Mini pumpkin pies

It's fall. It's almost time for Thanksgiving. It's pumpkin pie time! I personally enjoy an individual pumpkin pie. It's mini, which means it doesn't look like you're eating as much! Eat up

Pie crust:

2 cups flour

3/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup shortening 

6-7 tbsp cold water

Add flour, salt & shortening to mixing bowl or food processor. While mixing add cold water in slowly 1 tbsp at a time until a ball is formed. Grease a muffin pan. Then take a small out of dough & press into muffin cup. Bake at 350° for 5 minutes. 

Pumpkin pie filling:

1 1/2 cups cooked or canned pumpkin 3/4 cups sugar

1/2 tsp salt 

1 1/4 tsp cinnamon 

1 tsp ginger 

1/2 tsp nutmeg 

1/2 tsp cloves 

3 slightly beaten eggs 

1 1/4 cups milk 

16 oz can evaporated milk

Thoroughly combined pumpkin, sugar, salt and spices. Blend in eggs and both milks. Pour into pastry shell that has been baked for five minutes at 350°. Immediately bake in hot oven 350° for 20-25 minutes. Check for clean knife in middle of pie. 

Cannoli Cupcakes

I found this recipe on Pinterest and since I'm Italian....well how do you not squeal with delight at the thought of cannoli's and cupcakes together? This recipe is gold. OMG, they were delicious and reminded me of pastries from home in Jersey. I highly, highly recommend making these. Be sure to make a double batch if they are intended for sharing. You'll certainly want a bunch for yourself.

 

Cannoli Cupcakes:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup low-fat yogurt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup ricotta impastata*
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1-2/3 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips for decoration (optional)

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Put paper liners in a standard 12-cup muffin pan. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, followed by the yogurt and vanilla – scraping the sides of bowl as necessary. Add in the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed for 1 minute.

Divide the batter evenly among the cups. Bake until the cupcakes are golden brown and a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely.

For the cannoli cream: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the ricotta, confectioner’s sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until smooth. Stir in the 1/4-cup mini chocolate chips. Transfer to a quart-sized resealable plastic bag. Using scissors, snip off 1/2-inch from a closed corner of the bag. You will use the plastic bag as a pastry bag to fill the cupcakes.

Using a small knife, cut a deep, inverted cone out of the center of each cupcake. Set cones aside. Use the plastic bag to fill the cupcakes with the cream. Use a knife to smooth the top of the filling flush with the cupcake.

To make the cocoa whipped cream: In a chilled medium bowl, combine the heavy cream, confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder and beat with an electric mixer on high speed until the cream forms stiff peaks.

Snip 1/2-inch from a closed corner of a gallon-sized resealable plastic bag. Insert a large star tip (such as Ateco 825) in the bag and poke it through the snipped end. Transfer the cocoa cream to the bag. Pipe swirls of cocoa whipped cream over each cupcake. Sprinkle each with about a teaspoon of mini chocolate chips. Refrigerate, uncovered, until ready to serve.

* Ricotta impastata is an Italian cheese found in specialty shops. It’s dryer and lighter than traditional ricotta. Of course, I couldn’t find it – so I let a 15 oz container of whole milk ricotta set in a cheesecloth lined strainer overnight to reduce the liquid content. Then, I pureed it in the food processor for about 3 minutes to whip to make it lighter. Worked like a charm!

Healthy Chicken with Tomato & Spinach

I'm still pretty amazed at how easy & delicious it is to cook without oils. I'm Italian so of course one of the hardest things about this diet was my pasta so I came up with this to get a little Italian back in my repertoire.  Hope you enjoy!

4 boneless skinless chicken breast, halved

1 bag of fresh spinach leaves

5 Roma tomatoes, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 lemons

1/2 cup of water

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp basil

I found it was always easier to get my pan set up before I started cooking. Place chicken in large skillet, tomatoes, garlic, herbs & top with spinach. Then pour water in. Squeeze as much juice as possible from the lemons over the spinach. Cook on medium heat until chicken is no longer pink, occasionally flipping chicken & adjusting spinach. 

Deco mesh topiary

I love Deco mesh! I've become quite the addict since discovering it. I've noticed it's kind of hard to find though unless you're an online shopper. Most of my craft stores are very limited in their selection. 

I found this on the Michael's website & wanted to share some of the problems i ran into. Of course you don't have to use their supplies.  

This took much longer than the hour they stated. The floral pins also kept coming through the mesh. After more than a few, uh, very ladylike outbursts, I opted to cheat. Glue gun? Oh yeah! Armed with my alternative weapon, I managed to make sure every single piece was secure.  Just a little bit around the floral pin head is all you need. Good luck!

 (12") Deco mesh, whichever color you prefer 

FloraCraft® Styrofoam® Ball, 3"

Styrofoam® Block - Green

Celebrate It® Ribbon - Color/Style of Choice

Celebrate It® Tulle Spool - Color of Choice

Wooden Dowel, 12"

Ashland™ Clay Pot, 6"

Floral Pins

Low Heat Glue Gun

Scissors

Craft Knife

Step 1 Cut mesh into 6" wide strips. Each pot will use approximately 40-50 strips total, depending on how tightly they are curled.

Step 2 Roll curls lengthwise, then twist and fold at center to create a V shape.

Step 3 Pin through center and push into Styrofoam® ball. Repeat until ball is full, with no Styrofoam® showing except small gap.

Step 4 Push dowel into gap on ball. Remove dowel and fill hole with glue, then reinsert.

Step 5 Use craft knife to trim green Styrofoam® brick to fit inside the clay pot, level with the top. Glue corners of brick to pot if necessary.

Step 6 Insert other side of dowel into the center of the brick, deep enough to prevent wobbling, then remove. Fill hole with glue and reinsert dowel. Secure dowel to brick with additional glue if necessary.

Step 7 Fold and gather tulle around Styrofoam® brick, and pin as needed until foam is covered.

Step 8 Tie ribbon around pot and secure with glue if needed.

Healthy Lemon Garlic Shrimp

Ah shrimp. Yum! Butter, lemon & dill! Oil & seasonings on the grill. Delicious but not so healthy. As I'm not allowed oil or butter at the moment, I had to come up with something else. Truthfully, I may not go back to the butter later. Bet this works great on weight watchers too. Enjoy! 

1 lb shrimp, peeled & deveined

2 lemons

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 cup water

1 tbsp dill weed

Once shrimp is ready, toss in a skillet with the juice of 2 lemons, garlic, water & dill weed. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally until the shrimp turn that beautiful pink color. Eat it alone, over a salad, etc. it's all yummy! 

Getting my health back!

Many of you have seen the awful attempts at weight loss I've tried. With such a love of food, it becomes incredibly difficult. We all make excuses. We all find reasons for why it's ok to, "start tomorrow". I personally tried to convince myself that popcorn was totally a vegetable! And cake was part of a bread serving, right? 

I was always really thin & active, but I've always eaten whatever I wanted without consequences. It finally caught up with me. I wanted to make sure I got healthy not only for myself, but my son too. I need to show him that it's ok to eat cake once in a while, but it shouldn't replace a good meal. 

A friend of mine had been so sick with so many problems. She was on so many medications. The Drs. Basically gave up on her not knowing what to do. I think that saved her life. She got angry then she found this diet & took her life back. She's lost so much weight, alleviating so many of her health issues along with medications. I'm so proud of her. It gave me hope that I could do it too. She has helped me so much with this program. 

I am happy to say that I am down 25 lbs because of Omnitrition! I'm still not done. It's not always easy, but it's so worth it. I'm not allowed any oils, sugars or starches. Everything I love! I won't lie. I've had a few fits about it that would rival my toddlers. I miss bread & baking! BUT it's not forever. I know that this program has shown me the proper way to eat so that I can enjoy foods I love later, but will know how to eat them in moderation, which I've never been able to do. I've also discovered how to make healthy food that's delicious. It doesn't taste like I'm on diet, because it's real food! Not a box full of preservatives.  I'm so excited! I have so much more energy. I have fewer headaches. And my self esteem is managing to peek it's head out again. 

I would highly recommend this program to anyone who wants to change their lives not just what's on the scale. I cant wait to keep going until i am to my goal weight! http://www.omnitrition.com/joylarson 

Healthy "oatmeal"

I've been being really good on a new diet lately. (more details to come) Someone, that's a genius by the way, shared this with me. This breakfast is even awesome as a dessert. Love! Love! Love! Eat up folks, it's healthy!

Cut up a medium apple & crunch up a Wasa cracker in a bowl. Add 1 tsp water, however much cinnamon you like & a few drops of Stevia Sweet Leaf English Toffee. Microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes. 

Not so cozy

My son decided a couple of weeks ago that he longer wanted to sleep. He also decided that he was going to make the great escape from the crib. Ah....and so the terrible twos begin.
It's been interesting to say the least. The tears, the screams and my favorite, the giggle that says, "I win again Momma." Ash is getting closer to getting back on schedule, but he seems to mostly want comfort now.
 I can't help but laugh most of the time. He's just so cute about it. As he lays down and then barely opens his eyes to check to see if I'm still there making sure he'll nap. He cracks me up as he sneaks down the hall all super stealth to peek into the office. He then tried scooting his butt down the hall and smiling at me when he came around the corner. Last night, he climbed in the bed with my husband & I for the first time. Aww, my super sweet snuggler! Three headbutts, 2 kicks & nearly getting knocked off the bed later, not so sweet, not so cozy. I will definitely be hooking up the coffee IV today.

S'more pockets

I love s'mores! I saw something like this & I just had to try it. S'mores are messy so I'm loving the craze of creating all the different kinds of s'more desserts. These babies are so delicious & easy to make. The marshmallows melt into the bread making it sweet. Though when I first saw that I was a little disappointed until I tried it. I won't actually admit that I ate the entire batch in 24 hours, possibly less, instead I'll add that my son did help with the eating. 

1 can reduced fat crescent rolls (not buttery)

Bag of mini marshmallows 

Hershey bar or chocolate chips

Lay your crescent roll flat, add some chocolate on the crescent roll, then a few mini marshmallows. 

Bundle them up so that there are no open spaces & then bake according to roll directions. Drool as you wait & enjoy!

Cream cheese sandwiches

I remember having a love of food & cooking early on. I had my little kid cookbooks so that I could feel like I got to make stuff too. In my most adventurous & silly cookbook, Strawberry shortcake, I remember these delicious sandwiches. I still love them & enjoy sharing them with my son. 

Cream cheese sandwich:

Take one slice of bread & cut off the crust. Then smear some cream cheese onto the bread. Sprinkle some Real bacon bits on top. Roll the bread jelly roll style. Spear a green olive on a toothpick & then the sandwich to keep together. Serve. 

Lemon & Mixed Berry Cupcakes

I decided that I'd make yummy cupcakes for my sons birthday in a few weeks instead of making a huge cake again. Texas summers are always too hot so I wanted to come up with something refreshing. These came out better than I'd hoped. Yummmmmmm! Lemon cupcake: 1 cup white sugar 1/2 cup butter 2 eggs 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 3/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tbsp lemon peel 1/2 cup low-fat milk 4 tsp lemon juice 1 1/2 tsp lemon extract

	Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
	Line muffin cups with liners.
	Cream sugar and 1/2 cup butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and mix 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract into mixture with the second egg.
	Beat in flour, lemon peel and baking powder until thoroughly combined; beat in milk, lemon juice, and lemon extract to make a smooth batter. It was a thick batter.
	Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.
	Bake in the preheated oven until cupcake edges are slightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool cupcakes completely. Made about 16 cupcakes.  Mixed berry buttercream: 1 cup butter, softened 1 tsp vanilla extract 4 cups confectioners sugar 1/4 cup mixed berry, purée
	Beat 1 cup butter with 1 tsp vanilla extract. Beat in confectioners sugar, 1 cup at a time, to make a creamy frosting. Purée mixed berries in small food processor. I used frozen. Beat in mixed berry purée to buttercream. Spread frosting on cooled cupcakes.

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie!

Ahhhh pizza! I love pizza & so does my family, but I don't like all the grease. Fold it & hold the pizza up for 5 minutes until most of the grease pours off.....Delicious, but not healthy. I started making pizza at home & I love it! Knowing exactly what goes into my pizza makes me happy to feed my family. The Cooking Light magazine pizza dough recipe is by far the best I've had. Have fun with it! Use a little garlic olive oil in the dough instead of just plain. Make a chicken pesto pizza instead of cheese! 

Barilla jar marinara sauce is really good or you can just use fresh or canned tomatoes. Add about 3 tbsp of tomatoes or sauce on top of dough that you've baked at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Then add as much shredded mozzarella as you like. Add pepperoni or mushrooms or whatever toppings you prefer. We just made a plain cheese pie. Bake about 15 minutes still on 350 degrees & enjoy!

Pizza dough:

1/2 tsp sugar 

1 pkg dry yeast about 2 1/4 teaspoon. 2/3 cup warm water 100-110°

1 1/2 cups of bread flour

 2 1/2 tbsp cornmeal divided. 

2 tsp extra Virgin olive oil 

1/2 tsp salt 

2 tbsp bread flour

Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water in a large bowl let stand five minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups level with a knife. Add flour 1 1/2 tbsps cornmeal, oil,  and salt to yeast mixture stir until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a floured surface knead 5 minutes. Add 2 tbsps bread flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking to hands. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray turning to coat top cover and let rise in a warm place free from drafts 45 minutes or until doubled in size. Punch dough down and shape into a ball in a  bowl with cooking spray place still in bowl turning to coat top cover and let rise another 30 minutes. Roll it into a 12 inch circle on a lightly floured surface place on a 12 inch pizza pan or baking sheet coated with cooking spray and sprinkled with 1 tbsp cornmeal and bake according to recipe directions. 

Light Tortellini

Of course I love any kind of pasta, well except that wheat pasta. That's some bad stuff. I picked up some of the packaged tortellini in a Italian sausage & another with prosciutto. 

After cooking I put it in a large bowl & added dried garlic bits, a can of petite diced tomatoes & a small amount of olive oil. Mix it well & serve it up with a few cubes of fresh mozzarella. 

My toddler loved this too if anyone is looking for a great meal for kids. 

Flowers for Mother's Day

I remember art class vaguely from grammar school. Cute little crafty projects! I've been trying to reach down deep in my memory for some of these projects to do with Ash lately. With a little help from Pinterest, voila! 

I love flowers, but they don't last long & can get rather expensive so paper flowers are a great gift especially for mothers day when there's grandmas, aunts, neighbors, etc. 

You need tissue paper in the colors you like, scissors, & pipe cleaners. 

Cut a bunch of 5x7 rectangles of tissue paper in the colors you like. Stack them up & fold accordion style. You can cut half moons at the ends or cut a triangle to make a point on each end. 

Loop a pipe cleaner around the middle & twist off the end on the "stem". Fan out the tissue paper gently separating each piece of tissue paper. You can lightly spray with perfume if you'd like. 

Hope you all have as much fun as we did!

Ice pop great for kids

I've always loved ice pops but as I've gotten older I can truly appreciate the real fruit ones compared to the box of food dye pop sticks that I loved so much as a kid. I found some plastic Popsicle molds & decided to give it a try for Ash since he loves fruit so much. This is of course an easy teething helper!

Most grocery stores will have bags of frozen fruit that are individual fruit or a nice mix. I found a really nice one that had
strawberries, mangoes, pineapple, peaches and red grapes. You can really get whatever you prefer. Then I got a bottle of Juicy Juice mango juice.
I took about 3 cups of frozen fruit & 3/4 cup of mango juice & puréed in the food processor. I let it freeze overnight & we both thoroughly enjoyed our yummy ice pops!

Obsessed

Sorry I know it's been a little bit, but I've been crushing candy. This silly little game is more addictive than angry birds! I find myself needing my fix with any spare time that I have. HELP! I have been doing some cooking so I have a few new recipes coming soon! Oh! I think someone just sent me a life....

Strawberry spinach salad

A friend of mine told me of this wonderful olive oil & balsamic shop in our area called Bella Vita. I finally got a chance to go & I kid you not, I thought I went for a wine tasting. It was marvelous! The customer service was phenomenal as she took us through to taste everything. Even Ash got a few samples. If you're lucky enough to have one in your area I highly recommend visiting or go to their site. http://www.bvoliveoil.com
The woman there had us try apricot balsamic with lemon oil. Talk about a flavor explosion! I had to have it so a salad was born.

Strawberry spinach salad

Strawberries, sliced
Fresh spinach
Apricot balsamic
Lemon olive oil

Lay your spinach on your plate. Slice some strawberries on top. Combine the oil & vinegar. I found that a little more of the apricot made a better mix. Then just pour over salad. It's so flavorful, you really don't need much.

Strawberry Muffins

I love strawberries any way that I can get them. It's all too often that I can't find decent strawberries at the store so for this recipe I used frozen ones. I do try, but just like my blueberry muffins, I can never seem to keep my muffins from getting dyed from the juice. You can add some cinnamon for some extra flavor or even try swapping whole wheat flour instead of all purpose.

 

 

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup white sugar

1 3/4 cups flour

1 cup chopped strawberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a small bowl, combine oil, milk, and egg. Beat lightly. In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Toss in chopped strawberries and stir to coat with flour. Pour in milk mixture and stir together.
Fill muffin cups. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, or until the tops bounce back from the touch. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pans.

 

Onion & cheese roll ups

I had these for my husbands birthday party over the weekend & they were a huge hit! I found a garlic & lime salsa verde by Pace that goes perfect with this. You can make changes where you like. Add a slice of ham or serve warm with sautéed onions!

1 cup sour cream
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Scallions sliced. Amount to taste.
1 tbsp lime juice
10 (6 inch) flour tortillas
1 jar of salsa or salsa verde


Mix sour cream, cream cheese, Cheddar cheese, green onions, & lime juice.
Spread one side of each tortilla with the sour cream mixture. Tightly roll each tortilla. Place rolled tortillas on serving dish and cover with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator at least 1 hour.
Slice tortillas in half. Serve with salsa.

Happy Easter!

  Easter was so exciting this year with Ash being a little bit older. For one thing, he didn't have chickenpox this year. We made him a little basket....errrr, maybe not so little. And then so did his grandparents & his aunt. haha Spoiled rotten! Just a little bit of candy but a lot of art things & toys. Don't mind momma & daddy's basket.

  Chris & I decided to get him a nice suit for the occasion. He was so handsome! I still just can't get over how big my baby is getting. It truly goes by too fast & I want to make sure I don't miss any of it.
We went over to my parents house for Easter for our family day. Immediately wanting to go outside, he began to spot the eggs right away. haha He knew exactly what to do for the hunt! We had to hold him off until his aunt came so that we could do pictures.

  He ran around the yard finding them all & putting them in his basket. Then he had a blast getting them all open to see what was inside.
  A wonderful meal. A wonderful family. Just a perfect day!

 

 

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Mystery goop

I remember as a kid a friend of mine showed me the magic of mystery goop that we would play with outside. We would pour it on her deck & watch it spread like water, but was nearly solid to touch. Way cool!
Ash is always looking to learn & try new things so I thought it would be a fun afternoon activity.
All you do is mix cornstarch & water together. That's it. Cleanup is super simple too. You just need a damp paper towel & your floor is clear.
I think that mystery goop kept him entertained for nearly an hour & perfect for a dreary day outside. Hope your little ones enjoy too!

Lemon Pound Cake

I found myself craving some kind of citrusy dessert yesterday & this lemon pound cake sure hit the spot!

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs, room temp
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp lemon extract
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup oil
zest of one lemon
Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp whole milk
1/2 tsp lemon extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a medium bowl, combine eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla extract, lemon extract and lemon juice with a mixer until blended.
Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and blend until smooth. Add oil and lemon zest and mix well.
Pour into loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. (It took an hour in my oven). Remove from oven and pour glaze over it, then cool in pan on a rack.
Glaze - whisk to combine

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

A friend of mine made these delicious cookies last week. I had to have the recipe! Now I can share it with all of you. Yum!

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups quick-cooking or regular rolled oats, uncooked

Heat oven to 375˚

Beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla; blend thoroughly. Stir together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Mix in peanut butter until well blended. Stir in oats, mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes about 4 dozen

Honey Balsamic Fish Filets

My husband & I used to eat fish all the time. Since my pregnancy I've lost my taste for it, but this is a great recipe we've made a few times.

1 lb fresh or frozen skinless cod, orange roughy or tilapia filets, 3/4 to 1" thick
4 cups baby spinach leaves
1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
1 medium red or yellow sweet pepper, cut into thin strips
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp honey

Thaw fish, if frozen. Rinse fish; pat dry with paper towels. Place spinach in a bowl and set aside. In a large skillet, cook onion in 1 tbsp of oil over medium heat for 5-6 minutes or until tender and slightly golden. Add sweet pepper; cook and stir 1 minute more. Remove from heat. Stir onion mixture into spinach; transfer to a serving platter. Set aside.

Sprinkle fish fillets with salt & pepper. In the same skillet, heat the remaining 2 tbsp oil over medium-high heat. Add fish; cook 4 minutes. Carefully turn fish. Reduce heat to medium; cook 3 minutes more or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Place fish fillets on top of wilted spinach; cover to keep warm.

In a small bowl stir together the balsamic vinegar and honey. Add to skillet. Cook and stir until heated through, scraping up any browned bits. To serve, spoon balsamic vinaigrette over fish and spinach.

Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken

I decided to try to make a special dinner for my husband last night since we both have to work on Valentines Day. I meant to surprise him, but duty called with Ash so dinner was way late. It was delicious though.

Prosciutto Wrapped  Chicken

1 package of boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 lb of thinly sliced prosciutto
3 tbsp of crushed garlic
fresh basil
1 package of sliced portabello mushrooms
sliced provolone cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Trim the fat off of your chicken breasts. Smear some of the crushed garlic onto the chicken. This is really up to you on how much you want to put on there. We love garlic so we tend to be heavy handed with it. Place a piece or 2 of fresh basil on then wrap the chicken breast up in prosciutto. Once all of your chicken is in a large casserole dish, lay provolone slices on top. Add the mushrooms and bake for about 45 minutes. I found that this made a delicious broth and there was no oil necessary. I served this with mashed potatoes.

Snickerdoodle Bars

I love snickerdoodles!!!! A friend of mine gave me this recipe for snickerdoodle bars. I immediately had to try it out. You can try adding some extra cinnamon to the dough for extra flavor if you like. Enjoy!

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar + 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 8×8-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. (You can double this recipe and use a 9x13 baking dish)
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in salt, egg and vanilla extract until well combined. Add in flour and stir until no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Pour dough – it will be thick – into prepared baking dish and smooth it into an even layer- You will probably have to wash your hands and use your fingers to pat it down evenly.
Stir together remaining 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp ground cinnamon. Sprinkle dough evenly with cinnamon sugar mixture.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until bars are set and the edges are just very lightly browned. Cool in the pan before slicing.

Red pepper & feta dip

I love to snack, but chips & dip get kinda boring sometimes. Here's something a little different.

4 pita breads, split & cut
2 jarred roasted red peppers, drained & chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1/8 tsp cayenne
6 oz feta cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place pita on baking sheet & bake, turning until crisp.
In a food processor, blend red peppers, 3/4 of feta, garlic & cayenne. Top tip with remaining feta & serve with pita chips.

Movin' on up!

I am so incredibly excited to announce that we now have a website!!! Right now it is only jewelry, but as I love to pick up hobbies, additions will likely be made as I get into those. Thank you all truly for all the support! Please check it out. Www.cozyhousecreations.com

Turkey meatball vegetable soup

It's chilly. So many of us are sick. It's soup time so make it happen! My husband & I prefer a heartier soup so just add more broth if prefer. Enjoy!

Turkey meatballs:

1lb ground turkey
1 egg
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 tsp minced garlic
1tsp Mrs Dash Garlic & Herb
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp dill weed
Stir all ingredients in large bowl until well blended the use spoon to make small meatballs. Place meatballs in bottom of large stockpot with some olive oil. Cook until meatballs brown on outside then add soup ingredients.

Soup:

3 14oz cans of diced tomato
2 cans of vegetable stock
2 containers of low sodium chicken broth
1 bag of steamed green beans
1 bag of streamed mixed vegetable
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
3 tbsp Mrs Dash Onion & Herb.

Keep on medium heat, stirring occasionally until pasta is fully cooked.

Orange Apricot Bread

When I was 1st starting to learn to bake I used to make quick breads all the time. It's like cake, but not. What's not to love? Add in my fear of yeast breads, quick breads were the ultimate answer. This great one is perfect for mornings!

6 ozs dried apricots, coarsely chopped
2 cups water
2 tbsp butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tbsp finely grated orange peel
3 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans.
Cook apricots in water in a covered saucepan for 10-15 minutes, until apricots are mushy. Drain and reserve 3/4 cup liquid; set fruit aside to cool.
In a mixing bowl with electric mixer, cream margarine and sugar. Beat in egg and orange peel just until blended. Into a separate bowl, sift flour, dry milk, baking powder, soda, and salt. Stir sifted mixture into to creamed mixture alternately with reserved apricot liquid and orange juice.
Stir chopped soaked apricots and pecans into the batter. Turn batter into prepared loaf pans. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until bread springs back when lightly touched in center. Cool 5 minutes in pan. Remove from pan to rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.

What came first? The chicken or the cheese?

Lunch today was a battle. Ash has fully realized how to absolutely refuse to do or eat something. Oh yeah, let the good times roll. I try to let him pick his meals so that if he has a say in it, it's not so frustrating for him. Raviolis for breakfast? Sure why not!
Today he picked leftover chicken cutlets and cheese cubes. He ate 2 pieces of chicken and then attacked the cheese leaving the rest of the chicken. Oh I don't think so!
We then had a disagreement so to speak about how he could only have more cheese if he ate chicken first. He stared at me crying for a while pointing to the cheese. Very sad, but poor kid, he had no idea that momma was winning this one. It's possible that he nearly flipped me off before he begrudgingly at the chicken whilst giving me the stink eye. Then as promised, he got his cheese. Tears, breadcrumbs & cheese on his face.....the smile I got was priceless.

My strange addiction

For some unknown reason about a month ago I decided to try my hand at jewelry. I wasn't sure how it would go given my normal patience level. We're talking about teeny tiny beads here.
I find it oddly therapeutic though & a lot of fun! I never thought I would have so much fun with it. Now I can't seem to control myself.
Beads. Beads. BEADS!!!!! Oh my goodness, I can't get enough!!!