Brownies

Today I'm Making... Brownies

I love cooking but my kitchen it grossly understocked. I don't have the scoops, mixers, knives, pans or even the bakeware to make cooking easy. My husband recently made me buy a new cookie sheet because mine was so old everything stuck to it, I swear plain butter would have stuck to it.

I decided to make brownies because it was another one of those things I didn't realize you could make without a mix from the store. This is all well and good except that the only pan I had was a round cake pan. I was trying to figure out the area of the pan to make sure it was close enough to the size the recipe called for. Yeah that's right I had to use pi(r)2 to bake... I can't even figure out how to type the symbol for pi if that's any indication for how well that little exercise went. Well after 10 minutes, a calculator and Google I finally figured it out. Luckily 25 minutes later I had a plate of brownies to drown out my feelings of ineptitude.

Recipe:

1. In a sauce pan melt 1/2 cup Butter then remove from heat.
2. Mix in 1 cup sugar, 2 lightly beaten eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder.
3. Bake in a 8 x 8 greased pan for 25 minutes at 350 degrees

Review:

I love chocolate and therefore I love these! I halved the amount of butter and added 1/4 cup of applesauce in it's place, I also added chopped pecans- both of which gave the brownies a slightly different taste then the base recipe but I really like them this way too. I recommend them served warm with ice cream. These are better then the mixes found at the store and honestly they took about the same amount of time to make.

Stuffed Shells

Today I'm Making... Stuffed Shells

I love Italian food but I very rarely make it. Really I am just about limited to pasta with spaghetti sauce. So I am going to try and branch out, I figure as long as there is garlic and cheese how bad could it really be? Well my husband asked for this specifically so I am starting with stuffed shells.

Recipe:

1. 1. Prepare Jumbo Shells according to the package- mine said 14 minutes, I cooked them for 12 and they came out perfectly. Drain and put them directly into really cold water (I used ice water) to stop them from cooking anymore.
2. Filling: 2 1/2 cups of cottage cheese (if you don't like cottage cheese use ricotta), 10 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, 2 Lightly beaten eggs, 3 cloves minced garlic (if you like garlic- if not cut it down or use 1 teaspoon of garlic powder instead), 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon dried basil. Mix it well and put all the filling in a large plastic zipper bag- cut the corner off the bag and use it like a pastry bag to fill the shells.
3. I used 3 medium pyrex glass containers to cook them in because they are really easy to store. Put a layer of sauce on the bottom of the container(s), place the shells opening up, fill them with the filling, cover with a layer of Spaghetti sauce (I use jarred), sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes- until it's bubbly. After it's done let it sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Review:

This turned out way better then I thought it would. I was skeptical of the cottage cheese but it doesn't taste like it when it's cooked with everything else. Both my husband and I had seconds and he is planning on taking it to work for lunch tomorrow. This would be a really great meal to make ahead and freeze or to bring someone who is sick or with a new baby because they can just throw it in the oven. I will be making this again- next time I might add spinach or meat but I did like this one just how it was.

Sauteed Mushrooms

Today I'm Making... Sauteed Mushrooms

As I have said before I am a huge fan of grilling and on days where I am not up to cooking something with a lot of prep time I put some meat in a marinade and then throw it on the grill. Well this is all well and good but it occurred to me today that I could spice up this go to plan with a simple topping for the meat. If you have ever been to a hibachi restaurant and had steak it probably came with mushrooms mixed in, well this recipe makes that sort of mushroom. It's easy and makes a huge difference to the taste and presentation of the meal.

Recipe:

1. Melt 2 Tablespoons of Butter in a sauce pan
2. Add 8 ounces (one container) of sliced white mushrooms, let cook for about 5 minutes until the mushrooms start softening.
3. Add 2 cloves Garlic chopped, cook for another 2 minutes.
4. Add 2 teaspoons soy sauce (I used ginger soy sauce), cook for 5 more minutes until the juices have come out of the mushrooms.

Review: I put these mushrooms over grilled steak, when my husband ate it his response was "have you ever thought of becoming a chef?"... which he then followed up with "are female cooked called chefs?"... but that is neither here nor there. I loved how these turned out. It is little tricks like this recipe that make at home meals feel more like a night out at a restaurant. Which when you have two children like I do is actually doable!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Today I'm Making... Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I love Autumn, it's by far my favorite season. A large part of the greatness is of course the food. It seems that the dishes start becoming warmer, spicier and richer, the only thing unhappy about that is my waistline but it is so worth it. My husband is in charge of bringing breakfast tomorrow for his breakfast club and it is the first one with the cooler weather so we needed a recipe to celebrate autumn. What is more fall like then something with pumpkin, cinnamon and chocolate? They came out AMAZINGLY. The recipe makes 12 muffins.

Recipe:

1. Mix together wet ingredients: 3/4 cups brown sugar, 1/4 cup canola oil, 2 eggs, 1 cup Pureed Pumpkin (make sure it's pure pumpkin- not the stuff with sugar and spice already mixed in), 1/4 cup water.
2. In another bowl mix dry ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 3/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, mix in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.
3. Mix the two bowls together, the batter should fill 12 muffin tins- there isn't a lot of added fat in this recipe so make sure you grease the pan well or use paper so they don't stick.
4. Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

Review:

These are wonderful muffins- we doubled the recipe since they were made for a crowd. I can't wait to hear the reviews. I wouldn't change anything about them except next time I am making a whole batch just for my family!

Peanut Butter Noodles

Today I’m making… Peanut Butter Noodles

I admit I have been a little MIA lately. Sometimes parenthood gets in the way of things we like to do for ourselves (this blog) in the name of our children. My son was really sick but no worries, he is now he is back to his crazy self so I am back to blogging. I picked this recipe because I love peanut butter and wanted to try something besides sandwiches with the main ingredient of peanut butter. It stores well, can be used as either a side dish or main dish and can be changed up easily with the addition of protein and vegetables.

Recipe:

1. Cook 8 ounces of Udon Noodles according to the package… mine took 4 minutes in a big pot of boiling water.
2. Sauce: ½ a cup of chicken broth, 1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh ginger, 3 tablespoons Soy sauce (I used ginger soy sauce), 1 1/2 tablespoon Honey, 3 tablespoons Peanut Butter (I used creamy/ no sugar added), 3 cloves Minced Garlic, 1 teaspoon Chili Powder. – Mix everything together over medium heat until the sauce gets creamy.
3. Put the noodles in the sauce and mix it together. Garnish with whole peanuts.
4. Additions: I put in some pan cooked Chicken, I would have liked to have had broccoli but I didn’t have any.

Review: This was good but make sure you like peanut butter before you make it. I accidentally added too much chicken stock so I had to add some extra peanut butter, honey and corn starch to thicken it up. I had a lot of sauce but there is nothing wrong with that! This is a great way to change up traditional peanut butter.