Menu Plan 10/30 - 11/5

After a week of carbing out for his PT test, I'm glad to introduce some balance and variety back to my cooking.  This is a good mix of half new recipes I've never tried before and the rest are oldies but goodies we haven't had in awhile. Also going to try to squeeze in Military Test Kitchen's pumpkin muffins to see how my results are compared to theirs.  Excited to see!

On our dinner plates this coming week:

Saturday - Bean Soup & sweet corn bread

Sunday - Manzo all Panna (roast beef with parm cream sauce) & rice pilaf with orzo

Monday - Burgers w/ Pretzel Rolls, ranch waffle fries

Tuesday - Taco Salad

Wednesday - Fat Girls Chicken & Stuffing, honey ginger carrots

Thursday - Meatloaf with Roadside Potatoes & New Dorf fruit salad

Friday - Chicken Salad pitas, cheese cubes, fruit salad

Possible additions this week - Cranberry bread test for Thanksgiving with orange/cranberry compote, Cake Batter ice cream and a macaroni salad recipe that looks to die for.  We'll see!  Starting to think about my Thanksgiving menu (looking at a pomegranate glazed turkey recipe) and stuff for our Harry Potter movie marathon preview weekend before the Deathly Hallows comes out Nov. 19th.  (our tradition - we always make something fun to eat while watching the past movies prior to seeing the new one)  Found a recipe for Butter Beers...think that's a must!

What's cooking in your kitchen this week?

National Chocolate Day

Today is in fact, National Chocolate Day...which is, PRETTY big news in my household.  I was so excited I Googled it, curious as to its origins and then I saw that there is about 3 other National Chocolate days according to this list of "odd holidays".   Which is fairly cool with me since my contribution to celebrate National Chocolate Day flopped and turned into hockey pucks I think I need to send to my friend in Canada to toss around on the ice with his hockey team mates.

I had intended to make Chewy Chocolate Chunk cookies that my husband's ex-coworker had shared with me about two years ago.  I was so excited she shared her recipe with me since her cookies could be the absolute cure for PMS symptoms because they're so loaded with chocolatey goodness.  That being said, I should add that I am so completely fond of Crisco Butter Flavored shortening for my cookies.  Her recipe said butter and apparently I should have followed her recipe exact because mine turned out into hard, crispy buttons of chocolate as where hers spread into palm sized, perfectly thin and chewy cookies riddled with molten chunks of gooey chocolate.  Hers were delightful...mine were better donated to the NHL for practice pucks.

Moving on then...Good thing I had a spare recipe to share on deck, eh?!  Sitting on my buffet was the most perfect pan of chewy chocolate chip cookie bars.  Thick, chewy in the middle, crispy & flakey on top...perfectly dimpled with chocolate chips and toffee chips....H E A V EN in a pan.  They come together lickey split quick and one bowl for cleanup.  Too easy!  Did I mention I like Crisco butter flavored sticks?  Yeah, because this recipe came from the Crisco site and I just added in some toffee chips because...well...who doesn't need some toffee chips?  LMAO  So whether your National Chocolate Day is today or another celebrated day...I hope you enjoy these cookie bars.  I know we're plowing through them like there is no tomorrow.  Enjoy ya'll!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Squares
from Crisco.com

• Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
• 2 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Crisco® Butter Shortening, melted
• OR 1/2 stick Crisco® Butter Shortening Sticks, melted
• 2 cups Pillsbury BEST® Self Rising Flour
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup (6 oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans

HEAT oven to 325ºF. Spray a 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan with no-stick cooking spray.  Set aside.

COMBINE brown sugar and shortening in large bowl; beat at low speed until well blended.  ADD flour; add eggs and vanilla. Beat until blended. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans by hand. Press into prepared pan.  (wetting your fingers helps with this)

BAKE 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on cooling rack. Cut into 1 1/2 x 1 1/2-inch squares.

Tweakin' the Site

I've been busy behind the scenes fixin' the blog to make things more accessible and user friendly.  First of all, and most importantly, adding a PRINT button at the end of each post.  Not only that but you can tell it what you want print and delete out what you DON'T want and print what you do.  (like if you want to keep a paragraph where I give you a tip or a hint...you can keep that and delete out the rest of the post!)   Don't want a printed picture to save on ink?  Click the box to exclude photos.  I love this functionality and I hope it makes it easier for my readers.

I've also expanded my Favorite Things list to include the OTHER side of my life.  I'm a cook maybe a few hours out of the day but I'm an Army wife 24 hours a day.  As I know I have several Army spouse readers, I wanted to share those places/sites/blogs I visit that has to do with this aspect of my life as well.

And starting Friday, I'll be sharing with you my weekly menu planning.  We have a ritual of shopping every Saturday and Friday is my planning day.  Maybe you'll find some inspiration for your week's menu there!  I love reading what my friends are making and we get a giggle when we end up making the same things by coincidence.

ANNNND...finally...you can now join me on Facebook since S.H.P has its own page!  We'd love to have you join us there for sharing your recipes, discussions and such!  See our FB page here or click our button to the right!  

Breadstick Pizza Dough!

I try to steer away from posting every day meals like gourmet burgers or sammies unless they are particularly good or have some kind of spin on them.  Pizza is much in that category as there are 500,000 recipes out there for any kind of pizza you can imagine.  However, this is an exception.  This recipe is actually a breadstick recipe shared by my friend Siggy Spice.  The breadsticks alone are of such addictive quality you could easily just eat them plain...they are truly THAT good and flavorful.  I made these breadsticks last week and my husband, while shoveling in his 8th breadstick says "I bet this would make a good pizza."  And the light bulb went off in my head that I knew I was going to make pizza dough from this recipe one way, shape or form.

Let me tell you about this recipe first though.  It comes together really super quick using rapid rise yeast.  Yes, I know...you hate yeast.  We all have our woes regarding yeast but this is a really good exception.  The rise is only 30 minutes.  For fresh, hot bread that's chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside....that 30 minutes is nothing.  Shred your cheese, chop your toppings...do whatever you want for 30 minutes then come back to it.  No hot towels, no oily bowl either.  Roll it out, plop and stretch it on your pan and walk away for 30 minutes.  Its really just that simple.  My old recipe for pizza dough required overnight rising in the fridge so this - yeah, this is now my go to pizza crust hands down.

You can see Siggy's original recipe here on her blog.  Try making those too!  *DELICIOUS* in every sense of the word.  But try my variation as a pizza dough...sure to please!   The only real change I made was I instead of an herb blend and garlic salt, I used McCormick's Garlic Bread Sprinkle which is a blend of romano, herbs, salt, garlic and all sorts of goodies.  After the pan rise, I brushed olive oil on the dough and sprinkled heavily with the garlic bread sprinkle.  Then I added tomato sauce, then the toppings of hand cut pepperoni and fresh mozzarella/provolone and a heavy sprinkle of Parm-Reg cheese.

The crust was perfectly medium thick (think Pizza Hut hand tossed as a measure of thickness), chewy inside, crispy on the bottom and edges.  See my picture below to see the edges and the inside of the crust.  Sooo good!  Hope you try it out!  (forgive my double cheese, oily pizza...that's how we like it!  Drippy, gooey and super cheesy lightly browned on top!)

Breadstick Pizza Dough

Adapted from Siggy Spice's Recipe

• 1-½ cups warm water
• 1 TBSP instant (rapid rise) yeast from a jar
• 2 TBSP sugar
• 3-½ cups all purpose flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 2-4 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• McCormick's Garlic Bread Sprinkle

Mix together water, yeast, sugar, flour, and salt in a large bowl or electric mixer and knead for three minutes. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread 1-2 TBSP olive oil (just enough to coat) onto the bottom of a 16"x14" cookie sheet.  Roll out the breadstick dough about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick and large enough to fit onto baking sheet.  Place whole sheet of dough on baking sheet, stretching and pressing into shape then brush 1-2 TBSP olive oil over top of dough making sure it is all lightly covered.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes.

Remove plastic wrap, sprinkle garlic salt and herbs of choice over top of olive oil.  Add tomato/pizza sauce and toppings.  Place in preheated oven and allow to bake for 25-30 minutes until cheesy is bubbly and browned slightly.

'HOOAH' Yoga Muffins

My hubby is a soldier here at Fort Benning, GA.  (in case I haven't talked about it enough already for you to know)  Today is his bi-yearly physical test that all soldiers have to take to make sure they're all within limits and standards for the military.  In preparation for his test, he's been going carb crazy all week long.  It just makes me cringe all those carbs so in order to give him some balance, I made these muffins all week long for him to grab at and go at 5 am when he's out the door and on the way to morning exercises with his unit.

I chose these muffins from Tasty Kitchen and they're made by a lovely CarolAllison.  She calls them Yoga Muffins...the Army boys however, call them Hooah Muffins.  If you don't have a solider in your life, let me introduce you to 'hooah'.  Wiki has a nice description of it but in short, hooah is a word that means yes, sure, all right, woot, roger that, copy, yup and everything else you could possibly say to convey excitement and the like.  If you're an Army wife...this is what you hear.  "Honey, can you take out the trash?"....HOOAH!  (as in, sure!) or "We're going to Florida for a weekend getaway."...HOOAH!!!!  (as in, woot!) or he'll say something like "Yeah, that dude is all hooah about regulations and traditions."  (meaning he's all by the book and Army gung ho) You hear it ALL the time.  I have forbidden it in my presence as it drives me bonkers but he still lets it slip quite frequently.

So what's 'hooah' about these muffins?  They are jam packed with yummy healthy stuff to give you lots of energy and keep you going even under rigorous Army PT.  (group exercises)  These fill you up without weighing you down and give you all the *cough* HOOAH *cough* you need to keep yourself going all morning long.  Carbs, fruit and protein all wrapped in a muffin.  And forget all the goodness, they are seriously delicious noms.  Tender, slightly sweet, spicy - Jon describes them as spicy pumpkin bread with bites of yummy, soft baked fruit.  And the house smells positively amazing while baking!  They get you up and keep you going and that's why hubs and the Army boys dubbed them Hooah Muffins.  Carol got a right giggle after I shared that story with her!  She made these for her hubs as well to give him a nutritious breakfast on the go.  :)

Seriously people, make some.  And that's an order!  HOOAH!

'HOOAH' Yoga Muffins

Recipe & Picture (right) From CarolAllison

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
½ cups Rolled Oats, Slightly Ground (I Give Them A Quick Spin In The Coffee Grinder)
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 heaping teaspoon Cinnamon
¾ teaspoons Salt
¼ teaspoons Allspice
1 cup Canned Pumpkin
¾ cups Applesauce
½ cups Brown Sugar (light Or Dark)
1 whole Egg
½ cups Chopped Apples
½ cups Chopped Walnuts (I used crystallized ginger chips since Jon hates nuts)
½ cups Blueberries, Fresh Or Frozen

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan (these also work in a 6-cup jumbo muffin pan.) 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, ground oats, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and all spice. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin, applesauce, brown sugar and egg. Add flour mixture to the creamed mix and stir to combine. Stirring lightly almost folding, add chopped apples, blueberries and walnuts. (I used frozen blueberries and the batter does turn a purpley shade...its ok! Over-stirring will break open blueberries and color your batter so go lightly!)

Fill each muffin cup completely with big spoonfuls of batter. They might even be heaping with batter.

Bake for about 30 minutes at 350.

Carol's Other Suggestions

-Other kinds of flours, or a blend of flours works. I have used all-purpose and spelt as well as whole wheat.
-1 cup mashed ripe bananas instead of pumpkin
-3/4 cup mashed bananas instead of applesauce (if you use both of these substitutions at the same time, you will definitely have a more banana-y muffin!)
-Applesauce can be either jarred or cook up your own apples and mash ‘em (that’s what I usually do)
-You can vary the amounts of chopped apples, blueberries and walnuts to your own taste, and also leave out or substitute other fruits or nuts as you please. Just go with the flow!

Mac & Cheese Gnocchi Style

I am a bonafide mac & cheese nut...nutjob would probably be more appropriate.  If I see a mac recipe, I have to try it.  If I see a new kind in the store, I have to buy it.  Oh, new noodle shape?!  Let's dump cheese on it and see how it is as macaroni.  Bechamel sauce, three cheese sauce, alfredo, cheddar jack...you name it, I've tried it and don't get me started on the 500 restaurant varieties I've tried too.  I adore Rachel Ray's with chicken in it, Alton Brown's easy stovetop blue box knock off, the lovely mac & cheese with orichette noodles from Real Simple magazine.  I have a problem, I know.  Is there a 12 step program for this?

And then...thanks to a post by Noble Pig (fabulous!)...I found my nirvana.  Mac & Cheese Gnocchi.  For those not in the know, gnocchi is small potato doughy noodles of happiness in oval form.  I *love* them.  They are a great replacement for pasta noodles in alot of dishes.  My son loves when I swap them in place of dumplings in my chicken and dumpling recipe.  They are great with brown butter, sage and parm cheese.  They are simply delicious.  So when I saw Noble Pig's post, I knew I had to try it.  There was no getting around it. 

This recipe takes either homemade or prepackaged gnocchi (which I did) and you boil them up, put them in a shallow baking dish and then cover them with a dual cheese sauce of fontina and Gruyere and THEN top it with more parm cheese!  It was seriously, the best I have ever had.  It was a fabulous mix of chewy potato nuggets and cheesy, gooey lovliness.  You could NOT get enough!  My hubby was going "Mmm Mmm"  every two seconds as he shoveled more and more in his mouth.  Doesn't get any more comfort foody than this my friends.  It was perfect for the cooler evenings we're having.  (add some crusty bread to get EVERY bit of that cheese sauce!)  And honestly, this was so elegant and impressive, I'd happily serve it at a dinner party.  Its that good...(and easy to boot!)  If you want to see a gorgeous presentation picture, click the link to Noble Pig's post...it was all I could do to get a picture to post since hubs was dying to dig in! 

Gnocchi Mac & Cheese
from Cuisine at Home 

• 1 pound purchased or homemade gnocchi
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons garlic, finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded fontina cheese
• Salt and white pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Basil leaves for garnish, optional

Preheat oven to 375o F. Prepare gnocchi according to package directions. Drain and place gnocchi in a single-layer in a 1-1/2 quart shallow baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Whisk in flour until it thickens and bubbles, then whisk in milk and Dijon. Continue to whisk mixture and cook until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes.

Combine Gruyere and fontina, then add by the handful to milk mixture, stirring until melted before adding the next handful. Once all cheese is melted, season sauce with salt and pepper.

Pour sauce over gnocchi and sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano over top. Bake gnocchi until they puff and cheese is golden and bubbly, about 25 minutes. Let gnocchi rest for 5 minutes before serving.

NOTE:  I used MINI gnocchi but regular sized ones are perfect too.  Check Noble Pig's site to see an example of regular sized ones.

Rice Krispie Chicken ~ Retro Throwback!

I know this has been around forever but when my friend Siggy Spice and my very own hubby hadn't heard of Rice Krispie chicken, I knew I had to make it and blog about it because maybe lots of other people were missing out on one of my perennial childhood favorites.  My mom used to make this ALL the frikkin' time with corn, mashed potatoes and gravy and biscuits...usually on a Sunday too.  What kid could resist a meal made out of Rice Krispies?!  You say the words and their little ears just perk up!  Mom's version was okay (although kinda bland now in retrospect) but I always loved that it had a bit of "crunchy pop" to it when you bit into it.  There's really nothing overly special about it or hard to do but I'm telling ya - it produces one juicy, tender, delicious chicken from baking, not frying!

There are 500 versions of this out there floating around too.  Some have mayonnaise as a "glue" to hold on the cereal and spices but I do mine the old fashioned way with melted butter, just like my mom did.  My mom's only had pepper, salt and maybe garlic powder in it for flavor but mine has changed over the years and I flip it around depending on my mood.  You can use a dry ranch season packet or mix your own blend of spices. All I really used for this one is Grill Mates Montreal Chicken Seasoning since it has the garlic, salt, peppers, onion, orange peel and all that in there already. 

Btw...these make EXCELLENT chicken fingers/nuggets too.   Same process but just use cut up boneless chicken breasts.  Get your kids to help crush the Rice Krispies...that's the best part :)

Rice Krispie Chicken

• 2 pounds of chicken parts (I did 2 skin on chicken breasts and the rest in drummies and wings)
• 1 stick of butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 3 cups of Rice Krispies 
• 1/4 cup corn starch  (or flour if you don't have)
• 3-4 Tbsp Montreal Chicken Seasoning (or your choice of herbs or ranch packet)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.  Set aside.

Take a gallon sized baggie and add the Rice Krispies.  Use your rolling pin or the side of a can to crush them up.  (Don't pulverize them...you want some pieces left to give it that crunchy coating)  Open up your baggie and add your choice of seasoning and the cornstarch.  Zip up and shake well to combine.  Set aside.  (you can also do this part in a bowl.  Baggie just easier clean up for me.)


Rinse and pat dry your chicken.  Then dip in the cooled but melted butter one by one and then add to the Rice Krispie bag.  Shake like crazy to coat the whole piece of chicken well.  Place on the baking sheet and repeat using all the chicken parts.  (If you have some parts that don't have enough krispies for you, dip your finger in butter and smear on the chicken then pat some of the rice krispies on top.)  Take the leftover butter and drizzle over the pieces of chicken.  

Bake for 30-45 minutes.  You want them golden brown and juices running clear from the breast meat. 

 

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Crunch Coffee Cake

Holy smokin' ovens that title is a mouthful to say, isn't it?  Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Crunch Coffee Cake.  As promised in my When Coffee Cakes Go Bad, Vol 1 post the other day, THIS is the correct, yummy version of that black brick of doom I baked the other day at 100 degrees over the recipe's guidelines.  I am very pleased with this recipe now I can actually EAT it instead of using it for a doorstop.

My daughter, step mom and I have an unnatural weakness for Rocher candies with the hazelnuts inside.  There is just something about that creamy Nutella and the crispy shell but my favorite part is the lovely hazelnut on the inside that crunches when you get to the middle.  I can never pass them up and she always finds them in her stocking at every Christmas.  Now she's at college I send her Nutella with Teddy Grahams for snacking in her care packages.  Hazelnut & chocolate were just meant to go together.

I find too, now that its fall, people are reverting to pecan pies and pumpkin everything.  I'm allergic to pecans and I grew up near the Circleville Pumpkin Show.  I've eaten as much pumpkin as I care to eat...ever.  So I give you this coffee cake, a different approach for the fall days ahead.  Its nutty, sweet, crunchy topping is a perfect match to the vanilla heavy crumb cakey bottom.  Not overly sweet either which is great for me as lots of morning pastries tend to be heavy on either icings, fillings or glazes.  Makes a wonderful breakfast with a hot cup of Irish Breakfast tea....

Click to enlarge.

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Crunch Coffee Cake

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cold butter, in pats
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup hazelnuts, chopped

Cake:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  (double check you didn't set it to 450 like me!  LOL)  Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray or grease/flour pan.  Set aside.

For the topping, in a medium bowl, stir the sugar and flour together.  Use a pastry cutter and cut in the butter pats until they resemble fine crumbs.  Stir in the chocolate chips and the hazelnuts.  Set aside.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Set aside.  In your stand mixer (or big bowl), cream together the butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla on medium speed.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well before adding next egg.  Turn mixer to low and gradually beat in the dry ingredient, alternating with the milk.  Mix well until smooth and creamy.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth.  Sprinkle with the topping evenly and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in pan before serving.

Tip:  I made a small drizzle glaze of milk and powdered sugar for this batch but its not necessary.  Good without!  :)

When Coffee Cakes Go Wrong, Vol. 1

Yesterday was a fabulous day for me in the beginning.  I woke up early, did all my laundry, had steaks laid out for dinner defrosting, watched a really good movie on Netflix as I aforementioned laundry, had a nice easy leftover lunch of chicken meatballs and was enjoying my day all the way around.  I was productive!  I even worked on my book a bit!  *gasp*  And then, sitting there, I was blinded by a glint of gold from my bookshelf.  (literally, a sun beam hit it and it near blinded me)  I went to the bookshelf to move the book out of the sunlight so I could watch the end of my movie when I realized what I was holding.  It intrigued me.  Then all hell broke loose.

I was holding this massive cookbook about chocolate in my hands.  I had bought it on clearance at Borders about two years ago.  The cover is like a massive chocolate bar and the book sleeve is gold.  It looks like something Willy Wonka would publish now in retrospect.  But I had never opened it before.  Its just sat there looking all Las Vegas jazz hand fabulous with its sparkley, shiny cover.  So I carried it over to the couch with me and started thumbing through it.  The WHOLE entire cookbook has chocolate is some variation in every recipe.  I think I gained 5 pounds picking it up and looking through it.

I found a really good looking coffee cake and I thought I'd make it and we'd have it this weekend as we have ALOT of projects to do this weekend and didn't really have time to mess with breakfast.  So I preheat my oven to 450 and get all my dry ingredients mixed...I'm creaming my butter, cream cheese and vanilla together.  Sprayed my pan and its sitting there waiting anxiously.  Oh it looked so good.  This cream cheese/vanilla batter smelled amazing and then it got a crunchy topping of hazelnuts and dark chocolate strudel on top.  I slide it in, set the timer for 50 minutes and back to my movie I went.

Oh the delicious smells that wafted my way after 10 minutes.  Jon would be home in an hour and I knew he'd walk in the door and go "What is that smell?!" and be all happy joy joy over having a coffee cake for the weekend.  (he's easily pleased)  However, I should have been suspicious if at 10 minutes in I could already smell it.  That probably shouldn't have been happening already.  I ignored my gut instinct and went back to my movie with Jake Gyllenhaal.  (~love~)  And then about 10 minutes later, I got a bitter smell and turned to see how much time I had left on my stove.  Smoke was billowing out of my stove door. 

<-- This is what I had left.  I was immediately like "WHAT THE HECK!?"  Nevermind the smoke alarm going off or opening a door to let said smoke out.  Oh no.  I grabbed that cheery, sun shiney cookbook and opened it to page 459 and re-read that stupid recipe, so assured that I had done EVERYTHING it said.  Stupid cookbook.  Wasted about $10 in ingredients and it burnt!  I grumbled as I scanned every inch of that page.  Then it dawned on me, staring me right in the face.  "Preheat oven to 350 degrees."   This is what happens when coffee cakes go wrong and are baked at 100 degrees over what they're supposed to.  lol  I am defeated.

The delicious looking, correctly cooked version of this coffee cake will be appearing on Monday, lest I somehow burn down my house inadvertently this weekend.  I blame Jake Gyllenhaal's naked bum for this one.  I was distracted.  Dang Jarhead movie. lol

Cheese Stuffed Chicken Meatballs

Oh.my.goodness.

Ooey, cheesy, herby and utterly, irresistibly delicious that you cannot stop with just one.  Good thing this makes like 24 then!  What you are staring at, nay, drooling over are chicken meatballs baked with cheese inside them.  Yes.  Cheese inside a meatball. 

There are many things I love about this meatball.  First and foremost, is its functionality.  You can put these on a sub, you make them BIG and serve them main course with a little side of pasta, you can do them small sized as appetizers skewered with a toothpick, you can serve them over 'sketti in place of regular meatballs, you can add them on a deep dish pizza.  You can use ANY sauce you like - tomato, pizza, alfredo...these meatballs do it all.  Above all else, they are scrumptious!  They're pretty fun to make too..and your kids will have a ball rolling them with you.

Best of all they're better for you.  Don't buy the frozen meatballs for crying out loud.  Yes I know they're easier to do but these are healthier.  You're controlling the quality of the meat and ingredients, they're made with ground chicken and they're not pan fried in oil.  They're baked.  Have a dish of these with some fresh parm grated over top and a salad and you've got one terrific meal on your hands! 

What I do - I line my rimmed baking sheet with parchment or foil, whichever you have for easy cleanup first of all.  I toss EVERYTHING into my Kitchenaid stand mixer and let it roll for a minute or two till everything is mixed in well.  (you can of course hand mix this or use a hand held mixer...its all good)  I use a big tablespoon and heap a pile about the size of a golf ball in my hand and make a patty.  I place a piece of chunked up cheese the middle and roll the meat around the cheese till its all smooth and shiny.  You want to make sure you have no gaps, holes or seams showing.  Roll it perfectly smooth.  And make SURE no corner of the cheese is showing or you'll have leakage and that's no good.  (you might have to wet your hands throughout the rolling process to keep it from sticking)  Place them on a sheet and bake.  I let them cool a few minutes then plop them into my sauce to simmer till I'm ready to serve.  These can be make WAY ahead of time and just kept in the fridge and baked right before you're ready too.  They're just that awesome.

Cheese Stuffed Chicken Meatballs

2 pounds of ground chicken (I like breast meat best)
1 cup of unseasoned bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp of dried parsley flakes
1 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese
2 Tbsp Montreal Chicken seasoning (I sometimes use more....just eyeball it.  You want to see specks of herby goodness all throughout the meat)
Mozzarella, chunked up in 24 pieces for regular sized or 12 pieces for gigantic meatballs 
Olive oil, for drizzling

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil.  Set aside.  Chunk up your mozzarella and set aside.

In a big bowl (or your mixer stand), combine chicken, crumbs, egg, Worchestershire sauce, herbs, Parm cheese and chicken seasoning.  Mix well till all combined.  Using a large table spoon, scoop out a mound and flatten it into a patty in your hand.  Place a chunk of cheese in the middle and wrap the meat around it, covering the cheese.  Roll the meatball until smooth and shiny, making sure no cheese is poking out or no seams or holes are visible.  Place on cookie sheet.  Drizzle lightly with olive oil and turn to coat meatballs.

Bake meatballs for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving or adding to a simmering sauce.  Serve with pasta or by itself. 

Double Bonus Monday!

Oh what a Monday!  I bought Linkin' Park's new album last week and I have had the song "Waiting for the End" replaying in my head like a skipped record.  I am just so enamored with the lyrics to this song as its dead on accurate to how I've been feeling lately in dealing with a broken friendship.  Instead of pouting and puttering about the house miserable (even though I want to do so), I've been plunging forward in projects that have been laying about in my head.  So to kick off this wonderful transition phase for me, you get to reap the rewards with a bonus Monday with TWO recipes.  Who doesn't need a kick of motivation on a Monday?

There is a cake out there that has like 1,000 names.  Wacky cake, Garnet's cake, War cake...whatever you want to call it, its the recipe that has no eggs in it and was developed war time when supplies were in great shortage.  War time kitchen engineering/finagling has paid off big time in this time tested recipe that is so good, so gooey and so chocolately rich, you'll never miss the eggs.  And BONUS!  It's made IN the cake pan.  No bowls to mess with at all!  No greasing, no flouring...serve this cake right from the pan warm with a glass of milk.  Its so quick and easy, it'll be your kids favorite after school snack.  Hey, its cholesterol free too, so its good for them too!  (well, as good as a chocolate cake can get!)  Mine is shown with two mini scoops of my homemade triple chocolate ice cream and a drizzle of dark chocolate syrup.  (yum and totally not healthy)

This recipe is from King Arthur Flour's website which I *so* encourage you all to visit.  A treasure trove of baking recipes await and some of the coolest things are in their shop.  Stop by!  You can view this recipe there with variations to make it mocha cake or a rum type cake.  This however, is the true blue original.

KAF Original Cake-Pan Cake

1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa (not dutch processed, just regular)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 cup cold water 


Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Measure all the dry ingredients into an 8" or 9" round or square cake pan; if you use an 8" pan, make sure it's at least 2" deep. Blend the ingredients together thoroughly with a fork or whisk and scoop out three holes, or indentations.

Pour the vanilla into the first hole, the vinegar into the second, and the oil into the third. Take the cup of cold water and pour it directly over everything in the pan.  Stir all the ingredients together with your fork until they are well blended making sure to get the corners if using a square pan.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Serve right from the pan; warm from the oven.


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This is the BEST potato salad I've ever had in my life.  I've never been a potato salad fan because I hate mustard and undoubtedly, like me, you grew up on your mom's yellow potato salad.  Every holiday or family gathering someone brought this mustard laden concoction to the party and I shuddered just even smelling it.  I really loathe mustard, can you tell?  This recipe however, has no mustard and the cooked potatoes marinate overnight in this vinegar/herby blend before adding the mayonnaise right before serving.  Its tangy, its creamy and cool.  Perfect with burgers or with pigs-in-a-blanket!  Its a bit of work and takes some planning (its not a simple throw together on the fly type of thing)...but so is every other homeade potato salad out there really.  This makes a HUGE amount that we ate off of all weekend long with light sammies.  We ran all weekend long so I wanted something easy to pull out and snack off of.  Its just perfect.  I hope you really give it a go. 

Marinated Potato Salad

4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
12 fist sized Idaho potatoes
 ⅓ cups cold water
⅓ cups white vinegar
1-½ tablespoon kosher salt
½ teaspoons black pepper
2 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
½ large yellow onion (not sweet Vidalia ones, just regular)
5 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise (no Miracle Whip, please)

Place potatoes WITH skins on in a large pot and cover with water.  Place on stove and turn on high.  Once they start to boil, boil for 45 minutes or until a fork inserted, comes out easily and gives no resistance.  Drain and cool for about an hour.  (will likely still be warm)  Peel cooled potatoes with a spoon.  Chop peeled potatoes into chunks, place in a large bowl and set aside.

In a smaller bowl, mix together the water, vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar, parsley flakes, onion and celery.  Pour over the warm potatoes and stir to coat all the potato chunks.  Cover well with plastic and place in fridge overnight or at least 12 hours to marinate.

Before serving, add mayo to potatoes and stir well to coat all pieces.  (can add more mayo if you need to but do so a little at a time)  Add chopped, boiled eggs and stir again.  Keep cool until serving.  Refrigerate leftovers in a tightly sealed container.  Stir leftovers before serving.  (may separate some as is normal)

Chicken & Bacon Philly Sammies

What you are looking at ladies and gentlemen is the most delicious sammie in the whole world.  Chicken, bacon, sauteed onions and provolone cheese.  *sighing happily & dreamily*  I'll give you a second to process that all.  I promise you, cross my heart, pinky swear and all, that your hubby will gobble this down in two minutes flat while mooning, gushing, ooh'ing and aww'ing all the way.  This appeals to hungry men on every level.  Bacon.  Need I say more?  Thought not.  :)

I admit...I tweaked this.  (I always do.)  The original sammie is from the same uber cool Brandi (ala thecountrycook on Tasty Kitchen) who brought you those Pork Chops and Gravy I gushed, raved and drooled about all over the internet.  You can find the original version of this sammie HERE.  Brandi and I simply must have the same taste bud system going on.  Everything of hers has been amazing, turns out perfect every single time and is simple, easy to do and is down right crazy delicious.  (I secretly think she, Siggy Spice and I were sisters separated at birth.)  I wish she would do her own blog to share her collection of noms but alas, I cannot convince her as I've already tried. 

I will admit too, that before this recipe, I never used lemon pepper seasoning.  It just never seemed "useful" to me but now I go through it like crazy.  Its right up there with my "gotta have it" holy trinity of onion powder, garlic powder and kosher salt.  I can do almost anything with those.  Lemon pepper is hard to describe.  Peppery, yes.  Duh.  Lemony?  Sure...it has a lemony tang to it but its not overpowering at all.  Its just this weirdo ingredient blend that adds the whole "what is that flavor" factor that nobody can figure out but don't really care b/c they're too busy stuffing their face.  Its just nom.  Get some!

Feel free to toast your buns prior to the mayo application.  I've done it both ways..toasted and not and I think its a total preference thing.  I like them soft b/c they kinda soak up all the good juices from the chicken and just made it yummier.  Add lettuce, tomato...whatever you like if you want.  Its your sub.  I'm fine just like this!  I don't want to miss one ounce of this flavor factory on a bun.  Its really good...really quick.  

Chicken & Bacon Philly Sammies (originally by Brandi, tweaked by me)

4 slices of thick sliced bacon, cut up into little bits
2 Tbsp butter
1 pound of chicken, diced up into bite sized pieces (tenders, boneless breasts or thighs)
1/2 white onion, diced
2 1/2 Tbsp lemon pepper seasoning
1/2 tsp kosher salt   (can add more later if need be)
4 slices of provolone cheese
4 sub buns (I used soft french rolls from the bakery)
Lots of real mayo  (it is blasphemy to use Miracle Whip on this!)

Before starting, have everything chunked up, diced and ready to roll.  Goes super fast that way.  Chunk up your chicken, toss into a bowl and season with lemon pepper and salt.  Stir to coat all the pieces well.  Dice your onion.  Add to your chicken bowl and set aside.

Over medium-high heat, add your bacon bits to the pan and cook for a few minutes till done.  Scoop out and drain on a paper towel.  Set aside.  Leave the bacon grease in the pan.  Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the bacon grease.  Turn heat down to medium.

Toss in the chicken and onions into the bacon/melted butter and cook for 8 minutes or so, stirring often to break up the pieces and evenly cook on all sides.  Add in the bacon and stir.  (taste now for additional salt or pepper if you need) 

In the pan, divide up the chicken mix into 4 portions and separate.  Add a piece of provolone cheese to each portion and allow to melt over top.  While cheese is melting, SLATHER your bun with mayo on the inside.  (Don't skimp b/c it really adds to the flavor here!)  Scoop your portion onto your buns and serve.

Serves 4 for us, 2 if you're starving!  :)