Oven Baked Meatballs

 

The girls have been into plain noodles lately.  So we went with these yummy oven baked meatballs served with veggies and buttered parmesan sprinkled noodles.  I adapted the usual meatball recipe I use, decided to bake rather than pan fry and they turned out perfect.  I will be making these again.  As a bonus you can make meat mixture the night before or whenever you have down time, even put them on the tray so it's easy to just pop into the oven during the hectic crazy dinner time rush!

Ingredients

1/2 cup diced onion

1 teaspoon olive oil

ground turkey (1.5 - 2 lbs)

1/4 cup oatmeal

1/4 cup parmesan cheese (this can be omitted to make milk free)

1/2 cup pasteurized egg or 2 eggs beaten

4-6 cloves garlic minced or pressed through garlic press

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste (I use around 1/2 teaspoon of each)

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

hot sauce (we like cholula) to taste if you want to kick it up

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Prepare cookie sheet by lining with foil
2. Heat oil in medium fry pan over medium high heat.  Cook onion until it's caramelized.  It will start to turn a nice brownish color at tips but will not completely dehydrate.  Then remove from heat and let cool
3. Combine onions and remaining ingredients (turkey through thyme) in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
4. Make the meatballs and place on cookie sheet.  Depending on the amount of turkey you use, you should get 10 - 14 meatballs about 1/4 heaping cup in size.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until they are cooked through (no pink in the middle).    

Red Hot Spicy Roasted Chicken

These are seriously red hot spicy!  To make them a bit less spicy you can omit the red pepper and only use 1 1/2 tablespoons of chipotle chili powder.  Or you can use less rub, I really work it in and add allot.  These aren't so hot there is no flavor,  you will be surprised at how you can taste each spice and that you don't miss the skin at all in this is a lighter version of roasted chicken.  Serve chicken warm or cold, it's super yummy either way.  Be prepared for less leftovers if you have kids, they love gobbling up those drumsticks!

Ingredients

bone in chicken - legs (8-10 medium) and chicken breasts (2 large), these are just examples

2 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoon chipotle chili powder

1/2 teaspoon red pepper

2 tablespoon brown sugar

2 teaspoon dried oregano

kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Recipe

1. Mix olive oil through pepper in a small bowl.  It will form a paste
2. You can cook these on a roasting pan, or if you're like me and don't like the big clean up on a cookie sheet lined with foil.
3. Using kitchen shears cut the skin off your chicken.  Then rub the paste generously into each piece and place in pan.  I usually let the rub soak in for at least an hour and pop the chicken into the refrigerator.
4. Preheat oven to 350.  Bake for one hour or until the meat is done.  It's best to use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature.  Some people pierce with a knife and make sure the fluids are clear as a check, but again a thermometer is always your best bet

Snickerdoodles

Growing up I loved snickerdoodles.  I started cooking and baking at an early age and these were probably the first cookie that I mastered.  As an adult I still adore these cookies and now that I have children of my own they are even more fun to make with my "helpers". I will admit we do eat more dough than usual and I still sneak one half baked cookie out of the oven and eat it with a spoon!  Oh happy childhood memories.  This version of the recipe is much lighter than the one I started out with and lacks nothing as far as taste goes, enjoy!

Recipe Modifications

• used pasuerized eggs 1/4 cup
• used fleishmann's unsalted margarine
• chilled the dough for 30 min - 1 hour before rolling
• used 2/3 white sugar instead of 3/4 cup
• added extra flour tablespoon at a time to compensate for margarine and less sugar
• added extra cinnamon to rolling mixture
• baked for a few extra minutes.  Our dough was colder and cookies slightly bigger,  I like them chewy center and crisp outside
• used parchment paper and no cooking spray

Ingredients

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

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1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Cooking spray

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Recipe

This recipe comes from my favorite source Cooking Light. Not diet food, but food that is conscious of health without losing any flavor. Food for life!

Click Here for Recipe

Baked Acorn Squash

 

Michael and I love our bowls of ice-cream but when the cold weather comes you crave something warm when you want a sweet treat.  One of our favorite easy and not bad for you treats is acorn squash with a bit of butter and brown sugar.  It's good on it's own just mashed up too.  This recipe is really simple but I thought I'd share for those of you out there who have not had a chance to try this yummy treat.  Looking at this picture I want another one right now!

Ingredients

acron squash - 1 acorn squash feeds two.

2 tablespoons brown sugar per acorn squash

2 tablespoons butter or margarine per acorn squash

 

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 400.
2. Cut acorn squash in half and scoop out seeds with a spoon.
3. Place sqaush on cookie sheet, hallowed out side up.  Add a tablespoon of butter or margarine and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar to the center of each squash half. 
4. Roast for 1 hour of until the flesh is soft when poked with a fork. 
5. We like to mash ours up with a fork when it's down and eat right in the squash skin!

Note: Many people add maple syrup and salt to these as well.  We find them pleny sweet without the syrup.  I have substitued 2 teaspoons of real maple syrup for the brown sugar.

Super Easy Fajitas

 

I rarely go out for mexican food and when I do I always get fajitas.  Well I've made them at home using little seasoning packets, and using super yummy spices that have to marinate for a day or more but sometimes you want a quick and easy recipe that's not in a packet.  After browsing some recipes online and getting a feel for what to use in a home-made marinade we experimented at making up our own recipe and it was a success!  I don't think I'll ever go back to those little packets with a zillion ingredients that I do not recognize.    

Ingredients

1.5 - 2 pounds of chicken or steak sliced in thin strips

4 garlic cloves

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 tablespoon freeze dried or 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro (optional)

1/2 - 1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes, add based on how spicy you like it

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 bell peppers (green, red or yellow) in strips

1 small onion in strips

1 tablespoon olive oil

tortillas

Toppings of your choice - avocado mashed with lime and salsa, hot sauce, salsa, cheese, tomatoes and lettuce are our favorites.

Recipe

1. Combine ingredients chicken through lime juice in large ziplock bag.  Shake it up and let meat marinate for at least an hour.  You can shake and rotate bag a few times.
2. Using a large pan or griddle heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high heat.  Add the peppers and onions to the griddle and cook until a little blackening caramelization occurs.  Let everything sit on the griddle for a few minutes, don't turn too often.  You want these to have have flavor, soften slightly but still have some crunch.  Remove from pan and set aside when done.
3. Add meat to the pan.  Cook on one side for a few minutes.  It will get a nice sear if you're good and don't flip too soon or try to stir too often.  Flip the meat and cook the other side.  
4. Be sure the meat is cooked through and then add the peppers and onions back to the pan.  Stir everything together and heat through.
5. Serve mixture on a warm tortilla with toppings of your choice

Crisp Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Browsing recipes for cookies we found this one and had to try it.  I love crispy chewy cookies.  Could the recipe really be true, is it possible to have a perfectly balanced, super yummy crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle cookie?  The first thing we noticed is the dough is absolutely my favorite dough that we have ever made.  It's outstanding.  And when we got to the baking, well all the hype is true!  These cookies are amazing.  I only wanted a few for each of us.  So I scooped the extra dough on a cookie sheet and froze for about two hours.  Then I transferred to a freezer bag.  Now the cookies are ready for me to bake another day or pop on out for some raw cookie dough goodness.

Recipe Modifications

• I used pasteurized eggs so I can safely eat the dough and the kids too!
• I am eating milk free so I used fleishmann's unsalted margarine and milk free chocolate chips.   Think these may be even better with fresh real butter, cannot wait to try it
• It took longer to bake then suggested in the recipe.  I've never baked at 325 and it took some extra time.  But be careful not to over bake or you will look the chewy!

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Recipe

This recipe comes from Smitten Kitchen a super yummy and fun food blog 

Click Here for Recipe

Just Like Hostess Cupcake

I saw a picture of a cupcake that looked like those hostess ones that used to be packed in school lunches, you know in the old school metal lunch boxes right by the fruit punch pouch and p&j sandwich.  It was intriguing and as I'm soy, milk and nut free right now I decided to make it all from scratch.  The end result was yummy yummy yummy!  I didn't even like these growing up, but I like this adult version.  t think it will be even better when I can make it using real butter, there is no real substitute for the taste of real butter in my opinion.  I learned a few things.  The glaze is amazing an my new favorite for donuts and cupcakes.  And be careful if you put too much filling in a cupcake it will explode!  And yes, there are allot of steps but they are worth the end result just be patient.  We decided to decorate with loopy W's for our last name, Cadence is learning letters right now. 

Recipe Modifications

• I made these milk protein, soy protein and nut free.  So I always used fleishmann's unsalted dairy-free margarine and rice milk

White Icing Ingredients

1 cups confectioner sugar

1 tablespoons butter (softened) or fleishmann's unsalted dairy-free margarine

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon water

1-2 teaspoons milk or rice/almond milk

Chocolate Glaze Ingredients

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) butter or or fleishmann's unsalted dairy-free margarine

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Vanilla Cupcake Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose four

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 fine sea salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened or fleishmann's unsalted dairy-free margarine

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2/3 cup whole milk, room temperature or rice/almond milk

Marshmallow Filling Ingredients

1 1/2 cups marshmallow cream

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, at room temperature or fleishmann's unsalted dairy-free margarine

Cupcake Construction

1. Make and bake the vanilla cupcakes.  You can use a box mix or the recipe for vanilla cupcakes below is good.  You don't want too sweet of a cupcake or the end cupcake will be too sweet.
2. Make the Marshmallow filling from the home made simple link and put into fridge.
3. After the cupcakes have cooled.  Fill a pastry bag with a large round tip.  Press the tip into the center of each cupcake and carefully fill it.  Be careful if you fill it too much it will crack!
4. Make the Chocolate Glaze from the home made simple link.  Dip each cupcake into the glaze.
5. Place all glazed cupcakes into the fridge and allow to cool for 20 minutes or more.
6. Place the icing in a bag with a tip or plastic bag and cut a corner.  Then it's time to decorate.  We decided on loopy W's to go with our last name

Recipe Links

This recipe was inspired by a home made simple recipe for cream-filled cupcakes

Click Here for Recipe

The vanilla cupcake recipe is from squidoo

Click Here for Recipe

Recipe for White Icing

1. Mix all ingredients except milk.  I use a hand mixer for this.
2. Add milk a little at a time until a thick glaze is formed.