November 30, 2009
What's For Dinner?
Tonight Jamison is in class so he wont be joining us for dinner. Since it's "Meatless Monday" Alexis and I are having "soup" beans and a spinach salad. I put the beans in the slow cooker this morning and they are cooking away as I type.
What are you having?
Posted by Dianne at 2:31 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Creamy Spinach Noodles
Last week when Jamison was in class Alexis wanted noodles. I had my mouth all set for a really basic egg noodle with butter and chopped parsley when I realized I was out of butter. Not wanting to venture out in the cold, dark, rainy night I decided there had to be something I had on hand that while not exactly what I wanted, would fit the bill and this dish came in to being.
Was it good? Yes! Was it even better that what I orgionally planned? You betcha! I was really pleased with the outcome. With a few simple ingredients you have a really great, hearty, comforting pasta dish that comes together in no time. And the left overs? Well the leftovers were even better the next day. This will definitely be seen again at my house.
Oh and be sure and stop over at the Greenists today and see my post about making your own holiday gifts!
Now let's talk a little pasta!
What You'll Need:
1/2 of a large bag of egg noodles, cooked according to package directions
Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 a red onion, chopped
4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large bag of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup of fat free half and half (Note: Regular half and half or heavy cream would work as well.)
Cook noodles, drain and set aside.
While noodles are cooking saute onion and garlic until onions with a pinch of sea salt and some freshly ground pepper until they are tender. Stir in spinach and cook for 2-3 minutes to heat through. Add cheese and half and half and stir until cheese has melted. Pour spinach mixture over noodles and toss to coat. Serve immediately.
How easy what that?
Notes: You could use any type of onion, scallion, shallot, etc. You could also add other vegetables if desired.
Posted by Dianne at 10:29 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
November 24, 2009
Thanksgiving Yummies and Blessings
How is it possible that it is already November? I mean seriously, it seems like just yesterday the New Year rolled in and now here we are almost back to that very spot a whole year later! This year truly has flown, but I have to say this year, though not perfect in any way, was MUCH better than last year! Let's hope that trend continues and that is yet one more thing to be thankful for.
Thanksgiving has always been a big holiday in my family. Growing up it involved my mom's family all coming to our house and spending the day together. It was a lot of fun, and an opportunity to spend time with people we didn't get so see all that often. Not to mention all the yummy food!
Growing up my favorite holiday was always Christmas, and don't get me wrong, I'm still a fan of Christmas itself, but as I've gotten older I have to say that Thanksgiving has rapidly slid in to the number one spot. It's still a time of family, though now it is spent with Jamison's family, but it is a nice day to come together, be as one and just enjoy good food and good times. That in my opinion is the perfect holiday!
Everyone has their own family traditions, but there are normally some basics that come along like turkey! This year I'll be doing my normal brining of the turkey because it really does make a delicious bird. If you've never tried brining before, give it a shot, I promise you won't be disappointed! I also got a small boneless ham to go along with the turkey, because I was in a ham sort of mood.
For side dishes I make a Southern cornbread dressing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, peas, gravy, deviled eggs, salad and yeast rolls. I normally make corn casserole and cranberry sauce, but I decided to skip the first one this year, and I only make the cranberry sauce when my sister is here and this year she's in Tennessee with Mom.
Dessert this year will consist of a gluten free yellow cake with milk chocolate icing, a pecan pie, a coconut pie, chocolate fudge and a pumpkin sour cream pound cake. It's nice to have a mix of things to share and I think it's about time I make my way in to the kitchen to start baking!
So as Thanksgiving makes its way to us on Thursday I want to wish you all a blessed day filled with food, family and fun. Be thankful and remember your blessings. May the holiday season begin!
Posted by Dianne at 3:53 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
November 17, 2009
What's For Dinner?
Tonight I'm in the mood for steak, so we're having steaks, baked potatoes and roasted asparagus.
What are you having?
Oh and hopefully I'll be back with a recipe tomorrow. We shall see how things go. ;o)
Posted by Dianne at 4:20 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
November 13, 2009
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
For the past few weeks Jamison has been teaching classes at work. We went to Connecticut so he could teach class and when we got back to Maryland he's been teaching classes each day. I think he's teaching classes next week too, so he's had a whole lot of teaching going on!
We were discussing it the other day and he asked if I could make something to send in on one of the days he was teaching. I used to do this quite often, but when he started working from home a lot I sort of fell out of the habit. He brought up the idea of cinnamon rolls and that made me wonder...Why not make a pumpkin cinnamon roll?
I started thinking about the whole process and at first I thought maybe it would be neat to just add a layer of pumpkin in with the cinnamon and sugar before rolling the dough, but then I decided I wanted to actually put pumpkin in the dough itself! In the future I may go back and try the other idea, but I have to say I was quite pleased with how this version turned out!
The cinnamon rolls turned out with a nice subtle pumpkin flavor. Overall the flavor just melds together perfectly! These are just the thing for a lazy fall morning!
What You'll Need for the Dough:
2 cups of mashed pumpkin, warmed (Note: I used some I had roasted myself, but canned will work as well.)
1 stick of butter, mostly melted
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 cup of organic cane sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of yeast
4-6 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
Place pumpkin in a glass bowl and microwave for 30-40 seconds until just warm. You want it to be warm, but not hot to the touch.
Melt the butter in a similar manner. Again you want it just warm, not hot. Mushy chunks of butter throughout are fine. You basically just want to soften it up a bit and give it a bit of warmth to help the yeast along.
Place pumpkin, butter, sea salt, sugar, eggs and yeast in a mixer bowl and mix until blended.
Add 1 cup of flour and mix until incorporated. Beat on medium for 2 minutes.
After two minutes put the mixer back on low and slowly add flour until dough ball forms. You want a nice dough that isn't too sticky. Turn mixer back to medium speed and let mix for 3 minutes. Your mixer is doing the kneading work for you.
Once 3 minutes has passed move dough to a well oil or buttered bowl:
Let rise for one hour. (Note: Due to the pumpkin this dough isn't going to double in size or anything like that. After an hour it should be ready to go. It should be springy when touched.) Once the dough is risen you're reading for your next step.
What You'll Need for the Filling:
1 stick of melted butter, divided
Organic cane sugar
Natural brown sugar
Cinnamon
Punch down dough and on a floured surface roll out to 1/4 an inch thickness:
Next brush the dough with half of the melted butter:
Sprinkle with some organic cane sugar:
Then sprinkle some natural brown sugar:
And last but not least cinnamon!:
I went heavy on the cinnamon because I'm a big fan, but you can go a bit lighter if you like.
Slowly roll the dough into a long roll:
Cut roll into 1/2 inch slices:
Place slices on a baking sheet that has been lined with a silicone baking sheet or parchment paper. Continue until roll is completely sliced:
Next brush the tops of each roll with the remaining melted butter and then dust with more organic cane sugar:
Place in a warm place and let rise for 1 hour:
The rise on these isn't going to be much. But letting them sit allows them to just breath and get ready for baking.
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Bake for 20-22 minutes until golden brown:
Let cool for 5 minutes and then frost (see below).
What You'll Need for the Maple Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 - 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened
1 stick of butter, softened
1/4 cup of maple syrup
2 cups of powdered sugar
In the bowl of a mixer mix together cream cheese and butter until well blended. Add maple syrup and mix until incorporated. Slowly add sugar and mix until smooth. Use to ice cinnamon rolls above.
Notes: The pumpkin I used was very pale in color, so it didn't really give an orange glow to these cinnamon rolls. Canned pumpkin would most likely give them a bit more of an orange flare. If you wanted you could add a little grated nutmeg to the filling, but I like to use just cinnamon and sugar.
Posted by Dianne at 11:36 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
November 12, 2009
What's For Dinner?
Tonight we're having breakfast for dinner. Scrambled eggs for Jamison, an omelet for me, and home fries. Lex will have some spinach leaves and carrots, since she isn't a fan of eggs, along with her home fries.
What are you having?
Posted by Dianne at 2:51 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 11, 2009
Broccoli Cheese Soup
I love Broccoli Cheese Soup, but I've never actually made my own. Something about it intimidated me, though I'm not quite sure why. It's really a simple soup, but for some reason in my head I had built it up to mythic proportions, when in reality something that tastes good doesn't have to be difficult.
When I get blue I want comfort food. Yes I know, food shouldn't be comfort, but what can you do? It happens, I won't deny that it does. I had bought the ingredients I thought would be good in a Broccoli Cheese Soup last Friday, but then I didn't feel much like cooking over the weekend. Monday for lunch I thought it would hit the spot since it was a dreary sort of day. I told my sister last week I needed to come up with a Broccoli and Cheese soup, so no time like the present!
What I came up with was fabulous! It's rich, creamy and yes you wouldn't want to eat this everyday, but there are a lot of foods that are that way. If you're a fan of Broccoli Cheese Soup this is the soup for you!
What You'll Need:
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of butter
4 shallots, chopped
2 heaping tablespoons of unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of finely ground black pepper
1 quart of chicken broth (Note: I used some I had made, but store bought will be fine.)
2 cups of fat free half and half (Note: Regular half and half will be fine, or even heavy cream if you just want to go all out.)
7 ounces of Colby cheese, shredded
1 - 16 ounce package of frozen broccoli
Melt butter in olive oil and sauté shallots until slightly caramelized:
Add flour, salt and pepper and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring often until slightly browned:
This makes a mini "roux". You want to basically cook the flour, but not let it go all the way to nutty brown.
Add chicken broth and half and half and stir until smooth. Bring to a quick boil, then lower heat to simmer. Add cheese and stir until melted. Next add broccoli and cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring often.
Serve immediately.
Notes: If you can't find shallots, finely chopped red onion will work fine. You could top this with chopped bacon if you preferred. Also if you wanted to process the soup to make the broccoli finer you could, but I like my soup chunky.
Posted by Dianne at 11:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 10, 2009
What's For Dinner?
Tonight we're having a homemade pizza night! I make Jamison a big pizza because he likes the left overs and it makes work lunches easy. Lex and I usually have personal sized pizzas. Jamison gets his standard gluten free crust with ground beef, pepperoni, mozzarella and Parmesan, Lex gets a regular crust with black olives, mozzarella and Parmesan, and tonight I think I'm just going with a basic cheese pizza on a regular crust. (Can you tell anything about my mood by that choice? ;oP)
What are you having?
Posted by Dianne at 1:08 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 9, 2009
Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Pancakes
So I've been in a funk since Friday. It happens from time to time, but this one seems to be sticking around a few more days than normal. I haven't been this depressed since high school and I'm generally just a snarky ball of angst. Saturday morning I woke up with a wild hair for pancakes, but my mood was not conducive to cooking, as it often is not when I'm in a bad mood, so I had left over beef stroganoff instead. Isn't that an exciting breakfast?
I love pancakes, but nine times out of ten I'll make waffles instead, because though I love them, I hate making them. All the dipping and turning and then dipping more and turning more gets old to me and fast! Once in a blue moon though I do make actual pancakes and yesterday morning, though I was still blue, I was feeling some better, so I decided we'd have pancakes and baked sausage for brunch.
Pumpkin is a fabulous flavor and makes a really great addition to pancakes. This version makes a very satisfying, fall treat that will quickly become a favorite. Toss in some chocolate and you've got the perfect breakfast time delight.
What You'll Need:
2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 cup of organic cane sugar
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 tablespoon of baking powder
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1 cup of mashed pumpkin (Note: I use some that I roasted myself and had in the freezer, but you could use canned pumpkin if you liked.)
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
2 tablespoons of safflower oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups of buttermilk
Chocolate chunks or chocolate chips (Note: I used some chopped milk chocolate that I had in the cupboard, but any type of chocolate will do. Dark chocolate would be particularly fabulous.)
In a large bowl stir together flour, sugar, sea salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg until incorporated. Add remaining ingredients, except the chocolate and stir until batter forms:
Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat. Spray pan with non-stick spray or brush with oil. Pour batter in circles on the heated/prepared pan or griddle:
After a minute or two add some chocolate chunks or chips and cook for another minute or so:
Don't let them go too long, you don't want to burn them.
Flip the pancake over once set and cook for an additional minute or two until done through:
Serve immediately.
How fabulous do those look?
Notes: You could leave out the chocolate if you preferred. You could also add in a chopped nut. Pecans or walnuts would be fabulous or maybe even a few raisins.
Posted by Dianne at 8:09 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
November 5, 2009
What's For Dinner?
Tonight Jamison is having spicy steak tips and mashed potatoes. I'm having beef stroganoff and Lex is having chicken and noodles. Lex and I will also have an as yet to be decided vegetable.
What are you having?
Posted by Dianne at 5:12 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 4, 2009
What's For Dinner?
Jamison is in class tonight, so I put a nice vegetable/beef soup in the slow cooker this morning for Alexis and me. It smells heavenly! We're getting ready to have an early dinner in just a few minutes.
What are you having?
Posted by Dianne at 5:20 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 3, 2009
What's For Dinner?
Tonight we're having roasted chicken, potatoes for Jamison, sweet potatoes for Lex and me, and corn.
What are you having?
Posted by Dianne at 5:21 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
November 2, 2009
What's For Dinner?
Tonight we're having gluten free lasagna and salad.
What are you having?
Posted by Dianne at 2:53 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Check It Out!
I'm posting today over at the Greenists about picking your Thanksgiving Turkey. Pop on over and check it out and be sure and let me know what your Thanksgiving traditions are.
We're back in Maryland, but tomorrow I have one more restaurant to tell you about, this one from Maine! Hopefully things will start getting back to normal in the next day or so.
I hope you all are having a good day!
Posted by Dianne at 1:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
