Edesia's Notebook

Find Me on Instagram

2018-10-07T16:05:00.001-05:00

As you can tell, I have not been blogging anymore. Life got busier and it got to be too much for me. I am definitely still cooking, and I still have a desire to share recipes, however, so I now use Instagram for that purpose. Posting to Instagram is faster and easier than typing out a blog post on the computer. I have also changed my diet significantly in the last three years. My husband and I eat low carb/keto. I have lost 94 pounds and am still making progress. So if you have any interest in low carb/keto, please find and follow me on Instagram. @lowcarblesa I post my weekly meal plan each Monday and throughout the week I post pictures of my dishes with the recipe included, in a format super easy to screenshot for future reference.

So if you are interested in low carb/keto meal plans and family-friendly recipes, check it out.

Even though I don't plan to update this blog any longer, I will still maintain it so the 669 recipes I have posted aren't going anywhere. I had so much fun writing this blog for 9 years and really appreciate all of my readers and the fellow bloggers I met and friended over the years. This blog was a labor of love and is something I will always treasure.

Happy Cooking!

What I'm Reading Right Now

Mary Poppins

by P.L. Travers

Doctor Sleep

by Stephen King

Improv: Parmesan Herb Zucchini

2016-08-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

It's time for this month's Improv Challenge, hosted by Nichole of Cookaholic Wife.

This month's ingredients were garlic and rosemary. So many possibilities! I am not a rosemary fan at all; it just tastes too much like pine needles to me. But I still wanted to participate this month, so I made something with rosemary anyway.

I had recently seen a yummy looking zucchini recipe that I wanted to try. According to Elle shared some zucchini that was baked with parmesan and herbs on top. The photos are beautiful (unlike mine, lol! Having some camera issues at the moment), and I just couldn't wait to try it. This challenge was the perfect opportunity.

Here is my version.

Parmesan Herb Zucchini

Ingredients:
2 medium zucchini, cut into ¼” slices
Olive oil
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
½ tsp garlic powder
1-2 tsp rosemary, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place zucchini slices on a rimmed baking sheet (I use stoneware). Brush both sides lightly with olive oil (I actually used an olive oil spray).

In a small bowl, gently mix together the parmesan, garlic powder, and rosemary. Put about 1 tsp of this mixture on top of each zucchini slice.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, then place under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese begins to brown on top. Remove and serve warm.

Makes 4 servings.

So since I'm not a huge rosemary fan, what I did was put rosemary on just a few of them, and for the others I used one of my favorite herb blends from Penzeys, Sunny Paris. This would work well with any herb, fresh or dried. I used garlic powder because I was out of fresh garlic, but fresh would be fine as long as it was very finely minced. The garlic powder worked well for me; it was just the right amount of garlicky-ness I thought.

I was very pleased with this zucchini. It was a nice change from simply sauteeing it or throwing it on the grill. Zucchini has too much water in it to ever get really "crispy", but these did brown beautifully on the bottoms. I had some that were about 1/2" thick and some that were 1/4" because I couldn't decide what would work better. My zucchini were too big to slice in half lengthwise like According to Elle did. So I thought slices were the way to go. I ended up liking the 1/4" slices better. They browned more on the bottoms and they edges got more browned and delish.

My husband and I both loved this zucchini. Unfortunately, my kids aren't big zucchini fans, so they opted for baby carrots instead. Their loss! I can't wait to make this again.

Be sure to check out all the other great garlic and rosemary recipes below and come back next month to see what I make with sausage and mustard. I already know what it is and I can't wait!

An InLinkz Link-up

Italian Stuffed Zucchini (Low Carb)

2016-07-23T11:58:00.000-05:00

It's getting to be that time of year, when everybody is looking for ways to use up their overabundance of zucchini. I am not a gardener, so I don't have that problem, but I love zucchini and am therefore always looking for new ideas. This is a great zucchini recipe I threw together for dinner last night.

Italian Stuffed Zucchini

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
3 large zucchini
1 cup pizza or marinara sauce
2 tsp Italian seasoning (I use Tuscan Sunset)
1 cup shredded Italian cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.

Brown ground beef in a skillet. Drain off grease.

Meanwhile, slice each zucchini in half lengthwise; do not trim off the ends. Using a grapefruit spoon, scoop out the insides, making them into boat shapes. Dry them off with paper towels. Place them on a baking sheet.

When the beef is browned and drained, stir in the pizza sauce and the Tuscan Sunset. Fill the zucchini with the beef mixture. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Top with shredded cheese and return to the oven for another 10 minutes, or until zucchini has reached desired tenderness.

Makes 4-6 servings.

This makes for such an easy dinner. I spent all afternoon in the kiddie pool in the backyard with my daughters. They could live in that thing! We lose all track of time in the pool, so I sent Lena in to the house to see what time it was. Five til five. Oops, time to make dinner! I toweled off, got in the kitchen, and had this ready in about half an hour.

A note about the number of servings: My husband and I ate two each. We eat low carb, so this was all we ate. If you are serving this as a main dish, with side dishes as well, probably one per person would be sufficient. My girls aren't crazy about zucchini, so last night I only made 4 of these for my husband and myself, and I mixed the remaining meat mixture into some pasta for my daughters.

I use pizza sauce because it is the lowest carb tomato sauce I can find and my husband much prefers smooth sauces to chunky ones. But you can use whatever tomato/marinara sauce you like best.

What I'm Reading Right Now

Mary Poppins

by P.L. Travers

Doctor Sleep

by Stephen King

Improv: Peaches and Cream Muffins

2016-07-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

I haven't participated in an Improv Challenge for a couple of months, but I decided I need to get back into it! I had been slacking in my duties as the administrator, so last month I handed the reins over to Nichole of Cookaholic Wife.

This month's ingredients were peaches and cream. Fun! At first I thought I would bake something for my kiddos, but then my mother-in-law decided to take them off our hands for a week. Nice! I am really enjoying the quiet and my husband and I have enjoyed going out and socializing more than we usually do, but I am missing them and will be glad to have them home tomorrow.

I made these muffins for a monthly study group my husband leads at our church. My contribution to the study each month is some sort of baked good. The timing worked out perfectly this month to try this recipe out. I found this recipe at one of those Starbucks copycat websites, even though I've never seen peaches and cream muffins in a Starbucks! I changed things up a bit. Here's my version.

Peaches and Cream Muffins

Ingredients:
4 cups flour
2¾ cups sugar, divided
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp Pie Spice
¾ cup canola oil
2 cups milk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
6 small-medium peaches, peeled and diced
8 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp almond extract
Sugar in the Raw

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Coat two and a half muffin tins with baking spray. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, 2 cups sugar, baking powder, salt, and Pie Spice. In a separate bowl, mix together the canola oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and gently incorporate. Gently fold in the peaches.

In another bowl, soften the cream cheese in the microwave. Stir in the remaining ¾ cups sugar and the almond extract. The mixture should be somewhat firm; if it’s too loose, put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

Fill muffin cups about halfway with the peach muffin batter. Drop a dollop of a heaping teaspoon of the cream cheese filling into each one. Top with remaining batter. Sprinkle tops with sugar in the raw.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until edges and sides are golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes in the pan, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Makes 2½ dozen muffins.

I used fresh peaches instead of canned. I thought canned would be too mushy. I was very disappointed, when I began peeling my peaches, to find that they were white-fleshed. :( I did not realize I bought white peaches. I just saw "Peaches .99/lb!" at the grocery store and grabbed some. I was a little bummed because I was looking forward to that pop of bright orange color they would provide; instead, these muffins are pretty mono-chromatic. But I wasn't about to drive back to the grocery store. So it is what it is! They will definitely be more visually appealing if you use regular peaches.

Not a great pic; I realized sometime after I took it that there was a smudge on my camera lens. But you can see how I put these together. I stuck my cream cheese filling in the freezer for 10 minutes before filling because I kind of over-softened the cream cheese and the mixture was pretty runny. I was afraid if I put it in like that, that it would just kind of ooze into the batter and become one with it, which is not what I was going for. So that 10 minutes in the freezer helped to firm it up so the little cream cheese blobs kept their shape while baking.

The original recipe didn't call for any spices or the vanilla extract. I thought the batter needed a little something, so I added some Penzeys Pie Spice and vanilla. The pie spice is nice; but if you don't have that, you can use cinnamon or a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. You could even use a pumpkin pie spice or an apple pie spice if you have it. (Side note: I recommend the pie spice; my kids love it on their applesauce! It contains vanilla sugar; yum!)

I was very worried after I put these in the oven, because I thought that I had overfilled the muffin cups. I always end up with more muffin batter than what the recipe calls for. Why? I have no idea. The recipe was supposed to make 2 dozen muffins. I filled them pretty much completely to the top, and still had enough batter and filling leftover for another half dozen. I grabbed my jumbo muffin tin and made a few jumbos. (Stuck them in the freezer for when my daughters come home. So they're not missing out!) With filling the cups so full, and with the batter being so thin, I was worried they would spill out and all have flat tops that ran into each other. But I was pleasantly surprised to find nothing of the sort when I went to check on them. They aren't the prettiest muffins ever, no pretty domed tops, but at least they didn't spread out and make a mess. I had to bake them longer than what the recipe called for to get them golden brown.

Despite the bland color of the peaches, these muffins were really great. I tried a bite of one and wish I could have eaten more. They were a hit at the study group. I can't wait for my girls to try them when they get home.

Be sure to check out all the other great peaches and cream recipes below and come back next month to see what I make with garlic and rosemary.

An InLinkz Link-up

Improv: Baked Ham & Cheese Cauliflower Fritters

2016-04-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

It's time for this month's Improv Challenge. The premise of the Improv Challenge is easy: each month there are two assigned ingredients. The participants must make a recipe using both ingredients and blog about it.

This month's ingredients were ham and cheese. Awesome! My husband and I have been eating low carb for over 9 months now, so ham and cheese are pretty much staples in our diet. I had lots of things I could do this month. In fact, I have another post all ready to go that also involves ham and cheese.

This is a new recipe I just tried last weekend. It's basically chopped up cauliflower, ham, and a generous amount of cheese mounded together into patties and baked. My recipe is an adaption from All Day I Dream About Food.

Baked Ham and Cheese Cauliflower Fritters

Ingredients:

Olive oil

2 (12 oz.) packages frozen riced cauliflower

2 cups finely diced ham

2 tsp Sunny Paris (or other onion-y salt-free seasoning)

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

½ cup grated Parmesan

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°. Generously grease two baking sheets with olive oil. (I use stoneware.)

Place the cauliflower in a large microwavable bowl. Break up big chunks, if necessary. Microwave on high for 4 minutes. Stir, break up chunks again. Microwave on high another 4 minutes, or until cauliflower is warmed through and somewhat soft.

Add the ham, Sunny Paris, eggs, shredded cheddar, and Parmesan. Stir well. Make 16 patties using a rounded ¼ cup of mixture for each one. Place on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes or until browned on the bottom. Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes before serving. Carefully remove them from the baking sheet to a serving platter.

Makes 4 servings of 4 patties each.

I wasn't feeling too great the day I made these, so I took the easy way out and used frozen riced cauliflower instead of chopping fresh. I got this stuff from Trader Joe's, but I know Walmart also sells bags of riced cauliflower in the fresh produce section. If you can't find either of those handy products, you can finely chop a head of fresh cauliflower and either boil or steam it until it is softened. Just be sure to drain it well before adding the other ingredients.

The other major thing I changed was that I baked these instead of pan frying. I knew they would be too loose for me to successfully flip them in the skillet. I've never had great luck with that. So I baked them instead. Easy peasy and worry-free. I intended to flip them once during baking, but I couldn't do it without them falling apart, so I just cooked them on the one side. I think that turned out just fine. They got a nice caramelized crunch on the bottom that I found delightful. I may have had better luck if I had mashed the cauliflower after cooking it in the microwave, but I am okay with the way they turned out.

My family LOVED these. My husband raved about them. I thought my carb-loving daughters might turn up their noses at them, but I was wrong. They both loved them too. My eight-year-old had seconds.

I used Penzeys Sunny Paris as the seasoning in these. If you don't have that. feel free to use anything else you like. I would recommend a salt-free seasoning because the ham and cheeses provide plenty of salt. Something with onion and/or shallots would be great.

I list four patties as a serving size, but that is going to vary greatly depending on who you are feeding. Kids will definitely not eat four at once. I did, but that was all I ate for dinner; I didn't feel well enough to make the salad I had planned to go with them. We had some leftover, and my husband had a great idea: to serve fried eggs over them in the morning.

Like the plate? I painted it myself! :)

Yummo! They made a great breakfast.

I used up some Easter ham for this; it was so good. But it would be good with any kind of ham.

Be sure to check out all the other great ham and cheese recipes below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Taco Pie

2016-04-09T13:44:00.003-05:00

This is the "pie" I made on Pi(e) Day, March 14th. My husband and I are eating low carb, so my pie options were of the savory sort, pretty much taco pie or cheeseburger pie. My husband loves the cheeseburger pie I tried once, but I was pretty "meh" about it. I was eager to try this taco pie recipe again though, because it didn't turn out so well the first time I made it. I got the recipe from All Day I Dream About Food. The directions do not say to mix the meat with the egg mixture. So the first time I made it, it ended up with only meat on the bottom and only fluffy eggs on top. And the meat part was watery. It was kind of weird; like a fluffy omelet on top of taco meat. But I decided to try it again, making a few tweaks. This time I found success. Here's how I made it.

Taco Pie

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
2 tbsp taco seasoning
6 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1.5 oz. queso fresco, crumbled (optional)
1 cup shredded cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 9” pie plate with baking spray.

Brown ground beef in a medium skillet. Drain, if necessary. Add taco seasoning and stir well.

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the cream and mix well. Add the queso fresco, if using. When beef is done, stir it into the egg mixture. Pour it into the pie plate and top with the shredded cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes. Remove and let cool at least 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Makes 8 servings.

Mixing the meat into the egg mixture makes a huge difference. And I did not add water to the taco meat; not sure what the point of that is. I also added some queso fresco just because . . . why not? :)

This was a huge hit with my family. It's tasty on its own, but I love how you can add whatever your favorite Mexican condiments are. Sour cream, guacamole, and some fresh salsa was my favorite. My husband used taco sauce and sour cream. My five-year-old just did sour cream. Lots of sour cream. I swear, that girl is making up for all the years she couldn't have dairy!

This is easy to throw together on a busy weeknight. And the leftovers reheat well, if you have any.

Even though this is low carb, the carb-eaters in your household will love it too. You can serve it with rice or tortilla chips.

I will have to work on tweaking the cheeseburger pie recipe so I like it as much as this one.

I just remembered that I have some ground beef in the fridge that I need to use up. Totally making this again for dinner tonight!

What I'm Reading Right Now

Mary Poppins

by P.L. Travers

Doctor Sleep

by Stephen King

French Toast Bake

2016-04-02T14:52:00.000-05:00

Need to make French toast for a crowd? I've got you covered! This is so much easier than the making the real deal in the skillet, but it has the same great flavor and texture. The inside is perfectly soft and custardy, while the outside is delightfully crunchy.

I needed a recipe for our church's Easter brunch potluck. I was going to make my traditional Eggs Benedict Casserole, but we had a bunch of French bread leftover from our Lenten soup suppers and someone wondered if it could be used for a breakfast casserole on Easter. Great idea! My Eggs Benedict Casserole uses English muffins, so that was out. I asked my fellow Penzeys fans on Facebook for a good baked French toast recipe and several of them recommended one from The Pioneer Woman. It seemed super easy, which was what I needed because Easter weekend is totally crazy at my house (my husband is a pastor and I'm the church secretary). This recipe was perfect and it was a big hit at the potluck.

French Toast Bake

Ingredients:

1 loaf French bread (7-8 oz.)

8 eggs, beaten

2 cups whole milk

½ cup heavy cream

½ cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar, divided

2 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup flour

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp salt

½ cup butter, cold

Syrup

Directions:

Coat a 9x13” casserole dish with baking spray. Cut the bread into 1” cubes and place in the casserole dish.

In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, whole milk, heavy cream, sugar, ½ cup brown sugar, and vanilla. Pour this mixture over the bread cubes. Let it sit for a few minutes, then press down or flip over the bread cubes to make sure they are completely moistened by the egg mixture. Cover the dish and refrigerate overnight.

In another bowl, combine the flour, remaining ½ cup brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter. Refrigerate.

Remove the dish from the fridge. Preheat oven to 350°. Uncover the casserole dish and sprinkle the topping mixture evenly over the bread cubes. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the edges are browned and the center is set. Serve warm with syrup available for drizzling on top.

Makes 8 servings.

I actually made two of these because there were two loaves of French bread left in the freezer at church. That was good because the first pan didn't last long on Easter morning. I came home with about a third of the second pan left; just enough to reheat and snap a picture for this post! I should have gotten a pic of the entire pan, because it was beautiful, but that didn't happen. Easter morning in the church kitchen is a bit chaotic!

I really do love the Eggs Benedict Casserole, but it is kind of a pain making the Hollandaise sauce right before serving. I think this French toast bake will probably be my new Easter brunch tradition.

I got several compliments on this and was asked for the recipe, so that makes it a success in my book! Give it a try the next time you have houseguests and want to treat them to something special in the morning.

What I'm Reading Right Now

Mary Poppins

by P.L. Travers

Doctor Sleep

by Stephen King

Improv: Dark Chocolate Raspberry Mini Hand Pies

2016-01-23T14:19:00.000-06:00

This month's ingredients were chocolate and pastry or bread dough. I had a refrigerated pie crust leftover from Thanksgiving that had one more week left before its expiration date. Perfect! And with Valentine's Day quickly approaching, my mind immediately went to one of my favorite flavor combos: chocolate and raspberry. Mmm. I kept things super simple. In fact, I made these while talking on the phone with my mom, and I am NOT a good multi-tasker! So that tells you just how easy these are.

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Mini Hand Pies

Ingredients:

9" refrigerated pie crust (or homemade rolled out thinly)

Dark chocolate chips

Seedless raspberry jam

1 egg, beaten

Sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Remove the pie crust from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Carefully unroll. Using a cookie cutter or a glass tumbler, cut uniform shapes out of the dough. Place a few chocolate chips and about a 1/2 tsp of raspberry jam in the center of half of the dough pieces. Brush a bit of beaten egg around the edges. Place another dough piece on top, lining up the edges. Press down all along the edges to seal. Cut a small slit in the center of the top piece. Brush the tops with a little more egg and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for about 24 minutes, or until dough is golden brown. Remove and cool slightly before serving.

Makes about 6 mini pies.

Here are the ingredients I used (minus the egg and sugar). The chocolate chips were bigger than the usual. I used three in each pie, but if you are using regular chocolate chips, you might fit more in there.

Look at that chocolate raspberry gooey goodness! I only tried one bite, as I eat low carb and it was not my cheat day (I timed that horribly!), but it was heavenly. My little sweethearts (my daughters) enjoyed the rest.

Please check out the other yummy chocolate and pastry creations below and come back next month to see what I make with tea and honey.

An InLinkz Link-up

Improv: Sausage, Squash, and Goat Cheese Skillet

2015-11-19T06:00:00.000-06:00

This month's assigned ingredients were squash and sage. Lovely fall ingredients. It didn't take me long to decide what to make. There was a sausage and butternut squash skillet recipe in an issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray that I had been wanting to try for a while. Sausage, squash, and sage seems like a fantastic combo. This was the perfect opportunity to try this dish. I changed it up a little bit (of course!), the biggest change being the addition of goat cheese. It just seemed to fit. Here's how I made it.

Sausage, Squash, and Goat Cheese Skillet

Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground sausage

4 cups butternut squash, ½” cubes (1 lb.)

2 tsp dried sage

½ cup beef broth

½ cup goat cheese crumbles

Directions:

Heat large skillet over medium heat. Add sausage and break up with a spoon. Cook until sausage is browned and fat has rendered. Add butternut squash and dried sage. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the beef broth, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until squash is tender. Uncover, stir, and let cook for just another minute or two. Remove from heat and top with goat cheese crumbles.

Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition Info

Per Serving

Calories: 444

Fat: 34

Sat. Fat: 12

Cholesterol: 112

Sodium: 906

Potassium: 282

Carbs (net): 8

Protein: 25

Vitamin A: 170%

Vitamin C: 28%

Calcium: 4%

Iron: 10%

Oh man, this was so yummy! And besides cutting up the squash (which I always hate!), pretty easy. I wanted to buy the pre-cut squash in a bag, but my store didn't have it. I bought the smallest butternut squash they had, and it ended up being the exact perfect amount for this recipe. Love it when that happens!

Any of you who are fans of the sweet and salty combo will love this dish. The sweetness of the squash is so perfect with the saltiness of the sausage and the creaminess of the goat cheese. Mmm.

I used dried sage because I can never chop fresh sage small enough so that I don't feel like I'm eating bits of leaves. Not palatable for me. I only use fresh sage for stuffing in a turkey cavity. :) But the dried was perfect for this recipe. I know you can buy a sage variety of sausage; if you do that, you might want to cut down on the dried sage you add.

I used beef broth because I happened to have an open container in the fridge. You can certainly use chicken or veggie broth instead. Water would even be fine if you didn't have any kind of broth.

My husband and I have been low carbing for a while now, and I have not allowed myself butternut squash yet this fall. :( So sad, I know! I love butternut squash, but it is a little carby. But I was glad when this came out to 8 carbs per serving, because that is totally doable. I consider any main dish recipe under 10 carbs/serving to be low carb, so this counts for me. This dish kind of reminds me of one of my favorite pasta dishes: Roasted Squash and Sausage Pasta. This is kind of the low carb version of that!

This will be my go-to dish whenever the butternut squash cravings get too much to bear. Looking forward to having the leftovers for lunch today!

Be sure to check out all the other great squash and sage recipes below and come back next month to see what I make with cranberry and orange.

An InLinkz Link-up

All Whisked Up: Cheddar Olive Cheeseball

2015-11-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

It's time for another All Whisked Up reveal. The members of Wisconsin Whisk get together and secretly peruse another blog and make something fun to share.

This month I was assigned the blog Wisconsin Fun Next Exit written by Erica. Erica lives in Madison and considers herself a "mostly vegetarian".

Erica has lots of great recipes on her blog. I nearly chose her baked cheesy eggs; and I still want to make those! I am always looking for new ideas for breakfast. But then I saw this cheeseball, and I knew I had to make it. Like Erica's family, my family always served cheeseballs at holidays. It was kind of a special occasion thing. I love how this recipe is personal to Erica. She even included a pic of the recipe card her grandmother hand-wrote. Love it! I had never made a cheeseball with olives in it, but I thought it sounded genius.

Cheddar Olive Cheeseball

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 tbsp toasted onion flakes (or regular onion flakes)

10 green olives stuffed with pimento

½ cup pecan chips

Directions:

Place cream cheese in a mixing bowl. Add cheddar cheese and onion flakes. Pulse green olives in food processor until chopped, but not pureed. Add to cheese mixture and stir well.

Lay out a piece of plastic wrap and place the pecan chips in the center. Form cheese mixture into a ball shape and place it on the pecan chips. Roll it around to cover with the pecans. Close up the plastic wrap around the cheeseball and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Remove from refrigerator and let soften a bit before serving.

Makes 6 (2.5 oz.) servings.

This is a really great cheeseball. And it really couldn't be simpler to throw together. I cut Erica's recipe in half; I think hers was meant to make two cheeseballs.

I used Penzeys Toasted Onion Flakes, but regular onion flakes will work fine too.

Don't you just love the little flecks of red and green inside? Perfect for Christmas!

I enjoyed getting to know Erica and her blog this month. Thanks for a great recipe, Erica!

Be sure to check out all the other great Wisconsin bloggers below.

An InLinkz Link-up

All Whisked Up: Creamy Gruyere & Mustard Brussels Sprout Gratin

2015-10-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

I was recently invited to join a new blogger group. This one's all about Wisconsin. It's called Wisconsin Whisk, and it's made up of bloggers from all over the lovely state of Wisconsin. I was flattered to be invited!

One of the fun things this group does is a monthly blog swap; pretty identical to The Secret Recipe Club that I was in for a long time. I just love the concept of these challenges and I have discovered so many awesome recipes this way that I jumped at the chance to participate in this one. It's called All Whisked Up.

For this first month, I was assigned the blog Bowen Appetit. Bowen Appetit is written by Bowen Close, who is one of the co-founders of Wisconsin Whisk. Bowen is not just an awesome food blogger, she also teaches cooking classes. How cool is that? She has taught here in the Midwest and also in California. And her experiences in cooking, teaching, and living cross-country really show through in her recipes. Bowen loves to cook with seasonal, fresh ingredients that are put together in innovative ways. I found so many scrumptious things in her recipe index that I wanted to try. Since fall has most definitely arrived, her Sausage and Sauerkraut Stew with Dumplings really caught my eye. My husband would just love me forever if I made that for him. I also really want to try her Baked Eggs. I love how you can use any kind of veggies in there.

But for this reveal, I had to try out her Brussels Sprout Gratin with Whole-Grain Mustard and Caramelized Onions. Do you see what I mean about pairing ingredients in innovative ways? I love the idea of cheese and mustard together; I did that a couple of months ago in my dipping sauce for some pretzel dogs. But this has a completely different flavor profile with the Gruyere instead of cheddar. It sounded so perfect for Brussels sprouts. I happened to have some sprouts in the fridge, so I just needed the Gruyere and I was good to go. Unfortunately, I had to leave off Bowen's beautiful bread crumb topping because my husband and I are eating low carb. But this was so amazing that we didn't feel deprived in the least. Here's my slight adaptation.

Creamy Gruyere & Mustard Brussels Sprout Gratin

Ingredients:
1 lb. Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 cup heavy cream
4 oz. grated Gruyere cheese
2 tbsp whole grain mustard
¼ cup caramelized onion
Salt, to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°.

Boil or steam Brussels sprouts until they are slightly tender. Drain well in a colander.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook a minute or so. Slowly whisk in the heavy cream. Increase heat; when it comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and stir in the Gruyere and mustard. Taste for seasoning, adding salt if necessary.

Combine the Brussels sprouts, caramelized onions, and Gruyere sauce. Pour into a small baking dish. Cover dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until browned and bubbly.

Let cool slightly before serving. Garnish with additional grated Gruyere if desired.

Makes 6 servings.

Wow, this was so amazing. My mom was visiting for the weekend when I made it, so she got to enjoy it too. I actually made a separate veggie for my daughters, because I have not gotten them to appreciate Brussels sprouts just yet. I usually roast them, and they are just not into it. So I made them something else, but when I set the dish on the table, they were seriously enamored by the looks of it! They both asked for some, and ate it, and loved it! I was totally counting on having some leftovers, but nope! The five of us scraped that dish clean!

The Gruyere and the whole grain mustard were such an inspired combination. I started with 1 tbsp of the mustard, and then added another half, but next time I will make it 2 tbsp. It just really gives a great depth of flavor to the cheese sauce.

You seriously need to try this deliciousness. It would be awesome for Thanksgiving if you feel like trying something new this year. If you have no carb issues, hop over to Bowen's blog and get the details for making the breadcrumb topping. While you're there, be sure to check out all the other great recipes she has to share with you.

Thank you, Bowen, for a great recipe!

Please take the time to visit my other Wisconsin blogger friends listed below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Improv: Peanut Butter Apple Overnight Oats

2015-09-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

This month's assigned ingredients were apples and oats. Is it that time of year already? Yes, it is! The kids are in their third week of school and I have been on the lookout for easy, convenient breakfast recipes for them. I saw this recipe for overnight oats and a light bulb went off! I have seen this all over blogland for a while now, but for some reason had not gotten around to trying it. This challenge gave me the perfect opportunity. The inspiration came from a great blog called Super Healthy Kids. I changed up just a couple of things; here's my version.

Peanut Butter Apple Overnight Oats

Ingredients:
1½ cups milk
½ cup vanilla yogurt
2 cups old-fashioned or rolled oats
½ cup peanut butter
1 cup grated apple
½ tsp apple pie spice

Directions:
Stir milk and yogurt together. Add oats. Stir in peanut butter until evenly mixed. Add apple and apple pie spice. Pour into a container with a lid. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Enjoy the next morning, garnishing with an extra sprinkle of apple pie spice if you like.

Makes 5-6 (1-cup) servings.

If you are not familiar with overnight oats, it's all kinds of awesome. Instead of cooking the oats, you are soaking them overnight. They keep their shape, but soften by morning. You eat them cold, which sounds weird until you try it. You can add all kinds of things and make any flavor you like. Yummy. I thought peanut butter and apple would be the perfect way to introduce this to my kids. They were used to eating oatmeal warm, of course. But throw some peanut butter in anything and a kid will try it, I swear! Eva, my kindergartner, finished her bowl lickety-split. Lena, my second-grader, would have too, but she bit her tongue and that was the end of breakfast for her that day. :(

Unfortunately, my husband and I are doing low carb (down 20 lbs, yay!), so I wasn't able to enjoy these as much as I would have liked. I did sneak a few bites though and was cursing the carbs! It is so good. It will last in the fridge for several days, but you might need to add some milk after the first day if it looks a little dry, as the oats continue to soak up the liquid.

This dish really has everything you or your kid needs to get going in the morning. Calcium from the milk and yogurt, protein from the peanut butter, and fiber and complex carbs from the oats. You can feel good about sending your kids off to school with this in their tummies!

Be sure to check out all the great apples and oats recipes below and come back next month to see what kind of orange and black thing I make. Spooky!

An InLinkz Link-up

Pork Egg Roll Skillet

2015-08-29T11:26:00.000-05:00

This is a yummy dish I made earlier this week. I had already decided it would be the one I shared today, and so was pleasantly surprised to find my daily email from Punchbowl telling me that it's Chop Suey Day.

According to that definition, this recipe counts as Chop Suey! It's basically a deconstructed pork egg roll, but also kind of like pork fried rice. I got the idea from Mostly Homemade Mom, and switched it up a little, adding some extra veggies and seasonings. Here's my version.

Pork Egg Roll Skillet

Ingredients:

1½ lbs. ground pork

14 oz. package cole slaw mix

1 cup sliced mushrooms

½ cup edamame, thawed

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp Bangkok Blend

2 tsp powdered ginger

¼ cup soy sauce

Green onions, sliced

Sweet chili sauce, optional

Directions:

Brown the ground pork in a large skillet. Add the mushrooms, cole slaw mix, mushrooms, and edamame, and cook over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic powder, Bangkok, and powdered ginger. When vegetables are beginning to soften, add the soy sauce and stir well. Taste for seasoning, adjusting if necessary. When veggies are cooked to your preference, remove from heat and garnish with sliced green onions. Drizzle each serving with sweet chili sauce, if desired.

Makes 6 servings.

This is so super easy to throw together. Love it! And my family loved it too. Of course, it is totally customizable to fit your family's preferences and works well with whatever you happen to have on hand at the moment. You can chop regular cabbage instead of using the cole slaw mix, but I love the convenience of it, because it also adds carrots without having to get out your grater.

I used Penzeys Bangkok Blend, which is a salt-free Thai-style seasoning. I happen to know that Penzeys is offering a 1/4 cup jar of it as a free gift with purchase right now on their website. (They are also offering free shipping with $30 order.) I am not affiliated with Penzeys in any way (I wish!), and I don't benefit in any way from promoting them, I just thought I would pass that little tidbit along! I really love the Bangkok Blend. If Penzeys isn't an option for you, I found that Spice Islands has a Thai Blend.

This dish really does taste like an egg roll without the wrapper. Perfect for my husband and I who are doing low carb. According to my calculations, it comes out to just below 4 carbs per serving (without the chili sauce). Very nice! Of course, that will vary depending on the veggies you choose. I served it over brown rice for my kiddos. If you are not low-carbing, you can just add cooked rice right into the skillet to make it like fried rice. I splurged a little (carb-wise) and drizzled some sweet chili sauce on top of mine. It's fine without, but that made it even better.

My whole family loved this, and I love having another super quick and easy recipe for dinner now that my kids are heading back to school next week.

What I'm Reading Right Now

Mary Poppins

by P.L. Travers

Doctor Sleep

by Stephen King

Cherry Almond Coffeecake

2015-08-22T18:21:00.000-05:00

I've made this coffeecake twice now. The first time I followed the directions and it came out way overdone. Totally dry and too brown around the edges. This time I cut way back on the baking time and it came out perfectly. I got it from Renee's Kitchen Adventures.

Cherry Almond Coffeecake

Ingredients:
6 tbsp butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
¾ cup buttermilk
1 tsp almond extract
1½ cups flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
12 oz. package frozen cherries, thawed and drained
½ cup sliced almonds
2 tbsp Sugar in the Raw

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 9” cake pan with baking spray. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the egg, buttermilk, and almond extract. Mix well. Slowly fold in the flour, baking powder, and salt, mixing until just incorporated. Pour batter into the prepared cake pan. Place cherries on top, pressing down lightly into the batter. Sprinkle the top with the almonds and raw sugar.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or the edges begin to brown. Remove from oven and let cool before cutting and serving.

Makes 8 servings.

You can see that I *almost* over baked it again, as the edges were getting pretty brown. I accidentally reset my timer when my daughter was brushing her teeth at bedtime. Oops! But I pulled it out just in time because it was still moist inside.

This is such a great coffeecake. I love the almond flavor. And it's not too sweet. Just perfect. And it's pretty too! It's pretty easy to throw together as it doesn't require a crumb topping or anything like that. If you wanted to serve it for dessert, a nice almond glaze would be lovely on top.

What I'm Reading Right Now

Mary Poppins

by P.L. Travers

Doctor Sleep

by Stephen King

Improv: Grilled Caprese Chicken

2015-08-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

This month's assigned ingredients were tomatoes and herbs. Perfect for this time of year, when gardens are overflowing with both. I don't garden, unfortunately, but I have a nice lady named Marge who plants some herbs in pots for me since she knows I like to cook. The basil in the pic above came from my yard. No tomatoes for us this year; need to make that more of a priority next year.

This is a recipe I made on a chilly evening in late June when we had some friends over for dinner. We love grilling in the summertime, but it can get pretty boring always grilling the same things, so I like to get creative on the grill. I put it all together and my husband mans the grill. I have to say, he has been absolutely rocking the grill this summer. Especially chicken. I found some Caprese Grilled Chicken saved on my "On the Grill" Pinterest board from Add A Pinch. It was plain chicken grilled, then topped with the mozzarella and tomato and drizzled with a balsamic reduction. I twisted it up a bit and decided to marinate the chicken in balsamic instead of doing the reduction. The results were fantastic.

Grilled Caprese Chicken

Ingredients:
½ cup balsamic vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 tsp fresh basil, torn
4 chicken breast cutlets
Fresh mozzarella cheese
Fresh tomatoes

Directions:
In a gallon-sized Ziploc bag, pour the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and torn basil. Close bag and smoosh it around to evenly mix. Open bag and add the chicken breast cutlets. Close bag and refrigerate for 4 hours.

When ready to grill, remove chicken from the bag and give each cutlet a quick rinse with water to remove excess marinade. Grill chicken over medium heat. When you flip the chicken over to the second side, top each with a slice of mozzarella and a slice of tomato. Grill until the chicken is cooked through and the mozzarella melts. Remove from grill and garnish with additional basil, if desired.

Makes 4 servings.

So the dark color of the chicken is not from grilling; it's from the balsamic marinade. It's kind of the color of a cooked mushroom. I did rinse off the excess marinade before grilling, but the chicken is kind of "stained" from it. It didn't bother us or our guests; the marinade makes it so tender and flavorful you aren't going to give a rip what color it is. Way better than a drizzle, in my opinion. And topped with gooey melty mozzarella, the vibrant tomato, and fresh perfumy basil? Amazing!

This was a big hit with our friends and was so much better than the average "burgers and dogs" cookout. And really, not that much more work! I served it with an Italian pasta salad and my Broccoli Salad. What a fun summer meal.

Be sure to check out all the other awesome tomato and herb recipes below and come back next month to see what I make with apples and oats. Fall already? Oh man!

An InLinkz Link-up

Easy Dijon Baked Chicken

2015-08-15T10:44:00.000-05:00

This is a great chicken recipe I have made a few times now. Yummy chicken does not get much easier than this. Just mix a few seasonings into Dijon mustard, slather it all over your favorite cut of chicken, and throw it in the oven. Then you have 45 minutes to do whatever you want. Easy peasy. It's an adaptation of a recipe I saw on ifoodreal.

Dijon Baked Chicken

Ingredients:
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp salt
½ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp onion powder
4-5 chicken thighs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine mustard, salt, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder. Rub this mixture all over the chicken thighs, top and bottom. Place chicken on a rimmed baking sheet or in a baking dish.

Bake for about 45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Makes 4-5 servings.

So easy, but so good. The mustard mixture creates a kind of "crust" on the chicken skin. You can use any cut of chicken you like; this would work well with drumsticks or bone-in, skin-on breasts too. You may also be able to use boneless, skinless, but since they cook a lot faster, the mustard probably won't have enough time in the oven to get that crispy goldenness to it.

I served this with fresh green beans and whole wheat stuffing, but it would be good with pretty much any side dish you like. It's very versatile.

My five-year-old ate one and a half of these all by herself last night.

The next time thighs and drumsticks go on sale at your grocery store, stock up and give this a try.

What I'm Reading Right Now

Mary Poppins

by P.L. Travers

Doctor Sleep

by Stephen King

Loaded Cauliflower Casserole

2015-08-13T19:58:00.001-05:00

How about another great veggie side dish? I've made this one several times this summer and it's always a big hit. It has all the flavors of a loaded baked potato: cheese, bacon, chives, and sour cream, but with far fewer carbs than a potato. There are a million recipes for this around, but I decided to wing it and created this one on my own.

Loaded Cauliflower Casserole

Ingredients:
1 medium head cauliflower
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ cup French onion dip (or sour cream)
4 strips microwave bacon, divided
Fresh chives
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.

Cut cauliflower into small florets. Place in a microwave-safe bowl, fill with water, and cover. Microwave on high 8-10 minutes or until cauliflower is somewhat tender. (I use my large Pampered Chef Microcooker for this.) Drain well. It helps to spread the cooked cauliflower out on a clean dish towel while you are preparing the other ingredients.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese and onion dip. (If using sour cream instead of onion dip, you might want to add a little onion powder for flavor.) Crumble three strips of the bacon and add that to the cream cheese mixture, along with some freshly chopped chives (I don’t measure those). Add the drained cauliflower and mix well, coating it all evenly. Add ¾ cup of the cheddar cheese and toss again.

Pour mixture into a 2 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle the top with the remaining ¼ cup cheddar cheese and crumbled strip of bacon. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melty. Remove from oven and garnish with additional chopped chives, if desired. Serve warm.

Makes 6 servings.

Cheesy, bacony goodness. Not your everyday veggie dish, but great for the times you want to indulge a little bit.

This dish looks like an 8x8", but it's not. It's a bit smaller than that. But I think this would work well in an 8x8".

I estimate this to be somewhere around 5 carbs per serving, but if you are a serious carb-counter, please calculate it yourself as ingredients may vary.

What I'm Reading Right Now

Mary Poppins

by P.L. Travers

Doctor Sleep

by Stephen King

Roasted Broccoli Cheddar Patties

2015-08-12T19:57:00.000-05:00

These yummy broccoli patties are a fantastic side dish I discovered today. I saw them on Po' Man Meals and had to try them. Glad I did! They were a huge hit with my family. I ended up changing them a bit. Here's my adaptation.

Roasted Broccoli Cheddar Patties

Ingredients:
6 cups broccoli, cut into small florets
Salt
2 eggs, beaten
½ shallot, minced
1 tsp dried dill
¼ cup Panko breadcrumbs
⅓ cup Parmesan cheese (from the can)
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°.

Place broccoli florets in a microwave-safe bowl. Sprinkle with salt and then fill bowl with water. Cover and cook on high for 4 minutes. (I use the large Pampered Chef Microcooker.) Drain well, then put broccoli in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze as much water out as you can. Put broccoli in a food processor and pulse just a few times (4 was perfect for me), until the broccoli is slightly chopped up but still has small chunks. Let broccoli cool slightly.

Combine egg, shallot, and dill in a large bowl. Add the cooled broccoli and toss well. Add the Panko and Parmesan and toss again. Finally, mix in the cheddar cheese.

Spray a baking sheet with Pam (not necessary for stoneware, which is what I use). Take a handful of the broccoli mixture and form it into a patty shape and lay it on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining broccoli. I got 8 patties from my batch.

Place pan in preheated oven and cook for 15 minutes. Gently turn patties over and bake an additional 15 minutes, or until they are golden brown on both top and bottom. Serve warm.

Makes 4 servings, 2 patties each.

My husband and I have been trying to cut back on carbs, so I've been getting more creative with vegetables lately, which is a very good thing. Broccoli is one veggie my kids don't complain about, so I'm thrilled to have found a new way to serve it. We love it roasted with simply oil and salt, but how can you go wrong adding cheddar cheese to it? I cut way back on the Panko, but didn't omit it completely because I thought they might fall apart. I recommend using the powdery Parmesan in the green can because it acts as a great binder (and is carb-free). I might experiment using all Parmesan and no Panko. It would reduce the carbs and make them gluten-free.

I used fresh broccoli instead of frozen. The original recipe didn't call for pulsing the broccoli florets, but there was no way I was getting patties with the big chunks. It just fell apart. A little spin in the food processor solved the problem.

I served these with my Lemon-Soy Swordfish Fillets. Forgot the avocado butter again! I don't make swordfish often because it does not fit within my grocery budget, but I saw these the last time we went to Trader Joe's and decided to splurge. They were worth every penny! My husband did an awesome job grilling them. They're in the freezer section if you want to look for them.

I estimate these patties to be somewhere around 4 carbs each, but if you are a serious carb-counter, I encourage you to calculate your own nutrition info because ingredients and brands may vary.

What I'm Reading Right Now

Mary Poppins

by P.L. Travers

Doctor Sleep

by Stephen King

Improv: Pretzel Dogs with Cheesy Mustard Dipping Sauce

2015-07-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

This month's ingredients were pretzels and mustard. Fun summertime ingredients! Makes me think of baseball games. I decided to try something I've never done before: make a pretzel dough from scratch. I had seen lots of recipes for Pretzel Dogs around and thought that would be fun to try. I went with the method from The Slow Roasted Italian, because hers just looked a lot simpler than the others and there was no rising time. Instead of regular mustard, or even honey mustard, I got creative and made a cheesy mustard sauce to dip our dogs in.

Pretzel Dogs with Cheesy Mustard Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

12 oz. beer, warmed to 110°-120°

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp active dry yeast

1 tsp kosher salt

4+ cups flour

¼ cup baking soda

12 hot dogs, patted dry

1 egg

2 tbsp water

Coarse salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°. Put a large pot of water on to boil.

Combine the beer, honey, and yeast in a large mixing bowl and stir well. Wait a few minutes for the yeast to “bloom”, then add the salt and the flour. Mix well. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 3 minutes, adding more flour if necessary. Dough should be somewhat tacky, but not so sticky that it sticks to your fingers. Cut dough into 12 equal-sized portions.

Roll each portion out like a snake, about 10” long. Slightly flatten it. Starting at one end, carefully wrap the dough around the hot dog, making sure the edges touch as it goes around. You can leave the ends of the hot dog peeking out, though. Pinch the ends of the dough to the rest of the dough to keep it in place. Take the pretzel dog and roll it a few times in between your palms to smooth out the dough. This just makes them slightly prettier. Repeat this process with the remaining dough and hot dogs.

When water is boiling, carefully add the baking soda. Be careful; it will bubble up! Add two pretzel dogs at a time to the boiling water. Boil for 30 seconds, then remove with a slotted spoon (I used a spider).

Once all the pretzel dogs have been boiled, place them on a baking sheet. Whisk together the egg and the water and brush this mixture over the top of each pretzel dog. Sprinkle generously with coarse salt.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until they are dark golden brown. (Make dipping sauce while they are baking.) Serve with dipping sauce.

Cheesy Mustard Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

4 tbsp butter

¼ cup flour

½ tsp smoked paprika

1-2 tbsp whole grain mustard

1¼ cups 2% milk

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, freshly grated

Directions:

In a small saucepan, melt butter. Add flour and cook a couple of minutes. Stir in smoked paprika and mustard. Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly. Increase heat to a simmer. When it starts to thicken, decrease heat to low and stir in the cheese. Taste for seasoning, adding more mustard or cheese if desired.

Makes 6 servings, 2 pretzel dogs each.

Yum! These were so good! My husband and 5- and 7-year-old daughters loved them. And the sauce was perfect! Cheese and mustard work really well together. I just used 1 tbsp of mustard because I didn't want it too spicy for my kids. But if you are a mustard lover, you might want to use more.

Be sure to check out all the other great pretzel and mustard recipes below and come back next month to see what I make with tomatoes and herbs.

An InLinkz Link-up

Smoked Sausage and Veggie Grilled Foil Packs

2015-06-26T17:03:00.000-05:00

Have you been grilling a lot now that it's finally summertime? We sure have. It's one of my favorite things about summer. One of my favorite food companies, fellow Hoosiers Red Gold Tomatoes is hosting their third annual Summer Grilling Giveaway now through July 22. During this time, Red Gold is giving away a Large Big Green Egg each week, as well as 800 insulated tote bags. Wow! To get in all that prize-winning action, head over to their Facebook page to enter.

You may think it's odd for a canned tomato company to be hosting a grilling promotion. Canned tomatoes on the grill? Sounds weird, huh? It's not! Canned tomatoes can be used in multiple ways on the grill. Red Gold asked me if I would like to create a recipe showing people how versatile their tomatoes are. Of course! I love experimenting and finding a way to use canned tomatoes on the grill was a challenge I was definitely up for. Last summer I made Ranch BLT Grilled Chicken Burgers that had the tomatoes inside the burger. This time I went in a totally different direction. I threw some smoked sausage, potatoes, my family's favorite veggies, and some Red Gold diced tomatoes inside a foil pack and put it on the grill. Everything cooks together; it's like the grill version of a one-pot meal! The other great thing about these is that since each person has their own pack, it's completely customizable. Awesome! Here's how I made them.

Smoked Sausage and Veggie Foil Packs

Ingredients:

4-6 red potatoes

8 oz. baby carrots

1 head broccoli

1 medium zucchini

4 oz. sliced mushrooms

1 (14 oz.) can Red Gold diced tomatoes

Your choice of seasoning

14 oz. smoked sausage

Olive oil

Fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat grill to medium heat.

First, prepare your ingredients. Slice the smoked sausage and cut up all veggies. Make sure the potato cubes and carrots are smaller than softer veggies like zucchini. If you want to do it make-your-own style, lay out all ingredients on plates or in bowls.

Lay out a piece of heavy-duty foil about 18" square. Spray with cooking spray. Pile the veggies of your choice on one half of the foil. Sprinkle generously with seasoning. Lay some smoked sausage slices on top and drizzle all with olive oil. Fold the other half of the foil over the food and crimp the three open edges. If desired, use a Sharpie to write a name or initial on the top of the foil for easy identification after cooking. Repeat this process with as many packs as you like.

Turn the grill down to medium-low and place the packs on it. Close the lid and cook for 10-15 minutes. Flip each pack over and also rotate them on the grill. Cook another 10-15 minutes. Open one of the packs and test a potato or a carrot for doneness. If not quite done, cook another few minutes. When done, remove the packs from the grill and cut them open. You can eat them out of the foil, or transfer the contents to a serving bowl. Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Makes 4 servings.

These are all the veggies I used for my family, but I didn't put each veggie in each pack. My girls don't care for mushrooms or zucchini, so I left those out of theirs and put more broccoli and carrots in. The baby carrots I had were somewhat skinny, so I left them whole. If you have the fatter kind, you might want to slice them length-wise. I used paper plates because I didn't want to dirty up that many dishes!

Since the smoked sausage is already seasoned, I put the veggies down first and seasoned them before adding the sausage. I know it all gets jumbled up anyway, but I think this helps the seasonings stick to the veggies better.

Smoked sausage and tomatoes go on last. I forgot to get a pic of the packs after I assembled them, but you've probably seen a foil pack before, right?

Fresh off the grill. We cooked them for about half an hour and my husband's and my kids' packs were totally perfect. Unfortunately, mine was totally overcooked. That's why I put in the recipe to rotate the packs because mine must have been sitting over a hot spot on the grill.

This was mine. You can see that the zucchini was total mush, but the everything else was okay, save for a few slices of sausage that burned. It's hard cooking food you can't see! But I think if we had rotated the packs, they all would have been perfect.

While you can certainly use any veggies you like in these packs, I do highly recommend using the canned tomatoes as well. Not only do they provide a nice acidity to balance out the fat, but they also add moisture and keep the packs from drying out as they cook.

So now that you know you can use canned tomatoes on the grill, head over to Red Gold's Facebook page for your change to win a Big Green Egg in their Summer Grilling Giveaway.

What I'm Reading Right Now

Mary Poppins

by P.L. Travers

Doctor Sleep

by Stephen King

Baked Orange Pecan French Toast

2015-06-22T14:23:00.000-05:00

My husband loves breakfast. The bigger the better, in his mind. But he doesn't take the time to make a big breakfast most days. Whenever he has the chance, he will go out to breakfast with anyone who will go with him. Since he loves breakfast so much, I like to treat him with "special breakfasts" on special occasions. I usually make him some kind of special breakfast on his birthday. I wanted to do that yesterday for Father's Day. But since we are church-going people, a big breakfast on Sundays do not work. And he had already said he wanted to go out to lunch, so I asked if he would like breakfast-for-dinner. He was totally on board with that. I had pinned this recipe from Allrecipes recently and thought it would be absolutely perfect for Father's Day as my husband loves all things orange.

This is not your average French toast! The custard has orange juice and orange zest. It is baked in the oven instead of on the stove, which I love because I am not so great at cooking French toast or pancakes evenly. But the best part? It self-glazes with a yummy layer of caramel and pecans. Oh my goodness. And it was super easy to put together too.

Baked Orange Pecan French Toast

Ingredients:

⅓ cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp light corn syrup

½ cup pecans, chopped

12 ¾” thick slices French bread

4 eggs

1 cup orange juice

1 tsp orange zest

½ cup milk

3 tbsp sugar

½ tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Coat a 9x13” baking dish with baking spray. Set aside.

Place butter in a microwave-safe bowl and melt in microwave. Add brown sugar and corn syrup. Stir well. Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish, spreading it evenly. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. Lay the bread slices on top of the pecans, fitting them in there as best you can.

In the bowl that the brown sugar mixture was in, lightly beat the eggs. Add the orange juice, orange zest, milk, sugar, and cinnamon. Stir well. Pour this egg mixture over the French bread slices, ensuring that all pieces are moistened. Cover dish and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°. Remove dish from fridge and let it sit out for 20 minutes before baking. Place in oven and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. To serve, use a small server or spatula to remove a slice and flip it over on the plate, so the caramel and pecans are on top.

Makes 4 servings, 3 slices each.

Super simple. You just put down a mixture of brown sugar, butter, and pecans in the bottom of a casserole dish, lay on the bread slices, then pour the custard over it all. If you are making this for breakfast in the morning, you can do this the night before and refrigerate overnight. I was making it for dinner, and, confession time: picked out the recipe not realizing it was baked. I figured it out at about 2:00 that day. Oops! So I had it all put together by 2:30. I let it sit for 2.5 hours and baked it at 5:00 and it was awesome. So if you don't have all night, or even several hours, to make this ahead of time, don't sweat it. It will probably still turn out well.

This is what it looks like coming out of the oven. The bread should be a light golden brown on top and the caramel should be all bubbly in the bottom. Flip the pieces over when you serve them to have the caramel and pecans on top.

This stuff is just as good as it sounds! Definitely a dessert-for-breakfast kind of thing, but that is my husband's favorite! I would certainly only make this for special occasions; not your everyday Tuesday morning meal. But you have to have a special treat every now and then.

My husband loved this French toast. And bonus, my kids loved it too. Eva wasn't crazy about the pecans, but she dealt with them. We only ended up with one piece leftover for this morning.

I had never made French toast in the oven before, but this was so awesome that I would love to find other (less decadent) recipes like this because it was so incredibly easy.

Since I made this for Father's Day, I have to share a few pics of my girls with their daddy.

What I'm Reading Right Now

Mary Poppins

by P.L. Travers

Doctor Sleep

by Stephen King

Improv: Grilled Salmon Sliders with Dill Avocado Sauce

2015-06-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

This month's assigned ingredients were fish and avocado. I said that "fish" could be anything that came from the sea. I had planned to make some kind of tuna and avocado rice bowl that I had pinned on Pinterest a while ago, but then I saw something new a couple of weeks ago that I just could not resist trying. Salmon sliders with an avocado sauce on Rachel Schultz. I had never thought to do salmon sliders and that avocado sauce sounded amazing. I changed a few things; here's my adaptation.

Grilled Salmon Sliders with Dill Avocado Sauce

Ingredients:

8 small salmon filets

Seasoning of choice (Lemon pepper is good)

1 avocado, cubed

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp honey

2 tbsp olive oil

¼ cup fresh dill

Salt, to taste

8 slider rolls

Tomato slices

Green leaf lettuce

Directions:

Preheat grill to medium heat.

Season the salmon however you like. Grill salmon for a couple of minutes on each side. (I recommend using a grill pan.) Remove from grill and set aside.

Meanwhile, combine the avocado, vinegar, honey, and dill. Blend using a small food processor or a stick blender. Taste for seasoning, adding salt if desired.

To assemble sliders: Cut slider rolls and place a salmon filet on each one. Top with lettuce and tomato. Slather the top bun with the avocado sauce and place on top.

Makes 4 servings, 2 sliders each.

I decided to grill the salmon because 'tis the season! My husband has been rocking the grilled salmon lately, so that was a no-brainer for me. If grilling is not an option for you for whatever reason, you can still certainly make these by either baking or pan-searing the salmon. But the grilled flavor goes so well with the summery tomato and avocado that grilling would always be my preference here.

About the seasoning: You can definitely season the salmon any way you like. Lemon pepper would have been my first choice, but my kids don't like it (too peppery for them), so I used Penzeys Mural of Flavor and some salt. Mural of Flavor is so great on salmon because it has lemon in it. So yummy on all kinds of seafood. So it worked really well here.

It's hard to measure fresh dill, so here's a pic of how much I used. The original recipe called for lemon juice, and even though I only used half of what was called for, the lemon was way overpowering to me. I added more honey to balance it out. So that's why I left the lemon out of my recipe. I think the white wine vinegar gives it all the acidity it needs. It also called for red pepper flakes, but I left that out.

These little sandwiches were so good! The salmon was flaky and the sauce was cool and creamy. I can never cut even slices of tomato, so mine was a little messy because it was lopsided, but I didn't care! Sometimes messy things taste the best. My five-year-old was leery of the sauce because she saw me putting the dill in it and she thought it was cilantro, which she claims she doesn't like. But my seven-year-old absolutely loved it.

I can see this avocado sauce being good and in infinite number of sandwiches. Grilled chicken sandwiches, BLTs, hamburgers, etc. Any sandwich that is good with fresh avocado would be even better with this sauce. And it's really easy to whip up.

Be sure to check out all the other great fish and avocado recipes below and come back next month to see what I make with pretzels and mustard!

An InLinkz Link-up

Blueberry Crumble Bars

2015-06-12T15:15:00.000-05:00

It's been about a month since I made these and I have been super excited to share them. I don't even like blueberries (not at all), but I loved these bars! They have a yummy shortbread crust that doubles as a crumbly topping. Then in the middle is a sour cream custard filling and tons of fresh ripe blueberries. So so good. And being in bar form makes it so easy to cut up and serve. I got the recipe from Hot Eats and Cool Reads.

Blueberry Crumble Bars

Ingredients:
1½ cups + ⅓ cup flour, divided
1¾ cups sugar, divided
Pinch of salt
1½ sticks cold butter, cubed
2 eggs
½ cup sour cream
3 cups fresh blueberries (1½ pints)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Coat an 11x7” baking dish with baking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the 1½ cups flour, ¾ cup sugar, and pinch of salt. Cut in cold butter using a pastry blender until butter is evenly distributed. Remove 1 cup of this mixture and set it aside. Press the rest into the bottom of the prepared baking dish and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

In another bowl, combine the eggs, remaining ⅓ cup flour, remaining 1 cup sugar, and sour cream. Fold in blueberries. Pour this mixture over the cooled crust. Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture over the top. Bake for an additional 50-55 minutes, or until top is lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool completely before cutting into bars and serving. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Makes 12 bars.

This is a real crowd-pleaser. It would be perfect for any of those summertime gatherings you are invited to: backyard cookouts, church picnics, etc. And because it's packed with fresh fruit, I think you could get by serving this in slightly breakfast-y situations like brunch or anytime you would serve coffeecake. It's a really great recipe to have in your collection.

What I'm Reading Right Now

Mary Poppins

by P.L. Travers

Doctor Sleep

by Stephen King

Improv: Cilantro Lime Hummus

2015-05-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

This month's ingredients were cilantro and lime. A little late for Cinco de Mayo, but a great combo anytime of year. I love cilantro, and lime is a perfect partner for it. Cilantro and lime are both common ingredients in both Mexican and Thai food. I love both of those cuisines, but this time I decided to do a little "fusion" cooking.

Do you ever make your own hummus? It is really convenient to buy it premade at the grocery store, and I do that sometimes when I am feeling lazy, but I also think it's really fun to make my own hummus. It's super easy using canned beans, and while it is really difficult (if not impossible) to get it as smooth as store-bought, the pay-off is that you can play around with ingredients and come up with some really fun variations. Last fall I made a Roasted Butternut Squash Hummus that was amazing. I also make Pizza Hummus, which is my kids' favorite. So when I happened to stumble across the idea for adding cilantro and lime to hummus, I couldn't wait to try it. My version is adapted from Vegan Family Recipes.

Cilantro Lime Hummus

Ingredients:
1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
¼ cup tahini
3 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp ground cumin
3 tbsp lime juice
⅓ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1-3 tbsp water (optional)

Directions:
Place chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a food processor. Process until smooth, scraping down the sides if necessary. If desired, add water until desired consistency has been reached.

Pour into a bowl and serve with tortilla chips.

Makes about 2½ cups.

I made this as an afternoon snack for my daughters (ages 7 and almost 5), and they loved it. I really think this would be a good alternative to guacamole for people who can't eat avocados. I served it with tortilla chips, but you can dip anything you want in there, of course.

I'm happy to include this into my homemade hummus rotation!

Be sure to check out all the other great cilantro and lime recipes below and come back next month to see what I make with fish and avocado. Oh wow!

An InLinkz Link-up

Strawberries and Cream Cookies

2015-05-06T18:45:00.002-05:00

I made cookies last week! I don't make cookies very often because I am lazy and it's so much easier to make bars. But I love these cookies and they are so perfect for this time of year. They have the perfect consistency, in my opinion. They don't spread out and get all thin and crispy. They keep their shape pretty well and come out chewy. Just the way I like my cookies! And they are studded with even chewier bits of real dried strawberries and creamy vanilla chips. Awesome. They are very slightly adapted from Cookies and Cups.

Strawberries and Cream Cookies

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg + 1 yolk

2 tsp vanilla

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

2 ¼ cups flour

1 cup dried strawberries, chopped

¾ cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add the egg and yolk and vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour. Add the flour mixture to the brown sugar mixture and stir until just combined. Add the strawberries and white chocolate chips and stir.

Roll dough into 2 tbsp sized balls and place on a baking sheet. (I got 12 to a sheet.) Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are just barely golden. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 4 minutes. Remove to parchment paper and let cool completely.

Makes 2 dozen 2” cookies.

I buy the dried strawberries at Target. They have a nice selection of dried fruit. Don't get the "freeze-dried" strawberries. Those are like thin and brittle. You want the chewy ones.

I chop them up. You don't want too much chew in one bite.

The original recipe called for dropping them with a teaspoon, and I tried it that way the first time, but I found that rolling them into balls makes them come out a little prettier and more uniform. Two tablespoons of dough will get you a 2-inch cookie. They don't spread out much, so you can easily fit 12 on a cookie sheet.

The original recipe also called for more white chocolate chips, but I thought it was too much because it made the dough so dry and crumbly I could barely keep it together. And as you can see in the top picture, some cookies were a bit overloaded with the chips. So next time I will cut it back to 3/4 cup.

These cookies are perfect for all of those springtime get-togethers. I made them for my daughters' school lunch and they were a big hit.

What I'm Reading Right Now

Mary Poppins

by P.L. Travers

Doctor Sleep

by Stephen King