Foodie Friday -- Not Your Mother's Spinach Salad

My nephew was married on the Saturday before Christmas. As family, we were invited to the rehearsal dinner, so we drove two hours to OKC for the rehearsal dinner. And, boy, am I glad we did!

The food was wonderful, but the caterer's spinach salad was what really caught my attention. It wasn't your regular spinach, eggs and bacon salad.

No-Sirree-Bob! It was chocked full of all sorts of goodies. And let me tell you, I could have eaten this stuff with every meal!

In fact, I made this salad for Christmas--much of the prep work could be done the day before. This was the first time we hosted Christmas dinner, and this salad was definitely on the menu!

Chopped Spinach Salad

Chopped spinach
Pearl Couscous
Dried cranberries
pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
sunflower seeds
Bacon

I made this recipe for roughly seven adults, and two small batches were sent home with the families.

Chop two 8-oz packages of spinach into bite-sized pieces. Toss with the other ingredients, as desired, though I will tell you that the heavier ingredients do fall to the bottom. Toss periodically with tongs as the spinach breaks down.

Serve within two hours.

Tips & Tricks:

• Bacon: Chop 1 lb of bacon into small pieces. Cook until crisp, drain the bacon. I used 1/2 the bacon for the spinach salad, the other half for the green beans. I saved the bacon grease to season the green beans, but you can also use to make a vinaigrette. 
• Pearl Couscous: This is also called Israeli couscous. They cook into puffy round pieces of yumminess. I just followed the directions on the package, but only used 1/2 the amount it made. If you are saving this for the next day, add a touch of olive oil to the cooled couscous as the starchiness of the couscous makes it stick together in a clump.
• If you want more seeds, add more seeds. The seeds added a nice crunch, while the cranberries added a sweet/tart that was needed.
• I had a variety of dressings on the side, but thought the Green Goddess dressing was the best on it. If you want to make a bacon vinaigrette, then make it with red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper, and the remaining bacon grease.
• I've been making a version of this salad over the last few days--large containers of pepitas and sunflower seeds, yanno. I take about two cups of spinach leaves, chop them, and place into a small Ziploc storage bag, add the other doodads and one Tbls of dressing--shake well.

Enjoy this quick and easy recipe!

Later, Peeps!

Hopefully, I'll be on a regular blogging schedule in the future!

Foodie Friday -- Crockpot Oatmeal

I found this recipe on Facebook, but I tweaked it numerous times to make it a thick-and-gooey oatmeal instead of runny oatmeal.

Super easy to throw the ingredients together the night before, set the temperature to “Low” on the crockpot, and go to bed. Breakfast is ready 8 hours later.

Sorry, no picture. Since we tend to like lots of cinnamon in our oatmeal, it didn't take an appetizing picture. 

Crockpot Oatmeal

4 Granny Smith apples, cored and peeled, chopped into large chunks

¾ cup light brown sugar

1 heaping Tbls cinnamon

1 tsp Kosher salt

2 cups oatmeal

3 cups water

Place chopped apples on the bottom of the crockpot. Sprinkle brown sugar, cinnamon and salt on top. Add oatmeal and water. DO NOT STIR. Plug in crockpot and set timer to low.

Next morning, stir and adjust seasoning (more salt/cinnamon/sugar). If too runny, add ¼ cup instant cook oatmeal. 

Enjoy!

Tips & Tricks:

• ·         Stick with a tart apple. Granny Smiths are awesome for cooking. My chunks were ½ -3/4  –inch thick. The first time I made this I diced the apples. They were too small and simply melted into the oatmeal. We like the chunks.
• ·         We like cinnamon, so I added quite a bit. The original recipe only calls for 1 tsp. which isn’t nearly enough.
• ·         We used a mixture of dark brown sugar and light brown sugar (it was what was left in the bags). My hubby didn’t care for the slight molasses flavor that the dark brown sugar leaves. Your choice.
• ·         The first time I made this, I couldn’t figure out what was missing the next morning . . . until I added a couple of large pinches of Kosher salt.  Err on the side of less salt and adjust the seasoning the next morning when you taste it.
• ·         This time I used a mixture of steel-cut oats and regular quick oats. The steel-cut are supposed to be healthier, but I don’t think they cooked down as much as regular oatmeal would, as there were tiny bits of chewiness.
• ·         The original recipe called for 3-4 cups of water, but it was too runny. If you have some quick oats you can use them to thicken it up, or go slightly less with the water. It’s hard to tell how much the apples will juice.

Foodie Friday -- Bread Pudding with Warm Bourbon Sauce

Yes, I already have a bread pudding under my Foodie Friday tab, but I was telling my swim mom buddy, Margaret, about this recipe and promised to send it to her . . . three days ago.

Yikes! I hate making promises and then taking so long to make them happen, which is why I tend to drop all other work to judge contest entries. . . maybe I have things a little skewed in my head.

It's been known to happen.

Okay, this recipe is the one I made for this last Thanksgiving--it's a big pan, so I tripled the recipe! It's the dessert in the pretty blue pan. Sauce is not shown in this picture. The reason I like this recipe is due to the fact it's made from raisin bread--I don't like raisins, but I do like raisin bread!

 

 

Bread Pudding with Warm Bourbon Sauce

4 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

4 cups day-old cinnamon raisin bread with crusts, cut into 1/2-inch squares

1/2 cup pecans, chopped and toasted

 

Butter 8-inch square baking Whisk, first 6 ingredients in medium bowl. Place bread and pecans in prepared dish. Pour milk mixture over and let stand 5 minutes. Push down bread into custard. Refrigerate 2 hours, pushing bread into custard occasionally.

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place bread putting in large metal baking pan. Add enough boiling water to baking pan to come 1 inch up the sides of the dish with the bread pudding. Bake until pudding is puffed and golden brown on top, about 50 minutes. Remove dish with bread pudding from water and cool slightly.

 

Cut into squares. Serve bread pudding warm with sauce.

 

Bourbon Sauce

 

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1/2 cup sugar

3 Tbls. whipping cream

2 Tbls. bourbon

Pinch of salt

 

Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in remaining ingredients. Simmer until thickened, whisking often, about 3 minutes. Cool slightly.

 

Tips & Tricks:

• make sure you have two pans, one that fits inside the other one before you start making this pudding. Yes, it has to have the 'steam' factor so it doesn't over cook on the sides and bottom
• I bought fresh raisin bread, but cut it up and let it dry in the baking dish for a few hours before making this. I would toss it occasionally to get all the pieces dry.
• you can refrigerate the unbaked pudding in the refrigerator overnight, instead of only two hours, and bake it in the morning
• place the pudding pan into the empty steaming pan and place on oven rack before you pour boiling water into the steaming pan. This way you don't take the chance of sloshing the water into your pudding or on yourself while getting it into the oven.
• Bourbon sauce is GOOD! *nom, nom, nom, slurp*
• Use a high quality of whiskey and the flavor will be outstanding. I used Devil's Cut Whiskey. Actually, I use this whiskey to make caramel and my chocolate truffle filling. It has the best flavor!

Enjoy, Peeps!

• 

Foodie Friday -- 7-UP Biscuits

Today was a snow day and all the schools were out, so I decided to try this biscuit recipe I saw on Facebook.

Now, I will mention that numerous people would post recipes on FB, but they were encrypted and you had to 'share' the recipe to get it. Well, my friends, home girl here doesn't play that game, and I found a way around this trick. This technique is right up there with chain letters, "SHARE" unless you want to go to He%%, or other such crap that people come up with.

Oh, and I found a way to copy the recipe . . .

I will also mention that I've made biscuits about three times in my entire life. Usually, I buy a can from the store and pop it open for fresh biscuits, or even buy the little hockey pucks in the freezer section.

This is a simple recipe requiring only four items. You might need to tweak the oven temps depending on your oven.

Makes 20-24 biscuits depending on thickness.

7-UP Biscuits

4 cups of Bisquick

1 cup sour cream

1 cup 7-UP soda

1/2 cup melted butter

 

Melt butter in two 9 X 13 pans.

 

Mix Bisquick, sour cream, and 7-UP. It will be very soft and loose. Knead and fold dough on flat surface using Bisquick to keep it from sticking. Pat dough out and cut biscuits using round cutter. Slosh melted butter around pans and pour excess into bowl. Place biscuits in pan and brush with excess butter. Bake 400 degrees F. for 12-15 minutes.

 

Tips & Tricks:

• I used glass Pyrex pans
• I made these biscuits 2 1/2 inch in diameter and 1/2-3/4 inch deep
• I ended up with 22 biscuits using these measurements
• Don't over crowd the pans. 12 biscuits per pan ended up being a good amount.
• The original recipe called for the oven to be 425, but I thought it would brown too quickly . . .it did one of my batches. 

Enjoy!

Foodie Friday -- Crazy Cake in a Mug

Don't get your panties in a wad! Yes, I'm actually posting a Foodie Friday recipe! Actually, I found this one on Sweet Little Bluebird yesterday, and my daughter (12) tried it out last night. The kidlet needs to learn to cook sometime, right? And I'm not cooking very much since I'm focused on losing this little bit of weight I gained over the last few months--I'm eating as natural as possible, which means no yummy recipes until I can manage to get my snacking under control.

My daughter made this recipe, but I did taste it. Yes, it was only about 1/2 teaspoon. It's pretty good, though I think cocoa powder doesn't have the punch real chocolate does. This single serving will give you the sugar fix you need without all the tempting leftovers.

Enjoy!

Crazy Cake in a Mug

(single serving, microwave recipe)

5 Tbls flour

4 ½ Tbls sugar
2 tsp cocoa powder
¼ tsp baking soda
Dash of salt

½ tsp vinegar

¼ tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp vegetable oil
4 ½ Tbls water

Using a large microwave safe mug, spray the inside with non-stick cooking spray. Mix the first 5 dry ingredients in the mug. After mixing well, make 3 depressions in the dry ingredients. Pour vinegar in one depression, vanilla in another, and vegetable oil in the third. Pour water over the top. Mix well with a fork until smooth. Place in microwave and cook on high for 1 ½ minutes, uncovered.

BE SURE TO NOT OVERCOOK!

Top with anything you like--powdered sugar, frosting, chocolate chips, caramel, or whipped cream--or nothing at all.

Hints & Suggestions:

• the original time said 2 minutes, but our microwave tends to cook quickly, thus the 1 1/2 minute cook time
• You could undercook this and not have a problem since there are no eggs in this recipe
• Yes, it does rise due to the chemical reaction between the baking soda and vinegar

Foodie Friday -- Tian de légumes a la Provençale

First things first, don’t let the title scare you. This recipe is from my French sister-in-law. She made it for this Thanksgiving AND the day after when the fam got together for leftovers. The veggies disappeared both days--yes, it’s that good. It’s a pretty dish without all the cream soups, canned fried onions or cheese sauce that cover up the fact that you’re eating vegetables.

Françoise did give me permission to change up the recipe since I have a tendency to do that, but I won’t. Why mess with a good thing?

During this past year, I became a firm believer in keeping it simple when it comes to vegetables. Enhance without covering it up. Overcooking or covering up veggies simply negates the health benefits, which is also why you won’t find a whole lot of vegetable recipes on this blog.   

Tian de légumes a la Provençale

2-3 tomatoes

2-3 zucchini
2-3 yellow squash
1 onion
Herbes de Provence
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Preheat the oven to 355 F.
Slice and sauté the onion in about 2 tbsp of olive oil until they are soft. Set aside.
Cut the zucchini/ squash/tomatoes evenly into ¼ -inch slices.  
Spread the onion on the bottom of a 9 by 13 oven dish. On top of the onion, make rows of vegetables (alternate one row of zucchini, one row of squash, one row of tomato) along the short side of the baking dish.
Drizzle with a couple tbsp of olive oil. Generously sprinkle with herbes de Provence. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cook for 25 minutes in the oven at 355, reduce heat to 300 F and cook for another 25 minutes.

Disclaimer: I’ve never actually made this dish so my suggestions are purely observations.

Hints & Suggestions:

·         Instead of drizzling olive oil, use olive oil spray to cut the calories, but not the flavor.

·         I’m sure the 355 degree oven could be changed to 350F . . . the 355 temp is probably a conversion from Celsius.

·         Use a large onion or two smaller ones since they will sweat down and you need to cover the bottom of a large pan.

·         My SIL used regular tomatoes and sliced them in half, but you can use Roma tomatoes, which are about the same diameter as the squash.

·         If you have a mandolin use it, but don’t slice your fingers along with the veggies.

·         Slice one of each veggie first, then start layering to figure out how tightly you want to pack them, then slice as needed. Or slice all of it and nosh on the leftovers that don't fit in the dish!

 

Enjoy!  Later, Peeps!

Foodie Friday -- Key Lime Pie

I'm late again with this post, but I wanted to sample my offerings prior to posting the recipe.

And let me just say that this recipe is AWESOME!

It all started when I had a bag of limes from Sam's Club--I forgot why I bought such a huge bag, but I did--and they were starting to get old. Hubs suggested that I make Key Lime Pie. Normally, we eat at Red Rock Canyon Grill and share their Key Lime Pie, but I decided to try my hand at making a similar version. I found two online recipes, merged them into my interpretation, and added a twist in the crust that Red Rock does.

Voila! Here's the recipe. And for the record, making Key Lime Pie is very, very easy. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It's a mess to make, but easy. Just saying.

NOTE: Though it’s called Key Lime Pie, no key limes were hurt during this process . . . regular large limes were. Do you realize key limes are about the size of a quarter/marble? Do you know how many you would have to cut and squeeze to get enough juice for 1 cup? I’ve used them before in other recipes, and they are not worth the work. Sorry, not happening.

 Key Lime Pie

Crust:
1 ½ cups graham crackers (@ 9-10 rectangles)
2 Tbls. sugar
4 Tbls. butter, melted
½ cup chopped pecans, toasted

Filling:
2 (14-oz) cans sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand)
1 cup fresh lime juice (@ 5 regular large limes)
Zest from one lime
2 large eggs

Chantilly Cream:
1 cup whipping cream
1-2 tsp. vanilla
2-3 Tbls powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

For Crust:
Place pecans in oven until lightly toasted, about 5 minutes.
In food processor, grind graham crackers into crumbs, pour into bowl and measure 1 ½ cups back into food processor. Add sugar, melted butter and pecans. Mix well. Pecans should be chopped small, but still visible. Press mixture into 10-inch round tart pan with 1-inch sides, place on baking sheet and bake until brown, about 12-15 minutes.

For Filling:
Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
Zest one lime into large bowl, mix in eggs and sweetened condensed milk, and then whisk lime juice into mixture. Pour filling into cooled crust. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool about 30 minutes on wire rack and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Make Chantilly cream when ready to serve.

For Chantilly Cream:
Beat whipping cream until thickened, add powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix well, taste for flavor. Keep beating until stiff peaks form.

Hints & Suggestions:

·       Toasting pecans brings out another level of flavor. Keep an eye on them while toasting. DO NOT BURN.

·       I always overestimate graham crackers when I grind them, which is why I have this extra step to measure the ground crumbs and return them to the processor.

·       The crust mixture is crumbly. If you want it to stick together a little better, add 1-2 Tbls extra melted butter. Don’t overdo the butter, since the filling holds the crust together when it bakes. Trust me on this.

·       Press the crumbs along the tart edges first to get a nice layer. If it’s too thick in a spot, just lightly rub the crumbs away until desired thickness. Use a flat glass bottom to press bottom crust into pan.

·       I put the tart pan on a cookie sheet because I’ve been known to push the removable bottom out of the tart pan when I take the crust out of the oven. I didn’t want to redo the crust.

·       Filling will come to the very top of the crust. It will look like it will overflow. It doesn’t. *whew*

·       The center of filling should not jiggle when you take it out of the oven.  

·       Stiff peaks are formed are when you pull the beaters out of the cream and they leave little points on the beaters. Overbeating will result in a butter mixture. Not a bad thing, mind you, but not what you want here.

And that's it for today, Peeps!

Tomorrow, I'll post the pot roast I made. It was wonderful, too!

Today the family and I are walking in For The Cure JDRF. It's late notice, but if you want to donate to the Commandos for the Cure at Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation