Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

I love oatmeal! We eat pre-packaged oatmeal all the time but in the assorted flavors box there are always those 2 packets of regular leftover. Usually I just mix in some maple syrup or brown sugar but since it’s fall I thought I’d get creative!

Ingredients
2 packets of plain instant or quick oats oatmeal
2/3 cup of boiling water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions
Add boiling water to oatmeal and let it sit while you pull out all the other ingredients (about 2 minutes). Stir in the pumpkin, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and nutmeg. Warm for a minute in the microwave and enjoy!

Lemon Honey Garlic Chicken

We love overnight marinades! When you get home late from work it’s great to be able to pull marinated chicken out of the fridge and have it cooked and on the table in 20 minutes. This is the first time we’ve tried this particular marinade and I have to admit it wasn’t my favorite. After cooking it didn’t have a lot of taste so we poured some honey over the top to give it some extra flavor.

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions
In a bowl or resealable plastic bag, combine lemon juice, honey, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and chicken. Refrigerate 2 to 24 hours. Remove the chicken from marinade and cook on high heat in a skillet, 5 minutes on each side until cooked. At this point we tasted ours and poured an additional 1/4 cup honey on the chicken and cooked for an additional 2 minutes for the honey to glaze.

Jalapeno Cheese Soup

My husband and oldest son practically breathe fire; they are pepper bellies through and through! So when I stumbled upon a Jalapeno Cheese Soup from Chef Tom I knew I had to give it a try. I made some modifications to the recipe which included using less jalapenos than suggested and this soup was still spicy! It was too spicy for me but Justin and Andrew really liked it. They sopped the soup up with crusty bread and were all smiles. It was very cute!

Ingredients
8 celery stalks
1 cup diced onion
1 minced garlic clove
2 lb Velveeta cheese
1/2 cup diced jalapeno peppers

Directions
Dice celery stalks, onions and jalapeños. In a large pot place the chicken broth, celery, onions, garlic salt, and white pepper. Cook over high heat for 10 minutes, or until the mixture reduces and thickens slightly. In a blender or food processor puree the mixture together until the mixture is smooth. Return the pureed mixture to the saucepan, add in the cubed Velveeta and simmer it for 5 minutes.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Justin’s brother Chad makes a spectacular Spinach Artichoke Dip that has been on our minds a lot lately (I think it’s all the spinach I’ve been sneaking into our diet so our taste buds are craving it)! I’ve been sick the last couple days and this dip is one of the few things that has sounded good (I am a strange breed)! We just sat around the bowl as a family and devoured it with tortilla chips, Mmm!

Ingredients
1 (13 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 (6 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
3 tablespoons diced jalapenos
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 1 quart baking dish. In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients together. Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish, and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of Monterey Jack cheese. Bake in the center of the preheated oven until the cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.

Justin’s Honey Mustard Chicken

Justin is a honey mustard fanatic! Some people dip everything in ranch (I admit that I am one of these people) but Justin prefers to dip everything in honey mustard. So Justin made us dinner and surprise surprise it was honey mustard chicken! It was delectable and we even used the leftover honey mustard as a dressing on fresh spinach leaves! Y-U-M!

Ingredients
3 chicken breasts
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup mustard
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard

Directions
In a large skillet on high heat saute the chicken breasts for 3 minutes on each side (they will start to brown). Spoon the honey mustard over each of the chicken breasts, turn them and spoon some more (you won’t use all the honey mustard). Stir and flip the chicken while it cooks on high heat for another 3-5 minutes. The sauce should caramelize and stick to the chicken. Serve chicken with remaining honey mustard for dipping (or as a salad dressing).

Sauteed Spinach

I am hopelessly addicted to the TV show “Jon and Kate Plus 8” and although I disagree with Kate on many things (I think she is an anal retentive meany) I like her meal policy of “eat it or go hungry”. My husband Justin is the worst, the only two vegetables he says he likes are corn and potatoes (which technically… I don’t think either are really vegetables, they’re starches). So for years (10 to be exact) I have forgone the yummy green vegetables for plates of prosaic yellow. This has been to the detriment of my children because they too will only eat corn and potatoes. Well not anymore! I am taking Dr. Oz’s advice and we will have something green for every dinner from here on out! Mary’s spinach stuffed shells were such a hit a couple weeks back I decided to try spinach again. I made all three of my boys (yes this includes my husband) take at least 1 bite. Personally I thought this spinach was scrumptious but the boys thought 1 bite was enough, lol! I don’t care though, we will go for another bite tomorrow and even if it takes years I am determined to get my family to eat more vegetables!

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 (10 ounce) bag spinach leaves
2 minced garlic cloves
Salt and Pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Heat the olive oil and minced garlic in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach to the skillet and cover; allow to cook 5 minutes. Stir in the salt and pepper and cover again for another 5 minutes; remove from heat. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to serve.

Tye Dye Cheesecake

I joined a new baking group called You Want Pies With That? in which bloggers bake pies with a new theme every month. Sounds fun right?!
This month’s theme “Pies as a fashion statement” was picked by Holly because she is hooked on project runway. In honor of Project Runway and the fashion world in general, she decided that the theme for November would be all about Fashionable Pies, Outrageous Pies, Colorful Pies, Pies with Texture, Pies that are Haute Cuisine as well as Haute Fashion, Pies that are Decked Out, Embellished, and Over the Top! The pie with the most fashion gets the “most creative tart” award.
Being the hippee at heart that I am I immediately thought of tye dye! So I made my cheesecake recipe, divided the batter into 5 bowls, and let the boys dye and stir. We had a blast!
We spooned the batter over the graham cracker crust taking turns putting dollops of the colors on.
After baking, the cheesecake was dark on the top and sides but the center was still vividly bright and just as much fun to eat as it was to look at! Ingredients
15 graham crackers, crushed
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan.
In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.

Fettuccine Alfredo

I’ve tried making fettuccine alfredo so many times because seems like an easy dinner. It hasn’t ever turned out very yummy though. So, last week I did some research and read online that the trick to making fettuccine alfredo is to buy a block of parmesan cheese and shred it yourself so I thought I would give it another try. They were correct! This was scrumptious and the whole dinner took around 20 minutes. Let’s just be happy with it being so quick and easy, try not to dwell on how fattening it is ;-)

Ingredients
10 ounces fettuccini pasta
1/2 cup butter
3 cloves minced garlic
1 cup heavy cream
1 egg yolk
2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add fettuccine pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
In a large skillet melt the butter and add the chopped garlic. Cook on low for about 5 minutes, stirring often, making sure not to burn the garlic.
Pour about a 1/4 cup of the heavy cream into a small bowl. Add the egg yolk and beat together; put aside. Pour the remaining cream into the frying pan. Increase the heat to medium-high. As the cream starts to boil, mix rapidly using a whisk. Slowly add the cream/egg mixture. You do not want the egg to curdle. Continue whisking until well blended.
Add 1 cup of the Parmesan cheese and continue to mix the cream. Pour in the remaining Parmesan and the parsley, mix until smooth. Immediately remove from stove. Serve over cooked pasta.

White Hot Chocolate

We've wanted to try white hot chocolate for awhile but when I went looking for recipes they all called for half and half or heavy whipping cream (or both, yikes) and if I am going to make this irresistible drink for my family so close to bedtime I needed it to be less fattening (yes, this coming for the woman who made an entire cake for her family yesterday). I decided I was just going to wing it and try a white hot chocolate recipe using our non-fat skim milk and white chocolate chips. It actually turned out fantastic! It was absolutely delicious! Try it!











Ingredients
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
whipped topping
blue sprinkles (because it makes me think of snowflakes, lol)

Directions
In a small sauce pan combine 1/4 cup milk and white chocolate chips. Heat over medium heat, whisking until chocolate melts. Stir in remaining milk and heat to warm. Pour into glasses and garnish with whipped topping and sprinkles.

Marshmallow Frosting

**Update- It's probably the egg whites but this frosting was only good for the first couple hours, so I will not make this again unless I am serving it immediatly.
I love to bake but I wouldn’t consider myself a baker. I pass over any recipe that requires yeast, I always use boxed cake mix, and I refuse to make anything that takes longer than an hour. So it is always a challenge when I go looking for dessert recipes. I saw a recipe for Marshmallow Frosting/7-minute frosting that I couldn’t resist! You have to mix for a good 7-8 minutes but it was easy and SO delicious! It really did taste like fluffy marshmallow cream!

Ingredients
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions
Combine frosting ingredients with a pinch of salt in a metal/glass bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and beat with a handheld electric mixer at high speed until frosting is thick and fluffy, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and continue to beat until slightly cooled. Mound frosting on top of cake.

Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder

**December 2008 Update- This recipe deserves an update because Justin is obsessed with it! Per his constant requests I make it once a week, he just loves it! This past week I used pepper jack cheese instead of monterey jack and he liked the extra kick it gave it. Oh, and the optional “serve with crumbled tortilla chips” really needs to be mandatory, don’t forget the chips!
It has been so cold the last couple days, I love it! I woke up extra early so that I could be sneaky and do something Justin wouldn’t approve of so early in the year… watch a Christmas movie! I can’t help it, I am just too excited, lol! So I watched “Christmas with the Kranks” and made this soup for lunch, it was heavenly! After lunch Justin checked the weather and pointed out that we have a chance of flurries on Thursday, yippee!

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons butter
1 cube chicken bouillon
1 cup hot water
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cups half-and-half cream
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 (14.75 ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
1 dash hot pepper sauce
Crushed Tortilla Chips (Optional)

Directions
Bake and shred the chicken breasts. In a pot dissolve the bouillon in hot water. Stir in the shredded chicken, garlic, butter, and cumin. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in cream, cheese, corn, chilies, and hot pepper sauce. Cook, stirring frequently, until the cheese is melted. Serve and garnish with crushed tortilla chips (optional).

Stuffed Shells Florentine

This recipe is from Mary (easily the nicest person I know). I asked Mary for one of her favorite recipes, but Mary doesn’t eat meat and my boys don’t eat vegetables so this was quite a feat! She gave me this stuffed shells recipe and everyone loved it! Even Justin (who is the King of disliking veggies) said we would have to make it again soon! I made 2 changes from her original recipe which I have noted below, but I think following her recipe exactly would have been delicious!

Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped onion (I omitted the onion)
2 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1- 8 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1- 16 oz container lowfat cottage cheese (I used ricotta instead of cottage)
24 Jumbo pasta shells
1 package shredded mozzarella cheese
1- 15 oz jar spaghetti sauce or homemade

Directions
Cook shells according to the directions. Meanwhile, in large saucepan, over medium-high heat, sauté onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, pepper and olive oil. Mix in the spinach and cook until heated.
Remove from heat; stir in cottage/ricotta cheese and ¾ the shredded cheese.
Spoon into Cooked Shells.
Spread 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce in bottom of 13X9 inch pan; arrange shells over sauce. Top with remaining sauce and cover. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Sprinkle some remaining cheese over the top.

Delicious Macaroni Salad

Those recipe exchange emails made their rounds last week, I got at least 5 and gave my usual two favorite pasta salad recipes. I got a couple responses back from friends who asked why my favorite salad’s weren’t on my blog. So here’s my favorite macaroni salad that I got from a neighbor when we first moved to Gardner 7 years ago. The veggies are all shredded so not only is this salad delicious but it is very quick and easy!

Ingredients
2 (16oz) boxes of shell macaroni (2 lbs of macaroni total)
1 small onion, shredded
1 green pepper, shredded
1 carrot, shredded
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 cups salad dressing mayonnaise (Miracle Whip)
1/2 cup sugar

Directions
Cook, drain, and rinse macaroni. In a large bowl shred the onion, green pepper, carrot. Mix in the sweetened condenses milk, vinegar, mayonnaise, and sugar. Finally add the macaroni noodles, stir, and refrigerate (over night is best).