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.

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.)

White Boy Tacos

We have these on nights where I have run out of ideas or don't feel adventurous (or on nights where I'd rather just have a bowl of cereal, but my husband would like real food). It's very rare that I want tacos for dinner (rare as in NEVER), but I make them because he likes them so much and they're easy :)

We call them white boy tacos because you use those taco shells in a box instead of frying corn tortillas up yourselves. I'd never had taco shells from a box before I'd met my husband.
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef or turkey
1/4 to 1/3 cup salsa
1/2 teaspoon Comino (Cumin)
1/2 teaspoon minced Garlic
Taco Shells in a box (you could even use flour tortillas if you want even easier!)
Shredded Cheddar Cheese


Brown ground beef over medium heat. Add salsa, comino, and garlic.
Toast taco shells in oven for about 5 minutes at 350 degrees.
Stuff shells with ground beef mixture and top with cheese. Bake about 5 minutes until cheese is melted. Top with whatever other taco toppings you desire.

Lighter Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Here's another recipe from Gina's Skinny Recipes. This was some yummy comfort food.

Lighter Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Servings: 8 • Serving Size: 1 cup • Old Points: 6 pts • Points+: 7 pts
Calories: 296.67 • Fat: 9.7 g • Protein: 15.8 g • Carb: 34.5 g • Fiber: 5.3 g


12 oz high fiber elbows like Ronzoni Smart Taste
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp light butter
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup minced onion
2 cups skim milk
1 cup fat free chicken broth
8 oz Sargento 2% reduced fat mild cheddar
salt and pepper
4 cups baby spinach
1/8 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup seasoned whole wheat bread crumbs
Pam butter flavored spray
Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions. Spray a baking dish with buttered flavor Pam. Preheat oven to 375°.

In a large, heavy skillet, melt butter. Add flour and cook over low heat stirring with a whisk. Add onion and cook another 2 minutes. Add milk and chicken broth and continue whisking, raising heat to medium-high until it comes to a boil and becomes smooth and thick. Season with salt and pepper.

Once it becomes thick, remove from heat, add cheese and mix well until cheese is melted. Adjust salt and pepper to taste, add cooked macaroni and baby spinach. Pour into baking dish. Top with grated cheese and breadcrumbs. Spray a little more buttered flavor Pam on top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, then broil for a few minutes to get the breadcrumbs golden.

Watch out...this browns fast, you'll notice my pic has some very "golden" breadcrumbs...:)

Chicken Enchiladas with Creamy Green Chile Sauce

Here's a great recipe that I adapted from Gina's Skinny Recipes, www.skinnytaste.com.
Surprisingly, it doesn't need all that much cheese for an enchilada recipe. My husband Will doesn't like Mexican food but he really likes these enchiladas and will request them for dinner (that's even when he knows that there are beans IN the enchilada filling).

Chicken and White Bean Enchiladas with Creamy Green Chile Sauce
(Also known as Enchiladas Verdes)

Chicken and White Bean Filling:

1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup minced white onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles
15.5 oz can Navy beans (or Cannellini beans), pureed in food processor or mashed up.
4 cooked shredded chicken breasts
1/3 can water
1 chicken bullion
1 tsp cumin


Green Chile Enchilada Sauce:

1 tsp butter
1/2 cup chopped white onion
2 tbsp flour
1 cup fat free chicken broth
7 oz can chopped green chile
2 jalapeños, chopped (I leave these out)
salt
3/4 cup light sour cream
3/4 cup reduced fat Mexican cheese
12-16 medium White Corn Tortillas (I prefer Corn Tortillas...but you can use flour tortillas if you want...)
chopped fresh cilantro or scallions (or both!)

Preheat oven to 375°.


For the Filling:
In a medium pan, heat olive oil on low. Add onions, garlic and saute until soft, about 2-3 minutes. Add green chiles, beans, water, bullion, and cumin. Mix well and cover. Simmer on low 15 minutes. Remove cover, add chicken and cook an additional 5 minutes, or until it thickens and liquid boils down. Set aside.

Green Chile Enchilada Sauce:
In a large nonstick pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens and starts to turn translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add flour and stir well. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth. Whisk until the sauce becomes smooth. Cook over medium heat until the sauce boils and thickens, about 4-5 minutes. Add green chiles, jalepeños, and salt to tatse. Cook another minute then remove from the heat. Place in food processor until smooth. Stir in the sour cream.

Spread about 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish.

IF YOU USE CORN TORTILLAS: Soften tortillas by placing three (3) at a time in between two damp paper towels on a plate and microwave for 40 seconds. Be careful, they'll be hot!

Fill each tortilla with 1/3 cup of the chicken/white bean filling. Roll the tortillas and place seam side down in the prepared baking dish. Continue filling remainder of the tortillas.

Pour the enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas. Top with cheese. Bake 20-30 minutes, until the enchiladas are hot and the cheese is melted. Remove from oven and top with fresh cilantro or scallions

Strawberry Baked French Toast

This is a recipe I've made a few times for my MOPS brunch. The recipe is from Sherri, one of the ladies who was in my MOPS group. This recipe is really easy and I love that you can prep it the night before. It's also great with fresh or frozen mixed berries or blueberries too....oh I bet PEACHES would be yummy too...

1 loaf of French Bread, cut into 1 inch slices
3 Eggs
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
2 1/4 Cups of Milk

Struesel Topping:
1/2 Cup Flour
6 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1/2 Tablespoon Cinnamon
1/4 Melted Butter

1-2 cups of Fresh or Frozen Berries of your choice (defrost berries if frozen)


-Spray 9"x13" pan with cooking spray
-Place bread in pan.
-Combine Eggs, Sugar, Vanilla and Milk in a bowl and pour over bread. Make sure all the bread slices get coated with the milk mixture.
-Cover and refrigerate at least an hour, up to one or two nights prior to baking.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

-Place berries on top of bread.
-Combine Flour, Brown Sugar, and Cinnamon in a bowl and stir in butter to make the crumb/struesel topping. (I've prepped this the night before and refridgerated it...it's nice and crumbly in the morning).
-Sprinkle topping on bread.
-Bake uncovered for approximately 45 minutes.

Baked Ziti with Zucchini

This is currently my go to recipe for baked ziti. You can use pork or turkey italian sausage, I can't taste the difference. Will loves this and he hates zucchini AND italian sausage. HEB carries a brand of wine called "Birds and Bees" that I love, so I used their red wine in this recipe (their white is great too).

1/2 lb ziti, cooked and drained
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1-2 Zucchini, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb mild (or spicy is good too) italian turkey sausage
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup red wine
28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1.5 cups shredded mozzerella cheese

Cook sausage, onion and zucchini in olive oil over medium high heat until sausage is cooked through and onions are translucent and zucchini is tender.

Add garlic, basil, oregano. Cook for one minute

Add wine and brown sugar and then add tomatoes and tomato paste.

Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

Stir in 1/2 cup of the mozzerella cheese and pasta.

Pour mixture into a greased 9x13 pan.

Sprinkle remaining cheese over top.

Cook covered at 350 for 30 minutes, uncover and cook 5 to 10 minutes more, until cheese is brown and bubbly.

Adapted from recipe posted on sotastysoyummy.blogspot.com

Grilled Vietnamese Chicken

This is one of our favorite recipes for chicken. It's easy and the chicken is so flavorful. Serve it with some Jasmine Rice or Quinoa and Steamed Green Beans and you've got a nice quick, healthy meal. You don't have to grill it outside, I'm sure that's great, but I'm not a griller unless Will is home...so I cook it inside on the stove.

Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons fish sauce (I found this in the Asian section of HEB and also at World Market)
2 tablespoons Honey(or molasses)
2 tablespoons lemon juice (or lime juice)
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
1 teaspoons black pepper
A pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (thighs would work well too)

Directions:
1 Heat grill (or pan).
2 Place all the ingredients except the chicken in a shallow glass baking dish and stir them together.
3 Make shallow slits across the chicken breast, going a little deeper in the thick end.
4 Make shallow slits long ways, resulting in a slight diamond pattern in the meat.
5 Put the chicken in the marinade and make sure some gets in the slits.
6 This only needs to marinade for 10 or 15 minutes to pick up the flavor, I believe this is because of the slits.
7 Place on grill and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until no longer pink.
8 Turn once during cooking.

Adapted from a recipe from www.food.com

Ina Garten's Beef Bourguignon

We've had some cold weather lately, which has been the perfect excuse to make some yummy soup. This is a delicious recipe from Ina Garten. It takes a little time, but it's worth it.

Some notes:
-I've left out the bacon before and it's still really tasty.
-You can substitute Brandy for the Cognac if you want a less expensive option. I've made it with each and they're both great...Will prefers it with Cognac though.










Ingredients
1 tablespoon good olive oil
8 ounces dry cured center cut applewood smoked bacon, diced
2 1/2 pounds chuck beef cut into 1-inch cubes
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound carrots, sliced diagonally into 1-inch chunks
2 yellow onions, sliced
2 teaspoons chopped garlic (2 cloves)
1/2 cup Cognac
1 (750 ml.) bottle good dry red wine such as Cote du Rhone or Pinot Noir
1 can (2 cups) beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pound frozen whole onions
1 pound fresh mushrooms stems discarded, caps thickly sliced

For serving:
Country bread or Sour Dough, toasted or grilled and rubbed with garlic clove
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, optional
Directions
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.


Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is lightly browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a large plate.


Dry the beef cubes with paper towels and then sprinkle them with salt and pepper. In batches in single layers, sear the beef in the hot oil for 3 to 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove the seared cubes to the plate with the bacon and continue searing until all the beef is browned. Set aside.


Toss the carrots, and onions, 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of pepper in the fat in the pan (THIS IS WHAT INA SAYS...but I've removed the fat before and cooked in a bit of olive oil instead and it tasted fine) and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the Cognac, stand back, and ignite with a match to burn off the alcohol. Put the meat and bacon back into the pot with the juices. Add the bottle of wine plus enough beef broth to almost cover the meat. Add the tomato paste and thyme. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and place it in the oven for about 1 1/4 hours or until the meat and vegetables are very tender when pierced with a fork.


Combine 2 tablespoons of butter and the flour with a fork and stir into the stew. Add the frozen onions. Saute the mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of butter for 10 minutes until lightly browned and then add to the stew. Bring the stew to a boil on top of the stove, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste.


To serve, toast the bread in the toaster or oven. Rub each slice on 1 side with a cut clove of garlic. For each serving, spoon the stew over a slice of bread and sprinkle with parsley.

Recipe from foodnetwork.com

Green Smoothie

I know once you read the ingredient list, you may be very skeptical that this is palatable...much less tasty... trust me, it is! My very picky 20 month old LOVES these, and I do too. This particular one isn't very "green" because of the frozen berries, but there's still spinach in there. I took a before and after pic for proof.




Here's the "foundation" recipe I use:
One banana
One cup of organic fresh, spinach
1/4-1/2 cup of yogurt or milk (My favorite yogurt is Stonyfield Farms Low-Fat French Vanilla)
1/2 cup ice cubes (I subbed frozen mixed berries for the ice cubes this time)
1/4 tsp Almond extract

Makes one large smoothie.

Mix in ideas:
1 T Almond Butter or Peanut Butter
1 T Flax Seeds
Orange Juice instead of milk/yogurt


~Abby



adapted from:
http://greenmonstermovement.com/

Brown Sugar - Pecan Coffee Cake

I made this coffee cake for brunch at MOPS today. It was really easy and yummy. I subbed walnuts for pecans because I didn't have any pecans on hand...they were good, but I think pecans would be even better.

2 cups all-purpose Flour
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, cubed
1 cup sour cream (I used light)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp baking soda
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans

*Stir together flour and brown sugar in a large bowl. Cut the butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender, 2 forks until crumbly. Press 2 3/4 cups cremb mixture evenly on the bottom of a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch pan.

* Stir together sour cream, egg, and baking soda; add to remaining crumb mixture stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour over crumb crust in pan.

*Stir together sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Sprinkle over the cake.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutews or until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Yield: 12 servings.

Recipe from: Southern Living Christmas Cookbook

~Abby