Sweets & Savory's

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Sweet and spicy squash soup

Sweet & Spicy Squash Soup

2 cups chicken broth

½ c evaporated milk

1 pound of acorn squash- peeled, seeded, roasted

1 t agave

Pinch of nutmeg

¼ t cinnamon

Salt & pepper to taste

Cayenne pepper

Goat cheese  & bacon to garnish

Peel, deseed and roast your squash and put on a sheet pan with olive oil and coat. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until fork tender.  Cut your bacon into pieces and cook until done.  In a saucepan, heat the evaporated milk and chicken broth until hot then put your squash in your blender  with your spices & agave and half your milk broth mixture and blend. Continue to add your broth mixture until it's a nice creamy consistency. Finally add your cayenne pepper to taste and serve with your bacon bits and goat cheese crumbles. Enjoy

Candied Pecan Banana Bread

I recently posted my recipe for candied pecans and I used them in my banana bread to make it extra

yummy. Here's the recipe, try it out and tell me what you think

3 medium bananas

1 C sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 c flour

1/4 c melted butter

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 c nuts

Mash your bananas and then add sugar, egg & butter and stir. Then add flour, salt, baking soda

and nuts. Stir just until all the ingredients are combines and then pour mixture into either a

regular bread pan and bake for 50 minutes 

or mini loaf pans and bake for 35 minutes

Bake in a 325 degree oven until your fork comes out clean

when you pierce it.

Then enjoy with a bit of icy cold milk.

The candied pecan's give this bread an unexpected sweet crunch. It is truly to die for.

XoXo

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Churro Donuts

These were delicious. My daughter and I thought they tasted like churros, hence the name. We used a Wilton 6 count donut pan and this recipe made 2 dozen. We used the barefoot contessa's recipe and they turned out tender and yummy.

The recipe is as follows...

Baking spray with flour

2 c all purpose flour

1 1/2 c sugar

2t baking powder

1t cinnamon

1/2t nutmeg

1/2t kosher salt

1 extra large egg

1 1/4 c whole milk

2T unsalted butter

2t vanilla

for topping..

1 stick of butter, melted

1/2 c sugar

1/2 t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 and spray the pan.

Into a large bowl, sift flour, sugar baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

In a small bowl, wish together the egg, milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until combined.

Spoon batter into the pan, filling 3/4 full and bake for 17 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Transfer to a cooking rack.

Melt your butter in one bowl and mix your other topping ingredients in another.

Dip your donuts in the butter and then the cinnamon/sugar mixture and then enjoy!

Friday, January 18, 2013

Italian Wedding Cookies

1 cup soft butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 t. Vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup finely chopped nuts of your choice - I used toasted almonds

Combine all the ingredients, except, save back half of the powdered sugar for rolling them in.

Once combined, form them into crescent shapes and bake at 350 for 14 minutes or until the edges turn light brown. Do not over cook.

Let cool 15 minutes or until barely warm and then roll in the remaining powdered sugar and let completely cool.

These are addictive, you've been warned. Enjoy with your favorite tea and don't keep track of how many you eat.

Have a great weekend.

Rachel

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Bacon wrapped Cheezy Jalapeno's

I made these for a bonfire that we went to this weekend.  I have had these at other parties but I think mine turned out the best. I think the fact that they cooked in the oven for a good long while, helped tremendously. They were still spicy but not overly hot and the cream cheese had a nice cooling effect. Paired with crispy bacon.  They were a nice complement to the chili they were serving and they went like hot cakes. Here are my tips...

I grew these peppers from my garden so I can't tell you how many I had. I cut them in half and deseeded them ahead of time, which made it light work when i had to stuff and wrap them. If you have sensitive skin then I would wear gloves when doing this because the oils do linger on your skin.

I used the back end of the spoon to push the cream cheese into the peppers.

I also used kitchen sheers to cut my bacon strips into 4th's and wrapped each one with the ends facing the pan.  I cooked them at 350 until the cheese is gooey and the bacon is nice and crispy.

                                                                     Enjoy

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

bacon corn hash

Recently I made this recipe from Smitten Kitchen and it was divine. I loved that I was able to use some left over corn on the cob that we had made the night before and thoroughly enjoyed dicing all the potatoes and trying to get them all the same size. It's making meals like this that makes me feel like a good mother. I love having time to cook dinners from scratch on my days off and this one hits the spot. I also was able to use some of the fresh organic bacon that we had bought from a local farmer. It has such an amazing flavor compared to what you get at the store. It was a quick, easy recipe for a mid week dinner or a special weekend brunch. I would highly recommend it because my family loved it. Try it for yourself.

xoxo

Monday, June 11, 2012

The Perfect Lemonade for your Lemonade Stand

What a fun day.  Saturday we spent the morning having a yard sale for our subdivision sale. So of course we had to have a lemonade stand. Friday I showed a picture of our menu- which included fresh squeezed lemonade, ice tea, home made chocolate chip cookies & fudge brownies. This kids made a killing, I have to say, clearing  a sweet $50 bucks.  We had so much fun and would definately do it again next year.  We used Paula Deen's recipe, which was truly perfect. Not too sour, not too sweet. Perfectly refreshing.

I will be making this for our family for the rest of summer

Try a lemonade stand yourself this summer.

XoXo

Friday, May 18, 2012

DIY Custom Colored Frosting

How fun is this! I usually shy away from using plain old vanilla icing but if I could make all these awesome colors with just your basic food coloring set, I would love it! They tell you exactly how many drops of each color you need to get the perfect color. My daughter and I love making cupcakes so we will have to try this out and let you know how it goes.  This came from the May issue of Food network magazine and I heard about it thru Oh the lovely things blog. If you love cupcakes ( and who doesn't) you gotta try this too. Let me know how it goes.

XoXo

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Yummy Chicken and Waffles

This was suprisingly good. I've only had this once at Hash House a GoGo in Vegas and it was divine there. The best breakfast I've ever had. This just kinda tided me over till we can go back. I used pink chocolate chip waffle mix from Aldi's and my husband fried up chicken breast in a egg and seasoned flour mixture. Put them together, add some syrup and you have a hearty breakfast. You could of course use any brand of waffle mix. My favorite is Krusteze brand. We just used this one because it what we had available. The combination of salty and sweet is great. I might even fry up some bacon next time and put some in the waffle batter when I make them next time. Cause everything is better with bacon. Come up with your own combo and enjoy.

XoXo

Rachel

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Yummy Nutella Pie Pops

Besides these ingredients you will need your favorite cookie cutters, an egg to glaze the tops and sugar to top.

It's pretty straight forward, I cut my shapes out and put on foiled cookie sheet that is sprayed with cooking spray. Words of advice and I know this is going to hard to exercise restraint when it comes to this step. Don't add too much nutella, just a dollop with do ya. If not you will have issues when it comes to sealing the edges. I used a fork and it seemed to work well. Brush the tops with your whisked egg and sprinkle with sugar. I cooked them at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes but you will need to keep an eye on them because it could be more or less depending on the size. I also did cherry heart ones.  They made a nice get well desert for a friend of mine. It's so easy you have to give it a shot. 

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Low Carb Pasta Carbonara- It's what's for dinner.

I made this the other night for my family for dinner. I have been low carb dieting for awhile and every once in awhile I give myself a cheat meal and pasta is usually what I crave. I substituted Dreamfields spagetti that says it's only 5 carbs per serving so I'm sure that helped considerably and about 2 carbs in half & half and about 3 carbs in cheese which i'm sure you could cut down if you checked cheeses to get the lowest carb brand. 10 carbs isn't bad to me for a splurge and I wouldn't do it in the beginning of your diet. I have had this recipe both ways and I didn't notice a difference with the pasta. I don't know if i would go back to regular spaghetti again. The original recipe came from martha stewart. I did add some garlic salt and I used a whole pound of bacon cause that one of the few perks you get with a low carb diet so I went for the gusto. Adjust it to your family's taste buds but I guarantee that even the pickiest eater will love it.  Enjoy!

Friday, March 2, 2012

Delicious Meatloaf Cupcakes

All of the ingredients

ready to go in the oven

I got this wonderful Meatloaf Recipe from back to her roots blog. It's her mamma's recipe so how could I go wrong. My family instantly fell in love and it was actually pretty easy piping the mashed potatoes on. I used yukon gold butter potatoes with butter, sour cream & shredded mild cheddar cheese. This will forever be on our meal line up. I will double the recipe next time because we will eat all of them and what's left will be great left overs. Enjoy!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

My Clam Chowder Recipe

I originally got this recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens Heritage of America Cookbook and I modified it slightly. It is the perfect soup for those chilly winter evenings. Add a little bread and your set.

2- 6 ounce cans minced clams
2 1/2 cups cubed potatoes
1 pound bacon
1 c chopped onion
2- chicken bouillon cubes crushed
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp dried thyme, crushed
2 c milk
1 c half & half
2 tsp flour

Fry your bacon and when cooled cut into bite size pieces.                  Pour most of the bacon grease out leaving about 2 T in the pan to sautee your onions in. Cook a couple of minutes until onions are softened. Then add the juice from the clams, cubed potatoes, bouillon, worcestershire & thyme. Add water tojust cover the potatoes and simmer until the potatoes break when you put a fork in them.  Then add clams and half and half.  Use your fork to break up some of the potatoes by crushing them to the side of the pan.  This will thicken up your soup. If you want it thicker then add the flour. Salt and Pepper to taste and garnish the top with your bacon. It is to die for.  Enjoy!