Delicious Fruit Dip

Since being pregnant, my diet has gone from bad, to worse. It seems that all I crave now are cookies, brownies and donuts. At least you can't really tell how bad this is since I can cover it up with "I'm pregnant." Well every once in a while, I do get a craving for some fruit. But not just fruit- fruit with some kind of dip or yogurt or something. I am usually too lazy to make a dip, so yogurt suffices.

But now that the munchkin has been rather ill, I don't really want her to eat much other than fruit. So I cut up a bunch of fruit for her and then perused the web for a dip, for me. :)

I found this one on AllRecipes.com and it was good. But once I added a few things, it went from good to really good- Really good as in "having a little fruit with my dip" good.  So now I can have some fruit (healthy) and some dip (tasty, but not so healthy) to quench my need for "fluff".

I know it's super lame to only use half of a small instant pudding mix, but that's all it needs. If you use the whole package, you probably need to add more milk.

What you'll need:
half of a 3.4 oz. instant pudding mix - Vanilla, cheesecake, lemon etc.
4. oz. whipped topping
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. milk
3 oz. fruit yogurt- I used raspberry and it was delish
3-4 T. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients until blended well.  Served chilled and enjoy!

Perfectly Fluffy Pancakes

The Hubster is always asking me to make pancakes from scratch because he doesn't like how thick and heavy the ones from a mix turn out. He likes McDonald's pancakes- the ones that are fluffy but really flat. Leave it to him to like McDonald's better than homemade. Just to "show him"- I always make them from a mix anyways. Who wants to mix a bunch of ingredients when you could just add water!?

Well, since today was Valentine's Day, I finally gave in. I found a few different recipes on AllRecipes and compared ingredients and just mixed them up a little. Although these aren't the thin pancakes he wanted, they were really good. They weren't overly fluffy, but they were really light and airy. And in honor of Valentine's Day- I even made them heart-shaped. :) And to top it off, I got to use my stinkin' adorable new polka-dot plates! The pancakes tasted much better on the cute plates. ;)

So here ya go!

1 c. flour
1 T. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
3/4 c. milk
1 egg
1/4 c. oil

The directions say to mix the dry ingredients, then make a well in which you pour the wet ingredients, already mixed together. I didnt' do this- like I said- who wants to mix all these ingredients AND dirty two bowls!? I mixed the dry ingredients and then just added the wet, and they turned out scrumptious. Don't overmix though.

Enjoy! And Happy Valentine's Day!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm not a huge fan of anything pumpkin, but I do like pumpkin cookies...IF they have chocolate chips in them...lots and lots of chocolate chips.  Well, I came across this recipe on MADE. I stalk her blog for crafting stuff, but this past Fall, she decided to do a bunch of posts with Pumpkin recipes. I've been looking for a good pumpkin choco chip cookie recipe for a long time and this one was perfect! It is a little different- seeing as how you don't use eggs (so it's also safe to eat the cookie dough...not sure I'd reccommend it, but you still could...if you wanted to) but very good!

So here it is:

Cookies (makes about 3 dozen cookies)
½ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350. You can either grease your cookie sheets, or be lazy like me, and use parchment paper. :)
 
2. In medium bowl, cream the shortening and sugar. Stir in the pumpkin and vanilla.

3. In separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture.  

4.  Add your chocolate chips. 

5.  Drop dough on your cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. 

NOTE- These cookie will maintain their shape in the oven, so however they look when you drop them on your cookie sheet is how they will look when they come out. This doesn't technically matter since you coat them with the most scrumptious cream cheese frosting...but just so you are aware. :)

Cream Cheese Frosting (makes enough for two batches of cookies)
1 8oz pkg cream cheese
½ cup butter
1 lb powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt 


Mix together and frost your cookies!  Enjoy!
Sorry I forgot to take pics of them frosted- they didn't last long enough. :)

"Goulash" Soup

So I was in the mood for some Hungarian goulash the other night, but we were having a family "soup" night and so I needed to make a soup version of Goulash... I was just really craving that flavor. I adapted this from an existing goulash recipe and ended up loving it. Plus, it was super easy to throw together and even my kids ate it. It's a perfect fall stew.

1 lb. beef stew chunks (or ground beef)
8 oz. small pasta, such as macaroni, or shells
1 small onion
2 stalks of celery, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
16 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1 can diced or stewed tomatoes
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
2 cans beef broth (or equivalent water with beef bouillon)
3/4 cup cream or half and half
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
salt to taste (I used about 3/4 tsp.)

1. In a large pot, cook noodles to al dente. Set aside.

2. While the noodles are cooking, in another large stockpot, on high heat, brown the beef and drain any excess fat.

3. Add the onions, garlic, celery, and mushrooms and saute until celery is tender crisp, about 5-6 minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes, beef broth, tomato paste, paprika, chili powder and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 30-60  minutes. (Or however long you'd like...)

5. Remove from heat and add noodles, cream and sour cream. Adjust spices as necessary.

White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies

Here's another one from my Taste of Home "Fall Baking" magazine that was utterly delicious. They were simple to make and I love the combination of oranges, cranberries, and white chocolate. What's not to love? I was a bit underwhelmed after my first taste, but after some refrigeration, these babies were irresistible. I underbaked them just a bit and they firmed up beautifully and deliciously in the fridge. Plus, they make for a gorgeous presentation. I adjusted the recipe just a bit to cut back on the sweetness and they are definitely worth making making again!  They tasted like frosted cookie dough!  And if the frosting is still too sweet for you, this is a great "blondie" recipe base.  Keep in mind... they are blondies, which I always find a bit sweet.  This is a very sweet dessert.  But delicious!

Recipe Source: slightly adapted from Taste of Home's "Fall Baking" magazine
Serves: 2 1/2 dozen (one 9x13 pan)

3/4 cup butter
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup dried cranberries (although, I may substitute fresh next time)
6 oz. white baking chocolate, coarsely chopped into chunks

Frosting:
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. grated orange peel
1/4 tsp. orange extract
3 oz. white chocolate, melted
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl; stir in brown sugar and mix well. Allow to cool.

2. Transfer to a larger bowl if necessary and beat in the eggs and vanilla.

3. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a separate small bowl. Gradually add to butter mixture. Fold in cranberries and chopped white chocolate. Batter will be very thick.

4. Spread mixture into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake for 18-21 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Cool completely.

5.  For the frosting, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and orange extract and peel in a large bowl.  Gradually add the melted chocolate and beat until blended.  Smooth over the brownies.  (I actually only used about 3/4 of my frosting mixture... it was just too much otherwise.)  Sprinkle with remaining dried cranberries.

6.  Melt semi-sweet chocolate in a small ziploc baggie, in 30 second intervals in the microwave.  Massage bag to smooth out any lumps.  Snip a tiny corner off the bag and drizzle chocolate over bars.  Store in the refrigerator.

Carmel Apple Muffins

Fall is upon us and it's time for delicious Fall baking! My sister gave me a most fantastic cooking magazine a couple of weeks ago, Taste of Home's "Fall Baking" and I probably bookmarked over half the recipes because they all look so fantastic. I'm going to have to do a lot of baking in the next couple of months to hit them all.

I started with these muffins because, one, I had everything on hand for them, and two, they looked simple. Muffins tend to be no fuss and low maintenance... I wanted to start with something that had a high probability of working.

These were delicious! Simple, moist, no fuss and the little bites of gooey caramel made these muffins extra special. They'd be perfect as a side for dinner, after dinner treat, brunch treat, or midnight snack... not that I tried all of those options...

Recipe Source: Taste of Home's "Fall Baking" Magazine
Servings: approximately 14 muffins

Muffins:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
2-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped, peeled tart apple (I used one large Granny Smith apple... it was more than 1/2 cup, but I wanted more apple chunks)
12 caramels, chopped into large pieces (I simply cut mine into quarters)

Topping:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup quick cooking oats
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. cinnamon

1.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. 

2.  In another bowl, whisk the egg, milk, butter, and vanilla.  Stir into the dry ingredients, just until moistened.  Do not over mix!  Remember, you'll still be stirring it a bit to incorporate the apples and caramels.

3.  Fold in the apples and caramels.

4.  Fill paper lined or greased muffin cups three-fourths full.

5.  Combine the topping ingredients;  sprinkle over batter in muffin tins.  (This stuff tends to caramelize during the baking process, making it super yummy... but also super messy to clean up.  Try not to let too much spill all over your muffin tin.)

6.  Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

7.  Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan.  Serve warm, so your caramel inside is still nice and gooey!

Rouladen

We grew up mostly vegetarian and didn't get a whole lot of meat, so we really looked forward to Thanksgiving, Father's Day and my Dad's birthday. Thanksgiving for obvious reasons, but my Dad's Birthday and Father's Day becuase we got to eat Rouladen! My mom is German, and this is one of our favorite german recipes from her. Not sure if it's traditional german or not, but it was traditional in our family. They are so delish (even though they aren't the most beautiful thing you've seen) and I'm glad I finally got to make them with her and write everything down to share.Trust me- these are good!

Be forewarned, this is kind of a messy recipe- you will get your hands dirty (or in my mom's case, if you don't want to smell like pickles and onions, wear gloves - they don't even have to be blue!)

Here's what you'll need:
3-5 lb. Beef Roast, cut in about 1/4 in. thick slices
* a note about the meat: You can get pretty much any kind of beef roast, if the size is right.  My grcoery store (WinCO) carries this meat pre-sliced, but if your grocery store doesn't, you can take the roast to the butcher and ask him to slice it for you. Just see the pictures below to see how large you need these slices to be for the rolls to work. Just know that he bigger the roast, the more Rouladen you will get. We used a 5 lb and got 12 Rouladen out of it.*
salt and pepper
spicy mustard
6 dill pickle slices (the long oval ones, cut in half)
6 slices bacon
1 large onion
1/2 c. flour, divided

What to do:
Take your meat slices and lay them all out on your counter top or a large cutting board (if you use your counter, just make sure it's really clean). Sprinkle with Salt and Pepper. Spread a generous heaping of mustard on them.

Slice up your onions very fine, and lay 4-5 slices on your meat. Cut your pickles in half and place 3 on each meat slice. Cut your bacon into fourths and lay 2 on top of the pickles and onions.

Once you have those spread out on your meat, you are ready to roll them up into nice little bundles. Use 2 toothpicks to secure them closed.

In the meantime, heat up a medium sized frying pan with some oil.

Once your bundles are rolled up, you are going to roll them in flour until they are nicely coated. Then place them in your hot frying pan and brown the outsides.

Once they are all browned, you can either place them in a crock pot, or you can place them in a large pot on your stove. Either one will work, I just feel more comfortable leaving the house with something cooking in a crock pot rather than something cooking on the stove.

Take your pan drippings and pour it in with your bundles. Then cover with water.

Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 5-6 hours, or cook on low for 6-7 hours.

To make the sauce:

Remove the rouladen from your pot and place in a bowl and keep warm.

Take about 1/4 c. flour and mix with water until you get a thick paste. Once you have the paste, add to the remaining liquid in your pot and use a stick blender to mix it up and remove any lumps you may have. 

To warn you- this is a very uniqe, but awesome flavor. I can only compare it to a mustard sauce. When I made these last, the flavor was perfect- I didn't need to add anything. But if your flavor happens to be a bit bland, you can add some pickle juice or mustard once the sauce is complete to get the flavor right.

Serve over a warm bed of noodles- and don't forget to pull the toothpicks out before you eat it!

Thanks to my mother- the lovely blue hand model, and pardon my pictures...the lighting in my mom's kitchen was pretty bad, and I couldn't really take it outside. :)