Spinach Artichoke Macaroni and Cheese

As we enter the winter months I always want nice warm and filling meals. Macaroni and cheese always fits the bill for those really frigid days! This version of mac and cheese is a lot like that spinach and artichoke dip that you get at restaurants as an appetizer. I found this on a bunch of different websites, but I went with a recipe from tablespoon.com.

Ingredients:
1.75 Cups Jack Cheese
1/2 Cup Pecorino
1 Box Frozen Chopped Spinach
2 - 6oz Jars Marinated Artichoke Hearts
1.75 Cups Milk
3/4 Cups Sour Cream
4oz Cream Cheese
3/4 Box of Macaroni


Directions:
Mix the milk, sour cream, and cream cheese and whisk until combined. Add the jack and pecorino and mix. Cooke the pasta, strain, and add to the milk/cheese mixture. Mix well until creamy. Thaw the spinach and squeeze out extra liquids. Strain and chop artichokes. Add to the pasta mixture and mix well. Pour pasta mixture into a large baking dish. Bake at 400 for around 30-40 minutes.

Enjoy,
Becky

Apple Gruyere Panini

Did I ever mention I love sandwiches? I have? Well, I still do. Josh found this sandwich and I was excited to try it especially because it is the simplest thing to make too. I have had fruit in sandwiches before and loved them, so I knew this wouldn't be any less delicious. Depending on how big you like your sandwiches this makes about two sandwiches for two people.

Ingredients:
1 Granny Smith Apple
8 Slices Tuscan Bread
6 oz of Gruyere Cheese
Honey has a spread

Directions:
Spread honey on all slices of bread. Cut apple and cheese into thin slices. Place cheese slices and apple slices on one side of bread. Sandwich together and press on panini press until cheese is melted. That's it!
Simple and delicious!

Enjoy,
Becky

Caramel Pecan Sweet Rolls

There's nothing like a delicious breakfast pastry to start your day. Whether for a holiday treat, group gathering, or a Friday at work, sweets first thing in the morning will always give you a head start to a great day. The first time I made these was for a group gathering I was invited to by a friend from work. It was a hit and my friend told others at work they loved it and I started getting requests to make it again. So it has now become my go to recipe for work treats. I found this recipe on a news site and can't seem to find it anymore...good thing I printed a copy.

Ingredients:
5.5 - 6.5 cups flour
2 packages active dry yeast
1.75 cups milk
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 cup chopped pecans
4 tablespoons softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl combine 2.5 cups flour and the yeast. In a saucepan, heat the milk, water, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt, and shortening until warm and add to the dry ingredients. Beat at a low speed for 1 minute: scrape the sides of the bowl constantly. Beat on high for 3 minutes. Stir in enough of the remaining flour BY HAND to make a soft dough, turn out on a floured surface and knead until smooth. Cover and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
In the meantime combine the brown sugar, melted butter, and corn syrup in a saucepan. Cook and stir until blended. Pour the mixture evenly in two greased 9 inch round pie tins. Top mixture with pecans.
Punch down dough. Divide the dough in half into a 10x6 rectangle. Spread with softened butter. Combine the 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the dough. Roll up, jelly roll style beginning with the long side: seal edges. Cut the dough into 1-inch slices and place cut-side down in prepared pans. Cover and refrigerate 2 and up to 24 hours. Remove frome refrigerator and let stand up to 20 minutes. Bake at 425 for 20 to 25 minutes. Place under a cookie sheet in oven to avoid dripping. Allow to cool on racks. Serve warm.


It seems like there is a lot to this recipe, but it's so simple once you get going. I usually make them the night before so all I have to do is place them in the oven and enjoy the next day.

Be prepared for compliments and requests for more!

Enjoy,
Becky

Garlic Pita Chips

GARLIC PITA CHIPS

I find that hummus is delicious and addictive, especially with the homemade chips.

I have successfully prepared these for parties, watching movies or playing a game with the gang, or just simply sitting on the porch with one of Chris’ brews. I love them with his summer ale called LemonadeAle Stand, it’s so refreshing and satisfying.

I kept seeing bags of pita chips at the grocery store, but they were way too crispy, not that crunchy/chewy I like and way too salty. I mean, who doesn’t love anything crunchy and salty?  So I decided I would make them myself and control the texture and saltiness.I happen to be at the deli counter waiting for my cheese to be sliced and I notice where the wraps and pita bread lay Kangaroo Flatbread. Interesting, they look like pitas but they were not hollow inside, perfect for making pita chips. I purchased several bags.  However the local stores here no longer carry Kangaroo bread and I cannot find them anywhere. I have on occasion found other brands of round pita like flatbreads but it is hit or miss. So I have to resort to using regular pita bread which may be a good thing. Cheaper and the hollow makes them a bit more crispy.  

Preparing these is so simple:

Preheat oven to 400°

What you’ll need: 1 Bag of Flatbread or Pita (6 to 8) - Olive Oil - Garlic Salt*

*Mixing ground cayenne pepper with the garlic salt is a nice spicy version.

I like using a pizza pan with vent holes for assured crispness. But a shallow baking pan or cookie sheet works too.
Using a pastry brush, cover both sides of bread with Olive Oil, sprinkle lightly with Garlic Salt. Using a pizza cutter I divide each flatbread into 12 wedges. Spread wedges out on the pizza pan so they are not overlapping each other. Place pizza pan in preheated oven for about 10 minutes.










Let cool on a rack and serve with your favorite Hummus or dip.

Store in a plain paper bag if you possibly made too many or you are transporting them as they will stay crisp. Placing them in a plastic bag or container tends to turn them soft and chewy.

Ravioli in Garlic Cream Sauce

I made this last week and then made it again this week with the leftover sauce! Oh the sauce was so good. I wanted raviolis, but I was tired of having it with spaghetti sauce and I was really craving a nice creamy white sauce, so my search for a good creamy sauce began. I finally found one from Cooks.com under Fettuccine with Garlic Cream Sauce. I halfed the recipe because it called for a ridiculous amount of butter and that made me a little ill thinking about. So here it is!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 Sticks of Butter
3 Cloves Garlic (I used crushed garlic in a jar)
3/4 qt. Whipping Cream
3-4 oz Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Melt butter over medium-low heat in a pot.
Mix in crushed garlic.
Stir in whipping cream.
Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and let sauce simmer until the volume has been reduced by 10%.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add Parmesan cheese and stir until sauce thickens.
Serve over ravioli and dip some garlic bread into sauce to sop up that creamy goodness. Serve with a yummy side salad. This was good for two and had plenty leftover for another full meal the week after.

Enjoy,
Becky

Chicken Avocado Panini and Caprese Salad

I love sandwiches....like a lot. I had bought a skillet/panini press so that we could have a skillet to make french toast, but I use it for sandwiches a lot more. It's amazing. My favorite sandwich to make on it, which is equally amazing, is a Chicken Avocado Panini. I sort of made it up as I went along and picked ingredients that I thought would taste yummy together. This is also one of Josh's favorites too, albeit the vegetarian version. Recently, I made a caprese salad and I thought it would be a perfect side with this or any sandwich. So today, I will be discussing two recipes! Aren't you lucky?

Ingredients for Chicken Avocado Panini:
4-6 Slices of your Favorite Deli Sliced Rotisserie Chicken Breast
4 Slices Provolone Cheese
One Hass Avocado
4-6 Slices Ready to Serve Bacon or Regular Bacon
4 Slices Garlic Tuscan Bread
Ranch Dressing to spread

Directions:

Spread each slice of bread with ranch dressing...mmm tangy. Place two slices of provolone on one half of each sandwich, chicken breast slices on top of that, and bacon slices on top of that. I learned a cool trick from Alton Brown of spreading avocado. Hold an avocado half in one hand and mush the avocado in it's skin with a fork with the other hand. Scoop out the goods and spread it onto the half of bread without the fixings. Put the two slices together and press the sandwiches in the panini press until the cheese is melted and everything looks fused together - about 5 minutes. Enjoy the deliciousness that is the Chicken Avocado Sandwich!

Ingredients for Caprese Salad: 
1 Pint of Cherry Tomatoes
A Shake or Two or Three of Basil
16oz of Mozzarella Cheese
Italian Dressing to Taste

Directions: 
Chop all the cherry tomotoes in half and place them in a medium sized bowl. Cut up mozzarella cheese into bite sized cubes and place them in the bowl with the tomato halves. Shake some basil and mix the cheese, tomatoes, and basil in the bowl. Add Italian dressing to your tastes. I didn't really measure how much I put in, but it was less than a cup. You don't it to be soupy when on your plate, but just enough to be able to taste it with the other flavors.

Put the Caprese Salad mix on the side of your sandwich and enjoy!

Vegetarian Alternative: Replace the chicken and bacon with tomato slices and onion! Still just as delicious!

Enjoy,
Becky

Molten Lava Cakes

A few months ago we went to Friendly's and my husband, Josh, had ice cream with molten lava cakes for dessert. He loved and craved them and asked if I thought I would be able to make them. I found a recipe that looked simple enough and I realized that with lava cakes you don't have to make a separate mix for the filling which I found interesting.....and less steps are always A+ for me! These particular lava cakes were adapted from Paula Deen's Home Cooking.

Ingredients:

10 tbls. (1 1/4 stick) butter

8 oz (1 cup) of semi-sweet chocolate chips (or whichever you prefer)

1/2 cup of all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar

3 large eggs

3 egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla extract

                                                                                         

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease muffin tins (preferably non-stick) use butter or Crisco. DO NOT use cooking spray on muffin tins. I did this the second I made these and they wouldn't come out of the tin so I had to cook them longer and the lava dried up...it was very extremely upsetting *sniff sniff*...okay, moving on. Melt chocolate chips and butter in the microwave every 30 seconds or so and stir until completely melted and smooth. Next, add the sugar and flour to the chocolate butter mixture. Stir in the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla until smooth and combined. Fill each of the muffin tins until the mixture just about fills them. Bake your mixture for about 10 minutes until the edges are firm, but the center is still runny. Loosen each of the cakes by running a knife around the edges. Place a cookie tray over the muffin tin and flip over so they all come out nicely onto the tray. Serve immediately for that warm gooey deliciousness!

I sprinkled powdered sugar, chocolate syrup, and raspberries over each of them to make them look profesh! The raspberries give it a nice light flavor compared to the rich chocolate cake, too. 

Enjoy,
Becky