Pasta Carbonara

Sorry I don't have any pictures of this recipe, we ate it before I thought to take any. This recipe comes from Pillsbury. To see the original recipe, click here.

Pasta Carbonara

INGREDIENTS:


6oz uncooked fettuccine or spaghetti

4 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces (1/4 lb)

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 egg

3/4cup milk

3/4cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/4teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4cups fresh baby spinach leaves - I used frozen spinach

3/4cup chopped plum (Roma) tomato (1 medium) - I used a can of diced tomatoes with onion

1/2cup thinly sliced green onions (8 medium)

1 container (6 oz) Yoplait® Greek Fat Free plain yogurt

I added in some frozen peas.

DIRECTIONS:

Cook and drain fettuccine as directed on package. In 10-inch skillet, cook bacon and garlic until crisp. Drain; remove from skillet, and set aside.

In small bowl, slightly beat egg. Beat in milk, Parmesan cheese and pepper. Place cooked fettuccine in skillet. Add milk mixture, spinach, tomato and green onions. Cover; cook about 5 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until spinach is tender. Add peas if desired.

Stir in yogurt; cook over low heat just until heated through

Chocolate Chip (Pumpkin) Cupcakes

These recipe comes from Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. I enjoy a lot of her recipes and like that she makes her food a little healthier by adding fruit and vegetable purees.

These cupcakes were okay. They were a little dry but I think it's my fault because I added more pumpkin rather than using both purees. Otherwise, everyone seemed to enjoy them.

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1/2 cup yellow squash puree

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

Put the pumpkin and squash purees in a large mixing bowl. Add brown sugar, water, oil, and vanilla and beat until well blended.

Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips, and mix until completely incorporated. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Bake until the tops of the cupcakes are lightly browned and spring back to the touch, 20-25 minutes. Cool before frosting.

Frosting

1 (8oz) package reduced fat cream cheese

1/3 cup pure maple syrup]

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

Beat the cream cheese with the maple syrup, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Spread frosting over cooled cupcakes. Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or wrap inidividually and freeze for up to 1 month.

Chocolate Marshmallow Meltaways

 This recipe comes from Parents Magazine. You can visit their website at www.parents.com/cookie-jar

 These cookies are a no-bake cookie form of a s'more. I tweaked the recipe a little and would like to see about changing it a little more. Next time I make them, I will probably omit the cinnamon and use a little less marshmallow cream. It might be a better idea to put the chocolate in the well of the cookie before the marshmallow so it doesn't overflow as easily and there's a nice chocolate surprise when you bite in.

Chocolate Marshmallow Meltaways

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon (I recommend omitting)

7 oz marshmallow cream

Chocolate syrup (I used melted chocolate chips)

In a large bowl (I mixed everything directly in the food processor) mix crumbs, peanut butter, maple syrup, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Shape into 24 1 1/4 inch balls and place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet or tray as you shape (I used wax paper). Use a fork to flatten and make a crisscross design on each ball. (I flattened them & made a little well instead.)

Before serving, spoon 1/2 teaspoon marshmallow on each cookie. Coat the spoon with nonstick spray to make it easier. Then drizzle cookies with chocolate syrup.

 Nutrition per cookie: 82 calories, 2g protein, 3g fat, 12g carbs, 1g fiber, 6mg calcium, 0 iron, 69mg sodium

I topped my cookies with melted chocolate rather than chocolate sauce. A bit messy but very delicious!

Sweet Pickle Relish

Sorry, no pictures for this post...at least not right now. This recipe comes from my Grandma Wray. This has always been my favorite pickle relish recipe.

Sweet Pickle Relish

8 cups ground cucumbers 

2 cups ground onions (I use white)

Sprinkle with salt. Let stand for 2 hours. Drain well then add to the following mixture when it's ready to boil.

3 cups sugar

3 cups vinegar (any kind but I usually have white on hand)

1 teaspoon whole allspice

2 teaspoon celery seed

1 stick cinnamon (I use ground cinnamon if I don't have this on hand)

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Put all spices in a cloth bag. Let boil and boil slow for 25 minutes. 

Pack hot relish into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Process 10 minutes into a boiling-water canner. 

Yield 4 1/2 pintes

Sweet Potato Fries

 This is one of my favorite ways to eat sweet potatoes! I've seen sweet potato fries cooked like regular fries and I've seen them served as a dessert type food with cinnamon and sugar. This is the way I prefer to cook them but experiment and see what you prefer.

1-2 sweet potatoes
seasonings (I prefer to use cumin, garlic powder, and chili powder)

Wash and peel sweet potatoes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut potatoes into small fry-size pieces (about 3-inches long and 1/4 inch wide). Spread evenly over baking sheet (spraying baking sheet with nonstick spray tends to makes the fries soggy). Sprinkle with preferred seasonings. Cook about 15-20 minutes, turning fries half way through. Fries are done when they are soft.

Homemade Pepper Relish

This recipe comes from my wonderful mother-in-law who always helps me can foods. This is a great recipe for using up some of the peppers in the garden and it's my favorite topping for brats!

Homemade Pepper Relish

4 cups ground onions                   6 cups sugar

1 med head cabbage                    2 Tbls mustard seed

10 green tomatoes                        1 Tbls celery seed 

12 green sweet peppers                1 1/2 tsp turmeric

6 red sweet peppers                     4 cups clear vinegar 

1/2 cup salt                                 2 cups water    

                                                  1 Tbls Alum

Grind, with a coarse blade, onions, cabbage, tomatoes and peppers.  Sprinkle with salt, let stand overnight.  Rinse and drain.  Add sugar, spices, vinegar and water.  Heat to boiling.  Simmer 3 minutes.  Put into jars and seal.  Water bath for 20 minutes.  Makes approx. 11 pints. 

To make "Hot Pepper" relish, substitute hot peppers for the green and red sweet peppers.  Depending on how hot you want it, you can use a mixture of hot peppers and bell peppers.

Tamale Round-About

This is another Pampered Chef recipe that I got from a friend, I'm not sure which cookbook it is featured in. This recipe is very versatile, I've used leftover sloppy joe meat before and you could easily use leftover chili.

Tamale Round-About

Filling

2 1/2 cups cooked ground beef

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 jar (16 ounces) thick and chunky medium salsa

1/4 cup red or green bell pepper or combination of both, chopped

Corn Bread

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I use 1 cup all purpose and 1/2 cup whole wheat)

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1/4-1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (1 cup)

sour cream (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously spray fluted or bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. For filling, place ground beef in skillet. Sprinkle with seasonings. Stir in salsa. Cover over medium-low heat 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, chop bell pepper and sprinkle in bottom of pan.

3. For corn bread, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl. Add milk, eggs, and oil; stir until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in cheese.

4. Spread 1 1/2 cups batter evenly over peppers in pan. Top with filling and remaining batter, spreading evenly.

5. Bake 35-40 minutes or until top is lightly browned. Loosen corn bread from edge and center of pan with knife. Invert onto serving plate. Slice into 16 wedges. Serve with sour cream if desired.

Yield: 8 servings

Individual Lemon Blueberry Cakes

This recipe originally came from Parents Magazine. To see the original recipe, click here. I decided to tweak the recipe a little. If you like blueberries and corn muffins, I think that you'll like this recipe.

Ingredients

• 1-1/2  cups  blueberries (I used frozen and rolled them in 1/4 cup flour to prevent bleeding in the batter)
• 1  box (8.5 ounces)  corn bread mix (such as Jiffy) and ingredients to make the mix or follow the directions on the canister of corn meal like I did
• 1/3  cup  granulated sugar
• 1/2  cup  milk
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup Confectioners sugar
• 1 lemon - zested and juiced

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 F. Generously coat 12 cups in a muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a medium-size bowl, stir corn bread mix, egg (I used 1 per mix directions), granulated sugar, lemon zest, and milk until combined. Gently stir in blueberries.

3. Fill muffin cups should be about 3/4 full.

4. Bake at 400 F for 10 minutes. Cool in muffin pan on rack for 5 minutes. Run a sharp knife around each cup and remove cakes to racks to cool completely.

5. To serve, combine lemon juice and powdered sugar to make a glaze. Drizzle glaze over each muffin.

Fruit-Topped Triple Chocolate Pizza

In honor of Valentine's Day, I wanted to share a perfect dessert recipe to make for your Valentine. This recipe comes from Pampered Chef's "All the Best" cookbook. It's a relatively easy dessert that you could prepare in stages to make it more convenient. Also, feel free to try different fruits with this recipe. The original recipe calls for strawberries and oranges but I've never been a fan of oranges and chocolate. I think you could easily substitute raspberries for the strawberries.

Fruit-Topped Triple Chocolate Pizza

1 package (18 ounce) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough

2 squares (1 ounce each) white chocolate for baking

2 tablespoons milk

1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup thawed, frozen whipped topping

12-16 strawberries, cut in half

1 can (11 ounces) mandarin orange segments, well drained

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape cookie dough into a ball and place in center of a large round stone. Using lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough to a 12-inch circle, about 1/4 inch thick. Bake 12-15 minutes or until edges are set. (Cookie will be soft. Do not overbake.) Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes. Carefully loosen cookie from baking stone using a serrated bread knife; cool completely on baking stone.

2. Place white chocolate and milk in small microwavable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1 minute; still until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Microwave an additional 10-20 seconds if necessary. Cool slightly. In another bowl, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar; mix well. Gradually stir in white chocolate mixture; mix until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over cookie. 

3 Arrange fruit over cream cheese mixture. Place chocolate morsels and vegetable oil in small microwavable bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 30 seconds or until chocolate is melted and smooth. Drizzle over fruit. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Cut into wedges.

Yield: 16 servings