Enchilada Casserole

In my attempt to cook more family-friendly meals and avoid making something different for Audrey at dinner time I found this recipe in the December 2011 issue of Cooking Light and hoped it would be a winner. And guess what…it was! Ground beef simmered in a tomatoey sauce layered between flour tortillas and topped with more sauce and cheese. What’s not to love? Except, I suppose, if you don’t like meat or cheese. It also looked exceptionally delicious served up in my brand new red Le Creuset pie plate…a way-too-generous Christmas gift from my friend, Jayne (not over-the-top enough for me to give it back to her, though)!

Sick Day PB&J

Audrey woke up this morning saying her tummy didn’t feel good. While her temperature was barely 100-degrees I figured it was better for her to stay home than send her to school only to have to pick her up halfway through the day. For lunch I decided to surprise her with these PB&J Crepes she’s been asking me to make her. We saw them one day on an episode of Food Network’s ”Giada at Home.” It was the first time I ever attempted to make crepes. The ones in the picture were the last batch so they turned a little more brown than they maybe should have. I think they turned out pretty good, though. None were ripped or doubled-over in the flipping process! The only changes I made to the recipe were frozen raspberries & blackberries instead of fresh blueberries and skim milk instead of whole. Audrey ate 2 and is ready to go back to school tomorrow!

Baker’s Helper

 

My friend, Jayne, was baking for a cookie exchange at work and asked if I wanted to join her. Or was it that she told me she was going to be baking and I invited myself over? Either way, I ended up in her kitchen afternoon helping her make peanut butter/toffee bars and Chex mix (mostly helping by tasting the Chex mix, though). I brought over ingredients to make Pistachio-Cranberry Biscotti for myself or gifts (if it lasts that long). I was short a few pistachios but lucky for me, Jayne’s husband had a little stash that I was able to “borrow” from! It was my first time baking biscotti and it turned out pretty good! Love the dried cranberries in it but may have to try one with chocolate next time.

photo from myrecipes.com

Thanksgiving Pot Pie

I saw a picture of a turkey pot pie  in the latest Harry & David catalog that had stuffing on the top instead of pie crust, biscuit or mashed potatoes. What a great idea! So I thought I was being so clever by using up all my Thanksgiving leftovers and making turkey pot pie for dinner tonight. I even used leftover gravy because we ran out of milk to make the sauce from the recipe. What did I end up with? Leftovers in a different shape. It was really good, though. Especially with a little side of cranberry sauce.

Giving Thanks

We hosted Mike’s family for Thanksgiving dinner this year. With family members needing to be in more than 1 place for the holiday, it was requested that we host on the Friday AFTER Thanksgiving. It ended up working out well giving us more time to figure out how to brine the turkey, prepare some dishes ahead of time (including the delicious little acorn treats that Audrey ate about 20 of) and, of course, clean, clean, clean! This was our first year using a brine to soak the turkey in and everyone said they LOVED it! I used a turkey brine seasoning mix from Galassi Foods, a company located about 10 minutes from our house) and substituted the chicken broth they suggested for the liquid with apple cider. It did turn out especially juicy. Who knew? I have a little of the seasoning left over and can’t wait to use it for a chicken or maybe pork roast!

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Too Fabulous

I found these recipe cards in the dollar bin at Michael’s while shopping there this afternoon. How could I pass them up?

It’s ALL in the Presentation!

French Toast Mountain

For YEARS I’ve been making french toast. It’s one of Mike’s favorite breakfast options. Audrey has NEVER wanted to eat it. I really didn’t understand why not. She likes custard, syrup and bread. Isn’t french toast all those things in one? Well, I finally found the trick to get Audrey to eat french toast so I don’t have to be short-order cook in the morning. Of course the solution came from Sam the Cooking Guy’s 1st book: Just a Bunch of Recipes. It’s not so much of a recipe but a suggestion on how to present it:

Cut french toast into 1″ squares and place in a mountain-like pile. Drizzle with syrup first; this would be the “cascading waterfall” part of the mountain. Then dust the top of the pile with powdered sugar, this gives it the “snowy peaks” part of the mountain.

I made this for Audrey a few weeks ago and she requested it for her breakfast this morning saying “Mommy, can you make me that french toast mountain with the sugar powder on top?” How do I say no to that?

Pumpkin Scones

photo from myrecipes.com

I bought some canned pumpkin last week to make something (can’t remember what so it must’ve been really good) but didn’t use the whole can. While looking online for a picture of a pumpkin tonight I came across a picture of pumpkin scones which led me to myrecipes.com where I found a recipe for some! And…it turned out that I had just enough leftover canned pumpkinto make them!

As I started pulling out the scone ingredients Audrey came into the kitchen to offer her help which, of course, I happily accepted. After getting the scones on the baking sheet it was time for the egg wash. I told Audrey I needed an egg. As she was going to the refrigerator to get it for me, she asked if she could crack it. I told her I needed to do it because I only needed the yolk. She shut the refrigerator door and said, “well, I don’t know where to get that.” Silly.

Just a few more minutes until the scones are done baking. Hopefully they make it to the morning so I can take them to work to share. I feel kind of bad that the Month of Cynthia is almost over and I’ve only brought a value-size bag of candy corn to celebrate!

Cook Club Rules

My friend Jayne and I decided one day last winter that we should start a cooking club. I had been in a book club with some women and didn’t always like the books. Then we’d meet somewhere at a restaurant I didn’t always like for dinner and end up not talking about it at all! Well, if I was going to eat food and NOT talk about a book I was going to do it with my FRIENDS! And so the No-Name Cooking Club was born. A group consisting of me and 8 girlfriends meet at each other’s house once a month. The hostess makes the main course and the rest of us bring everything else from the beverage to dessert. This month our hostess made grilled flank steak with a mint chimichurri sauce. I was on appetizer duty so I brought my all-time favorite: guacamole! There was also a spinach salad, dirty rice, DELICIOUS broccoli, jell-o cake, moscato & red wine and ready-to-drink margaritas! We always have a good time catching up on everything that’s happened since the last meeting while enjoying everyone’s delicious food and sometimes too-delicious beverages! Thanks for another great evening, girls!

Chicken & Spiced Apples

I had help in the kitchen tonight. Probably because I was cooking apples in cinnamon and butter – one of Audrey’s favorite things. We made this recipe from Eating Well: Healthy in a Hurry. Audrey also helped by taking the picture which is why it’s a little blurry. It tasted really good though. Especially with the side of garden-fresh green beans!