recipes — Page 12

Pies for Kids – Pi Day March 14th

February 25, 2014 By Anne

This is a sponsored opportunity with Foodie.com.

Pi Day is coming up next month, March 14th to be exact. My husband and I like all kinds of pies, but the kids, not so much. So I searched Foodie.com and came up with a collection of fun pies that I think my kids will really enjoy.

There is the Chocolate Cream Brownie Pie that sounds oh so delicious. The original Whoopie Pie. Or how about a rainbow collection of Whoopie Pies! The Triple Peanut Butter Cookie Pie would have to be my favorite as I love peanut butter. Or maybe the Nestle Tollhouse Cookie Pie. Hmmm, they both sound good.

See my entire collection above.

What Pie will you be making on Pi Day?

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

Valentine’s Day Huggable Heart Cookie Cups

February 10, 2014 By Anne

I love baking. I love that my daughter likes to help me. It makes for some wonderful mommy and daughter time. Nestle sent me several bags of candy to create a Valentine’s Day Treat!

I choose the Huggable Heart Cookie Cups to make. The recipe is located at Meals.com.

Ingredients include:

•1 package (16.5 ounces) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Refrigerated Sugar Cookie Bar Dough
•48 WONKA SweeTARTS Hearts Gummies
•1 cup (6 ounces) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Premier White Morsels

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325º F. Line 24 mini-muffin cups with paper liners. Place one square of dough into each lined cup, pressing in to make a well.

Bake for 15 minutes or until cookie is golden. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. With tip of knife, remove cookie cups from muffin pan.

Place morsels in small, heavy-duty plastic bag. Microwave on MEDIUM-HIGH (70%) power for 1 minute. Gently massage morsels until completely melted. Snip tiny corner from bag; drizzle melted morsels over cookies. Top each with 2 Hearts Gummies. ( I placed mine in a glass bowl to heat up. It worked just as good)

Chocolate Chip Cookie/Chocolate Heart Variation: Use chocolate chip cookie dough in place of sugar dough. Bake at 350° F for 12 to 15 minutes. After cooling, place one NESTLÉ CRUNCH or NESTLÉ BUTTERFINGER Chocolate Heart in each cup. Proceed with drizzle.

We made several plates to take to the neighbors as we can not eat all of these! But I did get a few into my belly. Yumm!

What Valentine’s Day Treats are you making?

Anne

Red Gold All-In-One Lasagna

February 8, 2014 By Anne

Red Gold Tomatoes, noodles and recipe provided by Red Gold.

Red Gold was gracious enough to send me a few ingredients to make their All-In-One Lasagna. My brother was spending the weekend with us and I decided to make it for dinner. I was a little perplexed by not boiling the noodles but the dish came out perfect and I would love to try it again!

Makes 12 servings

Preparation time – 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients include:
1/2 cup water
1 (28 ounce) can Red Gold Crushed Tomatoes
2 (14.5 ounce) cans Red Gold Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic & Oregano
1 Teaspoon Italian seasoning
Salt to taste
1 (16 ounce) box traditional Lasagna Noodles
1 (15 ounce) carton of low-fat ricotta cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl combine water, Red Gold Crushed Tomatoes, Red Gold Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic & Oregano, Italian seasoning and salt. Cover the bottom of a 9x12x2 baking pan with 1 1/2 cups of sauce mixture. Arrange 1/3 dry noodles on top of sauce, slightly overlapping. Top with 1/2 of ricotta cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and I cup of sauce. Repeat layers and top with last 1/3 noodles and the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with reaming mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours; until noodles are cooked. Let stand fro 10 minutes before serving.

Now I added hamburger to my mixture and then my brother dropped ricotta cheese on top. I only used the cheeses on half as my picky children don’t like too much cheese. Go figure?

Of course my daughter wanted to help which I love that she likes to help in the kitchen!

Our finished Lasagna – viola!

My brother had 4 plates of this lasagna, so I guess it wasn’t too bad. The biggest challenge was my husband and he said he liked it – Yeah!

Have you ever made Lasagna using uncooked noodles?

Anne

Speedy Super Bowl Spread Tips

January 28, 2014 By Anne

This is a guest post.

When the Super Bowl rolls around, you want to be able to invite your friends and neighbours over to watch the game. You also want to create a fun and enjoyable environment for the adults and children alike. Often, that involves having some classic Super Bowl snack ideas on hand.

Because you are probably a busy mom, like myself, you don’t want feeding your guests to require complicated ingredients or take too long to cook. So, I’ve come up with some super quick ideas for you to try, not just for the Super Bowl, but for any occasion where you want to join in the fun rather than slave over a hot stove. With so many different variations on these family favourites, you should be able to create a spread everyone will enjoy, even the kids.

Nachos

What would game day be without nachos!? You can’t go wrong with this snack idea and it’s easy to make. For detailed recipe information, just check out the trusted Kraft nachos recipe.

On their page, you can also find other variations on nachos recipes. For example, instead of beef, try chicken or add mozzarella cheese instead of cheddar. Perhaps you like it spicy? If so, add jalapenos or chilli flakes for extra punch! These have always come through for me on game day. If you want to add a green spin on it, buy local, organic, grass-fed beef or chicken.

The best thing about this recipe is that you can easily create more of it if the bowl starts running low. Just a few minutes under the grill to get the cheese melting and tortillas crisp and you’re set! It’s a great idea to get a head count before you start going to work in the kitchen. Just remember to ask who likes what and if any one has any allergies before you start.

Chunky Guacamole

Another great idea for a game day snack is guacamole. All you need is a small red onion, a cup of chopped cilantro, 3 diced avocados and the juice of 2 limes. Then you can add salt to taste. This recipe takes approximately 20 minutes and tastes great!

Also, for a different spin on the chips, go with non-gmo blue corn tortillas instead of the typical tortilla chips. Your guests will enjoy the splash of vibrant color as well as the taste of this wonderful snack.

Mini-Cheeseburgers

Who doesn’t love cheeseburgers while watching the game? This is something simple that both kids will eat and adults will enjoy. Instead of creating one large burger for everyone, opt for miniature versions. You can cook your beef ahead of time and have several toasted mini-rolls sliced and ready to be eaten.

Create a side dish of a range of toppings like cheese, tomatoes, bacon, lettuce, mustard and ketchup makes it easy for everyone to create their own. For a little added flavour for the adults, try adding in chopped onion and green capsicum into the beef patties.

Now that you have some new recipe ideas for the Super Bowl, you can focus on the rest of your to-do list. Just remember to make something to drink and have a few desserts, like cookies and pies, ready for your guests. Have a great super bowl party!

Anne

No Taste Like Home – Cook Book

October 24, 2013 By Anne

I was lucky enough to review another Southern Living Cookbooks, No Taste Like Home. I love the Southern Living Cookbooks. They have wonderful photos and lots of tips. This particular cookbook also includes a history around the recipe along with tidbits about the south and people from the south. I loved just going through the book and “exploring” the south at the same time.

I choose a recipe to make, the Cheesy Potato Soup. I thought this would perfect with the cool weather approaching.

Very easy to make!

Ingredients:
3 lbs baking potatoes (6 to 8 medium sized)
1 small white onion, finely chopped
4 cups of milk or half and half
1 10 3/4 oz can of cream of mushroom, chicken or potato soup. ( I used cream of chicken)
1 8oz package of processed cheese, like Velveeta, cubed
Round Buttery Crackers, or saltines
1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Peel potatoes and cut into bite size pieces. Boil potatoes and onion together in 6 qt pot with salted water for about 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain and return to pot.
2. Add milk, can of soup and cheese to potato mixture and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, 4 minutes or until cheese melts. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Top with crackers and shredded cheese.