Orange Cranberry Bulgur Pilaf

This was so good! My husband loved it...and he is typically not a fan of bulgur at all. I think it would be perfect to pair with pork or a roast chicken in the fall...but we had it in the summer with some grilled fish. 

Orange Cranberry Bulgur Pilaf 
Source: outside of bag of cental market's bulgur
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup Bulgur wheat
1 cup dried cranberries
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
2 1/2 cups orange juice
1 (10 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained (or use the juice from the can for part of the orange juice)
1/4 cup slivered almond
1 teaspoon salted butter

1. Heat heavy bottom 2 quart saucepan over medium heat for 2 minutes.Add olive oil, bulgur, and lemon zest and stir fry for one minute. Add cranberries and stir fry for one more minute
 2. Add juice and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in drained mandarin oranges.
3. Meanwhile mix almonds with butter in a small microwave dish. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on High power for 1 minute.
4. Place pilaf in bowl and stir to fluff. Top with buttery almonds.

Red Beet Pancakes

I found this recipe on weelicious.com and made a batch this afternoon. My toddler will not eat very many veggies...so I have to try to sneak them in where I can. I don't like beets very much but I thought the pancakes were tasty...and a really beautiful shade of pink :)
















Red Beet Pancakes (Serves 6)

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
3 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt
*2 Medium Beets, roasted & pureed (about 3/4 Cups)
1 1/4 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1 Large Egg
3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted
1 Tsp Vanilla extract

Accompaniments: honey, maple syrup, butter, raspberry sauce

1. Wisk the first 5 ingredients ina bowl.
2. Place the rest of the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk thoroughly to combine.
3. Add the dry ingredients into the wet and stir until just combined (you don’t want to overstir the batter — some lumps are good).
4. Drop about 2 tbsp of the pancake mixture onto a greased griddle or pan over medium heat and cook for 3 minutes on each side.
5. Serve with desired accompaniments.

To freeze: Place the pancakes in labeled zipper bags and freeze for up to 3 months.

*Rinse beets and wrap in parchment and then in foil. Bake in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Spring Roll Salad

My friend Heather made some delicious spring rolls for Bunco recently. A few days later, I bought the ingredients and have been making them for lunch. If I don't have time to mess with the wrappers I've been having this salad instead. It's easy and I love the flavors. Serves 1 as a meal or 2 as a side salad.


Ingredients:
1 large handful of green leafy lettuce
2 carrots, grated
1 small handful of cylantro
2 oz of buckwheat soba noodles (cooked according to package)
2 oz or 1/4 of an avocado
Fresh Lime Juice (about a teaspoon)
1 teaspoon of chopped peanuts

1 T Central Market Satay Sauce
1 T Annie's Gingerly Dressing

Layer lettuce, carrots, cylantro and avocado in bowl and top with Gingerly Dressing and a squeeze of lime juice. Toss cooked soba noodles with the Satay Sauce and add to salad. Top with chopped peanuts.

Mini Meatloafs

Oh my, these were so delicious. I usually don't like meatloaf, but these were really tasty! :)

Makes 6-9 (serves about 4)

Ingredients:

1/3 c. shredded carrot (about 2 carrots)

1/2 c chopped onion

1 teaspoon oregano

2 cloves minced garlic (1 teaspoon)

1/2 c. ketchup (divided)

1 lb. ground beef

1/3 sleeve of crushed crackers (around 1/2 c.)

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 egg, beaten

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Heat about 1 Tablespoon of oil in a skillet, saute carrot, onion, oregano, and garlic about 2-3 minutes.

2. In large bowl, combine sauted mixture with 1/4 c. ketchup (reserve other 1/4 c. for topping), beef, and rest of ingredients.

3. Spray muffin pans with oil. Form meatballs to fit into muffin tins. Put remaining ketchup on top of the mini meat loaves. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

This recipe is from Annie's Eats. I made them these for Hailey's 2nd birthday. It's a chocolate chip yellow cake with an eggless cookie dough filling, topped with a brown sugar buttercream. Definitely not an every day dessert because they're really rich, but awesome if you love cookie dough!



Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Yield:24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (semisweet or bittersweet)


For the filling:
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tbsp. light brown sugar, packed
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips


For the frosting:
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
3½ cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. salt
3 tbsp. milk
2½ tsp. vanilla extract


For decoration:
Tiny chocolate chip cookies
Mini chocolate chips


Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners (24 total). In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition just until incorporated. Blend in the vanilla. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the cookie dough filling, combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture has firmed up a bit, about an hour.

To fill the cupcakes, cut a cone-shaped portion out of the center of each cupcake. Fill each hole with a chunk of the chilled cookie dough mixture.

To make the frosting, beat together the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until creamy. Mix in the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour and salt. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended.

Frost the filled cupcakes as desired, sprinkling with mini chocolate chips and topping with mini chocolate chip cookies for decoration.

Garlic Teriyaki Broccoli

Ok, so not really a strict recipe, but here's how I've been making broccoli lately...and I'll eat half a crown for lunch, I love it. It tastes like eating stir fry, but with only broccoli. Ingredient amounts are approximate.

1/2 crown of Broccoli
1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
A Pinch of Crushed Red Pepper
1 teaspoon Minced Garlic
1 tablespoon of Teriyaki Sauce (low sodium)
3 tablespoons of Water


Heat Sesame Oil. Add crushed red pepper and garlic until fragrant (watch out to make sure the garlic doesn't burn. Add broccoli, then add the teriyaki sauce and water. Cook for about 1 or 2 minutes (unless you like your broccoli reaally soft).

Banana Nut Muffins

These are easy and so yummy. I adapted it from a recipe I found on allrecipes.com. You can still make these if you discover you're out of eggs (like I did, this morning). Just use an extra banana and about 2 T of milk...I was worried about how they'd turn out, but definitely edible (unlike the time I made brownies without eggs...)

Banana Nut Muffins

1 1/2 Cups Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon of Salt
1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon

3 Bananas, mashed
1 Egg
1/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla

1/3 cup Butter, melted
1/2 cup Walnuts (optional)


Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin pan, bottoms only (or use liners). Mix Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Salt and Cinnamon in a bowl. Stir other ingredients together in another bowl. Fold the two mixtures together just until blended.

Bake approximately 25-30 minutes (My oven bakes things super fast so keep an eye on these...mine were done in about 15 minutes, but I know that's probably not typical.)