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©Life of a Foodie and Her Family 2008-2013, Lynn Tabor

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1/31/2013

Round Cheese Bread

I spotted this recipe in an old Taste Of Home Magazine and thought it would go well with pasta and sauce.  You can find the original recipe here Round Cheese Bread.

1 1/2 cup Bisquick
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 grated Parmesan (I used a 3 cheese blend)
1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
2 tbs melted butter, (I used butter flavored cooking spray)
additional Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400.

In a large bowl, combine the Bisquick, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, Italian Seasoning, milk and egg (batter is VERY thick).

Spoon/press into a greased 9-in. round baking pan. Drizzle with butter; sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Cut into wedges. Serve warm. Yield: 6-8 servings.





It was pretty good, but I think a yeast type of bread just works better with pasta and sauce.

1/29/2013

Sesame Chicken

Yep another yummy dinner courtesy of Pinterest.  You can find the original recipe at Let's Dish.  I did change some things and here is how I made it.

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup corn starch
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp of ground cloves
1/8 tsp of ground cinnamon
3 or 4 skinless, boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into small bite size cubes
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
1/3 cup honey
1 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs toasted sesame seeds

Place the first 8 ingredients in a ziploc bag and mix well.

In a small bowl mix the teriyaki sauce, honey and soy sauce.

Add the chicken to the flour mixture and shake well.

Heat a wok pan to medium high heat and add the peanut oil.  When the oil is hot, shake off the excess flour mix and place chicken into the hot oil and stir fry until golden brown and chicken is cooked through.

Turn down the temp to medium and add the sauce mixture and let cook until bubbly and thickened.  Then add the sesame seeds.

Serve with Fried Rice.








This was very good and I am so glad that I invested in a large wok pan.

Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken

Here is another recipe I tried from Pinterest.  You can find the original recipe at Stacey Snacks.  I made it Saturday night.

1/4 cup olive oil, plus a little more more for drizzling
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
fresh rosemary sprigs, I clipped mine from my shrub
3 large chicken breasts cut in half
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 slices prosciutto
balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 375

Pour about 1/4 cup olive oil into a small bowl and add the garlic.

Strip the leaves off one sprig of rosemary and finely chop and add that to the olive oil garlic mix.   Cut the remaining rosemary up into 6 small sprigs about the size of the chicken pieces.

Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper to taste, and add them to the garlic mixture.

Place a rosemary sprig in the center of each piece of chicken and then wrap the prosciutto around them. The sprigs should stick out a bit at a little bit.  Drizzle with a bit more oil and place in a baking dish.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

I served this with rice pilaf and prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe.




 

1/26/2013

Rolled Butter Cookies with Marshmallow Fondant

I have been searching for a week or so for ideas on a good rolled cookie that could handle fondant for the decorations.  I am absolutely horrible with royal icing.  So somehow I found a site called Tidy Mom.  She has the most brilliant video tutorial on rolling out cookie dough.  Seriously who would have thought to roll the dough out THEN chill it. 

I don't know about you, but I despise making rolled out cookie dough.  It is always such a hassle!  I really watched the video a few times and just shook my head. 

You can see the video at Tidy Mom Rolling Cookie Dough.

I also decided to use her cookie dough but did skip the almond extract.  I didn't think it would go so well with the Marshmallow Fondant that I made with Lemon Extract.  You can find the original recipe at Tidy Mom Halloween Cookies.

6 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups unsalted butter - room temp
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs - room temp
4 Tbsp milk
3 tsp vanilla
Combine flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
Cream sugar and butter, then add eggs milk and vanilla.
Slowly add the flour mixture and beat until combined.

Roll out on waxed paper about 1/4 inch thick and then put into the fridge for 20 minutes.  While chilling preheat oven to 350.

After chilling out shapes and place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.  You do not want them to brown.  I did find that 12 minutes were perfect for my very large cookies.


When cooled decorate.  I actually made a batch of Marshmallow fondant the day before.  I rolled it out and cut stars out with the same cookie cutter that I was going to use for the cookies.  I let them air dry a bit over night.

When each tray of the cookies came out of the oven, I let them cool for about 2 minutes then gently placed a fondant star on top and push down very gently to make sure it was adhering to the cookie.  Then let them cool completely.  I ended up with about 30 large cookies.

I am sorry that I didn't snap pictures during the process.  I really needed and wanted to keep my full attention on the cookies.  Next time I will defintely take pictures.

As for decorating on top of the fondant.  I did use some premixed royal icing packets left over from our gingerbread houses.  I did not like they way it looked so I wiped it off with a wet paper towel and let the fondant dry.  Luckily I realized this after one cookie.

When all the cookies were completely cooled, I put them on a large tray and placed the white and purple chocolate Paw Prints around the tray and on some of the cookies.




I am happy to say, that the tray was gobbled up and not one cookie or candy came home.  Poor Miss V didn't get to have one at the game.  Luckily for her I did keep a cookie or two home.

Sharing this recipe here:
Melt In Your Mouth Monday #101

1/24/2013

Kellogg's crunchy nut roasted nut


So the other day Miss V and I went grocery shopping and picked up a box of Kellogg's Crunchy Nut Roasted Nut O's with my coupon from Bzz Agent.

When I poured the cereal into the bowl, I snitched an O.  It was really good and kept eating them until half the bowl was gone.  I then added the milk and WOW I am really liking this cereal as much as the Crunchy Nut Flakes.  Again they are sweet but not overly sweet and you can definitely taste a nice roasted peanut flavor.  I know this may seem strange to some people, but Miss V likes to add cereal to her yogurt sometimes and I think the Crunchy Nut O's would be a good option for vanilla yogurt.

Some of the online coupon sites do have a coupon this week if you wanted to print one out and try it for yourself.

Regrowing Green Onions update

Well I guess they do regrow!


I started them on Tuesday and yesterday I was shocked to see a bit of growth.  This morning there is even more!  How cool is that????

1/22/2013

Can you regrown green onions? Day 1

I know we have all seen posts or pins about regrowing green onions.  So after I cut up the ones for dinner, I put the white parts with the little roots still attached into tall shot glasses.  I wonder what they will look like in a few days.

Stay tuned.......


Thai Peanut Noodles

Winner, Winner Chicken diner again thanks to Pinterest.  I recently pinned this recipe a few days ago and really needed to try it.  You can find the original recipe at Iowa Girl Eats.  The only problem is that we don't have a wok anymore.

Well I stopped by Target and picked up a nice wok pan.

Anyway...I doubled the original recipe since I wanted to make sure to have leftovers.  I didn't use tofu so I used a couple of chicken breasts

8oz cooked linguine or rice noodles, cooked and set aside
4 teaspoons peanut oil, divided
3 large chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
Kosher salt and  pepper
1 cup shelled frozen edamame
4 green onions, sliced
2 cups coleslaw mix
1 cup snap peas
1 cup asparagus
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 eggs
sesame oil
1/2 cup peanuts, chopped

For the sauce
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tbs granulated sugar
2 1/2 tbs smooth peanut butter
4 Tablespoons water
1 1/2 tbs chili garlic paste

Add all sauce ingredients into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for one minute seconds, then stir until smooth. Set aside.

Heat a wok pan on high and add 2 tsp of peanut oil. Season chicken with kosher salt and pepper, then add into the wok and cook, stirring frequently, until cooked through and golden brown. Remove to a a large mixing bowl.

 Add 2 tsp of peanut oil to the wok then add in edamame, green onions, coleslaw mix, snap peas, asparagus and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently until vegetables are tender but still a bit crisp and coleslaw is wilted about 5 minutes for this double batch. Remove vegetable and put with the chicken.




In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and a dash of sesame oil. Add to the wok and stir constantly until scrambled and cooked a bit dry.

Add cooked chicken, vegetables and cooked noodles back into the wok.  Pour the reserved sauce into wok and toss all ingredients to combine and everything is heated through.

Sprinkle the chopped peanuts on top of the stir fry and you may add more green onions.

 
 

This came out better than what I thought and so glad we have leftovers.

1/21/2013

Mozzarella and Pepperoni Stuffed Chicken Breast

I pinned this recipe a few weeks ago while trying to find new ideas for dinner.  The original recipe comes from Life as a Lofthouse.  I really enjoy her blog and you should check it out also.


3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 (1 ounce) slices Mozzarella cheese
12 slices pepperoni
dried basil
garlic powder
1/2 cup dried Italian bread crumbs
Cooking Spray
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded Mozzarella

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Spray a glass baking pan with cooking spray then set aside.

Cut a pocket in each piece of chicken. (Try not to go all the way through.  I did on one of the breasts.  I find that it is easy if you lay your non-cutting hand on the chicken to hold it still)

Stuff each chicken breast with one slice of Mozzarella cheese (I find it if you fold it in half it will fit better and 4 pepperoni slices. Sprinkle the tops of pepperoni with a pinch of dried basil and garlic powder. Close the chicken breasts, and secure the pocket with a toothpick.



Spread the bread crumbs in a shallow dish or plate. Dredge each breast into the bread crumbs to coat lightly. Place all the coated and stuffed chicken breasts into the baking pan and spray with cooking spray or drizzle with a bit of olive oil


Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.


Remove the baking dish from oven.  Pour about 1/4 cup of marinara over each chicken breast. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Place back in oven and bake another 5 to 8 minutes, or until cheese is melted and turning brown.  Let cool for a minute or two and CAREFULLY remove the toothpick. The sauce and cheese is super hot.




Serves 3 or 4.

I served this with some bow tie pasta and the rest of the sauce and salad.


 

Pawprint Lollipops take 1

So the other day a mom from Miss V's school had asked if anyone would like to bring treats to the next basketball game.  Me being the over achiever said sure and then at Hobby Lobby I spotted the cutest pawprint lollipop mold so I bought the two on the rack and some white candy melts.  They only had Orchid at the store and I knew that I had purple at home.

Well the purple I have is lavender and it just doesn't look right.  So I went to work melting and painting in the molds then filled with the white candy melts.  I was using a spoon to fill and it was working out ok, but I ended up over filling some of the molds so the lollipops wouldn't lay flat.

Then I googled around for a bit and found that if you mix food gel with shortening first then you can add it into the melted candy melts.

The color that I came up with looks much better, but then I had problems with the white chocolate.  I had switched from paintbrush and spoons to squeeze bottles.  The Purple worked well, but the white not so well.  ARGH.....

I just don't like working with chocolate down here.....

Maybe I should just stick with festive cookies...when I got the idea of marshmallow fondant cookies.  I found conflicting info, so I asked a professional on a certain website.  She told me that I could NOT use marshmallow fondant on cookies and that I HAD to purchase rolled fondant.  Well of course she would say that since she is employed by a food company that sells fondant.  But.....that stuff tastes ICKY!!!

Oh so here are some pics of the lollipops...I am not thrilled with them...If I can't get them to look the way I want them, I won't bring them as a surprise.

This is the "lavender" color




On the left is the purple that I came up with and on the right is the lavender.


Someone suggested mixing pink and blue to make purple.  I might have to try that.  I think mixing to much gel and shortening made the purple to soft.

1/16/2013

Chicken with Feta Cheese Sauce

Winner, Winner Chicken dinner courtesy of Pinterest.  I pinned this recipe a few weeks ago because it looked simple and quick.  You can find the original recipe at Garnish with Lemon.


3 or 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
1 tbs unsalted butter
1 tbs flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup feta cheese, I used Sundried Tomato and Basil

Preheat oven to 375.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and drizzle with light olive oil.  Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper.  Go lightly on the salt.

Brown chicken on both sides and place in a small baking dish.  Bake at 375 until cooked through.

Meanwhile in the same skillet melt the butter and whisk in the flour to make a roux.  Gradually ad the milk whisking constantly.  Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for about 5 minutes until the sauce is thick.  Stir/whisk occassionally.

Add the feta and whisk until the cheese is all melted.

Spoon sauce over chicken and serve with sides.  Tonight I served it with peas, salad with the extra feta and rice pilaf.





I think the flavored feta worked fantastic in this dish!!

Kellogg's Crunchy Nut Cereal

Yeah my Kellog's Crunchy Nut Cereal Bzz Kit came this weekend.  I first tried this cereal a few years ago. I found it at my local Sweetbay Supermarket.  Miss V loves it also!

We both love that it is sweet but not overly sweet.  It stays crunchy in milk unlike most flake style cereals.  I love the chopped peanuts on each and every flake.


The Bzz Kit also came with five $0.50 cent coupons.  I noticed that they also have a roasted nut version.  I am going to have to pick that up and try it.

Have you tried Kellogg's Crunchy Nut Cereal?  What did you think of it?

1/15/2013

Tex Mex Bowls

My original plan for dinner was Chicken Fajitas.  The problem was that I forgot to get tortillas, so I came up with what I call Tex Mex Bowls.

I made the Chicken, onions and peppers as usual.  Then just layered ingredients in a bowl.


First was some long grain rice.

Then some Black Beans.


Then came chicken, onions, peppers, salsa, sour cream and cheese.



It came out really well and a whole lot less messy.