Brownie Conversation Hearts

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Bars and Cookies and tagged with conversation hearts, dessert, food, heart-shaped brownies, recipe, valentines day February 12, 2014

Conversation Brownie Hearts

If brownies could speak what would they say? How about things like: U R 4 Me, I (heart) U, B Mine, B F F. I think you get the idea. Just think of those little heart candies with the sweet sentiments on them. Those same sentiments can be written on fudgy brownies for Valentines Day.

Write on them or leave them plain. They are still pretty.

Using a boxed brownie mix, these don’t take long to make, but they look like you spent a lot of time on them. Here’s how I made them. You will need….

BROWNIE CONVERSATION HEARTS

Yield: about 18 heart shaped brownies

Ingredients:

1 package (family-size) fudge brownie mix
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons water

1. Empty brownie mix into a large bowl. Add the sour cream, eggs, and water. Mix well, but do not over mix. Spoon batter into a greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

2. Bake and cool as package directs. When sufficiently cool, cut out with heart shaped cookie cutters. Mine were about 2 1/2 inches wide.

Cutting out the hearts.

Place brownies on a wire rack over a wax paper-lined baking sheet.

For Frosting:

4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup water
1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
red food coloring

1. Mix confectioners’ sugar, water, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Cook on medium-low heat until sugar is melted, stirring occasionally. Stir in vanilla. Tint with food coloring to the desired level of color. While icing is hot, spoon or pour icing over tops of brownies. If icing becomes too stiff, or starts to crystalize, gently reheat to pouring consistency. Let cool till icing is set. Note: I thought mine looked neater, with the drips trimmed away, keeping the icing on the tops only.

2. Remaining icing may be tinted a darker shade to use for writing on the brownies, or melt a few chocolate chips to write with. Put the icing (or melted chocolate) in a zip lock bag. Cut a tiny snip off one corner, and squeeze out the icing to write on the brownie tops.

SOURCE: All Recipes Magazine

Chocolate Almond Cherry Biscotti

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Bars and Cookies and tagged with almonds, Biscotti, chocolate, cookies, dessert, dried cherries, food, recipe February 11, 2014

Chocolate Almond Cherry Biscotti

Don’t try to resist these. Just go with the flow and have one (or two) with a warm cup of coffee, or hot cocoa. Oh, my, they are beyond good.

Perfect with a cup of coffee or cocoa.

If you have never made biscotti before, let me assure you they are not hard. Yes, they bake twice. That’s what gives them their crunch. First you mix up the dough and shape it into a log on a baking sheet. Then the log is baked and allowed to cool a bit. Then you slice it crosswise, and bake it again. These cookies are crunchy and chocolatey. Chock full of chopped almonds and sweet dried cherries, then they’re dipped into melted semisweet chocolate for that extra special Valentine touch. Ta-da!!

These are perfect for dessert, teatime, with a cup of cappuccino, perfect for breakfast, perfect for packaging up and giving this Valentine’s Day. Did I say they are perfect? Ooooo-yeah!

CHOCOLATE ALMOND CHERRY BISCOTTI

YIELD: 16-18 pieces

Lots of good things go into these lovely biscotti.

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa
1/3 cup almond flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup chopped almonds
1 cup dried cherries

For chocolate dip:

1 cup mini chocolate chips, divided
2 tsp. shortening

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar till fluffy. Add in the eggs and extracts, beating till well combined.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, almond flour, baking powder and salt.

Mix dry ingredients together.

With the mixer on “Low”, add in the dry ingredients in several batches. Stir in the almonds and cherries.

4. Spoon the dough onto the baking sheet diagonally in a long line. With lightly floured hands, shape the dough into a log that measures approx. 14″ x 3″. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula if necessary.

Shape dough into a “log”.

5. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes.

The log, after baking.

6. Reduce oven temperature to 325*F. Spritz log lightly with water just to slightly moisten the crust. Cut crosswise into strips about 3/4-inch to 1-inch wide. Stand upright.

Spritz the crust lightly, cut crosswise, and stand upright.

Spritz the crust lightly, cut crosswise, and stand slices upright.

7. Return to the oven and bake an additional 25 – 30 minutes till dry. Remove and let cool completely.

8. To Dip: Melt 2/3 cup chips and the shortening in a microwave safe dish ( about 45 seconds at 50% power). Stir to smooth out, then stir in the remaining chips and stir again till smooth. Dip bottoms of biscotti into the chocolate. Let dry on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate for 5 – 10 minutes to set.

Dip bottoms of biscotti into melted chocolate.

SOURCE: Bake at 350

Turtle Fudge Cake with Caramel Drizzle

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Cakes and tagged with cake, caramel sauce, dessert, food, fudge cake, recipe, turtle fudge cake February 7, 2014

Turtle Fudge Cake

Just hearing the word “fudge” brings tears of joy to most chocolate-lovers’ eyes. After all, what other dessert conjures up images so rich and chocolaty? It’s mind-boggling to consider how long fudge has been popular. Did you know that fudge was adored back in the 19th century and is still popular today?

According to John Mariani in the The Dictionary of American Food and Drink, fudge as a candy first appeared as a written recipe in 1896. Today fudge is more than just a candy–it’s used to enhance cakes, brownies, cookies, ice creams and frostings.

Most of us particularly love fudge cakes as they tend to be moister, richer and often more rewarding than regular chocolate cakes. We celebrated family birthdays occurring in January and February just recently and I was the official cake-baker. There were three “birthday girls” ranging in age from five years old, to mid-twenties, to her eighties.

The “birthday girls”.

When asked what kind of cake they would like , all agreed on chocolate cake, especially with white frosting. So that sent me on a hunt for an outstanding chocolate cake that would meet all my requirements; be moist and fudgy, and provide a large number of servings. This one relies on a good quality cake mix as the basis with some additions that really raise it to a level that I call outstanding.

One of the additions is caramel candies. You will notice in the directions that half-way through the baking process, caramels are gently pressed into the top crust of the cake. As the cake bakes they melt into a tunnel of caramel running through the center of the cake. Since most little girls like lots of “do-dahs” on their cake, I used chocolate covered caramels in the cake, and then melted more of them with a little cream, to create an uncomplicated, delicious topping that’s drizzled over the top and down the sides of the cake. To incorporate white frosting, I made a plain white frosting from butter, confectioner’s sugar and milk and kept it thin so it would run down the sides of the cake. I applied that first and after it firmed up, I then drizzled the caramel topping over it.

Drizzle chocolate caramel over the top in a random pattern.

TURTLE FUDGE CAKE WITH CARAMEL DRIZZLE

Yield: 12 – 14 servings

Ingredients:

For fudge cake:

1 (18.25 oz.) box Moist Deluxe Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix (Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker)
1 (3.9-oz.) box Jell-O Chocolate Fudge Instant Pudding and Pie Filling Mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped ( I needed to omit the nuts, because of allergies)
25 caramels, such as Hershey’s Classic Caramels ( or chocolate covered caramels)

I used chocolate-covered caramels.

For Caramel Drizzle:

15 caramels
2 Tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Lightly spray a 12-cup tube or Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Put all the ingredients into one bowl and mix up.

2. Place cake mix, pudding mix, oil, eggs and sour cream in bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until ingredients are just combined, about 1 1/2 minutes, stopping at least once to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in pecans with a spatula, mixing just until nuts are thoroughly distributed. Batter will be thick.

Batter will be thick going into the pan,

3. Scrape batter into prepared pan, smoothing and leveling top with a rubber spatula. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove cake from oven and place caramels on top of cake in a ring, pressing them down gently just into top crust of cake.

Place the caramels in a ring over the top of the partially baked cake.

Do not push them entirely into cake. Place cake back in the oven and bake for another 25 – 30 minutes (total of 50-55 minutes), or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

This cake rises nice and high. Not all of the caramels sunk into the cake.

4. Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn cake out of pan onto wire rack and let cool completely.

5. Make caramel drizzle: In a small saucepan, over low heat, melt caramels and heavy cream together until completely smooth. (You can melt them in the microwave also.) Place a sheet of waxed paper under wire rack holding cake and pour caramel over top of cake, allowing it to drizzle down sides and center. Note: I placed the cake on it’s serving plate, then slid strips of wax paper under the edges to catch any drips of frosting or caramel. These can be easily pulled out before serving–much easier than trying to maneuver a frosted cake onto a cake dish!!

To make your cake look like mine: After step 4, mix up a small amount of frosting using about 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 1 Tbsp. soft butter and enough cream (start with 1 Tbsp. and add as necessary) to make a spreading consistency.

Powdered sugar, butter and a little cream make the frosting.

Pour over the cake and allow it to drip down the sides and center.

Pour over the cake and let it run down the sides and middle.

Pour over the cake and let it run down the sides and center.

After it has hardened, proceed with step 5, making the caramel drizzle and dripping it over the white frosting so some of the white shows through.

Make the caramel a thin drizzling consistency.

Drizzle chocolate caramel over the top in a random pattern.

Final decorations in place. Let’s party!!

This would be lovely for Valentine’s Day also.

This cake more than lived up to its promise! It was moist and fudgy, giving all the flavors of Turtle candies (minus the pecans). Definitely a calorie splurge, but for a Birthday cake it was definitely worth it. 😀

SOURCE: Major-ly adapted from Chocolatier Magazine

White Chicken Chili

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Main Dish and tagged with chicken chili, food, game day foods, recipe, white chili January 31, 2014

White Chicken Chili with all the extras.

The Super Bowl is coming up this weekend and will be closely followed by the Winter Olympics. Will you, like so many others, want to be sitting in front of the TV, so you won’t miss any of the exciting action? Personally, I’m not into football, but the Olympics do capture my interest, so I’m lining up some foods that can be prepared in advance, and eaten from my lap or with fingers, while viewing the events.

I rather enjoy spending my time in the kitchen making some fabulous bites for game time snacking, and usually I stay in the kitchen to eat them. This year just may be different. 😀

For openers I made this chili that can be cooked in a slow cooker, or on the stove. Chicken and white beans, plus colorful red and yellow peppers are the main ingredients, all spiced up with lots of great seasonings. Served with white corn chips, salsa and Jack cheese, this is a wonderfully satisfying low-fat meal. Ground chicken or turkey could be substituted for the whole pieces of chicken but I really liked the big chunks of meat in it. I don’t usually like things to be super spicy, but the 4 seedless jalapeños seemed to be just about right. Mr. D. who does like his food more spicy than me, added some hot sauce to his serving, but otherwise would not want to change a thing.

WHITE CHICKEN CHILI

Yield: 8 3/4 cups, or about 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless, chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1 small-medium sweet onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
4 fresh jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. rubbed sage
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
3 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 (15 – 16 oz.) cans great Northern beans, or cannellini bean, undrained

Directions:

1. In a large straight-sided skillet or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add chicken, and sauté until browned, but not cooked through. Remove from the pan.

2. Next add the ginger, salt sage, cumin, and white pepper to the pan, tossing them around to toast them and to release their flavor and become fragrant. Remove from pan and add to chicken.

3. Add veggies to the pan. Sauté the green onions, sweet onion, red and yellow peppers, jalapeños and garlic for 2 – 3 minutes.

Sautéing the veggies.

If cooking this on stove top, return chicken and spices to pan and continue as follows. If cooking in a slow-cooker, put chicken, veggies and spices into the slow cooker.

4. In a separate small saucepan or skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour to make a roux. Cook the roux 3-4 minutes before adding the broth, stirring constantly, to eliminate a “raw” flour taste. Add the chicken broth in a stream, whisking it in. Simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add this mixture to the sautéed chicken and veggies, or add to crock pot.

Thickened chicken broth ready to be added.

5. Stir in the beans with their liquid and simmer over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes till heated through. Or set crockpot to cook on LOW for about 6 hours.

Beans added.

Simmer all together to blend flavors and heat through.

Serve with jalapeños, Jack cheese, white corn chips and salsa.

For more game-day foods and snacks I pulled these from former postings for your convenience. You might what to check them out.

Bacon Cheddar Pinwheels

Breaded Toasted Ravioli

Spicy Bean Dip

Spinach and Artichoke Bread

Buffalo Chicken Chili

Chicken Crescent Ring

Shrimp Tacos with Corn and Avocado Salsa

SOURCE: Allrecipes.com

Orange-Mustard Glazed Pork Chops

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Main Dish and tagged with citrus fruits, dinner entree, food, oranges, pork chops, recipe January 30, 2014

Orange-Mustard Glazed Pork Chops

Sweet sugary oranges and tangerines, bittersweet grapefruit, tangy lemons, zingy limes: These juicy fragrant fruits are at their best at this time of year, just when you need their bright flavors the most. They add so much to simple salads, roasted meats and dreamy desserts.

For those reasons and more I love to incorporate citrus fruits into my cooking. In today’s recipe I will be using oranges to enhance the umami flavor of pork chops. The orange is used in two forms, the juice supplies liquid and some sweetness for the sauce, while orange marmalade provides pectin to give the glaze a syrupy body and balances out the sweetness of the orange juice with a touch of bitterness that is very pleasant. This is a new recipe that I was trying out, and found that it was quite simple to make and we both loved it. I know I will be making this again soon while all this bright citrus is so plentiful.

ORANGE-MUSTARD GLAZED PORK CHOPS

Yield: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 cup fresh orange juice (about 2 oranges)
2 Tbsp. orange marmalade
1 Tbsp. whole grain mustard
1 Tbsp. canola oil
4 bone-in pork loin chops (1-inch thick)
1/4 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 rosemary sprigs
1 medium red onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425*F.

2. Combine orange juice, marmalade, and mustard in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until syrupy.

3. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil; swirl to coat. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Add to pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned. Turn pork over; add rosemary and onion to pan. Pour juice mixture over pork; bake at 425*F for 10-15 minutes or until a thermometer registers 140*. Place rosemary and onion on a platter. Return skillet to medium-high heat; cook about 4 minutes till liquid is syrupy. Add pork to platter, drizzle with sauce.

The colors of this dish were so attractive that I served it directly from the skillet it was cooked in.

SOURCE: COOKING LIGHT

Pear and Hazelnut Muffins

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Breakfast, Muffins & Scones and tagged with breakfast, chocolate, food, muffins/quick bread, pear, recipe, whole grains January 29, 2014

Pear and Hazelnut Muffins

In just one week’s time I came across three references to a new cookbook called Whole Grain Morning, by Megan Gordon. So I had to find out what all the fuss was about. I went to my local big box bookstore and there it was!. Thumbing through it, I found so many interesting recipes for breakfast dishes, all including a variety of grains, that I had to make it mine. It is a well-known fact that your morning meal is the opportune time to load in most of your whole grain needs for the day. Gordon gives many delicious ideas in her book for doing just that. This recipe for pear and hazelnut muffins is only the first of what will most likely be many recipes that I make from this book.

Muffins can be a fusion of many flavors and ingredients, some you wouldn’t think to put together, but somehow they work. And sometimes a muffin will be sweet and cake like resembling dessert. I keep some funny little rules in my head to make the distinction whether a muffin should be breakfast food or eaten at another time, like afternoon tea. The rules that run through my head go something like this:

Whole grains and oats = breakfast

White flour = cake

An egg or two = breakfast

Lots of eggs = cake

Natural sweeteners = breakfast

White sugar = cake

Unsaturated fats = breakfast

Butter = cake

After running through the ingredient list I tally the marks and make a determination as to whether I can pull this off as breakfast. When in doubt or the marks are equal, throw in some bacon, and that definitely swings it over to the side of breakfast. 😀

The Pear and Hazelnut Muffins from Megan Gordon’s beautiful book came out strongly in the breakfast category with oats, whole wheat flour, fruit and nuts. It might have remained there, except for the fact that I added some chocolate. It seemed to me that when you say the words, “pear and hazelnut”, together, something seems to be missing–add the words, “chocolate chunks” and now it becomes a complete sentence. Oh, oh, I guess I need to add chocolate to my list of ingredients acceptable for breakfast. Try as I might, I can’t help tinkering with a recipe. If you’re happy with the recipe sans the chocolate, go for it!!!

Whether you have these for breakfast or dessert, you won’t have any regrets. The combination of ingredients produces a complex flavor that’s far beyond what you would expect to be having for breakfast — grated pear, toasted hazelnuts, vanilla, butter, oats and, yes, chocolate chunks all tangled together in a crunchy muffin that tastes amazing even a day or two after it is baked.

PEAR AND HAZELNUT MUFFINS

Yield: Theoretically, 12 muffins, but I got 18.

Ingredients:

2 small-medium pears
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cooled slightly
2/3 cup natural cane sugar, such as Turbinado, or light brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom (can replace this with 1/4 tsp. cinnamon)
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
3/4 tsp. Kosher salt
1 cup toasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425*F. Butter a standard 12-cup muffin tin or line it with papers.** Have a second tin ready in case you need it,

2. Peel, (if you desire, or can be skipped) pears, then halve and core them. Grate pears on the large holes of a box grater into a large bowl. You should have about a cup, grated. Note: I got this much with just one medium pear. Stir in the melted butter, sugar, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla until combined.

3. In a separate bowl, stir together the oats, flours, baking soda, baking powder, spices, salt, all but 1/2 cup nuts, and chocolate chunks, if using. Gently fold this dry mixture into the wet batter until just combined; do not overmix.

4. Fill muffin cups almost full and sprinkle with the reserved 1/2 cup nuts. ( I overlooked this step, and added all the nuts to the batter, so my pics do not show any nuts on top of the muffins,)

Place muffins in oven and immediately reduce the heat to 375*F. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out batter-free.

5. Cool muffins in pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Muffins will keep for 2 days at room temperature in an airtight container.

**Point of information: I just bought these parchment paper muffin liners for the first time, and they were wonderful at keeping the muffins from sticking to the paper. The liner removed cleanly with no torn muffins or crumbs clinging to the paper. P.S. I get no compensation for this unsolicited plug.

Parchment Paper Muffin Liners

SOURCE: Whole Grain Mornings, Megan Gordon

Making Lasagna with No-Boil Noodles

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Main Dish and tagged with dinner entree, food, lasagna, meat sauce, no-boil lasagna noodles, recipe January 28, 2014

Lasagna with No-boil Noodles

This past weekend I made lasagna, not one pan, but three. Making a pan of lasagna can take quite a bit of time especially when you make your own meat sauce, then cook the noodles, then layer it all in the pan, followed by baking it in the oven. So if I’m going to spend the time making a pan of it, without much additional time spent on the task, I can make two or three. I usually cook one for us, give one away to someone who may be having some difficulty preparing meals, and freeze one for a later date.

Making lasagnas

There are a couple of ways that I have found to shorten the time involved. I usually make my meat sauce a day or two in advance. That way the flavors have a good chance to blend together. This time I used the Slow Cooked Ragu that I wrote about here, but the recipe for my regular meat sauce is given below. The other way that I shorten up on the time involved is by using no-cook noodles. Cooking lasagna noodles has got to be one of my least favorite chores. In the pot they clump together, when drained they slither around and tear, and then afterwards you have to wash a large pot. So life is so much easier with the no-cook kind.

All you have to do is open the box, layer the sheets of pasta with the sauce and cheese and stick the baking dish into the oven to bake. Easy. Once you try it you will not go back to boiling lasagna noodles. Honest! More and more people are latching on to this easy method. There are several pasta companies that are now making these noodles. Look for them with other pastas in your supermarket.

No-boil noodles, easy to handle, easy to use.

You may be asking how are they different and how do they work? Both traditional and no-boil noodles are made from water and semolina, but the no-boilers are precooked in a water bath before being dried and packaged. They are also rolled out much thinner than regular noodles, so that they rehydrate quickly. The lasagna’s sauce and other ingredients contribute moisture they need to soften and expand. When layering your ingredients it is most important to be sure all surfaces of the dry noodles are covered -to the edges- with sauce, thus preventing dry spots in the finished dish. I usually add a little more sauce than the recipe calls for, just to be sure the noodles rehydrate fully. Keep in mind, also, that some vegetables will contribute additional liquid, such as spinach, mushrooms and zucchini. Until you are comfortable with the amount of liquid to use, it is best to take your cues from the recipe on the back of a box of no-boil noodles.

You will also need to follow package directions on how to position the pasta in your pan, alternating the directions that the pasta sheets are laying. Sometimes there is an illustration on the back of the box. And always coat the bottom of the baking dish with a small amount of sauce before placing the first layer of noodles in the dish.

Lasagna seems to be everyone’s favorite comfort food. We just never seem to grow tired of pasta noodles baked with a hearty meat sauce that includes ground beef and sausage, plus lots of ricotta cheese, mozzarella and Parmesan. When it comes out of the oven with the tomato sauce bubbling up around the edges, and the cheese melted all over the top, we can hardly wait to dig in. I usually keep it simple and serve a salad and some good crunchy bread with this meal, and no dessert!

The recipe that I use goes back to the way my mother prepared it. I have tweaked it over the years, mostly with the seasonings that I put in, but basically it’s still hers. Mr. D. loves this dish whenever I make it.

BAKED LASAGNA (With No-cook Noodles)

Yield: 10 – 12 servings

Ingredients:

For the meat sauce:

3/4 – 1 lb. lean ground beef
1 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic minced
1 (28-oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1 (15-0z) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

For Lasagna:

12 lasagna noodles
16 oz. ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. chopped parsley
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
3-4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In a large sauce pot, cook sausage, ground beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Drain off any accumulated fat. Stir in crushed tomatoes, sauce and water. Stir in sugar, basil, oregano, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Simmer, covered for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. This can be made a day or two in advance to allow flavors to blend well.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the ricotta cheese, eggs, basil, oregano, and parsley.

3. Preheat oven to 350*F. Lightly grease or spray a 13″x 9″ baking dish or lasagna pan. Spread about 3/4 cup sauce in the bottom of the pan. Place 3 pieces uncooked pasta (crosswise) over the sauce. Pieces should not overlap or touch sides of the pan since they will expand when baked.

4. Spread about 1/3 of ricotta mixture evenly over the noodles. Cover this with 3/4 cup meat sauce spreading evenly and covering the pasta completely, sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella cheese.

5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 two more times, alternating the direction the pieces of pasta are laying each time. Top with remaining 3 pieces of pasta. Spread the remaining meat sauce completely over the top layer; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

6. Cover with foil. Bake 35 minutes; remove the foil and bake 10 – 15 minutes longer or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

Extra pieces can be tightly wrapped and refrigerated, to be rewarmed at a later time in the oven or microwave.

A leftover piece rewarms with a little extra sauce.

To Make Ahead: Prepare as directed above but do not bake. Cover with plastic wrap, then foil. Refrigerate up to 48 hours or freeze for up to 2 months. When ready to bake, remove the plastic wrap, replace foil. Bake cold lasagna at 350*F for about 40 minutes, and a frozen lasagna for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, removing foil during the last 10 minutes of baking.

SOURCE: Family recipe

Roast Butternut Soup with Parmesan Croutons

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Soups and tagged with butternut squash, food, healthy, Low calorie, low fat, recipe, soup, vegetarian January 27, 2014

Roast Butternut Soup with Parmesan Croutons

Dear readers, this soup is absolutely delicious!! Roasting the squash creates a rich, caramelized flavor that in the finished soup is amazing. You can go ahead and cook the squash in the chicken broth, but it won’t be the same, I’m telling you. You will not believe the creaminess of this soup without the use of heavy cream. And don’t even think about skipping the Parmesan croutons…..even it you use packaged ones instead of homemade.

I realize I’ve swooned over other soups, but, with each new soup I make, I think it’s the best and it becomes my favorite, and the one last week is like “broccoli who?”. January will best be remembered as soup month around here, and just in case you think I’m being a little over dramatic and that I need to go to some kind of soup-overload-rehab, you’re only thinking that because you haven’t made this one yet.

Even though the soup is perfectly seasoned according to the recipe, you may want to further perk up the flavor, by adding a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of garlic powder, being careful as to the amounts because each of these items can be quite strong.

BUTTERNUT SOUP WITH PARMESAN CROUTONS

YIELD: Makes 2 quarts or about 8 servings

Butternut squash, onion, garlic, celery and chicken broth, plus seasonings.

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash (about 3 pounds), peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes**
2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
1/4 tsp. black pepper
herb mixture, such as Fine Herbs, Italian Herb mix, Herbs de Provence
1 large onion, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
2 Tbsp. minced fresh sage, or 2 tsp. dry rubbed sage
3 cans (14.5 oz. each) reduced sodium chicken broth (vegetarians may substitute vegetable broth)
Croutons:
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. minced fresh sage or 1 tsp. dry rubbed sage
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups cubed French bread ( 1/2-inch cubes)
cooking spray
additional grated Parmesan cheese, optional

**As a small savings in time, you may want to use precut squash cubes from the market. I prefer to peel and cut my squash because I feel that it is fresher when purchased whole, and not as likely to be dried out.

Directions:

1. Place squash in a 15-in. x 10-in. baking pan lightly coated with cooking spray. Drizzle with 1 Tablespoon oil; sprinkle with pepper, and sprinkle on a small amount of herb mixture. Toss to coat.

Dice squash, drizzle with olive oil, pepper and herbs, then bake.

Bake, uncovered, at 425*F for 30-35 minutes or until tender, stirring every 15 minutes. Set aside. This will smell wonderful when it comes out of the oven and you will want to eat it, but please don’t.

Roasted squash pierces easily and has some browned edges.

2. While squash is roasting, in a Dutch oven, saute the onion, celery and sage in remaining oil until tender.

Slowly sauté the onions, celery and garlic.

Slowly sauté the onions, celery, garlic and sage.

Stir in the broth and squash. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Cool slightly.

Add squash and chicken broth to Dutch oven.

3. In a blender, or with an immersion blender, puree soup until smooth. Return to the pan; heat through. This makes a thick mixture.

Puree the mixture for a thick, wonderfully flavorful soup.

If you prefer a thinner soup, add some additional broth, and rebalance the seasoning if necessary.

4. For croutons, in a small bowl, combine the cheese, oil, sage and garlic. Add bread cubes and spritz with cooking spray; toss to coat. Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.

5. Bake at 425*F. for 5 – 8 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle each serving of soup with croutons and additional cheese if desired.

Top soup with Parmesan croutons and enjoy.

Nutritional Profile: 1 cup of soup with 1/4 cup croutons equals 179 calories, 8 g. fat, 1 mg cholesterol, 541 mg sodium, 25 g carbohydrate, 6 g fiber, 5 g protein.

SOURCE: Adapted from Taste of Home

Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Delights

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Holiday, Snacks and tagged with chocolate caramels, easy candy recipe, food, pretzels, recipe, Valentine candy January 24, 2014

Chocolate caramel pretzel delights.

With Valentine’s Day coming up I decided to try out this recipe that came to my attention over the Christmas holidays, but I never got around to making it. It is a very easy candy treat that you can make up so quickly it takes hardly any time at all. Give them as gifts, or keep for yourself. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like the sweetness of chocolate and caramel combined with the saltiness of pretzels. Sooo good!

Serve your treats for Valentine’s Day.

For these I used pretzels that look like the shape of a heart as the base, but you could use round pretzels, or lattice pretzels, just not long straight ones. You also need some kind of chocolate covered caramel candy, such as Rolo or similar, and pecan halves. ( Walnut halves would be ok, too). These chewy little treats are a lot like turtle candies.

Here’s how to make them….

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL PRETZEL DELIGHTS

Yield: Make as many as you want.

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350*F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil.

2. Place one pretzel for each treat desired on the prepared sheet. Top each pretzel with one chocolate caramel candy.

Lay out pretzels on a baking sheet, top each one with a candy.

3. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes or until candy piece begins to soften, but not melt.

Bake until softened, but not melted.

Remove from the oven. Top each with a pecan half and press down lightly.

Top each one with a pecan half.

Cool completely before serving or packaging.

SOURCE: Celebrate with Hersheys.com

Apple Cinnamon Loaf

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Bread, Rolls and tagged with Apples, dessert, food, quick bread, recipe January 23, 2014

Apple Cinnamon Loaf

If you love the combination of apples, cinnamon and brown sugar, then you will love this quick bread. It straddles the fence between cake and bread. There is a layer of apples, cinnamon and sugar running through the middle, and more on top, ensuring that this is a moist and flavorful bread. We could devour the whole loaf in one sitting, but, of course, we don’t. 😛

The convenience of quick breads comes from the fact that they’re leavened with baking powder and /or baking soda, not yeast. Therefore you can mix, bake and enjoy these baked goods in a short amount of time.

It is important when making a quick bread to have all your ingredients measured, chopped and ready. Mix all the dry ingredients together before creaming the fat, sugar and eggs. Add the dry ingredients when called for, stirring in only long enough to incorporate. A few lumps in the batter is fine. Once the batter has been mixed and poured into the baking pan, put into the oven as soon as possible, as the leaveners will begin producing gas once they are moistened. If allowed to stand too long before baking, the bread may have a sunken center.

APPLE CINNAMON LOAF

Yield: 1 9-inch loaf, about 8 servings

Have all ingredients measured and ready.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup brown sugar, not packed
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup mik
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

2. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl and set aside.

Brown sugar and cinnamon.

Peel, core and chop apple, and set aside.

3. Using an electric mixture, beat the granulated sugar and butter together until smooth and creamy.

Have butter softened at room temperature.

Beat in eggs, one at a time. until incorporated; add vanilla extract.

4. Combine flour and baking powder together in another bowl; stir into creamed mixture. Mix milk into batter with a spoon until smooth. Pour half the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Next add half the apples and half the brown sugar-cinnamon mixture. Lightly pat into the batter.

5. Pour remaining batter over apple layer; top with remaining apple and add brown sugar mixture. Lightly pat apples into batter; swirl brown sugar mixture through apples using finger or spoon.

6. Bake 45 – 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center of the loaf comes out clean. Cooking times may vary, rely on the clean toothpick test for doneness.

Allow to cool on a wire rack.

To serve, cut loaf with a serrated knife, using a sawing motion to avoid tearing. This bread is very tender and moist.

To store, wrap lightly in foil, and store at room temperature.

SOURCE: Just a Pinch.com

Delicious on a Dollar

Devoted to the preparation of healthy & economical foods that taste fabulous!

Tag Archives: food

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Roast Butternut Soup with Parmesan Croutons

Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Delights

Apple Cinnamon Loaf

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