Strawberry-Nutella Pop-tarts

I'm a little bit sad that I don't get to make things like this all the time anymore.  It used to be all I did.  On my days off from work, I would go to the grocery store, grab ingredients and make multiple baked goods that I had been thinking about or eyeing for a while.  My days aren't filled with free days to bake up new things anymore.  Now they are filled with sounds of 2 little boys' feet running wild around the house, screams of happiness when they get excited about something, and demands to eat, be held or be accompanied into their play tent.  But there is an occasional day that I do have to myself while the boys are at daycare, housework is all caught up with, or the boys play happily with themselves in the playroom next to me, where I can actually make these things happen in my kitchen again.  

I love Nutella.  I like it on toast, and I like it by the spoonful.  It's also delicious with strawberry jam inside of a flaky crust.  I wish this recipe would have made a bigger batch, because these treats were gone quickly.  What I really want to do is make a huge batch of all different types of flavors, freeze them, and then I would have them whenever.  Now it's just finding the time to do that is the problem.  Maybe one day!

Strawberry-Nutella Pop-tarts

from The Novice Chef

1 egg yolk

1 tsp water

1 recipe for double pie crust (I used THIS one, and I made it the day before)

6 heaping tsp Nutella

6 tsp strawberry jam/jelly

2 large strawberries, sliced into hearts

coarse sugar

Preheat oven to 350, and prepare a non-stick baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat.  In a small bowl, whisk together the water and egg yolk.  set aside. 

Get out your pie dough, and roll it all out, pretty thin (think pop tart thin!).  Cut out 2.5 in by 3.5 in rectangles (I just eyeballed mine, and used a pizza cutter for straight lines).  You should get about 12 rectangles.

Cut out a heart shape in the middle of 6 of the rectangles (if you have a heart shaped cookie cutter-perfect.  I did not and had to freehand it.).

On each of the remaining rectangles, spread the nutella, leaving about 1/2 in around the edges, and then spread the strawberry jam overtop.

Place a heart-shaped slice of strawberry on top of the jam, in the center of the rectangle, and top with the pie dough that has the cutout.  

Seal the edges together with the prongs of a fork, and brush with the egg/water mixture. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.  Bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool for 5 minutes on a cooling rack.

Goat Cheese Mashed Sweet Potatoes

We eat a lot of sweet potatoes in my house.  I mean A LOT.  Most of the time they are just baked, chopped up and roasted or made into french fries.  This time, I made regular mashed sweet potatoes, but added in some goat cheese.  The goat cheese gave the sweet potatoes a little bit of tanginess.  I made them and took them to our cooking club meeting, and everyone loved them!  

Goat Cheese Mashed Sweet Potatoes

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into cubes

1/2 cup (or more) of half-and-half

1/2 stick butter

2 oz goat cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Boil the sweet potatoes in a large pot until they are soft and able to be pierced with a fork.  Drain and return to the pot or a big bowl.  Heat together the half-and-half with the butter in the microwave until the butter is melted.  Add the butter/half-and-half mixture to the sweet potatoes, and combine with a mixer until smooth.  Mix in the goat cheese until well combined.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Sweet Potato Ravioli with Kale Pesto

My junk food loving husband claims that he hates kale.  I love kale, and since it's super good for you, I'm always trying to sneak it into dishes so that he may not notice, like he's a 5 year old or something.  I was pretty sure I had succeeded.  He ate a whole serving without a complaint.  When he was done eating, I said, "So you know that had kale in it!"  He was like, "Yeah, I know.  I could taste it.  But I didn't want to be mean and not eat it.  And it tasted OK in this dish."  So I guess I won on this one?  

I love anything sweet potato, and have been wanting to try sweet potato ravioli for a while.  I don't have a pasta roller, and really didn't have time on this particular day to make and roll out my own pasta for ravioli, so I just used store-bought wonton wrappers.  They worked just fine.  

Sweet Potato Ravioli with Kale Pesto

Adapted from TheFirstMess

For the sweet potato filling:

1 medium sweet potato, baked until very soft (425 degrees for 30-45 mins)

1/2 cup pine nuts

1 clove garlic

juice of 1 lemon

salt and pepper

for the kale pesto:

1/2 bunch kale leaves

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup pine nuts

1/3 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

1 pkg wonton wrappers

For the filling:

scoop out the sweet potato flesh into a food processor.  Add in the pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.  Process until all combined.  Set aside.

For the pesto:  

Put the kale, garlic, pine nuts, 2 tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper to taste in a food processor.  Process until all combined.  With the food processor running on high, pour in the remaining olive oil, until the pesto is a smooth paste consistency.  

To assemble the ravioli:

Put about a tablespoon of sweet potato filling into the center of a wonton wrapper.  With a brush (or wet finger), wet the edges of the wonton wrapper, and top with another.  Using a fork, press the edges together all around.  Repeat until filling and wrappers are gone.

To cook:

Boil water in a large pot.  Once boiling, drop in the filled ravioli and cook for about 5 minutes, until the wrappers are softened. 

Chocolate & Potato Chip Cookies

It has arrived again!  The Food Blogger Cookie Swap.  I participated in this event last year, and it was so much fun.  I love thinking of a creative new cookies that other foodies like myself might enjoy.  And the best part is that you get PACKAGES in the mail!  Who doesn't love getting packages?  And then you open the package and get to eat what's inside.  So. dang. awesome.  Last year I made fun little Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cookies.  This year, I decided on Chocolate & Potato Chip Cookies.  I am a sucker for sweet and salty things together, and while at first thought potato chips in a cookie might sound strange, and then covered with chocolate may even sound more strange, I assure you, it's delicious.  Buttery soft cookies with crispy pieces of saltiness, half covered in sweet chocolate.  I hope those that received these cookies from me enjoyed them!

Here are the cookies that I received:

Chocolate Crack Cookies from Melanie of Melanie in the Middle - I don't think this is the actual name of these cookies.  I didn't get anything with the package that had the name of them on it, so I made up a name for them.  They were chocolatey, crispy and super yummy! Thanks Melanie!

Kitchen Sink Cookies from Jenni of The Gingered Whisk - These cookies had all kinds of goodies inside them...coconut, nuts, dates, and oatmeal maybe?  I don't remember what all was in them, but I remember that they were delicious!  Thanks Jenni!

Reese's Monster Cookies from Jennifer of Peanut Butter & Peppers - Reese's pieces, M&Ms, chocolate chips...can't go wrong with any of those things.  Soft little cookies with bits of candy.  Awesome!  Also, Jennifer sent a little coffee giftcard with her cookies.  So sweet!  Thanks Jennifer!

Can't wait until next year!

in the meantime, here is my cookie recipe:

Chocolate & Potato Chip Cookies

Adapted from Martha Stewart

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp coarse salt

4 cups coarsely crushed salted potato chips, divided

1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

4 oz chocolate

2 Tbsp butter 

Preheat oven to 375.  Beat the butter and both sugars together until fluffy.  Add in the vanilla and eggs and beat until just combined.  Add flour, baking soda, and salt and beat on low until just combined.  Stir in 2 cups of the chips and all of the nuts.  

Roll the dough into 2 inch balls.  Roll dough balls in the remaining potato chip pieces to coat.  Place cookies on a non-stick baking sheet (or whatever method of non-stick baking you like to do).  Bake until golden, about 12-15 minutes.  (The original recipe said 18-20 minutes...but they would have burnt for that long in my oven.  Just keep an eye on them!)  Let the cookies completely cool.

Once cookies are cooled off, melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave or in a double boiler.  Dip 1/2 of each cookie into the chocolate and allow to dry and harden.

Turkey Quesadillas with Chipotle Cranberry Sauce

This is a great way to use leftover turkey from thanksgiving in a way other than the common turkey sandwiches.  These quesadillas were so good!  turkey meat, cheese and cranberry sauce with chipotle peppers mixed in!  It may sound a little strange, but it's really good. The heat of the peppers mix in really well with the sweet cranberry sauce.  I served these alongside some mashed sweet potatoes, in which I also mixed in some of the chipotle pepper sauce.  Also very delicious!

Turkey Quesadillas with Chipotle Cranberry Sauce

adapted from confectionsofafoodiebride

Leftover pulled/chopped turkey

traditional cranberry sauce

1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped

cheese of your choice

tortillas

Mix together the cranberry sauce and chipotle peppers.  On one half of an open tortilla, add turkey, cheese and chipotle cranberry sauce.  Fold tortilla closed and fry in a skillet until cheese is melted and tortilla is browned.  

Super quick, simple and delicious!

Pumpkin and Thyme Mac & Cheese

I saw this recipe for mac & cheese with a can of pumpkin mixed in a while ago on this blog and thought it sounded awesome.  So I made it, and it was awesome.  The boys liked it as well!  Pumpkin is also surprisingly nutritious.  It's full of Vitamins A, C and E, and also has fiber and a bunch of antioxidants.  It also added to the creaminess and earthiness of this mac and cheese.  Definitely a good seasonal twist on a traditional recipe.  

Pumpkin & Thyme Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

2 cups milk

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch ground nutmeg

pinch ground cloves

1 lb dry fusilli pasta (can substitute elbow macaroni)

2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 1/2 tablespoons minced thyme

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

2 ounces smoked gouda, shredded

1 ounce white extra sharp cheddar

salt and pepper to taste

garnish:

lightly toasted/buttered panko breadcrumbs

1. Place milk, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a medium saucepan and stir together. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

2. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Once the water comes to a boil add a generous amount of salt (2½ – 3 tablespoons) and then the pasta.
3. Boil pasta for 10 to 12 minutes or until al dente, stirring occasionally. Drain pasta and set aside.
4. Melt butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Sprinkle flour over melted butter and whisk together. Allow mixture to cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in thyme.
5. Whisk pumpkin-milk mixture into flour mixture and continue to whisk until fully incorporated. Allow mixture to simmer until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, 3 to 4 minutes.
6. Place shredded cheese into a mixing bowl and toss together with lemon juice.

7. Stir cheese into the béchamel sauce and stir until cheese just melts. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and gently stir pasta into the sauce, ½ cup at a time until all of the pasta has been added and is fully coasted in sauce. Adjust seasonings and serve immediately. 

"Chicken" Fried Tofu

An exciting outing for me is going to Trader Joe's and/or Whole Foods.  I don't get to go to either of them very often, since they are on the opposite sides of town from where we live.  The Kroger down the road is just much more convenient and cheaper to buy the bulk of our groceries at.  But there are the occasional times that I get the chance to go to one of the most awesome grocery stores.  The last time I went to Whole Foods, I took the boys with me.  After shopping for a bit, we had lunch at store as well. Whole Foods has a lot of vegan/vegetarian friendly foods, and one of the things that the boys and I ate there was "chicken" fried tofu.  The boys loved it, and I was a fan as well.  It really did taste like fried chicken, with a little bit different texture.  I searched some recipes online and found a pretty good copycat recipe.  I made these for dinner one night at home, and they were awesome! 

"Chicken" Fried Tofu

from whiskflipstir.com

1 14-oz pkg extra firm tofu, drained and pressed

2 cups double strength chicken-flavored vegan broth (I used THIS kind)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup flour

3 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp poultry seasoning (I used goya)

1/2 tsp dried garlic

1/2 tsp dried minced onion

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Cut tofu into squares or strips.  Place tofu in a shallow pan and cover with the broth.  Soak at least one hour, and up to overnight, in the refridgerator.  After tofu has finished marinating, Stir together the flour, yeast, and spices in a bowl.  Warm oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat.  Remove tofu from broth and roll each piece around in the flour mixture until covered.  I did a second breading also...dunk again into the broth, and then again into the flour/spice mixture.  

Place tofu in hot oil and fry until brown and crisp on all sides (about 2-3 minutes per side).  Remove from oil and set on a plate lined with paper towels to drain.  

Serve and enjoy!    

Spaghettios & Lentil Meatballs

I'm a huge sucker for Chef Boy R Dee canned spaghettios.  So when I went vegan, I was excited to find a good homemade spaghettios recipe! This recipe made a very large batch, it's healthy and the boys loved it!  The meatballs are made out of lentils, which is my new obsession.  and I have more lentil recipes coming!  (chili, sloppy joes, soup, tacos...seriously, I can't get enough.)  

Lentils in soup? check.  Lentils in potstickers? check.  Lentils in meatballs?  check! 

Spaghettios & Lentil Meatballs

From theppk.com

for the sauce:

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

pepper

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp brown sugar

2 24oz cans crushed tomatoes with basil

1/4 cup cashews, soaked in water (for at least 1 hour, up to overnight)

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

for the meatballs:

1 clove garlic

1 small onion, quartered

1 1/2 cup cooked lentils (brown or green)

3 tbsp nutritional yeast

2 tbsp vital wheat gluten flour

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp olive oil

2 tbsp water

1/2 cup store-bought breadcrumbs

1 lb small pasta of your choice

olive oil

For the sauce:  In a large pot, saute onions in olive oil with a pinch of salt over medium heat until translucent and soft.  Add the garlic and saute for another minute.  Add in the pepper, oregano, salt and brown sugar.  Cook for 2 minutes, until the sugar has melted.  Add the tomatoes, cashews and nutritional yeast.  Cover and cook for 20 minutes.  

In a food processor, immersion blender or regular blender, puree the sauce until smooth.  Keep the sauce warm on the stove until ready to use.

For the meatballs:  In a food processor, chop the garlic until minced.  Add in the onion and chopped until finely diced.  You don't want any big chunks.  Transfer the onion/garlic mixture to a large bowl and set aside.  

Again in the food processor, process together the lentils, nutritional yeast, wheat gluten, soy sauce, tomato paste, olive oil and water until smooth.  Add this mixture into the bowl with the garlic and onions, and add in the breadcrumbs.  Mix together with your hands until it all sticks together.  

Preheat oven to 350.  Roll the meatballs into cherry sized balls.  Preheat a large skillet over medium heat with olive oil.  Brown the meatballs in the skillet, working in batches so not to overcrowd them.  Once all the meatballs are browned, transfer them to a baking sheet.  Bake 18-20 minutes.

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Add the cooked pasta to the sauce.  Add baked meatballs in and toss, being careful to not break the meatballs.

Enjoy!   

Sweet Potato Pancakes // Sausage Gravy & Biscuits

Our family loves Brinner.  Breakfast for Dinner = Brinner.  Our brinners usually consist of bacon, pancakes or waffles, eggs, biscuits and sausage in some sort of fashion.  One of my favorite brinner meals that we have had is chicken & waffles.  But now that I am vegan, brinner is just a little bit trickier. 

I made sweet potato pancakes, and I also made biscuits and sausage gravy.  Yup.  Vegan sausage gravy over biscuits.  That kind of sounds like an oxymoron, but it works folks.  

It was delicious and was enjoyed by all.

Sweet Potato Pancakes (with Cinnamon Honey Butter)

from epicurious

for the pancakes:

2 large eggs (flax eggs for the vegan version)

1 cup buttermilk (almond/soy milk)

2 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 cup bisquick

pinch nutmeg

1 small sweet potato, cooked soft and mashed

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and oil.  Stir in the pancake mix and nutmeg, until just combined.  Fold in the mashed sweet potatoes.  Batter should be thick, but pourable.  A little bit more milk may be needed if its too thick.  

Heat a greased griddle over medium-high heat.  Pour about 1/4-1/2 cup of batter onto the griddle, and cook until a few bubbles show up in the batter.  Flip over and cook on the other side until golden brown.  Repeat with the remaining batter.  

for the butter:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp

1 1/2 tsp honey

1/8 tsp cinnamon

Beat together the butter, honey and cinnamon until well combined.  Store in fridge until ready to use.  

Sausage Gravy and Biscuits

from theveganhousewives.com

1 lb pkg sausage (I used Gimme lean which is vegan...feel free to use actual sausage if you eat meat)

2 pkgs premade biscuits (Publix Buttermilk biscuits are accidentally vegan)

5 cups almond (or regular) milk

5-6 (or more) Tbsp flour

salt and pepper

Add a Tbsp of oil to a large, deep skillet and cook sausage until cooked through.  With the burner on medium-high, add in the milk and stir.  Add in the flour, and break apart the clumps with a fork.  Allow the mixture to simmer for a while.  A few bubbles here and there are ok, but it shouldn't be boiling.  Simmer until the gravy has thickened (you may or may not need a little more flour).

While the gravy is cooking, bake the biscuits according to the package directions.  

Serve gravy over biscuits.

Maple Cream Cookies

I've been wanting to make these cookies for a very long time.  Ever since I first had Trader Joe's Maple Leaf Cookies, I have wanted to try my own recreation of them.  Once a month at my work, we have a big pot-luck style feast to celebrate the birthdays in that month.  I thought bringing these cookies would be appropriate, since it's also the beginning of the best season ever.  Hoodies.  Bonfires.  Haunted houses and halloween parties.  Thanksgiving.  Hot drinks.  Pretty leaves.  Perfect weather.  best. season. ever.  

These cookies smell like pancakes.  Crumbly, buttery shortbread cookies with maple-flavored cream cheese icing in between them.  They're awesome!  and possibly maybe even a little better than the Trader Joe's original.  But only because they're homemade.  I didn't have any leaf cookie cutters, but I did have a leaf press that I usually use on pie crusts, so I used that instead. 

Maple Cream Cookies

Adapted from Gourmet and Martha Stewart

For the cookies:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temp

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup (use grade B if you have it!  That's the good stuff)

1 egg yolk

3 cups flour

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp salt

For the maple cream:

1 pkg cream cheese (8 oz), at room temp

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temp

2 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups powdered sugar

For the cookies:  Beat together the butter and sugar, until light and fluffy.  With the mixer running, add in the egg yolk and slowly pour in the maple syrup.  In another bowl, whisk together the flour, nutmeg and salt.  Add to butter mixture until just combined.  The dough will be pretty clumpy.  Press together lightly and wrap tightly (ha, rhymed there) with saran wrap.  Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment paper (or your favorite non-stick method of cookie sheet preparing).  Roll out the cookie dough to about 1/8 of an inch thickness.  I did this in portions, so that the dough I wasn't using wouldn't get too warm while waiting to be cut.  Cut into desired shapes, and repeat with remaining dough, until it's all used up.  

Bake for 8-11 minutes, until edges are lightly golden.  Allow to cool completely before icing.

For the maple cream:  Beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Add remaining ingredients and  mix again until smooth and spreadable.  

Spread about a Tbsp of icing on the bottom side of one cookie, and sandwich the cream with another cookie.  Make sure the cookies are completely cooled before you do this step, otherwise the icing will melt and become too runny.  

Enjoy!!!  

Braided Pesto Bread

Bread is one of my favorite things ever.  I love all kinds of bread.  Cinnamon bread, sweet rolls, biscuits, I love all of it.  So why wouldn't I love some bread with pesto and cheese thrown in it?!  And it's super pretty. A fat wreath of warm soft gooey bread.  It looks like it might be kind of tricky to make, but it's really not!  It's pretty easy, and delicious.  I served this bread alongside of spaghetti and a salad.  

Braided Pesto Bread

From Confectionsofafoodiebride

For the bread:

1 cup warm water

2 tsp active dry yeast

2 1/2 cups flour, plus more for rolling out the dough

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

Other ingredients:

1/2 cup pesto

2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Pour warm water into the bowl of a mixer, fitted with the dough hook (or just a big bowl if you are kneading by hand).  Sprinkle yeast over the water.  Let it set for 10 minutes, until the mixture has become frothy.  Add in the flour, oil and salt, and mix with the dough hook (or mix together by hand).  Continue to knead the dough for about 5 minutes, until the dough is elastic and no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl (you may need to add a little more flour if it's still too sticky).

Form the dough into a ball and let it rise in an oiled bowl for about 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in size.  Preheat oven to 425.  

lightly flour the counter you plan on rolling the dough out on.  Roll the risen dough into a rectangular shape, about 18x12 inches.  Spread the pesto over the rolled out dough, leaving about 1/2 inch clean border around the edges.   Roll the long side of the rectangle toward you, and pinch the seam closed.

Slice the roll lengthwise down the middle, making two long halves.  Pinch the ends of each together.  Braid the 2 pieces together, and try to keep the cut sides of the dough outward, so that the green layers are seen.  once it's all twisted together, pinch the ends and bend around into a wreath, pressing the 2 ends together.

Transfer to a greased baking sheet and let it sit for 30 minutes.  Top with shredded cheese and bake for 25 minutes, until golden brown.  

Kale Chips

Kale Chips.

I feel like I jumped on the kale chip bandwagon about a year too late.  They were huge a while back, and I never really paid attention then.  I guess I just thought that it was just a fad and I really didn't know too much about kale anyway.  

So then I decided to see what all the hype was about, and it sucked me in as well.  I'm now a huge lover of kale, especially kale chips.  And the nutrients that kale has is also amazing.

So much good stuff in there! I've really tried to use kale in recipes more, and eat it at least once a day.  I typically make smoothies including kale to get my daily dose, but I also make kale chips often.  The other day I made sweet potato ravioli with a pesto made from kale (recipe coming soon). 

I feel like kale is one of those things that people either love or hate.  I love it, Jeremy hates it.  He'll drink the smoothies that I make with kale, cause you can't taste it.  He won't touch kale chips.  He did eat the sweet potato ravioli with kale pesto, and when asked how he like the kale pesto, he said "I could still taste the kale."  Silly boy. 

Kale chips are probably the easiest thing ever to make, and there are so many variations.  There are spicy kale chips, cheesy kale chips, chocolate kale chips (sounds really gross-has anyone tried this?!), even kale chips on popcorn.   *You can click here to find a whole bunch of different types of kale chips recipes.

Here is how I typically make them:

Kale Chips

Couple stalks of kale

few tbsp olive oil

salt

pepper 

garlic powder

paprika

Wash and dry the kale.  Tear off the leaves from the stem into bite size pieces.  toss in a bowl with olive oil and a few dashes of each of the spices.  lay out on a baking sheet, and bake at 350 for about 10-15 mins, until crisp and lightly browned.  

Basil Zucchini Risotto

We got a lot of zucchini and summer squash in our CSA boxes this summer, so I was always looking for new ways to use them up.  I love basil, and have a love for ALL THINGS RISOTTO, so when I saw this recipe on PostPunkKitchen, I knew it was probably going to be a favorite.  Although risotto is usually thought to be a "heavier" dish, this one tasted very light and summery.  It's awesome for a summer night dinner on the patio.  Jeremy isn't a fan of squash at all, and really doesn't even like things that it touches, so I got to eat this multiple-bowls-of-deliciousness all to myself : )  Oh, and did I mention that it's vegan?  Because it is.  But you would never know.

Basil Zucchini Risotto

from ThePostPunkKitchen

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 med yellow onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 cup arborio rice

1 cup dry white wine

4 cups (maybe a little more) of vegetable broth

3/4 cup pesto

1/2 tsp salt

pepper to taste

1 lb zucchini, sliced and quartered

olive oil

salt pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

Warm up the veggie broth in a saucepan, and keep it work with the burner on low.  Preheat the oven to 425.  

Saute the chopped onion, a dash of salt and olive oil over medium heat, until onions are soft and translucent.  Add the rice and stir to coat the rice in oil.  Add the wine and stir occasionally until it is mostly absorbed.  Add a few dashes of black pepper and 1/2 of the salt.  Turn heat down to med-low.  

Add the warm veggie broth a cup at a time, stirring almost continuously after additions.  Once most the liquid is absorbed, add another cup, and so on.  After 2 cups, stir in the pesto, then continue stirring in the remaining liquid until almost all liquid is absorbed.   

At some point while your risotto is becoming creamy and delicious, toss the zucchini slices with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic and spread on a baking sheet.  Roast for about 6 minutes on each side, until softened and lightly browned.  Set aside.

With the last cupful of broth added the risotto, also add the rest of the pesto.  Taste for salt and add more if needed.  Risotto is ready when the mixture is creamy, and the rice is chewy-yet firm.  

Top risotto with pieces of zucchini and drizzle with extra pesto if you'd like.   

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

This recipe isn't vegan.  Sometimes, when I know Jeremy wants to eat meat on occasion, I'll make him some.  He was sick a couple weeks ago, and so I thought it'd be nice to make him some homemade chicken noodle soup.  This soup looks similar to Campbell's canned chicken noodle soup, but tastes so much better.  (I did taste the soup, to make sure it was edible).  Baby boys also loved it and couldn't get enough.  The recipe made a huge batch so we froze some and will now have it for a cool fall day in the future (which is coming soon, yay!).  

  

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

from thepioneerwoman

1 whole  fryer chicken, cut up

2 carrots, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1/2 whole medium onion, diced

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp turmeric

pepper to taste

1/4 tsp thyme

2 tsp parsley

1 lb noodles

3 Tbsp flour

1lb noodles of your choice (I used linguine, I think)

Put all the chicken pieces in a big pot, cover with water and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.  

Remove the chicken from the pot and shred the meat from the bones.  Return the bones to the broth and simmer on low, covered, for 45 more mins. 

Remove the bones with a slotted spoon.  Add the carrots, celery, onions, and all spices to the pot of broth.  Stir and simmer 10 minutes. 

Cook noodles separately until almost done, then add to soup, along with the shredded chicken meat.  Cook for 8-10 mins.  Mix the flour with a little bit of water and stir until smooth.  Add to soup and stir.     Simmer for just another few minutes, until broth has thickened a bit.  Adjust seasonings to taste.  

Roasted Cherry Tomato & Corn Salsa

In our CSA shares this summer, we have gotten an overwhelming amount of cherry tomatoes.   We usually get 2 pint size(?) cartons in our box every week.  I'm always trying to find new recipes using these mini tomatoes.  I also like to eat these tomatoes on their own.  I thought this recipe looked delicious, and would also use a good amount of the tomatoes that were about to get attacked by the swarming fruit flies that have made their home on my kitchen table.

This salsa is a little more on the sweet side.  Roasting the tomatoes caramelizes them a little bit, and brings out their sweetness.  It's also very thick and chunky.  Delicious to eat up with tortilla chips or on mexican pizza!

I found this recipe from Naturally Ella.  I love her blog.  It has so many seasonal vegetarian/vegan recipes that all look amazing.

Roasted Tomato & Corn Salsa

2 lbs cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 serrano pepper, chopped

1 large onion, roughly chopped into pieces the size of cherry tomatoes

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 ears sweet corn, corn cut off

juice from 1 lime

1 cup freshly chopped cilantro

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400.   On a baking tray, place tomatoes, onion, garlic, and pepper, and toss with olive oil.  Roast in the oven until softened and lightly browned, 45-55 mins.  Place corn on a separate baking tray and toss with a Tbsp of olive oil.  Roast the corn until lightly browned, about 15-20 mins.  In a food processor or blender, combine the roasted tomato mixture and the cilantro.  Pulse together until well combined.  Add in the lime juice and salt, and pulse again until combined.  Remove from food processor/blender and stir in the corn.  

  

Rainbow Layered Birthday Cake

My twin babies turned 1 year old last month.  Craziness.  

For there first birthday (which you can read more in detail about HERE), I threw them a "Brown Bear Brown Bear" themed party.  For the cake, I knew I wanted to do something awesome.  I'd seen a few rainbow layered cakes floating around Pinterest. I thought since the book has all rainbow colored animals in it and I was planning on using a bunch of rainbow colored things for the party, that this cake would be perfect!

It was a 6 layered cake, each layer a different color of the rainbow.  Here are step-by-step instructions of how I made it:

First off, let me apologize.  I cheated a bit with this cake.  I used boxed cake mix.  I had so much other stuff to do for the party, and my family was in town, it was just easier.  Sorry!  Anyway, I mixed up a batch of 2 boxed cake mixes.  I then divided all of the cake batter evenly between 6 medium sized bowls, one for each color.  I then added food coloring to each bowl, mixing until the color was pretty vibrant, as it will bake to be the same color as is mixed.  After that, I baked each layer separately (only because I had 1 pan).  

After all the layers were baked and completely cooled, I placed the bottom layer (I used purple on the bottom) on the cake stand/plate.  I then trimmed off the top of the layer, making a smooth surface, and spread a generous amount of icing on top.  I then placed the next colored caked on top, gently pressing down to stick to the icing.

I continued to trim off the tops and layer the cakes, until all layers were there.  Trim off the top layer also, so that the top of the cake is flat.

Next, I had to trim the sides of the cake, to round everything out and make it smooth.  You'll make a huge mess, and it will look like a rainbow exploded in your kitchen.

Next, I frosted the outside of the entire cake.  It is easiest to do this on a turning cake stand, so that you can just put icing on a knife, hold the knife still against the cake, and turn the stand.  It ices much smoother than moving the knife all around.

Then we rolled out the fondant (bought a box of it at Walmart), and made sure it was big enough to cover the entire cake (we actually did tape measure measuring).  Once rolled out, carefully place over cake, covering it completely.  I put a fondant ribbon on the bottom, to cover a few places where the fondant wrinkled.

I drew some of the animals from the book, and then cut out the shapes from gum paste.  Gum paste is similar to fondant, except it hardens up a bit more.  We had to work quickly so that the gum paste wouldn't harden before we stuck the shapes onto the cake.

Then comes the fun part!  I found edible cake markers at Walmart, and colored the gum-paste animals to look like those in the book.

Then I just wrote Happy Birthday, and wrote a line from the book on the ribbon around the base of the cake, and that was it!

**The very first photo and these last 4 photos were all taken by Lane, of 

www.meredithlanephotography.com