One of my favorite things in the world of food is Caesar dressing. The tanginess and saltiness and creaminess just makes me salivate and want to dip everything I have in front of me – bread, croutons, crackers, vegetables, meat, salad (of course), in it. Just dump the contents of the bottle in a large bowl and let me dig in! I wanted to liven up some frozen green beans and thought this would be the perfect side dish. I could have easily eaten the whole dish!
Caesar Green Beans
Recipe Type: Side Dish
Cuisine: Vegetables
Author: kd316
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Serves: 3-4
Green beans with a delicious sauce
Ingredients
1 bag frozen whole green beans
1 T unsalted butter
2 T Caesar salad dressing
s/p to taste
1 T sliced toasted almonds
2 T freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
Cook green beans according to directions package.
Drain.
In a pan, melt the butter. Stir in the dressing and green beans until all combined.
This breakfast reminds of two of my favorite morning meals. Pancakes at Guglhupf in Durham, NC. And oats in the Bay Area of California with my Dad. Let me tell you about them.
There is a little bakery/café in the central part of Durham that I still crave their pancakes. Ask my husband: they serve the best most amazing, perfect textured pancakes EVER. I wish I could get their recipe. The pancake plate comes with apples, butter, and syrup. At most restaurants, I have to ask my server for my syrup because the pancakes just need help. I rarely have ever used all the syrup at Guglhupf. They don’t need any more. I can devour the plate and be completely satisfied by the rich goodness that I inhale on my fork. Then I want to go home and recreate them – but have yet been able to. My husband is sitting here beside me making up an ode de Guglhupf. Funny man I live life with.
The Bay Area of California. With so much going on – its a place I’ve only been to once but would love to explore more of – and most directly north of there in the wine country of Napa. But as I look at pictures of the Bridge and the Bay, it pulls me and calls me to travel there to explore all of its goodness. One such goodness is the breakfast I had. I don’t remember where we went, but the oats were amazing. This was really before I started eating oats on a regular basis. I grew up a Life Cereal girl. A whole tray of goodies came out with a big steaming bowl of oats. Bananas, raisins, syrup, brown sugar, all to create your own bowl of goodness. I thought to myself oatmeal could be fun!
Well, thinking about these two delicious breakfasts helped me create this mornings bowl of oats. Oats are a healthy and inexpensive way to feed your whole family in the morning. This recipe serve 2.5 (Eli doesn’t eat quite a whole bowl yet.)
Banana Pancake Oats
Recipe Type: Breakast
Cuisine: Oats
Author: kd316
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Serves: 3
Banans, brown sugar, oats, and syrup – yummy concoction for breakfast
Ingredients
1 1/3 cup whole oats
1 1/3 whole milk
1/4 cup water
pinch of kosher salt
2 T brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon sugar
1/2 banana, pureed
1 banana
Maple Syrup
Chopped pecans, optional
Instructions
In a medium sauce pan, bring the oats, milk, and water to a boil and let cook until done.
Halfway through cooking, add in the salt, cinnamon sugar, brown sugar, and pureed banana.
When done, spoon into bowls, top with sliced bananas and maple syrup. If desired, add chopped nuts.
All of the above give you a snapshot into why I love pizza. What I don’t love about pizza: the way it makes me feel. I can’t eat it as much anymore and I will save the rarities for grace pizza.
I still love the flavors of pizza so I want to incorporate those flavors into a more healthy dish for my family. This was gobbled up by my men and me one evening for dinner.
Baked Pizza Chicken
Recipe Type: Dinner
Cuisine: Chicken
Author: kd316
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Serves: 4
An easy baked chicken dish with all the flavors of pizza.
Ingredients
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
10 slices pepperoni
1/2 cup full fat ricotta cheese
1 cup pizza sauce
1 cup Italian cheese
1 T Italian seasonings
8 oz angel hair pasta
Instructions
In an oven-safe dish, spray or grease the bottom.
Place your chicken in it.
Season both sides of your chicken with salt and pepper and italan seasonings.
Smear ricotta cheese over both pieces of chicken.
Layer the pepperoni over the top of the ricotta cheese.
Pour the pizza sauce over the top of the entire dish.
Top with the Italian cheese.
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until chicken is done (will depend on how thick your chicken breasts are).
In the meantime, cook angel hair (or any other pasta) according to package directions.
When chicken is done, slice on the diagonal and layer on top of the noodles.
I did very well with the lower budget last week, so here we are again. Meal planning doesn’t include as much fresh fruits and vegetables because they are expensive here in the middle of the country, but we make due with what we can get. This week, its bananas and cuties!
Monday: Its Saint Patrick’s Day so in honor of that celebration: Dinty Moore Shepherd’s Pie and Lucky Charms Cereal Bars.
Tuesday: As part of the Influenster Nation I got a coupon for Annie’s Homegrown Family Meals and chose the Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese. Will be having that with chicken tenderloins and frozen veggies.
Macaroni and Cheese will live on in my taste buds as one of the best foods in the world. Blue box or baked – if there is mac and cheese at a table, you can assure yourself that I will have some on my plate.
So, looking through my pantry and fridge this afternoon, I made up this one to take to community group tonight. Enjoy it – and long live macaroni and cheese!
Spicy 3 Cheese Mac
Recipe Type: Main Dish
Cuisine: Comfort, Pasta
Author: kd316
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Serves: 6
Creamy macaroni and cheese sure to please
Ingredients
8 oz elbow macaroni
6 T unsalted butter
3 T flour
2 cups whole milk
1 block cream cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 T stone ground mustard
kosher salt
pepper
1/2 cup uncooked oats or wheat bread crumbs,
1/4 tsp sage
1/4 tsp oregano
3/4 cup Italian cheese blend
2 T butter, chopped
Instructions
Bring water to boil for pasta – include olive oil and salt to flavor water. Cook until done – about 8 minutes.
In another pan, heat butter until melted. Add in flour and stir until combined about 2 minutes. Add in milk and bring to a boil.
Stir in cream cheese and cheddar cheese and mustard. Then add in cooked pasta.
Place in greased casserole.
Top with Italian cheese.
Top with oats (crushed in food processor) and seasonings.
Dot with butter.
Cook uncovered at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until brown and melted gooeyness.
Every time I open my fridge, I see this bowl of Brown Eyed Baker’s salted caramel sauce staring me in the face. Its like its begging me to make something with it, or just dig in with a spoon. That’s what spoons are good for, right? Eating caramel!
While I was visiting a local bakery on Friday (interview and photos coming soon), I was inspired to use it in a different way. That different way came about in my kitchen today. Husband ate them – right out of the oven, before the caramel even had time to set! They are that good.
Here are two important criteria to remember when baking these: quality contents produce quality baked goods. The two stars of these mini cups are the salted caramel and the chocolate. I used a Dutch bittersweet chocolate for some of the chocolate in these cups and then the homemade salted caramel. Taste matters when baking – not just precision!
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Mini Cups
Recipe Type: Cookie
Cuisine: Dessert
Author: kd316
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Serves: 24
Caramel and chocolate – any complaints?
Ingredients
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup whole oats
2 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 oz bittersweet chocolate (I used Droste Dutch chocolate)
Salted caramel sauce (I use the one on Brown Eyed Baker)
Instructions
Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Cream until smooth. Add dry ingredients then fold in chocolate and oats.
Fill mini baking cups with one scoop – about 24-36 cookies.
Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes.
When you take them out immediately mash down the top to form a little holder for the caramel.
Add a half teaspoon to the top. It will melt and then harden up as cookie cools.
Enjoy with a tall glass of milk and a good book. Share if possible.
