Apple Sangria

Sometimes after extra-concentrated time with family... an adult beverage or two is in order!  Again, I can't take credit for making this recipe, but I did find it on Cooking Light, and I did help my mom put it together.

Plus we love any excuse to put this snazzy pitcher to use!

Recipe: (from Cooking Light's website)
3 1/2 cups chopped Honeycrisp apples (about 2 pounds)
1/2 cup apple schnapps
1/4 cup honey
4 whole cloves
2 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
2 (1/4-inch) slices peeled fresh ginger
1 large navel orange, quartered
1 (750 milliliter) bottle fruity red wine (such as Beaujolais)
1/4 cup club soda, chilled, divided
additional slices of apple for garnish

Combine first 8 ingredients in a bowl or pitcher; stir well.  Refrigerate for several hours.

Strain wine mixture through a sieve into a pitcher; discard solids.

Divide wine into four wine glasses; top off with club soda; add apple slice garnish.

Verdict:
Crisp and refreshing!  Very seasonal and just a little sweet.  I'm glad we decided to double the recipe as more than one more person, myself included, went back for seconds.  Just a note: when serving, I didn't really measure out the club soda.  I just poured the sangria over some ice and added enough club soda to fill the glass.  Served that way, the doubled recipe made more than eight servings.

I can't promise to make this again because I do like to research and explore new drink ideas...  But it is definitely a possibility!

Overnight Crockpot Oatmeal with Apples

Welcome back from what I hope was a long weekend full of gorging yourself on wonderful cooking!  I know mine was.  Which is why I also know I'll be pulling double workouts as often as possible between now and Christmas.

So worth it though.  Am I right?

Although we all know turkey is the Thanksgiving Day showstopper, I have absolutely no idea what goes into cooking a turkey (except a lot of raw meat touching.  shudder!), so I'm going to focus instead on a couple of the new traditions-in-the-making that I actually helped to implement this year.

Then go get my sweat on because just looking at this decadence is adding another five pounds to my rear.

Recipe: (Full Disclosure - I did not make this recipe, but I did give my mom the idea to make crock pot oatmeal for Thanksgiving morning.  She found the recipe on the internet and put this together Wednesday night while Alex and I were driving up from Ohio.)

2 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 cups water
2 cups old-fashioned or steel cut oats
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
optional: chopped pecans or walnuts and additional fruit such as raisins, dried cherries, or dates (I believe we had chopped walnuts in ours.)

Mix brown sugar and cinnamon with apple slices, fully coating apples.

Mix oatmeal with water and salt.

Put apples in bottom of crock pot and pour oatmeal on top.  Do not stir.  (According to my mom, not stirring is the hardest part!)

Cover and cook on LOW overnight (8-9 hours).

In the morning, stir thoroughly.

 Serve with milk and additional sugar.  (This was written in  the recipe, but I didn't add anything to my bowl.  Unless someone added milk or sugar to the crockpot before I was present, I don't think this extra step is necessary.  Although I did sprinkle some additional cinnamon on top.)

Verdict:
From a purely practical standpoint, this recipe solves a dilemma that I know has plagued my family for years: when you spend all your time for days focusing on preparing Thanksgiving dinner - Thanksgiving breakfast tends to get lost in the shuffle.  With turkey and stuffing and potatoes and gravy all demanding your attention, most moms don't have time (or kitchen space) for an elaborate breakfast.  Yet I know every year, I am starving and cranky by the time I finally get to eat real food.  Not fun.  This make ahead recipe was perfect for its mere convenience.

Plus, when my dad gets up at the butt-crack of dawn, his breakfast is hot and ready.  When my mom gets up at a slightly more sane hour, her breakfast is hot and ready.  When I finally shuffle downstairs around 9 and slurp my way through my first cup of coffee to a near-human state, my breakfast is hot and ready.  Everyone has a happy tummy!

From a taste standpoint, this recipe wins as well.  It was warm and filling.  I knew I was getting something nutritious into my stomach to keep me going through all that intense parade watching and food preparation.  It was just sweet enough to taste like a special occasion breakfast but wholesome enough to stave off the feelings of food guilt until later....

Thumbs up all around!

Oatmeal Toffee Cookies

Health.  Happiness.  Love.  All of these are blessings in my life right now for which I am very thankful.  It has been a magical year with the promise of a lifetime of magical moments ahead.  Life may not be perfect, but it is very, very good. 

One of the current imperfections in our life is living far from our families, but thankfully this year Alex was able to get enough vacation time that we will be able to spend Thanksgiving at home in Michigan with family and friends.

However, the 4.5 hour drive and late Wednesday night arrival do present some challenges when it comes to making a contribution to the holiday dinner table.  For the first time, I have the interest, ability, and cooking appliances necessary to make something.  But not much transports well in a car for several hours to sit in a fridge overnight and several hours more the following day before finally being consumed...

Dilemma, dilemma...

I thought about bringing ingredients and making something on Thursday, but I have a feeling that my mom's kitchen will be chaotic enough and, nice idea that it is, in practice would be less than helpful.

My mom suggested I bring the sweet potato casserole (yum!), cooked and frozen, so it would just need to be reheated on Thursday.  But we don't have a cooler, and I don't have one of the cooking appliances necessary for making the topping.  Fail.

I thought about making grandma's homemade rolls.  But they need to rise for several hours, and I just don't have the space for that.  I barely have enough counter space for the mixing bowls and cookie sheets required for two dozen cookies, let alone that whole process....

Cookies!  Not exactly the most exciting contribution, but they can be made ahead of time, will sit fine in the car, and won't take up limited resources in the turkey day kitchen.  Besides who doesn't like cookies?

Recipe: (from food.com)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1/3 cup toffee bits
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.  Stir with a whisk.

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl.  Beat on medium speed until well combined.

Add vanilla and eggs.  Mix until smooth.

Add flour mixture.  Mix until just combined.  Stir in toffee bits.

Using a tablespoon, spoon dough onto sprayed cookie sheets.  Cook for 11 minutes or until golden brown.  Allow to completely cool on a wire rack.

Verdict:
Well, I liked them.  I had to make sure they weren't poisonous or something before I served them to family.  So it's not a result of lack of willpower.  Right.

But I won't let anyone else, including Alex, have one until Thursday, so we'll have to wait and see what the verdict is...

Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm sure I'll have tales of delicious food and be back to more regular cooking exploits next week...

Versatile and Vegetarian Pasta Bake

Over the weekend I took an online Real Age health assessment.  Then I took the test a second time answering for Alex.  The good news is, we both must be very healthy because our Real Ages are significantly lower than our actual ages.  I'm 20 (though actually turning 29 in a month and a half).  Alex is 22 (though actually nearing 30 - yikes!).

The test took into account several lifestyle factors like work, stress level, diet, and exercise.  I am quite sure that one reason I aged so low is that, due to not being in school as a student or teacher for the first time in two decades, my stress level is almost nil.  And I am able to workout nearly every day.  

The area where the test marked both of us down was in diet even though that was pretty darned good if you ask me.   Although we get plenty of whole grains and protein, and I get plenty of fruit, the test suggested that both of us should incorporate more vegetables into our diet.

I've known for awhile that this is a weakness of mine.  I do like vegetables.  Seriously.  I remember clearly that the first time I came home from college, the one thing I was dying for my mom to make was cooked broccoli.

I'm just not motivated to eat them until dinner time.  Vegetables and breakfast?  Well, unless I'm putting peppers or mushrooms into an omelet, no thanks.  Celery doesn't really mix so well with the Greek yogurt I eat at lunch.  If I'm hungry during the day, I am far more likely to reach for an apple or a handful of grapes than a carrot stick.  And even if I do make sure we eat salad pretty much every night, how many vegetable servings can a person really cram into one meal?

(Although I just checked the governmental guidelines for vegetables, and they include tomatoes, which I've always considered a fruit, so maybe we're not doing as poorly as I thought...)

Recipes like this one help help with the vegetable dilemma for sure.

Recipe: (Click here to see the recipe on its original blog - Sweet Peas and Pumpkins)
1 pound pasta (I used Barilla Plus penne)
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 15-ounce can petite diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups vegetable of your choice**
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t oregano
1 16-oz container ricotta cheese (I subbed cottage cheese as I still dislike the texture of ricotta.)
1/2 cup grated parmesan (I used shredded parmesan.)
8-oz package Italian shredded cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Cook the pasta according to package directions.  While the pasta is cooking, heat the spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, garlic powder, oregano, and vegetable of your choice in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir to combine.

When it is done cooking, drain the penne and add to pan with sauce mixture, stirring well.

Place half in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan.  Spread the ricotta on top, following with the parmesan cheese and half of the Italian cheese blend.  Top with remaining pasta sauce and penne, ending with more Italian cheese.

Bake for 20-30 minutes (although mine was done at 15 minutes).

**The variety of vegetables you can use in this dish is almost endless.  I used broccoli, which I microwaved for one minute before putting into the sauce just to make sure it was slightly softened.  There are so many other ways I would like to try this, including mushrooms (but we all know that won't happen unless hubby is out of town), peppers, eggplant, asparagus, artichokes.... Oh my... If this much cheese weren't involved I might make a different one every night for a week!   (Alex the anti-vegetarian suggests that we add grilled chicken, which would actually be very good, I'd just have to make something else as the weekly meatless meal.)

Verdict:
Delightful and delicious!  Alex and I enjoyed every bite.  And this time, he went back for a very large plate of seconds, which is always a good sign.  I mean, with this much cheese, did anyone expect anything different?  But seriously, there were several specific components that I appreciated and even a few that I plan to incorporate into my regular Italian Pasta Bake.  First, adding the touch of garlic powder and oregano really made a difference to the store bought sauce (never as good as homemade).  That's easy enough to add to any tomato-sauce based baked pasta dish.  We also both really liked the Italian blend cheese as an alternative to mozzarella.  Not that mozzarella isn't great.  But it's nice to have options.   Adding some diced tomatoes to jarred spaghetti sauce?  Genius.  The chunkiness this added to the texture made it feel just a bit more homemade (ironic, actually, as a recall several years of methodically picking out any and all 'chunks' in spaghetti sauce but, whatevs, people change).  And I love how this dish can be adjusted to fit just about whatever vegetable combination I have leftover in my refrigerator.

With this meal plus a colorful salad plus a conscious effort to get some veggies onto our lunch plates, we at least got close to the recommended daily amount of vegetables (though again, if you count all those tomatoes, then we pretty much nailed it - so which is it: tomato = fruit or tomato = vegetable?)!

White Chocolate Butterscotch Blondies

Yum.

Yum.

Yum.

There is no part of that name that doesn't speak to my soul.

Actually, Alex is the one who requested that I make this particular gem.  He likes to make fun of me and my blogging investigations.... but I know he's really reading over my shoulder because every once in awhile I hear exclamations of, "What's that?" "That looks yummy!" "You should make that one!"

He is also the most forgetful man I've ever met.  So when I finally got around to making these, he had no recollection of having begged for them.  (Fortunately for his patients, his forgetfulness only extends to all things involving scheduling, social commitments, and off-hand conversations between the two of us.  Medical stuff sticks to his brain just fine.)

But seriously, the next time your sweet tooth is screaming too loud to ignore, consider this!

Recipe:
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butterscotch chips, melted
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line an 8 x 8 pan with foil and spray foil with nonstick spray.  (Diva Note: OR use Reynold's brand new non-stick baking sheets.  This is the second time I've used them, and they work like a charm!)

In your mixer, combine melted butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla.  Mix on medium until combined. (This was the first use for my super awesome Kitchen Aid stand mixer.  LOVE it!  Love that it can whir away while I double check directions, get another ingredient, snap a picture.  Awesome to have another set of hands in the kitchen.)

 On low speed, add in melted butterscotch chips and mix until smooth, scraping sides as needed.

Turn mixer back to low and add baking soda, salt, and flour.  Mix until just combined.  Add white chocolate chips and mix until incorporated evenly.

Spread in pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.  When done, let cool before cutting into squares.

The absolute beauty of this Reynold's product...  Lifts right out of the pan.... Paper does not stick to baked good at all...  No clean-up of baking pan required!   Which is an amazing thing when your sink is already full of this...

Verdict:
Like you even have to ask!  Alex and I both loved it.  It was best when we microwaved a bar for about 10 seconds.  Not really enough to heat it but enough to be perfectly moist and gooey...  My only regret at this point is that an 8 x 8 pan is so small...

Vegetarian Lentil Stew

Signs of winter are starting to appear.  Christmas carols on the radio (ick! too soon!).  Decorations popping up in my neighborhood (seriously???).  Specials, sales, and holiday products all over the mall.  Holiday recipes.  Cold temperatures.  Even a flurry or two has been sighted.

I feel that the Christmas music and decorations make their presence felt far too soon.  Thanksgiving doesn't get it's due attention.  Personally, it's my favorite holiday.  More on that later.  But you shouldn't really be surprised.  A holiday dedicated solely to food?  Duh...

The holiday sales and specials I understand.  I may not like it, but business is all about supply and demand, and businesses wouldn't start their Christmas push this soon if consumers didn't respond to it.  I've started my Christmas shopping myself.  Why stress myself out for the entire stretch of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas if I can get at least a few items crossed off my list in advance?

 But the rapidly cooling weather I fully embrace.  I actually like winter.  I'm weird that way.  Will I get fed up with it sometime mid-January?  Probably.  Do I despise the gray, wet drudgery that is February.  Definitely.  Will the teasing moments of late March and early April irritate me to no end?  Without a doubt.

But this time of the year all I'm thinking about are the comforting parts of winter.  Boots.  Sweaters. (I could live in sweaters.)  Scarves.  Hats.  Gloves.  Blankets.  Cuddling.  Tea.  Hot cocoa.  Pastas.  Soups.  Stews.  So you'll probably see a lot of comfort food on this blog over the next few months.  Starting with this recipe for Vegetarian Lentil Stew.  My mom found this recipe in a newspaper or magazine and made a copy for me the last time I was home.  While there is an almost endless list of soups and stews I am dying to try, I also hadn't made a vegetarian meal in a while, so I moved this one up the list.

(Plus, it was a great excuse to finally use these adorable bowls, from Sur la Table, that we received as a wedding gift.  Don't you just love them?)

Recipe:
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons grated, peeled ginger
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 teaspoons curry powder (except I really don't like curry powder, so I used chili powder and cumin instead)
16 ounces peeled butternut squash (4 cups), cut into pieces
1 large apple, not peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 can (19 ounces) lentil soup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1 bag (10 ounces) spinach
Lavash flat bread or pita bread, optional

I started by prepping the ginger, garlic, squash, and apple so that it would all be ready when needed.  The recipe moves pretty quickly, so I didn't think there would be much room for chopping once I started cooking.

In a four-quart saucepan, heat oil over medium heat until hot.  Add ginger, garlic, and curry powder and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.  Add squash, apple, lentil soup, salt, and water; cover and heat to boiling.  Reduce heat; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until squash is just tender, about five minutes longer.

In batches, gently stir in as many spinach leaves as possible.

Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer five minutes.

Nutritional Information: (included with recipe)
190 calories
4 grams fat
9 grams protein
34 grams carbohydrates
6.1 grams fiber
650 mg sodium
Servings: 4

Low calorie and low fat but still high in protein and fiber.  Not for consumption if you are on a low carb diet though.  I liked that there was a nice balance of vegetable, fruit, and legume servings, especially since most people don't get enough vegetables and legumes in their daily diets, myself included.  It's also a new way to incorporate iron-rich spinach, always a good thing since most women are iron deficient.

Verdict:
Ali says - Decent.  While I won't rave about this meal and say that it was 'to die for delicious - go make this right now - it will rock your world,' it was tasty, filling, warming, and healthful.   I don't think the squash was cooked quite enough (and I actually doubled the recommended cooking time at that point), so I would either cut the squash into much smaller pieces or up that phase of cooking to 15 minutes, possibly more.  It took about 30 minutes from start to finish and used only one pot, so clean-up was super easy.  I am more than willing to eat a decent tasting, easily prepped, easily cleaned meal that is also super healthful.

Alex says - Not a fan.  He also noticed that the squash was undercooked.  I think he thought it was bland.  Maybe more / an adjustment in spices would help.  When pressed, he said he would eat it again if I made it, but he wouldn't be excited about it.  And he didn't go back for seconds, which in itself is telling.  His favorite part of the meal?  The bowl.  Loves the handle!

Maybe I'll make up a pot for myself the next time he has a couple of late night shifts in a row.

Baked Pork Chops with Cranberries and Rice

Like the recipe for Italian Pasta Bake posted last week, this is nothing new to my cooking repertoire.   It's a recipe that my mom has been making for years, and one I learned how to make the first time I moved out (to NC a few years ago).

I just realized, it's been awhile since I've posted a truly new dinner recipe.  Don't worry, that will be rectified later this week.   I have something on the menu that I've been wanting to try for awhile!

But back on track to today's post.  I don't know the original source for this recipe, but I do know that I love it for it's flavor, it's simplicity, it's versatility, and it's memories of my mom's kitchen.  I usually choose to make it with pork chops, but it can also be made with chicken breasts.

Recipe:
Two boxes of rice (I use my all time favorite - Near East pilaf)
4 boneless pork chops or chicken breasts (The pork chops I bought most recently were ridiculously huge, so I used three and cut them in half.)
1 can cranberry sauce with whole berries
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice (I always use a fresh lemon!)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 cups water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Pour two boxes of rice into bottom of 13 x 9 baking pan.

Mix spice packets into water; pour over rice.

Place pork chops on top of rice mixture.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter.  Add soy sauce, lemon juice, and cranberries.  Mix until well blended.  Pour cranberries over pork chops.  Cover with foil; place in oven; bake for one hour (although I took mine out at 50 minutes, which was perfect).

Verdict:
This entire recipe takes less than 10 minutes of actual prep time.  I love those kind of recipes.  Then I have the entire baking time to clean up, make salad, set the table, various other tasks around the house, and still have a few minutes to sit on the couch with a glass of wine and a book.  Love when that works out!  Plus the after-dinner clean-up doesn't seem so ominous....

Cranberries really are a wonderful flavor, but until this recipe, I pretty much only thought of them as holiday (and holiday-leftover) fare.  I especially like that it calls for cranberry sauce with the berries in it.  The sweetness is the perfect complement to the pork chops.  All of the flavors really blend well together.

It may not make the most attractive presentation I've ever seen, but since all I want is for it to get in my tummy, that doesn't really matter anyway!


I've got leftovers on the menu for the next two nights...  The obvious pro is how easy and thoughtless dinner will be for a few days (plus I like to think of leftovers as 'free' dinner nights!), but the con is I'll have nothing much to blog about for those nights either.  I'll make up for it this weekend as I have some exciting treats on the menu this Friday!

 Until then...

Natural Bridge State Park, KY

State parks, nature, hiking, and all that that entails is not usually my idea of a vacation getaway.  I didn't get the camping gene.  But we're on a budget, and this vacation was paid for.  I'd be a fool to say no.  Plus, sleeping in a tent outdoors was not on the agenda, so I knew I could survive.

The hospital sponsors a yearly retreat for residents and their families, and this year it was at Natural Bridge State Park in Kentucky.  And we ended up having a weekend with just about the most perfect fall weather imaginable: sunny and 60s all day, every day.  What better way to spend such a weekend than outdoors?!

This was the view that greeted us when we arrived...

First on the agenda was a hike to see the balanced rock and natural bridge for which the park was named.  It wasn't a difficult hike, but there were lots and lots and lots and lots of stairs...  Plus, we were unable to check into our hotel rooms before heading out.

I hadn't planned on having to hike and climb stairs in blue jeans, a new-ish sweater, and carrying a gigantic shiny purse...  And anyone who has spent any time at all with me knows that I do not like when things don't go according to my plan.

Whether or not my plan was at all realistic isn't relevant.  It's my plan, and it should work.  I can be immature at times.  Poor Alex had to put up with my grousing and complaining the whole way up...

The view from the top of the natural bridge did a lot to improve my mood.  So did knowing I was able to make the climb, 20-pound purse over my shoulder and all!

The resident group enjoying the view from the top.

At first I was a bit disappointed to realize that we had climbed to the top of the natural bridge.  I wanted to see the thing, not stand on it!  Fortunately, one of the other resident's wives mentioned that they had taken a different trail up that went under the bridge, so we took that way down, and I was able to enjoy the view after all.

Other events over the weekend included a pit-stop at a snake pit and aquarium.  The term aquarium was used loosely as we encountered a single fish tank and a single tank with turtles in it.  It was a small exhibit, but the snakes were really active, which made it more interesting than a lot of full-scale zoos I've been to...

Between dinner at a very Kentucky local restaurant (visualize completely open kitchen with cooks drinking beer as they prepare your food) and a late night bon fire complete with jello shots and chocolaty baked goods, I'd say that the weekend was a success for all!