Gingerbread Waffles

3 c. flour
4 t. baking powder
2 t. cinnamon
2 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 t. salt
4 eggs
2/3 c. dark brown sugar, packed
1 c. canned pumpkin puree
1 1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. molasses
1/2 c. melted butter


Combine dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat eggs and brown sugar till fluffy, then beat in pumpkin, milk, molasses and melted butter. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until moist. DO NOT OVER STIR, seriously. Then cook it. Then eat it. These waffles are a softer waffle, don't hold out for a crispy waffle. I had it this past week with huckleberry syrup. Yum.

Blueberry French Toast

Oh yum. This is one of my favorites. Ever. And it is easy to make. One of the best things about this recipe is that it is prepared the night before. No work required in the morning other than popping it in the oven. Which is ideal for me because I am NOT a morning person. Another great thing about this french toast is that it doesn't require syrup. I don't need to explain why this makes me happy if you have ever seen Little Miss P eat. If not, just guess.

2 1/2 cups whole milk

8 eggs

1 t. vanilla

unsliced day old bread (I used bread that is slightly larger than a baguette, but I have made it before with larger bread. It really doesn't matter.)

brown sugar

cinnamon & nutmeg to taste

BLUEBERRIES!

Grease pan. Slice bread 1-1 1/2 inches thick and place in pan. Mix milk, eggs and vanilla together and pour over the bread. Sprinkle nutmeg & cinnamon on top of each slice and then cover with about 1/4 inch of brown sugar. Put blueberries on top, cover it and put it in the fridge overnight. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Bacon-Wrapped, Pineapple-Filled Dates

I know what you must be thinking right now. Dates=gross. But think of the first ingredient, bacon. Anything wrapped in bacon has to be good, right? It is, trust me. These are the best appetizers ever.


1 package bacon, don't use flavored kind
1 bag pitted dates
1 can pineapple CHUNKS
steak rub, I use Rub with Love
toothpicks
tinfoil
jellyroll pan
oven
you

Soak toothpicks in water for 20 minutes.
Take bacon and cut as many pieces as you want into thirds.
Stuff same amount of dates with pineapple chunks. You might need to cut the chunks down to size to fit in your dates. Then again, you might not.
Wrap bacon around dates and secure with toothpick.
Dip bacon in steak rub. Coat both sides of bacon. Place on foil-lined jellyroll sheet (sheet with sides are needed to catch the drippings).
Broil for 5-10 minutes on EACH side. Watch them! Each oven is different and you don't want it raw or burnt.

This is a picture of Rub with Love to help you find it.

Peanut Butter Popcorn

This is sooo good, easy to make and very addicting.

1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/8 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla
bag of butter-flavored microwave popcorn

Microwave the popcorn first. Stir sugar and corn syrup together and cook over medium heat until mixture starts bubbling. Remove from heat and add peanut butter & chocolate chips. Stir until smooth and then stir in vanilla. Wait for alcohol to burn off then pour over bowl of popcorn. Make sure to remove unpopped kernels or you will destroy your teeth! Mix the peanut butter mixture completely into the popcorn and enjoy!

Note:
Don't use organic peanut butter, it won't taste very good. You need all those things that are bad for you in this.
Don't use plain popcorn. Same reasoning. It won't taste good if you try to make it healthier.

Gooey Pumpkin Cake

This is a Paula Deen recipe and it is great! I love butter and Paula loves butter. I think we could be friends. This is really the best stuff ever and never lasts long while I am around! Enjoy!


Cake:
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
8 T. melted butter
1 egg


Filling: 8 oz. softened cream cheese
3 eggs
8 T. melted butter
1 t. cinnamon
15 oz. canned pumpkin
1 t. vanilla
16 oz. powdered sugar
1 t. nutmeg


Mix all cake ingredients well & pat into greased 9 x 13 pan.


Beat cream cheese & pumpkin until smooth, then add eggs, vanilla & butter. Next add powdered sugar, cinnamon & nutmeg. Mix well and pour over cake mix. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. The center must be a little gooey because this is a gooey cake!

Clam Chowder

This has to be one of my favorites. It is soooo good and perfect for yucky days. I got this recipe from a dear friend who was kind enough to share it with me. Not the healthiest meal, but I like to think all the veggies counteract the butter & cream (yeah right). I like mixing up the texture by adding minced & chopped clams and by dicing & chopping the veggies. I've also made this with just evaporated milk - it's ok, but the cream is what really makes this tasty. I've found that about half of each is good, but any more than that and I can notice the difference too much. Enjoy!

1 can (6 oz.) minced clams
1 can (6 oz.) chopped clams
1 1/2 c. chopped onions
1 1/2 c diced & chopped celery
2 1/2 c diced & chopped potatoes
4-5 slices chopped, cooked bacon

3/4 c. butter
3/4 c. flour
1 quart cream or 1 pint cream & 1 pint evaporated milk
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1/2 t. sugar

Drain clams over veggies in pot. Add salt, pepper & sugar. Add enough water to cover veggies & simmer until potatoes are tender. Melt butter & add flour. Blend & cook 1-2 minutes. Add cream & cook until thick, stirring often. Careful not to scorch the bottom of the pan! Add bacon, clams & cream to veggies, heat again until thickened.

Cream Cheese Onion Dogs

I'll spare you a picture this time. This is really, REALLY not a photogenic food. The picture I took made me not want to eat this so much. This is a super easy meal that we love. It came to us via my sister via a street-side hot dog cart.

Ingredients

Buns (I prefer Fransisco International Outdoor Rolls)
Dogs (I like Costco's polish sausages)
Cream Cheese
Barbecue sauce
1-2 T. Olive Oil
1-2 T. Butter
1/2 sweet onion, sliced about 3/4 inch thick


Saute onions in pan. You can use straight olive oil or butter if you choose. I like to mix it up a bit. You can carmelize them if you desire, but I like mine just as they start to turn light brown and still have some bite to them. Lightly toast bun and spread cream cheese on both sides. Put onions and barbecue sauce on top. Will make enough onions for about 3-4 hot dogs. Enjoy.

Po' Man's Roca

So I made this the other night for a party we went to and by request here is the recipe! I really don't have a better name for it. It is somewhat similar to Almond Roca in flavor. Somewhat. Insomuch that there is sugar, butter, chocolate and almonds involved. The previous name was Chocolate Saltine Treat. Yummy. Doesn't that just roll off your tongue? This is super easy to make and I have no candy experience whatsoever so don't expect temperatures or any of that other technical junk.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 cubes butter

1 c. sugar

1 t. vanilla

1 1/2 packages saltines

16 oz. chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, peanut butter, whatever!)

Nuts (almonds, cashews, walnuts, etc.)

1/4 stick butter

Line regular size jelly roll sheet with tinfoil and butter it with approximately 1/4 stick of butter. This works best if you stick it in oven for a minute or so while preheating the oven. Place saltines over entire sheet.

Melt 2 cubes of butter and add sugar, cook it until it is slightly brown. Not taupe, not caramel-colored, just slightly brown. Add vanilla.

Pour mixture over saltines and spread evenly to the edges of the sheet. Bake in oven for 5 minutes at 350*. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and spread evenly to edges. Get creative with chip flavors if you want to. I usually mix half milk chocolate and half semi-sweet together. Sprinkle nuts on top and gently press into chocolate. Refrigerate MINIMUM 1 hour. Chop into chunks and devour. Oh and watch out for little bits of tinfoil on the bottom. It happens sometimes.

Chicken Pesto Pizza

One of our family's favorites and really easy to make. I mean, come on, it's pizza. My mom and I made homemade pesto and froze it into various size muffin tins. I pull out a regular size muffin tin chunk of pesto for this pizza. I also use a Boboli pizza crust because 1.) I haven't found a homemade pizza crust recipe that I like, and 2.) I'd probably be too lazy to make it anyway.

Ingredients

Boboli pizza crust

about 1/2 - 1 cup pesto

about 1/2 block of cream cheese

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

3/4 cup cooked chicken, cut into strips

about 1/2 of a zucchini, thinly sliced

2 mushrooms, thinly sliced

red pepper, thinly sliced

onions, same routine

about 1/4 cup parmesan, romano or asiago cheese, finely shredded

Mix pesto and cream cheese together to your taste. We have kids, and they like it a little creamier. You can use straight pesto if you choose, but I like to add some cream cheese because it helps bind the pesto together and makes the sauce not as greasy. Layer the rest of the ingredients in order. Vegetable preference is obviously optional. I'm the only one in my family that likes onions and peppers on my pizza. Sprinkle finely shredded parmesan cheese (or whatever you have around) on top.

Enjoy!

Thai Shrimp & Asparagus

I made this for dinner the other night. It was so yummy & easy to make I just had to share it. My grandmother routinely shares her Good Housekeeping & Ladies Home Journal magazines with me. Thanks Grandma! (She's internet-savy.) And normally I ignore the recipes, they never look good or look too weird. But this one spoke to me. Shrimp. Asparagus. Coconut Milk. Brown Rice. Yum. How could it go wrong?

Ingredients
1 lb shelled and deveined shrimp
4 teaspoons green curry paste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 lb asparagus, cut in 2-in pieces
2 limes
1 (13.5-14 ounce) can light coconut milk
2 tablespoons reduced sodium fish sauce
2 (8 7/8 ounce) packages precooked whole-grain brown rice

Directions
1.In medium bowl, toss shrimp with curry paste to coat. In 12-inch skillet, heat oil on medium-high. Add shrimp; cook 3 minutes or just until pink, stirring. Transfer to large bowl.
2. To same skillet, add asparagus and 3 tablespoons water; cook 4 minutes or until asparagus is tender-crisp and water evaporates, stirring often. From 1 lime, grate 1 teaspoon peel; cut remaining lime into 4 wedges.
3. Add asparagus to shrimp in bowl. To skillet, add coconut milk and lime peel; heat to boiling on high. Reduce heat to medium and cook 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.
4. Return shrimp mixture to skillet. Stir in fish sauce; heat through. Heat rice in microwave as label directs; serve with shrimp and lime wedges.


Ok, so here is where I deviated from the directions.

I used Costco's frozen asparagus and it tasted fine. I think I will try fresh asparagus to see how it differs.

I used regular fish sauce and it was fine. I just reduced the amount to somewhere between 1 and 1 1/2 tablespoons.

I added about 1/2 teaspoon sugar.

I only used 1 lime. Who cares about presentation? Not me, I'm too cheap.

We added fresh cilantro as garnish. Yum.

It is very important to use light coconut milk! I messed up another recipe before by using regular coconut milk. Yuk. I use Trader Joe's light coconut milk because I know I can count on the consistency of the coconut milk.

I also used Trader Joe's Frozen Brown Rice. I keep a box in the freezer for when I need to make a quick meal.

Enjoy!