown, about 1 minute.
-Add red pepper flakes, wine, salt, and pepper and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, 1 minute.
-Add butter to skillet, stirring until melted, and stir in herbs and lemon juice.
-Remove skillet from heat.
-Toss pasta well in large bowl, adding some of reserved cooking water if necessary to keep moist. (mine did not need this)

ENJOY!

Lemon Velvet Chicken

When I saw this recipe pop up on my google reader, I knew I had to try it. Mike and I love alfredo and chicken, and this looked amazing. I found the recipe from Jewels in the Kitchen.

Lemon Velvet Chicken

1 Tbsp. flour (I used about 1.5 tbsp)
1 t. seasoned salt
2 or 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 2 large breasts)
2 Tbsp. butter
1 jar Alfredo sauce (I used reduced fat)
juice of 1 lemon

Mix flour and salt. Cover chicken with the mixture. Melt butter in hot pan, add chicken and cook for 5-10 minutes. Squeeze lemon over, add sauce, put on low and simmer for 10-20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

We served this alongside Spicy Garlic Herbed Pasta - yumm!

Peat & Walnut Salad

I got this recipe from an Apples of Gold class I am taking through my church. This salad is so simple and so refreshing I had to share!

Pear & Walnut Salad

1 head of lettuce (or a bagged lettuce)
2 pears
1/4 cup walnuts
2 tsp lemon juice
3 tbsp honey

Slice or chop lettuce, pears and walnuts and mix together in a large salad bowl. Drizzle with lemon juice and honey.

This is a delicious meal - I hope you enjoy!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

TWD... on Wednesday!


I'm a day late! I'm sorry! I was out of town traveling for work, so I wasn't able to get my post up yesterday. Anyway... this week's choice for TWD was Chocolate Chunkers chosen by Claudia of Fool for Food. (Please go to her page for the recipe!)


I was excited for this recipe, because how can a cookie with 4 different chocolates not be amazing? Well, this wasn't amazing. My husband thought they were too chocolatey, I don't agree. Nothing is ever too chocolatey for me! I thought they were too salty. I think they would have been better with no salted peanuts, fewer chocolate chips and more dough. I may have to make them again this way, and see if they are better for me.


Head over to Tuesdays with Dorie to see how the other 250+ TWDers felt about these!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

TWD: Chocolate Whopper Malted Drops

I have to admit, I was very skeptical of this weeks recipe. Rachel from Confessions from a Tangerine Tart chose Chocolate Whopper Malted Drops. I immediately thought "well crap, I hate whoppers!" When I was telling my husband about this recipe, he got super excited - turns out he LOVES whoppers. So, for the sake of TWD and my husband, I bought the whoppers and got cracking on the recipe.


Reviews:

ME- I thought they were just okay. I would have preferred them without the whopper pieces, because they kind of caramalized in the cookie. The cookie was nice and cake-like and had great chocolate flavor, I just wasn't in love with the whopper chunks.

HUSBAND- He loved them. Really, really loved them!


Head over to Tuesdays with Dorie to check out all the entries for the week!

Sesame Beef

The husband and I are somewhat picky chinese food eaters. I only like 1 or 2 things, luckily, Mike only likes the same 1 or 2 things. We don't get chinese often because I hate that "heavy" feeling I always have afterwards. Anyway, when I saw this recipe on the Delish Food blog, I knew I wanted to try it. I'd love the opportunity to create a healthier chinese option!


Sesame Beef
Source: Delish
1/2-pound boneless sirloin steak, thinly sliced into 1-inch strips
2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 garlic clove, minced
4 scallion greens, cut diagonally into 1-inch slices (I omitted, and used broccoli instead)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

In a bowl whisk together soy sauce, 1 Tbsp oil, honey, and mustard. Add steak, tossing to coat, and let marinate, refrigerated, for 1-2 hours.
In a heavy skillet or wok, heat remaining tablespoon oil over moderately high heat until hot and sauté garlic. Add steak and cornstarch, stirring, until browned 2-3 minutes. Stir in scallions, sesame seeds, and salt and pepper to taste and heat until just heated through. Serve immediately.
For DH & I, I doubled this recipe, and we ate it all. Michael said it is one of his favorite dishes now! I served it on top of rice.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Whole Wheat pizza dough

My husband could eat pizza every day for every meal - seriously. So I'm always looking for ways to make it more homemade and more healthy. When I saw this recipe for whole wheat pizza dough over on A Year in the Kitchen, I knew I had to try it.

I made the dough the day before I needed it, but I think next time I should do it same day. When I made it, I wrapped it in Saran Wrap and stuck it in the refrigerator. Well, twice it grew and broke the saran wrap! So by the time I went to roll it and stretch it out - I could have made 2 pizzas! So I just made a nice, thick crust!


This is the pizza after it's been baked, before we added toppings.
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
1 packet active dry yeast
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 c. warm water
1 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. all purpose flour
Add water, yeast and sugar to a mixing bowl. Let it sit for 10 minutes, yeast will bubble. Turn the dough hook on and add in the flours. If the dough is too sticky, add another 1/4 c. all purpose flour. Let it knead for 5 minutes. Cover with a damp towel and let it sit for 1-2 hours.
Roll out dough, and place on a pizza pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. Add toppings (I used pizza sauce, pizza seasoning from Penzey's, shredded mozzerella and parmesan cheeses and turkey pepperoni) and put back in the oven for another 3-5 minutes.
Enjoy!!

Crockpot Bread

What? Crockpot bread? How the heck do you make bread in a crockpot? That was the first thing I thought when I saw this recipe over at Sweet Savory Southern. But heck, I'm always up for baking, and really - how hard can this be!?

Well, this bread didn't turn out to be my favorite. Part of the bottom got way too dark - if I make it again, I might not cook it on high at all, just low for 3 or so hours. I'm not sure. It was also very dense, I like a fluffier bread. Feel free to tweek as you'd like!

Classic White Bread

101 More Things To Do With A Slow cooker
Stephanie Ashcraft and Janet Eyring
10-15 servings.

INGREDIENTS:
1 envelope (.25 ounce) of active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup lukewarm water
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
3 1/2 to 4 cups flour (I used 2 cups whole wheat flour & 1 3/4 or so cups AP flour)

DIRECTIONS:
In a bowl combine yeast, 1 tsp sugar, and 1/4 cup warm water. Allow yeast to foam, about 5 minutes. Add egg, oil, lukewarm water, salt, 1/4 cup sugar, and 2 cups of flour. Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes on low. With a wooden spoon, stir in remaining flour. Place dough in greased 4-5 quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat for 2-3 hours. (Again, I think I'd cook it on low 3-4 hours since the bottom of mine got too dark) Remove stoneware from cooker and let stand for 5 minutes before slicing.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

TWD: Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chipsters


For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe pick, Stefany of Proceed with Caution chose Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chipsters. I was super excited to make this - how can you go wrong with peanut butter, oatmeal and chocolate chips?!


I made them to go to a dinner at my in-laws, they all loved them. So did my brother, I gave him all the leftovers! Since I'm watching my calories, I didn't eat any - not even any dough! But the smell and the reviews have me convinced that they are great!


Check out the recipe on Stefany's page! The only thing I did differently was I added mini baking reese cups!

Weight Watchers Snickers Pie

When I saw this recipe on My Sweet Life, I knew I wanted to try it! Besides, it's a low-fat dessert - my fav!

I made this (with the help of my sister-in-law) when we were at the beach. Everyone loved it - they said it tasted like a Snicker's slushie!

Photobucket

Weight Watchers Snickers Pie

1 pint of vanilla frozen yogurt (I use fat free or lowfat) (We used a large container of yogurt, not the frozen yogurt)
2 tbsp of chunky peanut butter (JIF Reduced Fat) (We used creamy)
1/2 package of instant chocolate pudding mix
1/2 container (6 oz) of cool whip (ff, lite or regular, whichever you prefer)

Let frozen yogurt soften or put in microwave for 30-45 seconds (we obviously skipped this step!). Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour into an 8" pie pan. Freeze until set. Top with a dollop of cool whip, and a drizzle of chocolate and caramel (we used hot fudge and a chopped up snickers bar, which may or may not hurt WW points!) with a few peanuts.