Well life has been super busy lately. I am taking a night class, trying to keep up with the daily homework, working full time and being a mother and wife. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day.

I came across a wonderful blog last month, Iowa Girl Eats. She has great healthy recipes on her site, including this Green Monster. At first I figured it would taste pretty gross when looking at the ingrediants, but it is actually VERY good! I am totally hooked. It is filled with vitamins and will give you an energy boost!

Here’s the recipe:

1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein powder

1/2 Tablespoon chia seeds

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze

1 Tablespoon almond butter

1 frozen banana

enough spinach to fill the blender to the top!

Place all the ingrediants into the blender, except for the banana, blend. Then add the frozen banana and blend again, Enjoy!!

image from Iowa Girl Eats

I kind of just threw this recipe together one night. I am not really one for measuring precisely, unless I am baking, so I have tried to “guesstimate” the following measurments for you.

In a large stock pot add your ribs and fill the pot with water until it just covers the ribs. Then add the following:

10 pepper corns

1 carrot, cut in half

3 celery stalkes, cut in half

1/2 onion, chopped roughly

1 parsnip, cut in half

1 tbsp kosher salt

2 bay leaves

Bring to a boil and let simmer for 1 hour.

In a mixing bowl add the following:

1 can tomato sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 Tbsp grainy mustard

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 Tbsp worchestershire sauce

Salt & pepper to taste

Transfer ribs to a baking dish, pour sauce over ribs and cover dish with tinfoil. Bake in oven at 300 degrees for 1 hour. Uncover ribs and add 1 cup chicken broth to deglaze the baking dish. Cover with foil again and bake for 1 1/2 hours more.

Meatloaf is definetly on my list as comfort food. Everytime I make it and smell it cooking in the oven it just reminds me of my childhood. This recipe comes from a Mennonite cookbook that I have had in my possesion for 13 years. It is full of treasures, maybe that is why it is called “Kitchen Treasures”. The only thing I did different this time was top it with bacon before I added the sauce.

 

 

Farmer’s Meatloaf

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

2 lb ground beef

1/4 cup grated onion

1/4 tsp pepper

1 cup milk

2 eggs, beaten slightly

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sage

Sauce:

3 Tbsp brown sugar

4 Tbsp ketchup

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp dry mustard

 

Directions:

Soak bread crumbs in milk. Add remaining loaf ingredients. Pak lightly into greased 9X5″ pan. Combine sauce ingredients and pour over top of meatloaf.

Bake 350 F for 1 1/4 hours. Drain off fat, slice and serve.

Sriracha is a HOT chili sauce. If you like spicey you will love this simple, easy to prepare shrimp dish. This recipe is very adaptable and you can either skewer the shrimps and grill them or saute them in a little bit of olive oil. Eat them as an appetizer or main dish, or add to a salad.

Ingredients:

1 pound of peeled and deveined shrimp

2 cloves, crushed garlic

3 Tbsp of Sriracha chili sauce, or more if you like it spicey

Ziplock bag

Add everything into a ziplock bag and let sit in the refrigerator for one hour to marinate. Then cook as desired.

This is a perfect weeknight meal to cook. If you don’t like shrimp, I am sure that crab would be a delicious substitute. This recipe comes from The Pioneer Woman, it is a family favorite of hers (Betsy is her sister) and has become a favorite of ours as well! Infact if you google the name you will find this recipe all over the internet! It is that good, once you try it I know for a fact it will become your favorite recipe as well. Go ahead, I dare you 🙂

Penne a la Betsy

Ingredients:

• ¾ pounds Penne Pasta
• 1 pound Shrimp
• 3 Tablespoons Butter
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 small Onion, diced
• 2 cloves Garlic
• ½ cups White Wine
• 1 8 oz can Tomato Sauce
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• Fresh Parsley, to taste
• Fresh Basil – To Taste
• Salt To Taste
• Pepper To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Cook the penne pasta until al dente.

Peel, devein and rinse (under cool water) 1 pound of extra large shrimp. Heat about 1 tbsp. butter and olive oil in a skillet. Add the shrimp and cook for a couple minutes until just opaque. Do not overcook them. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Now, put the cooked shrimp on the cutting board and pull off the tails. Chop the shrimp into bite –sized pieces and set aside.

Finely dice one small onion. Mince two cloves of garlic.
In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the garlic and onion and sauté, stirring occasionally. After the garlic and onions have cooked a bit add your white wine. Let the wine evaporate for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. If you would rather not use wine, you can use low-sodium chicken broth instead (about ½ cup).

Now add an 8-ounce can of plain tomato sauce. Stir well until combined. Then add 1 cup of heavy cream. Continue stirring. Turn heat down to low and let simmer.

Now chop your herbs, about a tablespoon of chopped parsley and about the same amount of chopped basil, or if you’re feeling very proper, chiffonaded.

Now add your chopped shrimp back into the tomato cream sauce. Give it a stir and add salt and pepper to taste. Throw in your herbs and stir until combined. Finally add your cooked penne pasta and give it a good stir. Enjoy!!

This cupcake is named after a drink, one that I have never tried and most likely never will, but I do like Baileys in my coffee, especially around the holiday’s. So when I read the ingredients and saw that there was Bailey’s in it, I had to try it. I was a little leary of using beer, especially Guiness, in the batter but it gives it a unique flavor and the taste is faint enough that you would probably never know it was in there until I mentioned it.

Ingredients:

Guinness Cupcakes

1 cup stout (Guinness)

1 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

Bailey’s Ganache Filling

8 oz (8 squares) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

2/3 cup heavy cream

2 Tbsp butter, at room temperature

2 tsp Bailey’s Irish Cream

Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting

1\2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3-4 cup icing sugar

4-8 Tbsp Bailey’s Irish Cream

Directions:

For Cupcakes, preheat oven to 350 F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. Combine stout and the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl  beat together eggs and sour cream. Add the stout/butter mixture and beat until just combined. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed just until incorporated. Divide the batter evenly into cupcake liners, about 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool completely.

For Ganache Filling, place chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until simmering, then pour over chocolate. Let sit for one minute and then wisk until smooth. Add the butter and Bailey’s and stir until combined.

Set aside to let the ganache cool until thick. Cut out a portion from the center of each cupcake using a small paring knife, using the cone method. Once the ganache has cooled transfer into a piping bag fitted with a wide tip and pipe into each cupcake.

For Frosting, place the butter in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add the icing sugar until it is all incorporated. Mix in the Bailey’s until smooth. Add more if necessary until the frosting has reached a good consistency for piping or spreading. Frost the cupcakes as desired.

Adapted from Annies Eats

As I was browsing one of my favorite blogs, The Pioneer Woman, I came across this spinach salad recipe.  My husband and I seem to be eating a lot of spinach salads these days. It is so good for you, full of lots of nutrition and vitamins. So when I saw this I knew I just had to try it, any thing with bacon in it will of course be delicious!!

Ingredients

3 Eggs

7 slices Thick Bacon

1 small Red Onion

1 pkg White Button Mushrooms

8 ounces Baby Spinach, stems removed

3 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar

2 tsp Sugar

½ tsp Dijon Mustard

1 dash Salt

Preparation Instructions

Cook eggs: cover with water, bring to a boil, then turn off heat and allow to sit in water for 20 minutes. Drain off water and add ice on top of eggs.

Fry bacon until crispy/chewy. Remove to a paper towel. Cool then chop.

Remove 3 tablespoons grease and set aside.

Add 2 add’l tablespoons of grease to a separate skillet over medium heat.

Slice red onions very thinly, then add to skillet. Cook slowly until onions are caramelized and reduced. Remove to a plate and set aside.

Slice mushrooms and add them to the same skillet. Cook slowly until caramelized and brown. Remove to a plate and set aside.

Peel and slice eggs.

Make hot bacon dressing: Add 3 tablespoons bacon grease, vinegar, sugar, and Dijon to a small saucepan or skillet over medium-low heat. Whisk mixture together and heat thoroughly.

Add spinach to a large bowl. Arrange onions, mushrooms, and bacon on top. Pour hot dressing over the top; toss to combine.

Arrange eggs over the top and serve.

There is a dessert auction coming up in a few weeks to raise money for nursing students to go on three different missions trips. So I wanted to make these ahead of time to see if they would be suitable to auction off. They were very delicious but I won’t be sending them. The reason being is I cut the strawberries and they “bled” onto the icing, making them a little unattractive. I think if the strawberries were whole they would be ok.

Strawberry Cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

2 ½ cups cake flour

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

½ cup unsalted butter

1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup buttermilk

¼ cup oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups chopped strawberries

 

For the frosting:

½ c. strawberries

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

3/4 Cup butter, at room temperature

1 ¾ cups powdered sugar, sifted

½ tsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. Vanilla

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

Sift flour, salt and baking soda into a medium bowl.  Set aside.  In a separate bowl  cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time until combined.  Add buttermilk, oil and vanilla and beat until combined.  Add flour mixture and stir until just combined.  Fold in chopped strawberries.  Fill cupcake wells ¾ full with batter.  Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

For the frosting, puree strawberries in food processor.  Strain through a mesh sieve to remove seeds, and set aside.  In a separate bowl beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Add powdered sugar and mix until smooth.  Add lemon juice, vanilla and strawberry puree.  Frost cupcakes when completely cool.

Source: Annies-Eats

I was looking for something quick to make one night before company came over for coffee. I came across this recipe and seeing as I love anything to do with pasta decided this would be perfect. I added onion which the original recipe didn’t include, but I am sure it would be fine without for those who don’t like onion (such as my kids…but if you dice it really small or even grate it they won’t even know!) This would also be good if you mixed in diced grilled chicken, make it your own!

 

 

Tomato and Mozzarella Penne

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 small onion finely diced

2-14 oz. cans diced Italian plum tomatoes

1 tsp. dried oregano

S&P

1 lb. penne

8 oz. mozzarella cheese, cubed

2/3 c. parmesan

Directions:

Heat oil in a skillet. Add garlic and cook over medium high heat, 1 min. Add tomatoes and oregano and simmer rapidly, stirring occasionally until thickened, 15 min. Add S&P. Meanwhile, cook pasta.

(Sorry the picture is kinda cloudy, that is steam :))

Toss pasta with sauce. Place half of pasta in an oiled 9×13” dish.

Cover with half parmesan and half mozzarella. Top with remaining pasta, then parmesan and mozzarella. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes.

Adapted from: Annies Eats

Is there anything better than the smell of brownies baking in the oven? In my opinion boxed brownies taste just as good as if you made them from scratch. This recipe is perfect if you have unexpected guests coming over, you can grab a box from the pantry and have these whipped up in now time at all. The original recipe had you drizzle the white chocolate over the brownies. I ended up melting the chocolate in the microwave instead of a double broiler, so my bowl was a little hot while I was drizzling and so as a result I just spread it over instead. Oh well, Iwill try drizzling next time to make them more fancy looking. I am sure it won’t affect the taste at all!!

Ingredients:

2/3 cup raspberry jam

1 box brownie mix

3 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

3/4 cup white chocolate chips, or wafers

1/2 cup chopped salted almonds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour 9X13 inch baking pan.

In a small saucepan, stir the jam constantly over low heat until pourable, about 1 minute. Set aside.

In a large bowl, blend together brownie mix, eggs, veg. oil and water. Using and electric hand mixer beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Spoon the jam over the top of the brownie batter. Using a small spatula, swirl the jam into the brownie batter. Bake for 27-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Drizzle the melted chocolate and sprinkle with almonds. Transfer the pan to wire rack and let cool.

Cut into 16 bars and store in airtight container.

Adapted from Giada at Home