Secret's in the Sauce!

I hate vegetables. Really, I do. I'm a thirty-year old that doesn't like vegetables. I do eat a few, but mostly the starchy, unhealthy ones. I decided to try to trick myself by hiding veggies in my pasta sauce. Not 'healthy' per-say, but healthier than not having them. Right? Right.

The verdict? Yummmmmm. The carrots gave a little sweetness to the sauce and the peppers, spinach an onion blended right in. I don't think I'll make plain spaghetti sauce again!



This is a versatile recipe - you could really add just about any veggies you want to this sauce, this is just how I made it, with what I had on hand. You can also serve over and pasta you want. I used a whole wheat thin spaghetti






Veggie Pasta Sauce



Ingredients:
1 lb Italian sausage - could use any meat really - turkey, chicken, hamburger
2 carrots, grated
1 large onion, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 1/2 cups baby spinach
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 tbsp oregano
1tbsp basil
salt and pepper to taste



Directions:
In a large sauce pan brown and crumble sausage. Drain all but 1 tbsp of the fat. Add in onion, pepper, spinach and carrot. Saute until veggies are soft. Add in garlic, tomatoes, tomato sauce and spices.


Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Serve over pasta.

Beer Cheese Bread

We're about to get some snow and when I think of snow, I think of soup. So dinner tonight is soup and bread. I didn't want to mess around with a yeast bread, so I decided to give this recipe a go. It was super easy and super tasty. I would recommend buying a block of cheese and grating it yourself - the pre-shredded stuff has a powdery stuff on it and it won't incorporate as well in the bread.

I *may* have snuck a piece before dinner - hey I can't blog it if I haven't tried it right? - and it's delicious. I love that it took less than 10 minutes to get it in the oven and that included grating cheese. Try this bread soon - you won't be disappointed!

Cheesey Beer Bread

From: Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

4 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

12 oz beer

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

2 tbsp butter - melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a loaf pan.

In a large bowl, mix together flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and garlic powder. Add cheese. Slowly pour in beer and mix gently until all ingredients are moistened.

Spread dough in loaf pan and pour butter over top. Bake for 55-60 minutes.

Soft Pretzels

One of our favorite snacks is soft pretzels. It is my go-to snack at a sporting events, concerts, etc. Give me a big soft pretzel and a cup of warm nacho cheese and I'm in heaven.

Not too long after I got my stand mixer I tried making them for the first time. About half-way through making them I declared 'These things better be good cause I'm never making them again!' Well they were more than good. And I've made them countless times since then.

The recipe is not quick or easy, but the final product is worth every minute. This recipe is from Alton Brown - one of our favorite TV cooks. The only change I made from his original is to boil the pretzels for 1 minute instead of 30 seconds. I also usually shape them into sticks instead of the traditional pretzel twist.

Soft Pretzels

From: Alton Brown

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt

Directions:
Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside. Place a cooling rack in a rimmed baking sheet.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 1 minute. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Place them on the cooling rack in the baking sheet.

Once cool enough to touch, transfer pretzels to the parchment lined baking sheets and brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Serve with nacho cheese, spicy mustard or any other dip.

Pop Tarts!

I found this recipe a while back on foodgawker and bookmarked for a weekend morning. It came together really quickly and easily. I cheated and used store-bought pie crust. I might try making my own next time, if I get super motivated.

I think I rolled the dough too thin, otherwise these were a great alternative to the boxed who-knows-what's-in-them kind. If you use the store-bought crust, I wouldn't roll it out much more than it already is. Also, I would recommend letting them cool a lot before drizzling the icing over them or it just melts right off.

If anyone tries this recipe with any variations let me know. I think it's a decent recipe but there is a lot of room for improvement.

Homemade Pop Tarts

Ingredients:

pie crust - home made or store bought

jam or preserves

milk

powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425. Roll out pie crust and cut into rectangles. Be sure they are all the same size. I used a pizza cutter to cut the dough and it worked great. Gather up scraps and re-roll until all dough is used.

Put about a tbsp of jam on half of the rectangles. Top with another crust and crimp edges - I used a fork to do this. Place on baking sheet and bake for 7-9 minutes. Watch them because they go from done to oozing quickly.

Mix together 1 cup powdered sugar with just a little bit of milk until a thick syrup forms. The thicker it is, the better it will hang on to the pastries.

Allow pastries to cool before drizzling with icing.

Maple Bacon Shortbread Cookies

I know, I know - bacon cookies??? Using bacon in cookies and desserts sounded like a strange trend to me, but there are so many people blogging and raving about it, that I decided I had to try it.

I sent a few recipes to my husband and some friends asking what they thought. Everyone pretty much said the same thing. It sounds gross, but intriguing. After looking at several chocolate chip bacon cookies and bacon cupcakes, I decided on this recipe. I wasn't sure if I (or the people I'm cooking for) was ready for the chocolate/bacon combo. I thought a savory shortbread cookie might just be fantastic.

The cookies took a while to come together since you have to bake the bacon first and let it cool, then make the dough and chill it. I ended up letting the dough chill overnight, making it a 2 day process.

They turned out REALLY good. I could have just eaten the uncooked dough, but they were even better baked. They were a little too flour-y for me so next time I will probably cut back the flour a little bit. Over all they were great though. Definitely worth a shot!

Without further ado!

Maple Shortbread Cookies with Candied Bacon

From: Stumpymunchies

Candied Bacon:

Ingredients:

10 slices of thick cut maple bacon

brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay the bacon strips down and top with brown sugar. Bake for 10 minutes.

Transfer bacon to clean sheet of parchment paper and throw away the used one. Flip bacon over and top the second side with brown sugar. Bake for another 10 minutes.

Let bacon cool on cooling rack. Once bacon has cooled, dice it into small pieces. At this point you can bake it again for another 4-6 minutes for extra crispy bacon.

Cookies:

Ingredients:

3 sticks unsalted butter - softened

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

3 1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar in a stand mixer. Add maple syrup and vanilla. Add flour one cup at a time. Add diced bacon. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Turn out onto waxed paper. Roll into logs and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Cut into slices 1/4in thick. Bake on parchment lined baking sheet for 11+ min. (15 in my oven) until lightly golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack

Cajun Chicken...Pizza?

So a few years ago, my husband decided to make me a special dinner for Valentine's day. I was pregnant that year and craved pasta all. the. time. He found a recipe for a cajun chicken pasta that we both fell in love with and have continued to make regularly.

I will blog that recipe next time I make it.

But last night I decided to change it up a bit and make a cajun chicken pizza. I was pretty much wingin it on this one and using stuff I had on hand. I also 'cheated' and bought a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken. I love getting one of those and chopping the meat for several meals.

I used a whole wheat pizza crust recipe from GoldMedal Flour. It's pretty good and gives us a few whole grains with our meal.

I wish I would have taken more photos along the way, but I only have one of the finished product. It was SOOOO good and tasted almost exactly like the pasta.

Cajun Chicken Pizza

Crust:

from: Gold Medal Flour

(makes 2 pizza crusts)

Ingredients:

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup warm (100-110 degree) water

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

Directions:

Add water, yeast and sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes until foamy. Using the dough hook, turn mixer on low and add olive oil and salt. Add flour in slowly. Once mixture is combined increase the speed and knead the mixture for 3-5 minutes.

Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil to a bowl. Once dough is formed, move it to the bowl and roll it around to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm, non-drafty spot for at least an hour.

Topping - for 1 crust:

Ingredients:

1-2 chicken breasts - diced and cooked

cajun seasoning

1 red pepper - diced

1 green pepper - diced

3 stalks green onion - diced

1 cup alfredo sauce

1 tbsp basil

1 tsp lemon pepper

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Mozarella cheese

Parmesan cheese

olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425.

Add a tbsp or less of olive oil to a skillet. Dice up the peppers and onion and add to oil. Sautee until vegetables are soft. Add chicken and cajun seasoning to taste. We use about 1 tbsp of cajun seaoning. Cook until chicken is warmed through.

In a small sauce pan mix alfredo sauce with basil, lemon pepper, black pepper and salt. Heat through.

Punch down dough. Use half for this pizza and refrigerate the other half or top with other ingredients. Roll out dough into 12 inch circle. Sprinkle baking sheet with cornmeal to avoid sticking.

Spread sauce on dough. Add chicken/veggie mixture and top with cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Chocolate Sheet Cake

I needed to bring a dessert to my parents this weekend - and by 'needed to' I mean I said I was going to bring a dessert, even though we didn't need one - and I wanted to make something new with ingredients I had on hand. I picked up my Pioneer Woman Cookbook and decided to give her chocolate sheet cake a try.

It came together really easily and was delicious. I made it without nuts because I didn't have any, but the husband said it would have been better with nuts. So I might try that next time.

This cake will feed an army.

Chocolate Sheet Cake

from: The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Ingredients:

Cake:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
¼ teaspoons salt
4 heaping tablespoons cocoa
2 sticks butter
1 cup water
½ cups buttermilk
2 whole beaten eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting:

½ cups finely chopped pecans (optional)
1-¾ stick butter
4 heaping tablespoons cocoa
6 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar

Directions:

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
In a saucepan, melt butter then add cocoa and stir together. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and add to chocolate mixture. Allow to boil for 30 seconds then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In a measuring cup or bowl, beat the eggs and add buttermilk, baking soda and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

Frosting:
While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans finely. In a saucepan, melt butter then add cocoa and stir together and turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.

Enjoy!