Category Archives: Food

Pumpkin Pecan Spice Cookies by Betty Crocker

These came out perfectly!  Very yummy cookies, great for snacking.  Evren vetoed them because they don’t have chocolate, so you may want to throw a handful of chocolate chips in the mix if you have one of those in your family. 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
3 teaspoons vanilla
2 3/4 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch ground cardamom
1 1/3 cups finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup white vanilla baking chips
4 oz vanilla-flavored candy coating (almond bark), chopped

Directions
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease cookie sheet with shortening or cooking spray, or line with cooking parchment paper or silicone baking mat.

In large bowl, beat brown sugar, butter, eggs, pumpkin and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed. Stir in flour, baking powder and spices. Stir in pecans and baking chips. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet.

Bake 10 to 14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Place candy coating in small resealable freezer plastic bag; seal bag. Microwave on High about 1 minute or until softened. Gently squeeze bag until coating is smooth; cut off tiny corner of bag. Squeeze bag to drizzle coating over cookies. Let stand until set.

Ham and Swiss Hand Pies from Pillsbury

Tasty!  Super easy and very yummy.

INGREDIENTS

1 can (12 oz) Pillsbury® Big & Flaky refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1/2 lb finely shaved cooked ham
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese (4 oz)
1 egg
1 tablespoon water

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 425°F.

2. Separate dough into 4 rectangles; firmly press perforations to seal. Place one-fourth of the ham and 1/4 cup cheese on one half of each dough rectangle. Fold other half of dough rectangles over filling. With fork, seal edges. Gently transfer hand pies to ungreased cookie sheet.

3. In small bowl, beat egg with water until frothy. Brush tops of hand pies with thin layer of egg wash.

4. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or just until medium golden brown. Cool slightly before serving, 3 to 5 minutes.

Cheeseburger Macaroni by Sunflower Supper Club

If you even remotely like Hamburger Helper… or you wish you liked Hamburger Helper but can’t stand it… this recipe is perfect!!  It is homemade goodness…  we ate it up.  I am definitely saving this one.

For the Beef Mixture:
1  pound ground beef
½  cup chopped onion
1  teaspoon minced garlic
1  tablespoon chili powder
¼  teaspoon red pepper flakes
¼  teaspoon oregano
½  teaspoon paprika
1 ½  teaspoons cumin
1  teaspoon salt
½  teaspoon pepper
1  can (14.5 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
2  cups beef broth
8  ounces Rigatoni pasta

For the Cheese Sauce:
2  tablespoons butter
2  tablespoons flour
1  cup whole milk
1  cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1  heaping tablespoon light sour cream

For the beef mixture:  Brown ground beef with onion and garlic in a large skillet.  Drain well.  Stir in chili powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper.  Cook for a minute stirring constantly.  Add the diced tomatoes, beef broth, and macaroni.  Bring to a boil.  Cover pan and reduce heat, simmer for about 10 to 12 minutes or as long as it takes for your pasta to be al dente.  Be sure to stir occasionally to keep it from sticking to the pan and to evenly cook your pasta.

While the beef mixture is simmering, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add the flour and whisk for about 2 minutes until bubbly.  Slowly add the milk and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes until thickened.  Remove from heat and add cheese.  Whisk until mixture is smooth and creamy.

When the meat mixture is done add the cheese sauce to your skillet.  Stir to combine, stir in sour cream and let sit a few minutes to thicken.  Top with extra shredded cheese if desired.

Tortellini with Edamame and Smoked Sausage from Disney Family

This recipe has only 5 ingredients and I ended up going to 3 different grocery stores to get everything…what?  First of all, is there such a thing as “frozen tortellini”?  Not where I live apparently – I finally just got the refrigerated kind – it worked perfectly.  Then, shelled edamame – it does exist.  But you won’t find it at Super Target (lesson learned).

All in all – fun recipe.  I’m not sure Italian dressing is the right complement to this dish (Ayla wasn’t a fan) but it was tasty enough.  For about 15 bucks we had enough to feed all three of us for two meals and it filled us up – I’ll take it!

Lemon-Zucchini Pound Cake by Betty Crocker

Dense cake; not as moist as I would have hoped, but still delicious.

Ingredients

3 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

4 eggs

2/3 cup milk

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

1 cup shredded zucchini (about 1 medium), squeezed to drain

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon butter or margarine, softened

1 tablespoon half-and-half

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 12-cup fluted tube cake pan with shortening; lightly flour.
• In medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt with spoon; set aside.
• In large bowl, beat 1 cup butter with electric mixer on medium speed about 2 minutes or until creamy.  Beat in 2 cups powdered sugar.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk, beating well on low speed after each addition.  Beat on low speed 1 minute.  Stir in lemon juice, lemon peel and zucchini.  Spoon into pan.
• Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 15 minutes in pan.  Remove from pan onto serving plate.  Cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.
• In 1-quart saucepan, heat all glaze ingredients just to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Let stand 30 minutes until slightly thickened.  Drizzle over cake.

Farmhouse Chicken & Corn Chowder from America’s Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution

photo: Good Heavens Baking Blog

I have seen some reviews for this recipe online that say the recipe is average, or just okay … but we loved it.  I made it exactly as the cookbook states and it was fantastic.  We have tons of leftovers and trust me, it will all be devoured.

Ingredients

• 2 slices bacon, minced
• 4 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 2 onions, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme (or 1/2 t. dried)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 5 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 lb red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed
• salt
• pepper
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 (15 ounce) can creamed corn
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chili in adobo seasoning
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh basil or 3 tablespoons cilantro

Directions

1. Cook bacon in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat until crisp, 5-7 minutes.
2. Stir in 1 tablespoon oil and onions and cook until softened, 5-7 minutes.
3. Stir in garlic, tomato paste, and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
4. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute.
5. Whisk in 2 cups broth, scraping up any browned bits; transfer to slow cooker.
6. Stir remaining 3 cups broth, potatoes, carrot, and bay leaves into slow cooker.
7. Season chicken with salt and pepper and nestle into slow cooker.
8. Cover and cook until chicken is tender, 4-6 hours on LOW.
9. Transfer chicken to cutting board, let cool slightly, then shred into bite-size pieces.
10. Let soup settle for 5 minutes, then remove fat from surface using large spoon; discard bay leaves.
11. Microwave bell pepper with remaining teaspoon oil in bowl, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes.
12. In separate bowl, microwave cream corn until hot, about 3 minutes.
13. Stir softened peppers, hot creamed corn, shredded chicken, cream, and chipotles into soup and let sit until heated through, about 5 minutes.
14. Stir in basil, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.