Christmas Breakfast Casserole

I wanted to post the recipe for our traditional Christmas breakfast casserole last year, but I forgot to take a picture of it, so I vowed to post it this year. But what do you know, I forgot to take a picture of it AGAIN, so the only photo you get is one of my son eating it:

It was the first year he was able to enjoy this breakfast with us (last year he was only 7 months old), and I'm pleased to report that he absolutely loved it!

I think every family has their own traditional Christmas breakfast. Growing up we always just had eggs, toast, and bacon or sausage on Christmas morning, but once I moved in with Joe I started making this casserole. I've adapted the original recipe quite extensively over the years, and Joe starts looking forward to eating this at the beginning of December. I only make it once a year -- it just wouldn't be as special for us if I made it more often -- but it would make for a delicious, hearty dinner any night of the year. It can easily be prepped and stored in the refrigerator a day or two ahead, which makes it perfect for holiday or weeknight cooking.

Christmas Breakfast Casserole
source: adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes

1 package breakfast sausage links
1 cup milk
2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1 package frozen potatoes O'Brien, thawed
1 package petit diced ham
1 package frozen broccoli, carrots and cauliflower in cheese sauce, thawed
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Eggs, cooked your preferred method, if desired

1. Brown sausage according to package directions until done; slice into 1-inch pieces.

2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine milk, cream of mushroom soup, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and salt and pepper. Stir in potatoes, ham, vegetables and cheese sauce, and shredded cheese.

3. Add mixture to a Crock pot sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Cook on low heat 6 hours, or until hot and bubbly (I always turn it on before we go to bed on Christmas Eve, and by the time we wake up it's perfect.). Top with eggs, if desired.

Baked Gnocchi with Spinach and Goat Cheese

I've been wanting to make this dish ever since I got Giada's pasta cookbook last winter. I'd planned to wait until the weather got colder to make it, since it seems like the perfect cold weather comfort food, but I just couldn't wait any longer. We're having good luck with Andrew and spinach lately, and I want to take advantage of it while it lasts.

We all really enjoyed this, and I thought it was definitely worth the wait. It's a hearty, filling vegetarian entree with tons of flavor, and it really couldn't be easier to prepare. I can't speak to how it works at leftovers, because there weren't any in our house -- we all had two helpings. Andrew liked the gnocchi so much that I've made it for him twice since -- once with cheese sauce, and once with marinara. I think it may be his new favorite food!

Baked Gnocchi with Spinach and Goat Cheese
source: adapted from Everyday Pasta by Giada de Laurentiis

1 17-ounce package potato gnocchi

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/8 cup all purpose flour

Salt and pepper to taste
Dash of nutmeg

6 ounces baby spinach

2 ounces goat cheese

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place gnocchi in a lightly greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish and set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, whisk together cream, broth, and flour over medium heat. Continue whisking until the sauce is simmering and thickened, about 5 minutes.

3. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg, and stir to combine. Add spinach and toss to coat in the cream. Pour the cream and spinach mixture over the gnocchi evenly, spreading the spinach out to cover all the potato dumplings.

4. Crumble goat cheese over the spinach. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake until the top is golden in places, about 30 minutes.

Frozen Pumpkin Squares

Well, I've officially found a pumpkin dessert that my husband doesn't like. And this is it.

Don't let that deter you from trying these, though; Andrew and I both liked them very much. I think for Joe it was more of a texture issue than a flavor issue, since essentially, the main component of this dessert is frozen pudding. I will admit that the texture of these is rather odd, and next time I make them I may substitute softened vanilla ice cream for the pudding. If I do that, I think I'll have a pretty darn perfect pumpkiny treat on my hands -- one that Joe will definitely enjoy.

Frozen Pumpkin Squares
source: Favorite Brand Name Recipes: Classic Recipe Collection

1 cup fine gingersnap crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 1/4 cups cold milk
2 packages (4 serving size each) vanilla flavor instant pudding and pie filling
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 tub (8 ounces) whipped topping, thawed, divided

1. Mix crumbs, walnuts and butter in a small bowl. Reserve 2 tablespoons for garnish. Press onto bottom of foil-lined 8-inch square pan. Refrigerate.

2. Pour milk into a large bowl. Add pudding mixes, pumpkin and spice. (Next time, I'll use a couple of cups of vanilla ice cream in place of the milk and pudding.) Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. Gently stir in 2 1/4 cups of the whipped topping. Spread over crust.

3. Freeze 4 hours or until firm. Let stand at room temperature 10 minutes or until dessert can be easily cut. Cut into squares. Garnish with remaining whipped topping and sprinkle with reserved crumbs.

Sausage-Stuffed Baked Apples

This just may be the perfect autumn supper. I mean, who doesn't love baked apples, right? This savory version made with maple sausage is absolutely impossible to resist.

These were absolutely delicious just as I made them, but you could play with the filling in lots of ways. The original recipe calls for dried figs, which I omitted, but I think they would have been delicious in these. Golden raisins or dried cranberries would be excellent too. And some brie would take these absolutely over the top. I made them during the week, but when I make them again I'll do it over the weekend, since these take a little bit longer to prep and cook than I prefer for weeknight cooking. But oh, these were so good. They were a literal taste of autumn. Served with a simple salad of mixed greens dressed with balsamic vinaigrette, this was a comforting, warm-you-up fall supper.

Sausage-Stuffed Baked Apples
source: adapted from Blue Ribbon Family Favorites

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 pound bulk maple pork sausage
1 small onion, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans
3 baking apples, halved and cored (I used Honeycrisp)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add sausage and onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook until sausage is browned and onion is softened. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans.

3. Fill each apple half with some of the sausage mixture. Place apples, filling side up, in a baking dish; cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 40 minutes or until apples are tender.

Chicken Cacciatore Risotto

With temperatures in the 40s, cloudy skies and biting winds, and snow in the forecast for the end of the week, today seems like the perfect day to share this risotto recipe with you. Risotto is one of my absolute favorite comfort foods; it's the kind of meal that just warms the soul -- and the body, especially when the weather's getting chillier.

This recipe is adapted from a cookbook I inherited from my stepsister. She was getting ready to donate a bunch of cookbooks to charity, but I couldn't resist going through them first to see if there were any I wanted. This particular cookbook caught my eye immediately, since it contains recipes from the Mediterranean countries -- an area whose food I unequivocally love.

The recipe as it's written in the cookbook is very basic, consisting of only chicken, chicken broth, tomato sauce and some garlic. But to me, that's just not chicken cacciatore. When I think of chicken cacciatore, I immediately think of mushrooms, onions, and green peppers in a thick tomato-y sauce. So I added all of those things to the recipe, and I must say that this turned out wonderfully. Even Andrew liked it, and the leftovers heated up really well for lunch the next day.

Chicken Cacciatore Risotto
source: adapted from Viva la Mediterranean

1 cup arborio rice
5 to 6 cups warm chicken stock
1 medium onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
8 ounces mushrooms, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
1 14.5-ounce can Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. In a high-sided skillet over medium-high heat, heat a small amount of olive oil. Add onion, bell pepper and mushrooms and cook until peppers are crisp-tender and mushrooms are beginning to brown. Add garlic; cook and stir 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

2. Add rice to pan and cook until it begins to brown and smells nutty, then add about 1 cup of warm stock to the pan. Cook over medium to medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until liquid is absorbed. Keep adding stock and stirring until the liquid is absorbed until rice is completely cooked (the whole process should take anywhere from 18-22 minutes).

3. Stir in chicken, diced tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and parsley until heated through. Top servings with additional parmesan cheese and parsley, if desired.

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

When I was paging through cookbooks last week trying to decide what I wanted to bake, these cookies caught my eye immediately. They grabbed my attention mainly because of all the chocolate, and chocolate is something that the baby and I just can't get enough of these days. They sounded really simple to make, too, which is always a plus.

These cookies contain no eggs, and they call for confectioners' sugar rather than granulated, so their texture is really light and airy. They have great chocolate flavor without being too rich, which makes it especially hard to eat just one. We loved these cookies, and they were so delicious that I just had to let Andrew try one. He seemed to enjoy it, as I knew he would:

I'm pretty sure these cookies will be making their way into my Christmas packages (yes, I'm already thinking about Christmas. I'm one of THOSE people). They're such a sweet, delicious, irresistible little treat!

Chocolate Truffle Cookies
source: The Taste of Home Baking Book, recipe also found here

1 1/4 cups butter, softened
2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chocolate sprinkles

1. In a large bowl, cream butter, confectioners' sugar and cocoa until light and fluffy. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Add flour; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Roll into 1-inch balls; dip one side in chocolate sprinkles. Place, sprinkled side up, 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

3. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes or until set. Cool 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Yields about 5 1/2 dozen cookies.

Banana Nut Pancakes

Ohhh, you guys. You have got to try these pancakes. Soon. Like tonight. Scrap whatever dinner plans you have and make these instead. In fact, I just might do that myself. I think I could eat these pancakes every day.

We had these banana nut pancakes for breakfast yesterday morning, and they were heartily enjoyed by all three of us. Andrew ate an entire pancake by himself, and I think he would have tackled a second one if there'd been any more. But, sadly, there weren't. We ate all of them.

The creamy, sweet topping on these pancakes is so delicious that it makes butter absolutely unnecessary. I did, however, drown my pancakes in maple syrup (as you can see), which was delicious with the rest of the flavors. (I can't get enough maple syrup lately. This is particularly amusing to me since I didn't even really like maple syrup before I got pregnant. Cravings are weird.) Next time, I'm doubling this recipe for sure.

Banana Nut Pancakessource: Taste of Home 2000 Annual Recipes, also found here

3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup whipped topping
1 cup pancake mix
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 medium ripe banana, mashed
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Mix in whipped topping (mixture will be stiff); set aside.

2. In a bowl, combine pancake mix and sugar. Beat egg, milk and oil; add to pancake mix and mix well. Fold in banana and pecans.

3. Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a lightly greased hot griddle; turn when bubbles form on top of pancakes. Cook until second side is golden brown. Serve with cream topping. Makes approximately 8 pancakes.

BBQ Shrimp over Buttered Noodles

Finally, I'm back with a new recipe to share with you! It seems like lately I've been cooking household favorites that I've already posted -- or cooking nothing at all. But I'm trying out quite a few new recipes this week, so hopefully I'll have some yummy things to post!

This recipe for BBQ shrimp over buttered noodles is definitely yummy. And I promise you, that's not just my BBQ craving talking. This was really, really good. I loved the smokiness of the bacon paired with the sweetness of the shrimp, and it worked perfectly served over silky buttered noodles. The best part, aside from the fact that I already had all of the ingredients on hand? This meal only took about 20 minutes to prepare, start to finish. And that is definitely my kind of weeknight dinner.

I've adapted the recipe below to serve two (and a half), but I've also linked to the original, which serves six. Joe and I both really enjoyed this (Andrew liked the noodles, and he loved licking the BBQ sauce off the shrimp), and it will be a repeat in our house for sure. With a simple salad and some crusty bread on the side, this was the perfect weeknight meal!

BBQ Shrimp over Buttered Noodles
source: adapted from Taste of Home's Busy Family Cookbook; original recipe here

8 ounces angel hair pasta
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
6 bacon strips, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 10-ounce package frozen medium shrimp, thawed, peeled and deveined
1/4 to 1/2 cup BBQ sauce (I eyeballed it and, as always, used Sweet Baby Ray's)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels; drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings. Saute onion in the drippings until tender. Add garlic and shrimp; season with salt and pepper and cook and stir until shrimp are no longer pink.

3. Return bacon to the skillet. Add barbecue sauce; cook and stir over medium heat until heated through. Drain pasta and stir in butter, parsley, and parmesan cheese until butter is melted. Top with shrimp mixture. Sprinkle with additional parmesan cheese, if desired.

Provolone, Prosciutto and Pesto Quiche

For breakfast on Sunday morning, I decided to try my hand at something I'd never made before: quiche. Quiche is another one of those dishes that just intimidates me, for some reason; plus, it requires the kind of time commitment that I don't usually have. Well, I guess I should say that it used to intimidate me; now that I've made one, with pretty successful results, I know I'll be more confident making this in the future.

Joe was skeptical when I told him what we were having for breakfast. "I've never liked quiche…" he told me, but after trying this one he informed me that he was officially a real man who was proud to eat quiche, and that I could make this as often as I wanted. Even more surprising than Joe's reaction was Andrew's: My little man absolutely loved this, and ate nearly a whole slice all by himself.

The prosciutto and artichokes are my own additions to the recipe, and I really liked the added flavor they gave to the filling. This was a cheesy, hearty, filling and fulfilling breakfast, and I'm pretty sure Joe is going to be asking me to make it again very soon!

Provolone, Prosciutto, and Pesto Quiche
source: adapted from Pillsbury Annual Recipes 2008

1 refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed on box
2 cups shredded provolone cheese
3 tablespoons refrigerated pesto
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 thin slices prosciutto, diced
1/2 cup canned artichokes in water, drained, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
Dash of hot sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Make pie crust as directed on box using 9-inch glass pie plate. Bake 7 minutes.

2. Remove crust from oven; sprinkle 1 cup of the provolone cheese over the bottom of the crust.

3. In a small bowl, mix pesto and parmesan cheese until smooth. Carefully spread over provolone cheese. Top with prosciutto, artichokes, bell pepper, and the remaining provolone cheese.

4. In large bowl with wire whisk, beat eggs, milk, hot sauce and salt and pepper until well blended. Pour over cheese.

5. Bake 7 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees; bake 15 minutes. Cover edges of crust with foil. Bake 23 to 28 minutes longer or until set and knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 mintues before serving.

Prosciutto Pork Kabobs

Oh, how I love prosciutto. I think I would eat its salty deliciousness with, in or on pretty much anything, but my favorite thing to pair it with is pork tenderloin. Something about the pork-pork combo really gets me. In the words of Emeril, pork fat just totally rules.

When I saw these kabobs combining prosciutto-wrapped pork pieces with zucchini and mushrooms, I was immediately smitten. Even though Joe over-cooked them just slightly (he got distracted with talking to our neighbor over the fence), they turned out to be just as delicious as I'd hoped. Because I never buy flavored oils (seriously, why spend the money when you can make your own so easily?), I used regular olive oil that I added a few cloves of crushed garlic to and cooked over low heat until the oil just started to bubble. The flavor infused perfectly.

Nothing screams "summer" like a grilled kabob, so this meal was a nice way to say goodbye to summer as we welcome the cooler weather.

Prosciutto Pork Kabobs
source: Better Homes and Gardens New Grilling Book

1/4 cup garlic-flavored olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 pound pork tenderloin
3 ounces thinly-sliced prosciutto
8 ounces fresh whole mushrooms, stems removed
2 small zucchini and/or yellow summer squash, cut into 3/4-inch thick slices
2 tablespoons finely shredded parmesan cheese

1. In a small bowl combine oil, lemon juice, and crushed red pepper; set aside.

2. Trim fat from pork. Cut pork into 1 1/2-inch cubes. Cut prosciutto into 1 1/2-inch-wide strips. Wrap a strip of prosciutto around each pork cube. On (metal or water-soaked wood) skewers, alternately thread pork cubes, mushrooms, and zucchini, leaving a 1/4-inch space between the pieces.

3. For a charcoal grill, grill kabobs on the greased grill rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium coals for 18 to 20 minutes or until pork is no longer pink and juices run clear, turning once halfway through grilling and brushing with the oil mixture during the last four minutes of grilling. (For gas grill, preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium. Place kabobs on grill rack over heat. Cover; grill as above.)

4. Just before serving, sprinkle kabobs with parmesan cheese.

Chicken Fajita Pasta

This is just another one of those simple weeknight pasta tosses that comes together in no time. And this particular one? It's really, really good. The peppers and chipotle marinade provide just the right amount of heat, and the sour cream balances the spice perfectly. I amended the recipe slightly, but I've linked to the original.

We love Mexican food in our house, so I pretty much knew from the get-go that this dish would be a hit. I topped our servings with some shredded cheese (to me, a fajita isn't a fajita without cheese!) and some extra sour cream. This is definitely one that I'll make again!

Chicken Fajita Pasta
source: adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Annual Recipes 2007; original recipe found here

16 ounces pasta (I used rotelle, but any short or long cut of pasta will work)
1 8-ounce carton dairy sour cream
1/2 cup chipotle liquid meat marinade (I used Lawry's Baja Chipotle marinade)
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced (1/2 cup)
1 medium red sweet pepper, seeded and cut into thin bite-size strips
1 fresh Anaheim chile pepper, seeded and cut into thin bite-size strips (1/3 cup)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound boneless skinless chicken tenders, cut into bite-size pieces

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.

2. Meanwhile, in a bowl combine sour cream, marinade, lime juice, chili powder, and cumin; set aside.

3. In large skillet, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and cook chicken over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Remove from skillet. Add remaining olive oil and onion, sweet pepper, and Anaheim pepper. Cook and stir over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until crisp-tender.

4. Add chicken, vegetables, and sour cream mixture to drained pasta. Toss to coat. Heat through over low heat.

Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Blondies

Wow, these blondies were really good. Rich, sweet, decadent, and 100% addictive. Even Joe, who isn't usually a big butterscotch fan, absolutely loved these. (Andrew loved them too, but I think that goes without saying, right?) They're the first blondies I've ever made, and an awesome beginning to what I think is going to be a long, beautiful relationship.

The only issue I had was that the caramel topping made them really sticky and hard to eat with our fingers. The caramel is supposed to be marbled into the blondie batter -- but the batter's pretty thick and doesn't really lend itself well to marbling. I smeared it in the best I could, but I think most of the caramel ended up on top of the batter. So after eating these, we had sticky fingers but very happy tastebuds. It was definitely a fair trade.

Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Blondies
source: Cookies, Brownies and More

1/2 cup butter at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla.

2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to wet mixture in batches, mixing well after each addition.

3. Stir in chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and pecans. Pour batter into a greased 13 x 9-inch baking dish.

4. Dollop caramel topping on top of batter; use a knife to marble topping into batter.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Taco Puffs

I almost didn't make these last night. On the way home from work I got a wicked craving for Kenutcky Fried Chicken, but at the last minute I decided to forge ahead with our original dinner plans and make these taco puffs. I'm really glad I did, because these were delicious! Joe liked them even more than I did -- these are absolutely his kind of food.

Because I am an airhead and also easily distracted, I completely forgot to add the cheese to the filling of the taco puffs. But no worries -- I just melted the cheese on top of the puffs for the last 5 minutes or so of cooking, and the cheese flavor was definitely still there. I'm excited to experiment with this method in the future -- by filling the puffs with sloppy joes, pizza toppings, etc. The possibilities are endless! These came together so quickly, and they were just yummy.

The recipe below reflects my changes (minus the whole cheese-on-top thing. If I make these again I'll try to remember to put the cheese inside). If you're using only one package of biscuits (which will make four taco puffs) you'll only use about half a pound of meat. I cooked up a full pound, though, just so we could have leftover beef for tacos for lunch today.

Taco Puffs
source: slightly adapted from Taste of Home Prize Winning Recipes; original recipe found here

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chilies
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 tube (16.3 ounces) large refrigerated flaky biscuits
1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese

1. In a large skillet, cook beef, onion and chilies over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions. Cool slightly.

2. Flatten half of the biscuits into 4-inch circles; place on a greased cookie sheet. Spoon a small amount of the meat mixture onto each; sprinkle with shredded cheese. Flatten the remaining biscuits; place on top and pinch edges to seal tightly. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Peach-Glazed Pork Chops with Grilled Peaches

One of the ingredients I've been really into lately is peaches. I just can't get enough of them in any way, shape or form (see: this pie). So when I saw this recipe in one of my Cooking Light cookbooks, I knew I wanted to try it.

I made some changes to the recipe to fit my time-frame and lifestyle, so if you want the original recipe just click the link below. The original calls for fresh peaches to be stewed in white wine for 30 minutes, then pureed and used as a marinade for the pork for at least 30 additional minutes before grilling -- but I just don't have that kind of time on a weeknight. Besides, I don't really want my toddler eating something that's been cooked in white wine, even if the alcohol has cooked out. I'm just not that progressive. So I used a plastic jar of peaches and skipped the first step all together, and marinated the pork in the mixture for about 20 minutes. And I was still very pleased with the end result. The peach marinade made the pork sweet and incredibly juicy, and the grilled peach slices on top really bumped up the fruity flavor. These grilled pork chops were delicious and summery, and this is something I would definitely make again.

Peach-Glazed Pork Chops with Grilled Peaches
source: adapted from The Best of Cooking Light; original recipe can be viewed here

1 plastic jar yellow cling peaches
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
4 center-cut pork chops, trimmed
1 peach, pitted and quartered
Cooking spray

1. Combine peaches, salt and black pepper, vinegar, maple syrup, chili powder, paprika, and red pepper in a food processor or blender; pulse to combine. Place half of peach mixture in a large heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; reserve other half for basting. Add chops to bag; seal bag and refrigerate at least 20 minutes (up to 4 hours).

2. Preheat grill.

3. Remove pork from bag; discard marinade. Sprinkle pork with salt and black pepper. Place pork and peach quarters on grill rack coated with cooking spray, and grill 10 minutes or until the pork is done and the peaches are tender, turning once. Baste pork and peach slices with the reserved peach mixture every 2 minutes during the first 6 minutes of cooking.

Creamy Bow Ties with Ham and Vegetables

Not a very exciting picture, huh? I should have topped the pasta with some parsley or chives or something, just for color. Regardless of how it looks, though, I think everyone needs a pasta dish like this in their "go-to dinner" arsenal: something that's quick and easy and made with readily available ingredients. This is one of those go-to pasta dishes for us. I've made it three or four times now, and it's simple and tasty and the perfect weeknight dinner. It would also be delicious with chicken. Andrew especially loves it (it has asparagus and carrots in it, two of his favorite things. He's a weird boy.) and Joe and I are big fans too. Not only is it quick and comforting, but it's also cheap: this recipe makes four servings, for much less than $10.00. Take that, Melissa d'Arabian!

Creamy Bow Ties with Ham and Vegetables
source: slightly adapted from Betty Crocker One-Dish Family Favorites

2 cups uncooked farfalle pasta
3/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup cream cheese with chive and onion
1 cup sliced carrots
8 ounces asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into thirds
1 1/2 cups cooked diced ham

1. Cook and drain pasta as directed on package.

2. While pasta is cooking, mix cream cheese and half-and-half in 12-inch nonstick skillet. Cook over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until melted and smooth.

3. Stir in carrots. Cook 4 minutes, stirring occasinally. Stir in asparagus. Cover and cook 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender.

4. Stir in ham and pasta until hot.

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes

I first saw these cupcakes on Denise's blog and I found myself practically drooling. And then I saw that the recipe comes from a cookbook I actually own, Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, and I knew that I had no excuse not to make these delicious little delights immediately. So that's exactly what I did.

These were sooooo good -- creamy, decadent, rich, and delicious. And addictive, too! I'd eaten three before I even knew what I was doing. Needless to say, they disappeared very quickly. They're so easy to throw together and bake up in no time, and they taste really special. Next time, I may try making them with peanut butter Oreos -- or even mint Oreos during the holidays. You're going to love these!

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes
source: Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

42 Oreos, 30 left whole, 12 coarsely chopped
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 large eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

2. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place one whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

3. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

4. Divide batter evenly among cookie-filled cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes.

5. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate in tins at least 4 hours or up to overnight. Remove from tins just before serving.

BBQ-Stuffed Baked Potatoes

I've seen this idea popping up in a lot of cookbooks and on quite a few websites recently, and given my current continuing obsession with all things barbecue, I was drawn to it. I'd never considered topping baked potatoes with barbecued meat before, but as soon as I saw this recipe I thought to myself, "Of course. What a perfect pairing."

And it really is a perfect pairing. And so easy! This recipe uses prepared store-bought shredded barbecue chicken, something I'd never tried before. I used Lloyds, and I gotta say, I was really impressed with the flavor. You could also used leftover shredded meat (barbecued beef, pork, or chicken would all be delicious) or pick up some take-out from your favorite barbecue place. This was a hearty, delicious, and oh-so-simple dinner for us last week.

BBQ-Stuffed Baked Potatoes
source: slightly adapted from Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast

4 baking potatoes
1 1/3 cups shredded BBQ chicken
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
2 green onions, finely chopped

1. Pierce potatoes with a fork; arrange on paper towels in a microwave oven. Microwave on high for 10 minutes or until done, rearranging potatoes halfway through. Remove from microwave and let cool slightly.

2. Heat chicken in microwave according to package directions.

3. Slice potatoes lengthwise and fluff with fork. Top each potato evenly with chicken, cheese, sour cream, and green onions.

Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Up until pretty recently, most of my pregnancy cravings have been for savory, salty things -- anything barbecued, pickles (how typical, right?), eggs. But last Friday I got a craving for chocolate chip cookies that just would not go away until I made a batch. I always have all the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies on hand, so to find a recipe I turned to a cookbook I knew wouldn't let me down: Martha Stewart's Cookies. There are three or four chocolate chip cookie recipes in that cookbook, but I turned to the one I knew I would like the best: the cakey version. I loooove cakey cookies.

Can I tell you how hard it was to keep myself from eating the raw cookie dough? Despite the whole "pregnant women shouldn't eat raw eggs" thing, I actually did sneak a couple bites of the dough. I couldn't resist. I'm so terrible.

These cookies marked Andrew's first foray into the world of chocolate chip cookies, and as you can imagine, he absolutely loved them. If I hadn't limited him to one, he would have eaten almost as many as his father did -- and that's really saying something. I wish I had a picture to show you!

We all loved these cookies. They're everything you want a chocolate chip cookie to be -- chocolatey, sugary, and absolutely irresistible. As Martha herself would say, these cookies are a very, very "good thing"!

Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies
Source: Martha Stewart's Cookies; recipe also found here

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips (I used a combination of both)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

2. Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

3. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges and set in the center, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

Key Lime Cheesecake

My husband's drink of choice is rum and Coke with a slice of lime. He really doesn't drink them that often, but last week, he got the urge for one. So, he made a run to the store -- where he saw that key limes were 15 for $1. So he figured, hey, I'll just buy 15 of them. Even though there is no way he could ever drink enough rum and Cokes to use all 15 limes before they went bad.

Long story short, I was left with quite a few limes that were just going to spoil if I didn't use them for something. I thought about making the obvious thing, a key lime pie, but then decided I'd rather try something new. I found this recipe for key lime cheesecake in one my cheesecake cookbooks, so I decided to go for it.

This is a delicious cheesecake. If you're a fan of citrus, I think you'd really love it. It has a sugar cookie crust, a creamy key lime filling, and a tart honey-lime glaze. I have to admit that it's quite tart, so if you're not a huge fan of super-tart things I'd definitely leave the glaze off, or reduce the amount of lime and/or increase the amount of honey in the glaze. Overall, though, this cheesecake was a delicious and refreshing summer dessert, and everyone who tried it absolutely loved it.

(By the way, I still have quite a few limes left to use, so if you have any ideas for ways I can use them up I'd love to hear them!)

Key Lime Cheesecake
source: Cheesecake Extraordinaire, by Mary Crownover

For the sugar cookie crust:

3/4 cup flour
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Substitution: 8 ounces of refrigerated sugar cookie dough

For the key lime filling:

24 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
5 tablespoons sour cream
5 teaspoons flour
4 eggs
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
1/4 cup key lime juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the honey-lime glaze:

1/2 cup frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
4 teaspoons key lime juice
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon finely shredded lime peel

1. For the crust, in a medium bowl stir together flour and sugar. Add egg, butter or margarine, and vanilla extract. Beat with an electric mixer until well combined. With generously greased fingers, press the dough evenly onto the bottom of a greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and set aside.

2. For the filling, in a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, and flour. Beat with an electric mixer till smooth. Add eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in limeade concentrate, lime juice, and vanilla extract. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 200 degrees and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the center no longer looks wet or shiny. Remove the cake from the oven and run a knife around the inside edge of the pan.

3. For the glaze, in a small saucepan stir together limeade concentrate, lime juice, cornstarch, honey, and lime peel. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Pour over cheesecake. Chill till serving time. Garnish with lime slices, if desired.

Coca-Cola-Glazed Baby Back Ribs

One of the last cookbooks I bought for myself before my self-imposed Cookbook Embargo was Bon Appetit, Ya'll: Recipes and Stories from Three Generations of Southern Cooking. The author, Virginia Willis, was raised in the South but attended culinary school in France, so she has a unique point-of-view. This recipe for ribs is the first recipe I've made from the cookbook, but just looking through it I can tell I'm going to be using it frequently!

Joe and I are very much traditionalists when it comes to ribs, so this recipe was a departure for us. We both really, really enjoyed the end result. The sauce was tangy and sweet, with just the right amount of heat, and the oven-baked ribs stayed nice and tender. These ribs could easily be adapted for the grill, making them perfect for a Fourth of July cookout.

Coca-Cola-Glazed Baby Back Ribs
Source: adapted from Bon Appetit Ya'll: Recipes and Stories from Three Generations of Southern Cooking by Virginia Willis; recipe also featured on her blog

1 cup Coca-Cola Classic

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 rack baby back ribs

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. To make the glaze, in a small saucepan, bring the Coca-Cola, vinegar, brown sugar, and pepper to a boil over high heat; reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until syrupy, about 10 minutes. Decrease the heat to low and keep the sauce warm while the ribs cook.

2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Liberally season both sides of the ribs with salt and pepper. Place the ribs on a broiler pan and bake for 30 minutes, glazing the ribs occasionally with the Coca-Cola mixture. Turn the ribs over and continue to cook for an additional 30 minutes, glazing occasionally, or until the ribs are tender and the meat is starting to pull away from the bone.

3. When the ribs are cooked through, set the oven to broil. Liberally spoon half of the remaining glaze over the ribs and broil until glazed a deep mahogany brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Turn over; repeat with the remaining glaze, an additional 5 to 7 minutes. Serve immediately.