Peppermint Biscotti

I'm going to brag.  I am a good gift giver.  One of my good gift ideas this year ended up being my mom's favorite gift I got her for Christmas.  It was actually multiple gifts in one coffee "theme."  We live in the Midwest and go east every summer to Cape May, New Jersey.  We love many things there we can't experience here in the Midwest, one being Wawa.  We love their Hazelnut coffee and anytime we go we try to stock up on bags of it to bring back.  We have learned we can also order it from their website so now we can have get it anytime!

I bought my mom 2 bags of Wawa coffee and an "I (heart) Wawa" mug.  I made her a homemade biscotti-scented soy candle and homemade peppermint biscotti.  She loved the whole gift, but especially the biscotti and is already hinting at me making her more.

I got the recipe from here- http://www.thekitchn.com/edible-gift-biscotti-two-ways-133107.

I cut the recipe in half b/c it says they stay fresh about 2 weeks and got around 8 pieces out of it.  In half the recipe is-
1/2 stick softened butter
A little less than 1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 candy canes crushed
Baking sheet
Parchment paper
Wire cooling rack

Even with this 1/2 recipe it was too much chocolate and candy canes so I would use less next time.

In one bowl mix together the butter and sugar and then add the egg and then the peppermint extract.

In another bowl the flour, salt, & baking powder and then slowly add that with the dough mixture until it is all combined

Put parchment paper on a baking sheet and form the dough on it into a rectangle around 1 inch thick.  Bake it 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees (or until it is a light golden brown).

Take it out and let it cool on the cooling rack for 10 min. then cut it diagonally into pieces about 1/2 in thick.

Put these cut-side down back onto the parchment paper and bake for another 10-15 minutes.  1/2 way through I flipped the pieces otherwise they would have gotten too dark on one side (maybe my cheap pan or crappy oven, or maybe needed for all situations? not sure.).

I ended up baking it longer on one side than the other so one side was darker while the other was perfect.  The good thing about this recipe...one side needs to be covered in chocolate so I could hide the darker side and show off the perfect one! :)

Crush the candy canes. I did this in a blender.

And melt the chocolate in a double boiler.  (Here's a trick for you:  I don't have a double boiler and don't need to spend the money on one because I always do this- put some water in a pot.  Roll aluminum foil into balls big enough that the tops are above the water line.  Place a smaller pot on top of the foil balls.  It works like a double boiler.)

Spread the melted chocolate over one side of the biscotti and before it hardens sprinkle the crushed candy cane on top.

Broiled Tilapia

This recipe is super easy and only 3 weight watchers points!

Spray a baking dish.
Season tilapia fillets to taste (I used salt, pepper, oregano, & garlic)
Pour lemon juice over fillets.
Broil for 5+ minutes (until flaky in middle when cut with a fork)

I also had mixed veggies as a side for this meal.  This was my first time using frozen veggies for the most part.  I live alone so if I buy a bunch of veggies, they often go bad before I can eat them all so I've decided to try the frozen route, at least during the winter.  I got a bag of mixed veggies.  I mixed together some soy sauce and lemon juice and poured them over the veggies before serving.  Veggies, soy sauce, and lemon juice are all 0 points so my whole meal was only 3 weight watchers points (allowing me a glass of wine with dinner and a cookie for dessert:)).

Latkes

I'm not Jewish, but this year I decided to celebrate Hanukkah.  I grew up in a tiny town in the Midwest and as far as I know, never met a Jewish person until I worked at a big camp in Maryland.  For a couple years I nannied with a family that was Jewish and was constantly being corrected on my pronunciation of Jewish words by the 3 year old when I would read her Jewish storybooks to her.  I love different cultures and traditions and realized that one of the most common religions in my country other than Christianity is one I knew little about so that is why I chose to do this.

The first night of Hanukkah I read about the holiday.  Each night I lit the menorah while listening to a recording of the Hebrew prayers that are said for it and then I would recite them in English.  2 nights during Hanukkah I made latkes.

The first night I had a friend over and we followed this recipe- http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Potato-Latkes-I-Allrecipes?columns=4&position=5/36 except that I used walnut oil instead of peanut oil because it's what I had.

I peeled the potatoes and shredded them with my cheese grater (which worked perfectly) until I had 2 cups.
I don't have a cheese cloth so I just used paper towels to try to squeeze out as much moisture as I could.

It says to use 1 tbsp grated onion but we just chopped it really small.

We beat 3 eggs with a fork then added the potatoes and onions, 2 Tbsps of flour & 1 1/2 tsp salt.

Frying them was easy and fun.  My friend preferred them crispier and I didn't so just fry to your tastes.  Like I said, the recipe says to use peanut oil, but I used walnut oil which I'm sure made a bit of difference in the taste, but I looked at a lot of latke recipes and many of them list different oils so I'm sure you could use whatever kind you have/want.

We served them with sour cream.  This recipe says it serves six and I think it made 6 latkes for us.  We each had 3, and that was all we had for the meal and it really filled us up.

The 2nd night I cut the recipe in half because it was just me and I also added some parmesan cheese to the mixture.  Both nights the latkes were delicious!!!!  This is something I would make more than just during Hanukkah.

Mustard Crusted Tilapia

I was looking for a recipe that had ingredients I had at home so I wouldn't have to go out and buy something and I found this recipe for mustard crusted tilapia-
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/mustard-crusted-tilapia

Mix spicy brown mustard (I used Arizona heat b/c I like spicy things, but I'm sure you could use any kind of mustard you wanted/had based on your own tastes), worcestshire sauce, lemon juice, garlic powder, oregano, & parmesan cheese.

Bake the tilapia on its own in a greased pan for 10 minutes at 375 and then spread the paste over it and sprinkle bread crumbs on top and bake for another 5 minutes.

I made 2 tilapia fillets as this recipe says to do but I doubled the ingredients for the sauce.  When I made it as the directions said it didn't seem like enough for me so I made more and for me it was the perfect amount.  I would make this again for my dinner, but it's not something I would make for friends to show off my cooking skills.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars

I got the recipe for these Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars from here-> http://tjstestkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/06/pumpkin-cream-cheese-bars.html

A few simple ingredients make a very tasty Fall treat!

In one bowl mix angel food cake mix, a can of pumpkin, 3/4 cup water, and...ha!  as I type this I notice the recipe says 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, I most definitely used a 1/2 tablespoon!  Oh well, if I made it again I would use that much because they turned out great!

In another bowl mix the softened cream cheese with a little bit of water. 

Put 1/2 the pumpkin mix in a sprayed pan, then 1/2 the cream cheese, then the second half of the pumpkin, then the last of the cream cheese.  Make figure eights with a knife to mix it up a bit (makes a pretty pattern too- more so in the link than in mine...).

I had friends over for Fall drinks and to watch Hocus Pocus and made these and everyone liked them!

Mini Pizzas

I LOVED doing this because I can have multiple types of pizza in one meal without spending money on different pizzas and having a bunch of leftovers.  It's also great because I can have exactly what I like and not have to compromise with someone else on the toppings and such, each person can make their own.

I bought the refridgerated pizza dough that comes in the cardboard tubes (like Pillsbury, but I used a different brand). Put foil on a pan and spray it (I didn't spray the first time I did this and the pizzas were difficult to get off).  Take a handful of dough and shape into a flat circle.  Add your ingredients and bake at the temp directed on the dough package directions.  If you are putting any meat on the pizza make sure you cook it prior to putting it on the pizza.

 

I made 3 different types of pizza when I did this.

 

This first one is mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, avocado, peppers, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, oregano, and basil

 

 This 2nd one is onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and feta cheese

 

And my 3rd one is eggplant, goat cheese, tomato, onion, mushrooms, oregano, pepper, and garlic

 

Muffin Tin Eggs

I remembered seeing an idea for this on pinterest a long time ago and so tried this out the other day.  I sprayed the tin. I had ricotta cheese, goat cheese, mozzarella, and feta, onions, tomatoes, peppers, avocado, mushrooms, eggplant, and artichoke hearts.  In each muffic section I added various combinations of those ingredients.  You could use anything you wanted including already cooked meat.



 

Then I added one beaten egg to each muffin section.  I broke an egg into my small liquid measuring cup and beat it in there with a fork because then it was very easy and mess free to pour.  I then added seasonings.

 



 

 

(Side Note: Look what happened when I tried to crack this egg!  This has definitely never happened to me before!)

 



I baked for 10 minutes (until the tops start to turn a little brown).

Then I enjoyed the end results!  These are also freezable if you wanted to make a bunch at once and have easy breakfasts!

Mini S'mores

This is fun for indoors!  When you're craving a s'more and the weather isn't good for bonfires or if you're indoor camping.  Mini marshmallow on a toothpick roasted over a candle.

 I used Scooby Snacks for the graham cracker.  You could also just break a regular graham cracker down to size, or use teddy grahams.

Nachos

Nothing special about this, probably can't even consider it cooking but it's simple and tasty.  Lime chips, avocado, tomato, onion, and peppers with shredded cheddar cheese and cilantro.  Put in oven until cheese is melted and serve with salsa.  Of course could do any combo of things, add chicken, jalapenos, sour cream, etc.

Roasted Acorn Squash with Chili Vinaigrette

I absolutely loved this and it was great with my fish tacos!  I got the recipe from here-
http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Roasted-Acorn-Squash-With-Chile-Vinaigrette-Epicurious

The only thing I did differently is that after I cut the squash lengthwise I then cut those pieces in half and instead of using actual chili peppers I just used chili powder.  The sauce is delicious and I think I would make it to put on other things too, but on the acorn squash it is definitely really good!!!

Fish Tacos

No recipe for this one so no links, just me telling you what I did.

I rubbed a lime on tilapia fillets and lightly salted and peppered them then filleted them.

I boiled corn on the cob.

In a bowl I cut up tomatoes, onion, peppers, avocado, chedar cheese and cilantro. 

I cut the corn off the cob and added it to the bowl and shredded the tilapia with a fork and added it to the bowl as well.

I added fresh lime juice and chili powder and mixed it all together.

Served it in soft taco shells with verde salsa.

Pretty easy and very tasty! 

(you will see tasty looking acorn squash in this pic too, that will be next post)

Acorn Squash Slices

I love yummly.com!  I type in an ingredient, or multiple ingredients I have and it gives me recipes for those things.  From my Green Bean Delivery I ordered 2 acorn squash, but I've never made acorn squash so I found this recipe on yummly- http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Acorn-Squash-Slices-Allrecipes.

I cut one squash into slices and placed in a greased baking dish.
Melted a tablespoon of butter.
Mixed the butter with 3/8 cup of maple syrup.
Poured the butter/syrup over the slices.
And sprinkled with pecans.

I would give it 4 stars.

Honey Mustard Chicken

I get Green Bean Delivery which is an awesome thing in some parts of Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky and I get fresh produce delivered to my door every other week.  This week I got a butternut squash.  I haven't had it since I was young so I was excited to try it again.  I had some chicken breasts in the fridge so got out this cookbook:

I looked through their chicken recipes and was inspired by their one for honey mustard chicken.  This recipe was for chicken thighs though and called for whole grain mustard & clear honey.  I used chicken breast and used mustard powder instead and honey I got from Brown County that has the honeycomb in it.

 

I just used 1 Tbsp. honey and mixed in 1 Tbsp. mustard powder for 1 chicken breast.

I added a little bit of salt & pepper.  I used a spoon to pour and spread the mix over the chicken and then baked it.  1/2 way through baking I scooped up the sauce that had gone to the bottom of the pan and spread it back on the chicken.

 

 

For the squash I cut it in 1/2, added some salt and pepper, put it on a baking sheet covered in aluminum foil and baked at 345 for about 45 minutes (until I could put a fork through the long end) per the directions of my mama!  Added butter and more salt & pepper to eat :)

Both the chicken and the yellow squash were great!!!  I'd be interested to try the actual recipe in the book for the mustard chicken someday...

Rice Krispie Treat Snake

My friend Heidi loves snakes and last night was her 30th birthday.  I found a snake strawberry shortcake on pinterest but it seemed too complicated and I couldn't afford to spend time on it and it maybe not turn out right so I searched for something else.

I found the idea for a rice krispie treat snake here- http://www.ricekrispies.ca/cgi-bin/rk_ca_2007/recipe.pl?id=12

I used mini marshmallows melted with butter, added vanilla and rice krispies. I sprayed olive oil on my hands and put spoonfulls on a pan one at a time and gradually molded them into a snake shape.  I used peanut butter to stick reeses pieces on it for the stripes, mini chocolate chips for the eyes, and fruit by the foot for the tongue.  .

Spicy Roasted Eggplant with Tomatoes and Cilantro

Yummly.com is a great website if you have not yet discovered it.  You can just type ingredients and it gives you recipes with those ingredients.  Have some stuff at home, but don't know what to make with it?  Just type it into Yummly and you'll have multiple options! 

That is how I found this recipe for spicy roasted eggplant with tomatoes and cilantro- http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Spicy-Roasted-Eggplant-With-Tomatoes-And-Cilantro-Epicurious

I was planning to make a Middle Eastern dish for an Iraqi family I know around Christmas time, but I ended up getting sick and not being able to.  Now I had eggplant, tomatoes, cilantro, & onions, but didn't want to make a difficult meal...so what could I do with them before they went bad?  I took them with me to my mom's house where I was going for Christmas break and put the ingredients into yummly and found this great recipe that I made when my brother and sis-in-law got there.

Full recipe is in the link- here's an overview:

Roast the eggplant.
Mash the pulp.
Saute onions.
Add 3 Tbsp ginger.
Add chopped tomatoes, cumin, paprika, coriander, & cayenne pepper.
Add eggplant & stir until thickened.
Remove from heat and stir in fresh cilantro.
Serve over rice (at least that's what I did).

If you follow the recipe, this is a spicy dish!  It would be easy to adjust your seasoning amounts to make it less spicy (or more) to your tastes though.

Smoothies

I love making smoothies.  Very tasty and a great way to get a lot of good stuff in you without even realizing it!  I don't have a regular protocol for my smoothies, it really just depends on what I have and/or what I remember to put in them.  I try to add spinach to all smoothies if I have it (very healthy and I promise you don't even notice) and flax seed.  I cut a bunch of bananas in half and have them frozen that I use sometimes (my bananas were always going brown before I used them all so I really like this!).  Sometimes I use a mixture of fruit and sometimes just one fruit.

This smoothie had 1/2 cup spinach, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup black raspberries, 1/2 cup milk, 1 Tbsp flax seed, 1 Tbsp almond butter, 1 Tbsp honey, and 1/2 cup ice.  This was good but for my own taste preference I prefer a little less almond butter.  This is when I was counting weight watchers points so that's why I have measurements for everything.  Usually now I don't measure.

This smoothie was simply strawberries, milk, flax seed, almond butter, honey, and ice.

Like I said, my smoothies just depend on what I have at the moment and what I remember to put in them.  These are the only ones I have pics of but I've also used mangos, blueberries, the frozen bananas, red raspberries, peaches, etc.

Parfait

Got this general idea from the Simple Foods for Busy Families book as well.  I use plain greek yogurt and from there the ingredients vary.

This one included honey, cereal flakes, almond slices, flax seed, sunflower seeds, and tangelos.

This one has vanilla extract, honey, cereal flakes, almond slices, walnuts, pecans, banana chips, and raspberries.



Unique Grilled Cheese

You won't find this grilled cheese sandwich on any kids' menu!  Mixed greens, goat cheese, and strawberries.  I also added a tiny bit of a walnut balsamic vinaigrette.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken & Mashed Potatoes

I got this recipe from weight watchers- http://www.food.com/recipe/weight-watchers-parmesan-chicken-cutlets-185342.  If you are doing weight watchers it is only 4 points, if not, it still tastes good!

You mix parmesan cheese with Italian bread crumbs, paprika, garlic powder, pepper, & dried parsley.  I don't have dried parsley so I used fresh from my "garden" (I live in an apartment, but have some herbs & veggies growing in containers on my balcany).

Dip your chicken breasts in the mix so they are covered and bake.

I made this recipe with mashed potatoes (no picture).  I peeled my potatoes and boiled them along with a clove or 2 of garlic.  Once they were super soft I added some garlic infused oil and mixed & mashed.  Switched everything to a mixing bowl and added milk and used an electic mixer to mash everything.  I then added a dollop of sour cream and mixed a little more.  The sour cream made them taste extra great!

Sage Chicken Bonus

Here is a bonus to the Sage Chicken Breast recipe I posted yesterday.  I had leftover sauce and saved it and today I steamed broccoli, warmed up the sauce, and poured the sauce over the broccoli when I was ready to serve.  Seemed to be a good way to use up the extra sauce!