Bruschetta

I grew tomatoes this year for the sole purpose of making bruschetta and salsa.  While I did not have piles and pile, it was more than enough to make the occasional appy!

And some little cheese toasts for the little people.

Tomatoes, chopped
Basil (I use the stuff from a tube because I killed TWO basil plants this year!)
Purple onion, chopped
Splash of garlic olive oil
Bigger Splash of balsamic vinegar
Grated Parmesan Cheese

Throw it all in a bowl and then into the fridge.  Slice a baguette, brush with garlic olive oil and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Broil for 2-3 minutes.  Top with bruschetta and some more parmesan cheese.  Broil another 2-3 minutes.

Pumpkin Spiced Oatmeal Pecan Cookies

Simply everything wonderful in one small little cookie!  I borrowed the recipe from here and pretty much much followed the recipe to the letter.  Enjoy, these are on my must bake again list!

Smashed Sweet Potatoes

Costco had sweet potatoes a couple of weeks ago.  I ended up making these one afternoon and eating them as a snack!

Use the recipe from here and made few changes based on what was in my pantry.

2 sweet potatoes
1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp each of salt, cumin, chilli powder, paprika, onion powder, garlic
2 Tbsp melted butter
2 Tbsp olive oil (I used garlic infused)

Peel and slice the potatoes into rounds.  Boil until folk tender and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Flatten with folk or bottom of glass.  Mix brown sugar and spices together in a small bowl.  Mix butter and oil in a small bowl.  Drizzle 1/2 the melted butter onto the potatoes, sprinkle half the spices and flatten slightly with folk.  Flip over and repeat.  Bake at 375F for 10 minutes, flip, then bake for another 10 minutes.

Mac & Cheese

I can't remember where I got this recipe from, but I make it EVERY week for Corbyn's school lunch.

3 C milk
1/4 C flour
2 C grated cheese (I usually use old)
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 tsp each of dry mustard, thyme, sale and pepper
5 C cooked pasta


1/4 C melted butter
1/2 C bread crumbs
1/2 C parmesan cheese


Whisk 1/2 C milk with flour and set aside.  Heat remaining milk until bubbles appear.  Add flour mixture, stir over medium heat until thickens.  Add cheese and spices and stir until melted.  Add cooked pasta and toss until coated.  Transfer to a 9x13 baking dish.  Mix remaining ingredients sprinkle over pasta.  Bake for 10 minutes at 450F.

Easy Crusty Bread

I had to try this when I saw it on Pinterest

In a large bowl mix

3 C flour
1 3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp yeast
1 1/2 C water (I ended up using close to 2)

Cover with plastic wrap and place on the counter for 12-18 hours.  Preheat over to 450F, once preheat toss  your baking pot in with lid.  I used a kitchen aid round like this

Heat for 30 minutes.  While the pot is preheating turn the dough out onto a well floured surface.  Remove pot from oven and place dough inside, cover with lid and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the lid and bake for 15 minutes more.

Now the bread was a little dense and plain, but so super easy to make. I am going to experiment a bit with different cheses and seeds and see what I can come up with!

Pita's

Place the following in bread maker on dough cycle

3 C flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 pck yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 1/2 C warm water
2 Tbsp oil (I used canola, next time garlic olive oil)

Roll into a log and pinch off into about 30 small pieces.  Let rise 15-30 minutes.  Roll into circles and bake on pizza stone for 3-4 minutes at 475F.

Baked Garlic Parmesan Chicken

Original recipe can be found here.

2 Tbsp garlic oil (on a shallow plate)
1//2 C bread crumbs
1/3 C parmesan cheese (I used a mixture of real and fake)
2 tsp basil
ground pepper
3 chicken breasts

Mix crumbs, cheese, basil and pepper together. Drench the chicken in oil and then coat in bread crumb mixture. Place in greased baking sheet and top with extra crumb mixture.  Bake about 40 minutes or until the chicken juices run clear.

Orzo with Parmesan and Basil

Delicious and made with basil from our garden.  Even the kids tried it, which is awesome for my picky little boy.  I found the recipe here and did not change a thing!

Pumpkin Scones (Clone of Starbucks)

I took the advice in the blog comments and doubled the recipe.  It was a good thing too, these were gone in a flash.

I followed the recipes here but made the following changes...

• Used almond milk
• Added about 1/4 cup more pumpkin
• Used pumpkin spice instead of individual spices
• Each log made 12 smaller scones instead of 6.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

This recipe was ok.  Alex didn't like how tart the cupcakes were but Corbyn loved them.  I repeat Corbyn loved the,!  Therefore we will be making them again.

I pinned these a couple of weeks ago and followed the recipe exactly!

Source: sweetcheeksinthekitchen.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Buffalo Meatballs

We recently purchased a 1/4 buffalo and I am on the lookout for some tasty recipes!

Even with the extra cheese there was very little fat after baking these in the oven.  I used this recipe to work from.

Buffalo
1 egg
Grated Cheese (Swiss was the best!)
Basil and/or Italian Seasoning
Pepper
Soya Sauce
Worcestershire
Onion and garlic powder

Mix, roll into balls and bake (line a baking sheet with tin foil and place a wire rack over top) and bake at 350F until cooked through.

We ate these plain with rice and in spaghetti sauce.

Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread

I have started pinning more and more recipes on Pinterest here.

I followed this recipe exactly and then only thing I would do differently next time is add some chocolate chips!

Cake Pops

I got one of these just before Christmas

And the results have been less that stellar.  I am just no good and making the chocolate stick to the cakepop without globbing and looking horrible.  I will keep trying, but in the meantime, this is the perfect sized school snack.  So today I made these



On the top, Lemon Poppy Seed cake pops with lemon drizzled, and on the bottom, Pumpkin Spice cake pops with drizzled.  So simple and easy and the perfect sized snack.

Lemon Poppy Seed

1 pck Lemon cake mix (made according to directions)

1/4 c poppy seeds

zest from on lemon

Mix together and drizzle with a mixture of icing sugar and lemon juice.

Pumpkin Spice

1 pck Vanilla cake mix

1 can pumpkin

3-4 tbps oil

3-4 tbsp of pumpkin spice

Mix together and drizzle with a mixture of icing sugar and milk.

Basic Muffins

1 1/4 C oats

1 C flour

1/3 C Sugar (I used brown this time)

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 C milk

1 egg

1/4 C oil

1 C berries (blueberries and cranberries this time)

Cinnamon to taste

Mix dry ingredients, make a well and add wet.  Mix well and fold in berries.  Bake at 425F for 15 minutes.  

Maple Glazed Butternut Squash with Orzo and Goat Cheese

Anything made with goat cheese is delicious!

I borrowed the recipe from here and made a few changes...

2 cups of cubed butternut squash
1tbsp Maple Syrup
Salt and pepper
Low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup of orzo
1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp of crumbled goat cheese (I used a herb one I had hanging around the fridge)

Preheat the oven to 400F and drizzle cubed squash with maple syrup and olive oil.  Season generously with salt and pepper.  Bake 15-30 minutes until soft, turning occasionally.  In a small pot bring broth to boil and cook orzo according to package directions.  Toss squash, orzo and cheese together.  

Yams and Cranberries

Recipe courtesy of Oma!

6 yams (or sweet potatoes), cooked, peeled if you wish, cut up or sliced

1 ½ cups cranberry sauce

¾ cup water

½ cup brown sugar

¾ cup orange rind (grated)

¾ teaspoon cinnamon

1 ½ tablespoons  butter

1. 1.     Preheat oven to 325 F
2. 2.     Place yams in greased 2 quart casserole.
3. 3.     Combine cranberry sauce, water, brown sugar, orange rind and cinnamon in saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer a minute or two.
4. 4.     Add butter and pour over yams.
5. 5.     Bake 20 minutes or so.