Merry Christmas 2011

As you may recall, every year I make my Christmas cookies and last year I tried to make ginger bread men as my fourth variety. Lesson learned. This year I decided to add truffles to the mix. Not my famous oreo balls but something a little different.

You will need:

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2.5 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips + 1 cup semi sweeet bakers chocolate, melted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 package white chocolate melted, 1 package semi sweet chocolate melted for dipping

In a large bowl beat cream cheese until smooth. Add in sugar until blended. Stir in melted chocolate and vanilla until no streaks remain. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes. Shape into 1 inch balls and dip in the melted chocolate or vanilla. Sprinkle with crushed pecans, coconut flakes, or colored sprinkles to decorate. Refrigerate or freeze for 1 hour or until set.
I like to decorate with the opposite melted chocolate. I put melted white chocolate in a zip lock baggie and cut a small tip off of the corner. Squeeze over the truffles to create a pattern.

These looked very pretty on a holiday platter as my contribution to the party. I am told and also believe that they taste quite good, too.

Merry Christmas!

Griffin Wallace (right) with his friend Baxter Batson (left)

Would you like a hot apple pie with that?

I'm back! And I brought with me this delicious apple pie! I am so proud of this creation. This was my first ever pie and it turned out so pretty, and it tasted good too. I brought this to Thanksgiving where I was in charge of desserts. I made something else too, but it obviously isn't as important.

I'd like to thank Grandma Ople (?) and allrecipes.com for this one. I did make some modifications. I cheated on the crust and went store bought, same for the lattice work topping.
Here's what I did:

• 1 store bought 9 inch pie crust
• 1 box of frozen pastry, thawed and cut into strips using pizza cutter
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced - I actually got 1.5 pies out of this many apples

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
• Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off. 

 

• Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft. 
• Enjoy!

You can see why I say 1.5 pies, the second one was not very full but was very tasty

 For a first try, I think it looks pretty good.
 

Chicken Enchilada Pockets by Dashing Dish

This is a recipe that I got from one of my favorite "lite" cooking blogs, Dashing Dish. The author of this blog does a great job turning some of your staple dishes into a more figure-friendly version. I recommend visiting her site and following her blog for some great new recipes.

This particular recipe is for Chicken Enchilada Pockets. You can view her easy step by step instructions by clicking here. Since this isn't my recipe I am not going to go into details here.  I did make just a few modifications and observations.

1. Next time I make these I will pull the chicken instead of cubing it. I think it will make the mixture easier to spread on the triangles.
2. I added cilantro, one of our favorites!
3. The sauce mixture would make a great dip if you don't feel like going to the trouble of putting it in the pockets. We had some leftover sauce and ate it with tortilla chips and it was very good.

Make sure to enjoy all that Dashing Dish has to offer!

*Photo courtesy of dashingdish.com

September update

I love September and I really enjoy fall: getting out all the decorations, changing up the wardrobe, red wine, college football, memories of tailgating, its all so lovely. The only part I dont like is what's coming later but I'm in denial and ignoring that for now.  So its been a little quiet on the ol' blog lately, I owe you an explanation. I have been knocked down by the plague/black lung/bronchitis/insert awful illness here. Technically I guess its been called bronchitis but its been a long, slow recovery. Im feeling a little more spunky tonight after a weekend full of couchin' it. Maybe Im on the upswing. All that said, I have not really been interested in preparing foods for my loved ones the past couple of weeks. Coughing germs into a meal sounds less than appealing. So instead I have done some surfing on the internet - have you heard of or visited Pintrest? Don't do it unless you have an hour to spare. This site is wonderful! I really enjoy and I am collecting a lot of great ideas.

The one thing I did prepare was a Jalapeno Popper Dip Mishap. It was quite good I am told but I don't care to look at a jalapeno for a very long time. A friend at work has a garden and brought in some goodies so I took 3 jalapenos and then it took me a week to figure out what to do with them. I settled on making a version of a dip I read about on allrecipes. Here's what I did:

3 fresh jalapenos, diced (next time I will use a 4 oz can)
1 can diced green chiles (4 oz)
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayo
Parmesan Cheese
Combine all ingredients except the Parmesan in a bowl and stir. Pour into an oven safe dish, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake at 350* for 20 minutes (or so). Serve with crackers or pita bread.

So why do I call this a mishap? Well, I was being very careful chopping the peppers but because I had this unpredictable illness my nose began to run. I picked up a paper towel from the counter to wipe my nose and continue. Turns out the paper towel had jalapeno seeds on it. Ouch. Awful awful pain in my nose. And on my hands. This lasted about one hour. I had to stop my preparations and have Josh Google ways to remove jalapeno oil while I held ice to my face. Turns out the home remedies include rubbing alcohol, olive oil, or lemon juice. Not at the same time. Im generally much more graceful than this. I will blame the illness for my inability to think clearly. Ive had a few other moments I'm not proud of in the last week or so, that is why I stayed close to home this weekend. I was unable to capture a photo because getting out the camera was the last thing on my mind.

Give the dip a try, be more careful than I was!

Another thing to love about September?  ArtPrize!

Ramen Noodle Coleslaw Salad

Happy Labor Day! I hope everybody had a wonderful weekend. We spent ours up north at Columbus Beach in Indian River with the Shaull family. You probably know how much I love Northern Michigan by now and this weekend did not disappoint despite the rain and 60* weather. Saturday we planned to play golf but it was raining so we postponed that until Sunday and instead got into a heated game of Monopoly. Aunt Terri cleaned up. I didn't lose. That's all I have to say about that. Then we went to lunch and by the time we came back the sun was shining so we headed out for a pontoon boat ride. We came home and made a delicious dinner - burgers on the grill, sweet corn, coleslaw salad, and all the fixins. I've made this coleslaw salad a few times this summer. It generally goes over pretty well and its really easy to make.

You'll need:
1-2 packages of coleslaw
1/2 package of cabbage (purple) - this is my secret, it adds color and makes it look prettier. Use full package if you use 2 packages of coleslaw
2-3 bunches of green onion (3 bunches if you use 2 packages of coleslaw)
1 cup Oil - I do 1/2 canola, 1/2 olive
1/2 cup Cider Vinegar
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Sunflower Seeds
3 packages Ramen Noodles Chicken Flavor

Combine the seasoning packets from the Ramen Noodles (I use 1-2 packets), sugar, oil, and cider vinegar in a bowl. Whip until fluffy. Mix the Sunflower seeds, coleslaw, onion and cabbage in a large bowl. Combine the wet & dry ingredients. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Just before serving crush up the Ramen Noodles (I do 1.5 packets but you could do up to 3 if you used all of the coleslaw and cabbage). What I have found as Ive made this a time or two is that if you use too much oil it can create a pool underneath the colelsaw, and if you use too many ramen noodles it becomes more about the noodles and less about the salad. You can make this to fit your taste. There are many variations to this recipe. I like this version best of course.

On Sunday morning we went golfing and had lunch at the course. Then we packed up and headed home. Monday we spent doing chores and yard work. We are ready for fall! I can't believe I just said that.

Sorry I do not have a photo of this one... I'll snap one the next time I make it. Enjoy!

Girls Weekend in Chicago: Recipe for Fun!

This is a break from regularly scheduled programming to bring you a post about girls weekend! Last weekend I spent 4 days in Chicago with three of my favorite girls: Mom, Aunt Rita, and Madison.

We picked the girls up at Midway Thursday morning and headed into downtown. We stayed at the Conrad Hilton (very nice).

Our first adventure was the Wendella Architecture Tour which was very fun and informative. Perfect sunny day activity. Actually our first stop was Bandera for some lunch on Michigan Ave, then the boat tour.

Naturally we did plenty of shopping!

On Friday we spent the day in Lincoln Park and did more shopping and a lot of walking! We had brunch at Nookies (highly recommend, all fresh and delicious) and then shopped on Armitage, and then walked all the way to the zoo and saw some of these guys:

For dinner we went to Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinders, so very good. It is located across the street from the location of the St. Valentines Day Massacre.

On Saturday we went up to Nick and Nicole's new home in Buena Park and then had lunch with them in their neighborhood. Afterwards we came back and assaulted Water Tower Place. Success! Back to school clothes, a homecoming dress, and some jeans.

We began most mornings with girl talk in our room over coffee and muffins, we rounded most nights out with girl talk over dinner and dessert. There is something therapeutic about spending time with dear friends. I had a great time, thanks for making the trip girls!

Cream Cheese & Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breast

This is a recipe I heard about from a friend at work. She tried it a few weeks ago and said it was definitely worth a try. It comes from eatingwell.com so I have the nutrition facts below. I made a modification which is instead of using the egg white, I made buttermilk (milk and lemon juice). Here is what you need:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, (1-1 1/4 pounds total)
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup plain dry breadcrumbs
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Cream Cheese-Pesto Filling:

• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat cream cheese, (Neufchatel)
• 1 tablespoon basil pesto, (store-bought or homemade)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Combine cream cheese, pesto and pepper in a small bowl with a fork.
3. Cut a horizontal slit along the thin, long edge of a chicken breast half, nearly through to the opposite side. Open up each breast and place one-fourth of the filling in the center. Close the breast over the filling, pressing the edges firmly together to seal. Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts and filling.
4. Lightly beat egg white with a fork in a medium bowl. Place breadcrumbs in a shallow glass dish. Hold each chicken breast half together and dip in the egg white, then dredge in the breadcrumbs. (Discard leftovers.)
5. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts; cook until browned on one side, about 2 minutes. Place the chicken, browned-side up, on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the chicken is no longer pink in the center or until an instant-read thermometer registers 170°F, about 20 minutes.

 

Nutrition
233 calories; 9 g fat ( 4 g sat , 3 g mono ); 81 mg cholesterol; 7 g carbohydrates; 33 g protein; 1 g fiber; 379 mg sodium; 351 mg potassium.

I served this with pasta with a little pesto mixed in. It was pretty good! Josh liked it, too. A little rich because of the cream cheese. This was prepared and we had eaten within an hour.