Hash Brown Quiche

I made this today for a brunch at my house and had many requests for the recipe.  Today I substituted the Swiss cheese for a handful of fresh Parmesan and mozzarella.  Essentially you can use any two cups of cheese though it is nice to have one that is stronger like Swiss or Parmesan.  I did less butter and used milk.  

8 shredded hash brown potato patties (found in the freezer section)
1/2 cup butter or less
1 cup cubed precooked ham or cooked sausage
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
8 eggs
2 cups milk or cream
1/2 t. salt

Optional add ins: salsa, green chilies, green onion, chopped mushrooms etc
Place hash brown patties in greased 9x13 pan. Pour melted butter evenly over the surface of potato patties. Bake at 350 for 20 min. Remove from oven. Sprinkle potatoes with ham and cheeses. In a large bowl beat eggs. Add milk or cream and salt. Pour mixture over cheeses and ham. Bake at 350 for about 30 min, until eggs are cooked solid. serve 8.

Thai Noodles

Tasty dinner that comes together quickly.  Adjust the Siratcha and Ginger to adjust the heat to your taste.  Double the recipe... it's a safe bet that it will all get eaten.

8 oz Liguine Noodles, Cooked

Sauce:
1/2 cup Chicken Broth
3 Tbs Creamy Peanut Butter
Drops Siratcha Sauce (adjust to taste)
1 1/2 Tbs Honey
3 Tbs Soy Sauce
1 1/2 Tbs Ginger (or less)
2-3 cloves Garlic, minced
Chicken, Cooked and Chopped (optional)
Vegetables: optional i.e. Red Pepper

Mix everything together in a saucepan over medium heat until you get a creamy sauce.  Mix sauce with cooked noodles.  Serve with suggested toppings.

Toppings:
Chopped Green Onion
Cilantro
Limes, wedged
Crushed Peanuts

Sweet Potato Soup

1/2 stick of butter (I used smart balance)
2 cups finely chopped onion
6 cups chicken broth
5 cups peeled and cubed fresh yams or sweet potatoes
5 cups peeled and cubed russet potaoes
1 cup peeled and shredded russet potatoes (about 1 med)
1/2 cup heavy cream (I am going to try using fat free half and half)
2 t. ground cumin
1 t. dried parsley
1/4 t. salt
ground black pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large stockpot over med-high heat. Stir in onions and saute until soft. Add broth and sweet potatoes, bringing to boil, then lowering heat and simmering for 10 min. Add the potatoes, return to simmering and cook until the potatoes are soft. Stir in the cream, cumin, parsley, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring often until heated through.

(This recipe is from the Farm Chicks in the Kitchen book. This soup is so good, you will be tempted to swallow the spoon you are eating with!)

Whole Wheat Rolls

My mother found this recipe on Everyday Food Storage and was raving about it. I had the chance to try it while I was visiting her and agree with her, they are really good. I got the recipe from her yesterday and tried them myself. They came together really well and tasted really good. My mother always doubles the recipe and gets a cookie sheet full of rolls.

1 1/4 cup warm water
1 Tbs Yeast
1/4 cup honey or 1/3 cup sugar
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs nonfat dry milk
1 Tbs butter or margerine or oil

Start the yeast then mix in other ingredients. Knead for 10 minutes. Transfer to oiled bowl and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled. Punch the dough and shape into 2-3 in balls (push the dough through a ring made by your thumb and index finger to get a uniform ball). Allow rolls to rise.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes (my rolls took less than 15)

Peanut Butter Frosting

From the Taste of Home Baking Classics Cookbook. This frosting is perfect with chocolate cake.

1 pkg (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 Tbs milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Beat the cream cheese and peanut butter in a bowl until smooth. Beat in the sugar, milk and vanilla. Spread over cake. Store in the refrigerator.

Enough frosting to cover the top of a 9x13 cake. I usually double the recipe.

Bowtie Crockpot Chicken

4 cans cream of chicken soup
8oz package cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 pkg ranch dressing mix
3 Tbs parmesan cheese
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 Tbs italian seasoning
1 Tbs minced garlic
About 7-8 chicken breasts

Cut up chicken into bite size pieces or strips. Put in crockpot with all ingredients. Cook on low 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Serve over bowtie pasta with grated parmesan cheese or mozzarella.

Spinach Feta Florentine Chicken

1 lb boneless skinless chicken tenders
6-8 oz baby fresh spinach
8 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
3-4 Roma tomatoes, sliced
4 oz container feta cheese
8 oz bottle fat free Balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing

In greesed 9x13 layer spinach, chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes, then feta. Pour bottle of dressing over all of it. Bake at 350 for 30 mins uncovered.

Serve over angel hair pasta.

Lasagna Soup

1 lb gound sausage
1 med onion chopped
minced garlic
2 14oz cans diced tomatoes
1 15oz can tomato sauce
1 14oz can beef broth
1 1/2 cup water
1 Tbs brown sugar
2 tsp chopped basil
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt and pepper
1 tsp thyme
3 cups dried mini lasagna noodles
3/4 cups parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups mozzerella

Brown sausage, garlic, chopped onion in a soup pot. Add cans of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Stir in beef broth, water, brown sugar and seasoning. Bring to boil add dry pasta. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20 mins. Add parmesan. Garnish with mozzerella.

Shortcut: can adjust and use spaghetti sauce.

German Chocolate Cake

I found this wonderful recipe and used it for Josh's birthday cake. The recipe is AMAZING! It is well written, detailed, and the cake cooks perfectly (or maybe it was a fluke thing). Not only was the cake batter perfect but the frosting is really good too.

German Chocolate Cake from Let Joy Resound

I topped my cake with toasted coconut.

Update:

I've now made the cake a total of three times (soon to be four). It has turned out perfectly each time and is absolutely heavenly! This recipe is a KEEPER. I've been having nightmares that the above link for some reason won't work and I will not be able to find the recipe so I decided to go ahead and copy the entire recipe over.

Filling:

4 egg yolks

1 can evaporated milk (12 ounces)

1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar (1 3/4 ounces)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick), cut into 6 pieces

1/8 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/3 cups sweetened shredded coconut (7 ounces)

1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans (6 1/2 ounces), toasted on baking sheet in 350-degree oven until fragrant and browned, about 8 minutes

1. FOR THE FILLING: Whisk yolks in medium saucepan; gradually whisk in evaporated milk. Add sugars, butter, and salt and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is boiling, frothy, and slightly thickened, about 6 minutes. Transfer mixture to bowl, whisk in vanilla, then stir in coconut. Cool until just warm, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cool or cold, at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. (Pecans are stirred in just before cake assembly.) ***I have never over cooked the frosting but I have slightly undercooked it. Still tastes good but is not as thick and drizzles down the sides.***



Cake:

4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate , chopped fine

1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa , sifted

1/2 cup boiling water

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces), plus additional for dusting cake pans

3/4 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened

1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar (about 4 3/4 ounces)

3/4 teaspoon table salt

4 large eggs , room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup sour cream , room temperature

2. FOR THE CAKE: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine chocolate and cocoa in small bowl; pour boiling water over and let stand to melt chocolate, about 2 minutes. Whisk until smooth; set aside until cooled to room temperature.

3. Meanwhile, spray two 9-inch-round by 2-inch-high straight-sided cake pans with nonstick cooking spray; line bottoms with parchment or waxed paper rounds. Spray paper rounds, dust pans with flour, and knock out excess. Sift flour and baking soda into medium bowl or onto sheet of parchment or waxed paper.

4. In bowl of standing mixer, beat butter, sugars, and salt at medium-low speed until sugar is moistened, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture is light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula halfway through. With mixer running at medium speed, add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down bowl halfway through. Beat in vanilla; increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 45 seconds. With mixer running at low speed, add chocolate, then increase speed to medium and beat until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl once (batter may appear broken). With mixer running at low speed, add dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream (in 2 additions), beginning and ending with dry ingredients, and beating in each addition until barely combined. After final flour addition, beat on low until just combined, then stir batter by hand with rubber spatula, scraping bottom and sides of bowl, to ensure that batter is homogenous (batter will be thick). Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans; spread batter to edges of pans with rubber spatula and smooth surfaces.

5. Bake cakes until toothpick inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes, then invert cakes onto greased wire rack; peel off and discard paper rounds. Cool cakes to room temperature before filling, about 1 hour. (Cooled cakes can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 1 day.) ***I freeze the cakes in the cake pan after they have cooled for 10 minutes in the pan and about 15 minutes on the wire rack. Freezing them makes cutting them very easy when assembling.***

6. TO ASSEMBLE: Stir toasted pecans into chilled filling. Set one cake on serving platter or cardboard round cut slightly smaller than cake, and second cake on work surface (or leave on wire rack). With serrated knife held so that blade is parallel with work surface, use sawing motion to cut each cake into two even layers. Starting with first cake, carefully lift off top layer and set aside. Using icing spatula, distribute about 1 cup filling evenly on cake, spreading filling to very edge of cake and leveling surface. Carefully place upper cake layer on top of filling; repeat using remaining filling and cake layers. If necessary, dust crumbs off platter; serve or refrigerate cake, covered loosely with foil, up to 4 hours (if refrigerated longer than 2 hours, let cake stand at room temperature 15 to 20 minutes before serving).

Low Fat Blueberry Oat Muffins

Another healthy muffin recipe that uses fresh blueberries. My boys also loved these. They were very moist and cinnamon sweet. I found this recipe at http://stephchows.blogspot.com

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 + cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In a large bowl combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a medium bowl combine applesauce, buttermilk, sugar, oil and egg. Make a well in dry ingredients and add applesauce mixture. Stir until just moist. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.

Bake for 16-18 minutes (I always cut the time on my oven. Mine cooked for 14 min)

Cranberry, Orange and Pecan Muffins

I found this recipe online, tried it and loved it. I then tried it again with the following modifications with whole wheat and flax. The boys love these muffins inspite of my healthy additions. I will say these are a very dense muffin and on the dry side BUT very yummy and filling. The original recipe was from www.cooksister.com

2 Cups Wheat Flour (original recipe uses all purpose flour)
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Milled Flax (not in original recipe)
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Cup Craisins
2 tsp Orange Zest
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Orange Juice
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil (original called for 1/2 Cup)
1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans
Whole Pecans to Decorate

Preheat oven to 375 and prepare muffin pan.

Soak the Craisins in the orange juice for 20 mins or so (I let them sit while I mix the other ingredients)

In mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, flax, baking powder and salt.

In a smaller mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs then add the oil, cranberry/orange juice mixture, and the orange zest. Then mix the dry and wet ingredients until the dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in the nuts then spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan and top each muffin with a whole pecan.

Bake for 13-20 muffins, until they just start to golden. Don't over cook or they will be even drier and the whole pecan will burn.

Thai Lettuce Wraps

1 lb ground pork sausage
2 T. oil
minced garlic
1 t. ginger
1 t. salt and pepper (I don't add the salt because the soy sauce is salty enough)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups shredded cabbage (coleslaw mix works just fine)
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
a couple of glogs of lite soy sauce
2 T. chopped fresh basil
1 cup cooked rice
1 head iceburg lettuce

Brown meat. Add ginger, garlic, bell pepper, and pepper. Add cabbage, green onions, and fresh basil. Stir fry. Add hoisin and soy sauce and cooked rice. Heat through. To serve, wrap in lettuce leaf.

I double this recipe for my family to make sure we have leftovers because it is so good!

Flax Seed Whole Wheat Pancakes

We were introduced to the wonders of milled flax seed while in Utah visiting our families. I still don't now all the benefits of flax seed. I do know that it is high in omega-3, fiber, and antioxidants. It has to be ground in order for our bodies to digest it and reap those benefits. It can't be milled in a wheat grinder but you can use a coffee grinder. I found already milled flax seed at Walmart in the baking aisle. It doesn't keep long and needs to be refrigerated when it is ground. Apparently you can replace oil and eggs by using flax seed, an idea that intrigues me. Josh has been using it in our wheat pancakes and has perfected it to the following recipe.

2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Milled Flax Seed
2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbs sugar
Dash Salt

2 Eggs
1 1/3 Cup Buttermilk
1 1/3 Cup Milk

Mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients seperately then mix them together.  Cook on a hot griddle.
The pancakes are super yummy and very filling.  Enjoy!

Strawberry Cream Puffs

This recipe comes from the Taste of Home Cookbook. My mother made them and was raving about them so I had to try them myself. I made them last night but used raspberries instead of strawberries and halved the cream mixture. I still had enough cream to fill my puffs and they were super yummy. I am including the recipe without my changes.

Puffs:
1 cup water
1/3 cup butter, cubed
1 Tbs sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup all purpos flour
4 eggs

In a small saucepan bring the water, butter, sugar and salt to boil over medium heat. Add flour all at once. Stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from the heat; let stand 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny.

Drop by 2 rounded tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. (I ended up with 16 puffs that I crammed onto one cookie sheet, the recipe says 3" apart, but I wanted to only cook one pan) Bake at 400 for 30-35 minutes (mine were more like 25 min) or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks. Immedietly split puffs open, remove tops and set aside. Discard soft dough from inside. Cool puffs.

Strawberry Cream:
2 pkg cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
4 cups whipped topping
3 cups coursly chopped strawberries

Beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Fold in whipped topping and strawberries.

Fill puffs with heaping tablespoonfuls of cream, replace tops, dust with confectioners sugar. Serve immedietly. Refrigerate leftovers.

Fragrant Indian Butter Chicken

Tara invited me to join her in going to the Taste of Home Cooking School show in Loveland last month. We had a lot of fun. For the show they demonstrated 10 recipes and it was like watching Food Network EXCEPT you could ask questions about subsitutions etc. and you could SMELL it. mmmm... We came home with lots of new recipes to try. I really needed something like this to pull me out of yet another dinner rut.

This recipe is one of the one's they demonstrated. I went home and tried it and we really liked it. It has a different taste than my usual cooking. Josh kept going on about how it tasted authentic (not that he is an expert in Indian food). The recipe is super easy, fast and yummy.

2 Tbs butter
1 cup chopped onion
2 tsp minced garlic (I used it from the jar)
1 Tbs grated fresh gingerroot (I used ground ginger spice, gingerroot is expensive and I don't use it enough to warrent buying it though supposedly you can freeze it whole)
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground turmeric (this I bought special for the recipe, it gives it that great yellow/orange color)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 Tbs tomato paste (I didn't have, I subsituted in some tomato sauce)
1 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 whole cooked rotisserie chicken, skin removed and cut into chunks (I just put two chicken breasts in a small crock pot with a little water and cooked them all afternoon then shredded them)
1/3 cup half-half cream (I used fat free half and half, also great for soups)
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 Tbs minced fresh cilantro (I omited this because I didn't have it)

Hot cooked rice for serving

In a large skillet, melt butter ove medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir until onion in tender, about 5 minutes. Add gingerroot, chili powder, turmeric and cinnamon; cook and stir 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, salt and pepper.

Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes; stirring occasionally. Add chicken, cream and sour cream; simmer, uncovered for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Serve over rice if desired.

Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread

This is the recipe I submitted. I really was coming up emptyhanded trying to figure out what to bring so I went allrecipes.com and found this recipe. It got a zillion good ratings so I thought it was a safe bet. I wasn't dissapointed. I did replace half of the oil with applesauce to make me less guilty. The result was still a yummy moist bread that smelled like heaven!

Prep Time : 15 Min Cook Time: 1 Hr

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans or 2 5x9 pans.
In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil (applesauce), water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
Bake for about 1 hour + in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Spaghetti Squash With Vegetables & Mozzarella

I bought a spaghetti squash at a garge sale (of all places) last week and we had this recipe for dinner this week. It's really yummy and rather filling on it's own.

1 spaghetti squash
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 T olive oil
1 large can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
3-5 cloves garlic
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)
1 C grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese

Serves 6-8
Cook spaghetti squash by your favorite method and remove flesh. I cut mine up and put it in a 9X9 pan in the microwave, covered with a little water in the pan for 5 minutes. It took three batches to cook the entire squash. Preheat oven to 375 F.

Heat olive oil in a skillet and add the onion, pepper and garlic. Sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, basil, and crushed red pepper (if using). Simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes.

Mix squash well with the cooked vegetables and put half in the bottom of a large (13 x 9 inch) baking dish. Top with half the cheeses, followed by the other half of the squash mixture, then the rest of the cheeses. Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and slightly browned. Let cool 10-15 minutes before serving.

Recipe from Seed of Knowledge. There are also some other recipes for spaghetti squash.

Special Ingredient: Sriracha Chili Sauce

Josh and I have come across this sauce at a number of restaurants and Josh became keenly interested in it after he found out they used it in a volcano blue cheese burger he ate in Boulder, Utah. We bought a bottle of it at our local grocer and I have started slipping it into various recipes to give them an extra kick and depth of flavor. Watch out though, a little goes a LONG way. Josh puts it on his burgers and hot dogs (he can handle more spice than I can). I used it this week in my spicy meatballs to bring up the flavor and also in Misty's homemade tomato soup. I can't wait to try it in Chili.

Chicken Pesto Pizza

I got the idea for this pizza from a restaurant Josh and I went to in Escalante, Utah in July. I pulled it together at home and loved it! It's a great twist on a traditional favorite.




Pizza Crust or other crust recipe

Pesto sauce in place of tomato pizza sauce
*I used a basil pesto but you could probably use any other kind of pesto. Store bought or homemade work great

Mozzarella Cheese
Cooked, Cubed Chicken
Tomato slices
Red Onion, thinly sliced
Mushrooms, sliced

Make and roll our pizza crust according to directions. Spread a liberal amount of pesto sauce on the dough (when I made it we thought I should have used more pesto sauce). Sprinkle on the cheese and toppings. Bake as directed.

Taco Salad

We had this for dinner last night and I was reminded how much I like this simple dinner.

1 lb ground beef
1 can black beans
1 can kidney (or pinto) beans
1 can corn
Liberal amount of Taco Seasoning

Brown the beef until fully cooked (I then rinse the meat under running water leaving a little water in the pan), then add the rinsed beans, drained corn and taco seasoning. Allow to simmer until heated through and slightly thickened.

Serve with the following (toppings optional depending on your own taste and what you have on hand):

Crushed tortilla chips
Lettuce
Shredded Cheese
Tomatoes
Green onions
Olives
Cilantro
Avocado or Guacamole
Sour cream
Ranch dressing
Salsa
etc.

I usually layer tortilla chips on the bottom with meat/beans then cheese then lettuce on top with the other various toppings after that. But really it doesn't matter what order you do it in because the best way to eat it is all mixed up.