Foodie related Christmas gifts!

I love Christmas!!! : ) I love buying gifts and I love receiving new things as well, especially new things for my kitchen since that is my latest obsession. I received a couple of gifts that I was really excited about so I wanted to share those.



I asked my mother in law for a food processor. I don't know exactly how often I will use it but I really thought I needed one. I chop up a lot of veggies so I am thinking this will make things a lot easier for me. I was so excited to get it!! I used it last night for the first time. Will loves it. I think it is his favorite kitchen tool of mine. HA!

I love cookbooks. I love just looking through them. I get so excited when I get my new Cooking Light in the mail and getting a new cookbook is 10 times that excitement. Tommy and I came home late from his parents on Christmas Eve and there was a package waiting at our door. It was from my good friend and fellow foodie Clara!!! I couldn't wait to open it!! The gift was so perfect for me - a wine lover's cookbook!!! It doesn't get any better than that for me! She was so sweet to send it...thank you Clara!!!!!!

My other two favorite gifts that relate to my kitchen are a Linens N Things gift card from the kids and a Winestyles gift card from Tommy. Now I need to decide what to buy at those stores...mmm... : )

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!!! : )

Banana Pudding

I had some bananas that I needed to use in something and when I asked Tommy if he would rather have banana cake or banana pudding, he said pudding. However, in his usual Tommy fashion, he said that he only liked "his sister's banana pudding". He always seems to only want his sister's or mom's recipes so I have learned to make several things like they do. : ) I have made banana pudding before, but never like this. This is his Granny's recipe so this is about as homemade as it gets. Sheridan, Will, and I whipped this up together one night and had a good time doing it. : )

This is one of those recipes though that has been passed down several generations so the measurements aren't all exact. When it calls for flour and sugar, apparently these measurements are meant to be heaping, not exact. Very heaping is what I'm told. : ) Also, I really struggled with getting it to thicken. I added some corn starch to it and that thickened it up quicker.

Ingredients
2 eggs beaten
1 c. sugar
2 tbs. flour
dash of salt
2.5 cups of milk (his Granny used evaporated)
1 tsp vanilla
4 bananas
vanilla wafers

Directions
Mix eggs, sugar, flour, salt, and milk together. Cook it on medium low heat in a saucepan until it thickens. Do not leave it unattended and continually stir it as to not scorch. Cook it until it thickens. Line a bowl with vanilla wafers. Pour some of the pudding mix over them. Add a layer of sliced bananas. Continue this pattern until finished.
You can top with whipped cream if desired.

Pig Rating: The pig is the one who wanted this exact banana pudding so that is what the pig got. : ) He really said it was good and he went on about how all the church ladies always talked about his Granny's banana pudding.

Mrs. Pig Rating: This was pretty good. Different than I am used to, but really good nonetheless. A little more time consuming than most banana puddings that I have made, but I will probably make this one from now on.

Recipe from Tommy's Granny via his sister and mom. No picture...the picture I took was horrible so I will just not even post it. You know what banana pudding looks like. : )

Breakfast Casserole

We always do Christmas morning breakfast at my parent's house and there is always a variety of things to eat - homemade muffins, ham, casseroles, etc. This year I decided to brave a breakfast casserole to take. I cook breakfast all of the time but casseroles have historically freaked me out a little bit...I was never one to have a bunch of food mixed together. I grew up a very picky child and some habits die hard even though I have broadened my horizons quite a bit as an adult. Anyway, I found this recipe and decided to try it. I wanted one that I could make the night before and just pop in the oven Christmas morning so I wouldn't have to get up super duper early to fix it.

Ingredients

1 pound ground pork sausage (I used ham per Tommy's request)
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
6 slices white bread, toasted and cut into cubes
8 ounces mild Cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

Crumble sausage into a medium skillet. Cook over medium heat until evenly brown; drain.
In a medium bowl, mix together mustard powder, salt, eggs and milk. Add the sausage, bread cubes, and cheese, and stir to coat evenly. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover, and chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours, or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cover, and bake 45 to 60 minutes. Uncover, and reduce temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until set.

Pig Rating: The pig ate two or three servings of this so I think it was a hit with him. : )

Mrs. Pig Rating: I am not a big ham fan so I wasn't huge into this one, but I made it for my family so I figured I'd do something that they all like. This was okay though. Next time I want to find a casserole that calls for something other than bread though - maybe crescent rolls? It seemed to be missing that breading to me...

Recipe from www.allrecipes.com, picture from my kitchen

Taco Dip

I was asked to bring some appetizers for Christmas at my grandmother's house. In my mind, you can never go wrong with bringing a taco dip somewhere. Nearly everyone likes it and I personally could eat an entire pan by myself. I'm sure of it. : ) So, any excuse to make it and I will.

Again...no picture unfortunately. It wouldn't have been very pretty anyway since I just made it in a 9x13 pan. : ) I found this recipe on www.allrecipes.com. You can pretty much not go wrong with a taco dip, but this is a good starter recipe - you can add or take away whatever you want from it.

Ingredients
1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
1 (16 ounce) jar salsa
1 large tomato, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 bunch chopped green onions
1 small head iceberg lettuce, shredded
1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

In a medium bowl, blend the taco seasoning mix and refried beans. Spread the mixture onto a large serving platter.
Mix the sour cream and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Spread over the refried beans.
Top the layers with salsa. Place a layer of tomato, green bell pepper, green onions and lettuce over the salsa, and top with Cheddar cheese. Garnish with black olives.

Tip: Several people added this tip on the review and I agree - do not add the salsa until last or just serve it on the side. It tends to make the dip kind of runny.

Pig Rating: The pig liked this one okay. He isn't a huge taco dip fan (can you believe this?!). He would rather just have chips and salsa. I worry about him sometimes.... : )

Mrs. Pig Rating: I love this. I could eat it until I am sick. Oh wait, I think I did. : ) This is a yummy one and easy to make. Great for parties.

Recipe from www.allrecipes.com

Spicy Chicken Quesadillas

I haven't updated my blog in so long it seems like! Christmas is such a busy time for us with all the running around and having the kids all week. Fun, but busy. I did manage to make a few new things over the past week though. However, I wasn't so great at remembering to take pictures. Usually by the time I had dinner ready I was ready to just eat and didn't really care about a picture, so sorry about that. : )

My friend Mary made these awesome quesadillas one night when we were at their house for dinner and I had to have the recipe. Again, sorry for no picture, but these are super easy and super yummy!!

Ingredients
1/4 C thinly sliced green onions (about 2)
2 T chopped cilantro
1 T chopped pickled jalapeno peppers
1 C chopped cooked chicken
4 (8") flour tortillas
3/4 C reduced-fat shredded Cheddar cheese
Cooking spray
3/4 C salsa

Directions
1. Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; stir until blended.
2. Pace 1/4 C chopped chicken over half of each tortilla. Sprinkle each with 3 T cheese and 1 T onion mixture; fold tortillas in half.
3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Place 2 quesadillas in a pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Repeat procedure with remaining quesadillas. Cut each quesadilla in half. Serve with salsa.
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 quesadilla and 3 talbespoons salsa).

Recipe from the Cooking Light cookbook

Pig Rating: Tommy really liked these a lot. He loved them with dipping them in the salsa. I made these and tacos and he didn't even touch the tacos.

Mrs. Pig Rating: I really loved these! They were easy to make and they tasted so good for something different. I recommend this recipe if you like chicken quesadillas.

Next Week's Menu

So, I've been slacking on putting my menus on here. I have been making them still, just not posting them. Oops. : ) I know, it's only Tuesday and I already have next week's menu...crazy right?! But, next week is crazy with Christmas, both of us being off of work, having the kids the whole week, etc. so I have to get a few things organized now or I'll go nuts. LOL : )

Sunday:
Lunch - Christmas at my Grandma's
Dinner - Christmas at my Grandma's (Okay, this is at 2pm so really, it will be lunch and dinner?!)

Monday:
Lunch - ??
Dinner - Christmas at Tommy's parents house

Tuesday (kids):
Lunch - Christmas at my mom's house
Dinner - Baked ziti, salad, garlic bread

Wednesday (kids):
Lunch - Soup and sandwiches/leftover baked ziti
Dinner - Chicken piccata and pasta, bread (chicken strips for the kids)

Thursday (kids):
Lunch - mini homemade pizzas (kids can pick ingredients and help)
Dinner - Tacos (Sheridan's fave!)

Friday (kids):
Lunch: Hot turkey and cheese sandwiches, salad, chips
Dinner (my parents coming down): Kat's Fancy Fast Chicken, fried potatoes, corn

Saturday:
Probably out and about all day so eating out

Okay, so not the healthiest, but cooking for kids...well, I'm still learning. : )

This one is for you Mom : )

My mom and I love to bake. One year, we both had entirely too much time on our hands and we baked literally for about 48 hours straight. We made everything so pretty and perfect and we had so much fun. Life gets busy now, but we love to bake still. This year I baked a ton of stuff and I tried to make it somewhat pretty like we did that year. We have so many pictures from all of our goodies that year and they make us tired just looking at them. HA!

Anyway, I took a picture of everything I made on Saturday and Sunday and it's kind of pretty like the stuff mom and I baked. : ) Anyway, this picture is for you mom - not quite as good as the team effort, but no too bad, right?

I ended up making truffles, spiced nuts, chocolate covered cashews, hard candy, snickerdoodles, buckeyes, chess squares, gingerbread men, puppy chow, and peanut brittle. Not too bad for my first year of really being into baking! : )

Monkey Bread

Isn't the name just great?! I mean, "monkey bread"? Doesn't it make you smile? : ) It does me. And I used to make this with my Granny all of the time so that makes it even better.

Last week at work I was telling everyone to put in their requests for my baking weekend and my boss' only request was monkey bread. I hadn't made it in so long but it sounded great so I made it. I took it into work Monday morning and it was so good! :)

Ingredients
3 (12 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (I omitted these)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9 or 10 inch tube pan.
Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a plastic bag. Cut biscuits into quarters. Shake 6 to 8 biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the prepared pan. Continue until all biscuits are coated and placed in pan. If using nuts and raisins, arrange them in and among the biscuit pieces as you go along.
In a small saucepan, melt the margarine with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the biscuits.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Do not cut! The bread just pulls apart.

Mrs. Pig Rating: I LOOVE this stuff. It's almost too sweet for me first thing in the morning but I'm not used to super sweet in the morning. Put a piece of it in the microwave though and it's sugary heaven....

Pig Rating: The pig didn't get any since I took the whole thing to work. : ) Although, he did think this picture was a must for this blog udpate....

Mrs. Pig's CW Rating: I think my co workers like this one : ) They keep eating it for breakfast so that is a good sign right?

Recipe from allrecipes.com, pictures from my kitchen

Peanut Brittle

My Granny makes the most awesome peanut brittle - it is on the things I always look for when I go home for Christmas. I decided I would give it a shot this year. I thought it would be really hard - it wasn't that bad at all really! : )

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1 cup peanuts
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

Grease a large cookie sheet. Set aside.
In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil sugar, corn syrup, salt, and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in peanuts. Set candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking. Stir frequently until temperature reaches 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), or until a small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads.
Remove from heat; immediately stir in butter or margarine and baking soda; pour at once onto cookie sheet. With 2 forks, lift and pull peanut mixture into rectangle about 14x12 inches; cool. Snap candy into pieces.

Tip - make sure that you have all of your ingredients measured out beforehand - there is not time for you to measure ingredients between steps - this one moves fast!

Mrs. Pig Rating: This is really good!!! Maybe not as good as Granny's but she does have a few years on me. And everything always tastes better when a Granny makes it right?? : )

Pig Rating:

Recipes from allrecipes.com, picture from my kitchen

Chocolate Truffles

I love the rich taste of a truffle - I can never eat that many at a time, but the chocolate is always so yummy! My friend Clara has been into making truffles this year so I thought I would give it a shot. I found a good, easy recipe that I wanted to try. I love truffles because you can coat them with so many different things according to your tastes - sprinkles, cocoa, coconut, nuts, etc. So fun to make!!!

Ingredients

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Coatings (optional):
Finely chopped toasted nuts, flaked coconut, chocolate sprinkles, colored sprinkles, unsweetened cocoa powder, confectioners' sugar or colored sugars

Directions

In heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt chocolate chips with EAGLE BRAND®. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Chill 2-3 hours or until firm.
Shape into 1-inch balls; roll in any of the listed coatings.
Chill 1 hour or until firm. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

Tip - Quite a few people that used this recipe felt that the chocolate was too hard after chilling for 2-3 hours and they just left it out at room temperatue. I refrigerated for about 1-2 hours and I didn't have much of a problem.

Mrs. Pig Rating:

Pig Rating:

Recipe from allrecipes.com, picture from my kitchen

Gingerbread Men

I love how gingerbread men look - it doesn't get any more "Christmas cookie" than that in my opinion! :) I decided I would try this year to make some of my own. I searched through a lot of recipes and finally settled on the one that my friend Nina used - she got it from a Christmas ornament I believe!

Ingredients

½ cup butter
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup molasses
2 teaspoon ginger
1 egg
2 ½ cup flour
½ teaspoon salt

Directions

Mix all ingredients. Roll out dough and cut out cookies. Bake in 350 degree oven. (I found 8-10 minutes was perfect).

Tip - put the dough in the refrigerator overnight so that your cookies will roll out and cut better.

Mrs. Pig Rating: I thought these would be easier than they are. I guess my patience level wavers sometimes. : ) The dough was kind of sticky which made it hard to roll. I even refrigerated the dough for awhile. Not sure what the problem was. And, I had great plans to really ice these and make them cute but I was too pooped by the time made them. So, Nina's look a lot better than my measly attempt. LOL BUT it is a good gingerbread recipe. Really soft and yummy!

Pig Rating: He doesn't like gingerbread so he hasn't eaten these.

Recipe from Nina's blog, picture from my kitchen

December Baked Goods Exchange - I got my goodies!

Another month, another baked goods exchange! I got mine early in the month this time so that was very exciting for me! : ) My girl kept saying that she had sent them and I still hadn't received them and she was getting worried about the goodies thinking they might not be good when they got here. But alas! Today I finally received them which was perfect because it was right in the middle of my baking spree.

And my secret baker this month was....ALANNA!! Thanks fellow wine-o!!! : ) : ) She sent me 3 really awesome things - Pepperoni snacks (because I'm always wanting pizza), chocolate peanut butter swirl fudge, and chewy peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

Pepperoni Snacks - This one is from Clara's blog so I will kindly direct you to that link

http://iheartcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/2007/11/pepperoni-snacks.html

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Fudge - From allrecipes.com

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Peanut-Butter-Swirl-Fudge/Detail.aspx

Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies - From allrecipes.com

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chewy-Peanut-Butter-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies/Detail.aspx

Recipes from allrecipes.com, etc., pictures from my kitchen

Chocolate Covered Cashews

We love cashews so much so I figured I should make some chocolate covered ones this holiday -when else can I get away with that?? : ) So easy to make and so yummy.

Ingredients

1 bar of Ghirardelli bakers chocolate bar

1 can of cashews

Directions

Melt chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of hot simmering water. Stir occasional. Pour cashews into a medium sized bowl and pour the chocolate over them once it is melted. Put in refrigerator to cool so chocolate hardens.

Recipe from me, picture from me

Mrs Pig Rating: I LOOOVE these! I will definitely be making another batch soon.

Pig Rating: He really likes these. He said make sure and keep some of them at home and don't give them all away. HA! : )

Spiced Nuts

My mom and I have been making spiced nuts for a few years now and they are one of my favorite treats around Christmas time. They smell awesome when they are cooking and I love to just snack on them.

Ingredients

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 tbsp. water

1 egg white

4 cups of nuts (I use pecans. You can use pecans, walnuts, etc.)

Directions

Combine first 6 ingredients in small bowl. Beat egg white and water in medium bowl until frothy. Add sugar mixture and stir.

Add nuts and stir.

Spread on greased baking sheet. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes stirring occasionally until golden. Cool thoroughly. Store in airtight container.

Makes 6 cups.

Mrs. Pig Rating: I love these!!! So easy and so good. They smell wonderful baking!

Pig Rating: He really likes these a lot. He loves pecans by themselves so he thought this was a really good additive. : )

Recipe from my mom, picture from my kitchen

Hard Candy

This weekend is my offical baking weekend of the holidays. I have been so excited about it!!! I am making quite a few different things but today is candy day. : ) I started with hard candy. I LOVE hard candy but had never made it. I was nervous to make it for some reason but it turned out really easy. The key is having a good candy thermometer and having patience : )


Also, thanks to Nikki for all of the great tips for my during the cooking process - she is like a 24 hour baking help hotline!

Here is a picture of the hard candy actually right after I poured it onto the cookie sheet to cool.

Ingredients

3 3/4 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
1 cup water
1 tablespoon orange, or other flavored extract (I used strawberry for this particular batch)
1/2 teaspoon food coloring (optional)
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar for dusting



Directions
In a medium saucepan, stir together the white sugar, corn syrup, and water. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to a boil. Without stirring, heat to 300 to 310 degrees F (149 to 154 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms hard, brittle threads.


Remove from heat and stir in flavored extract and food coloring, if desired. Pour onto a greased cookie sheet, and dust the top with confectioners' sugar. Let cool, and break into pieces. Store in an airtight container.




Tips: Some Nikki tips - do not add the flavoring until the bubbles have gone down in the boiling mixture. Also, if you get some of the mixture in your pan and it gets hard before you clean it, run really cold water over it to make it crack and it will come off. I had to actually pick at mine with a butter knife to get some of it off, but it's not so bad.


Pig Rating: (Hasn't tried it yet)


Mrs. Pig Rating: I love it! : ) I think it is so pretty and it is such a great Christmas candy. I am going to make strawberry, butter rum, peppermint, and root beer. Mmmm.....




Recipe from allrecipes.com, pictures from my kitchen

Alfredo Bake

I first saw this recipe on Amber's Delectable Delights and it was immediately put on my "must make" list. However, Tommy isn't a broccoli fan, so while he is traveling I figured it was a great time to try this one out.

Ingredients

8 oz pasta, cooked and drained

2 cups broccoli florets

1 cup mushrooms

1.5 cups chicken, cooked and shredded or diced

1 jar alfredo sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

2 Tbls butter

Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees-

Coat the bottom of the two small or one medium baking dish with a thin layer of alfredo sauce. In a medium bowl, mix the pasta, broccoli, mushrooms, chicken, garlic and alfredo sauce until combined.

Place mixture into baking dish and top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cut the butter into small pieces and scatter on top of the cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is hot and bubbly.

Mrs. Pig Rating: OMG. This is now one of my favorite recipes ever. I am so excited that I made enough to take in my lunch this week!!! Tommy wouldn't like this one, but I think it is AWESOME!!!!

Recipe from Amber's Delectable Delights, picture from my kitchen

Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles are such a fun cookie to make - they taste good and are so fun and easy to make. I found an amazing recipe on allrecipes.com a few years ago and I've never used another one. Sheridan loved making these and she loved eating them. : )

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

Pig Rating: The Pig isn't a huge fan of sugar cookie type cookies. He liked them, but his fave is still chocolate chip : )

Mrs. Pig Rating: I absolutely love these cookies. They turn out so perfect - a little crisp on the edges, and so soft in the middle. These are awesome!!!

Little Pig Ratings: Both kids loved eating these. Sheridan had so much fun making them as well : )

Mrs. Pig's Co-workers - LOVED them! They couldn't stop eating them today at work : )

Recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/, picture from my kitchen

Puppy Chow

I love puppy chow - one of my really good friend's mom always made this in high school and I would eat it by the huge bowl full. LOL I figured this was a good one for Sheridan and I to make together since it's easy, yummy, and to an 8 year old - has a really funny name. : )

Ingredients

9 cups crispy rice cereal squares
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate; add peanut butter and mix until smooth.
Remove from heat, add cereal and stir until coated.
Pour powdered sugar into large plastic bag, add coated cereal and shake until well coated. Store in airtight container.

Mrs. Pig Rating: Well, I already knew I loved puppy chow and I still do. It is such a yummy snack and so easy to make! YUMMMMMO! (That was for you Nikki....LOL)

Pig Rating: The Pig likes this one too - he isn't a huge sweets person but I did see him snacking on this a few times last night. ; )

Little Pig Rating: Sheridan really had fun making this one and she thought it was yummy : )

Recipes from www.allrecpies.com, picture from my kitchen

Cajun Chicken Pasta

We love Cajun food and we love pasta and chicken so this one seemed like it would be really good for us to try. I usually eat a very similar dish when I am dragged to Red Lobster since I am allergic to seafood. : )

Ingredients'
4 ounces linguine pasta
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
1 red bell pepper, sliced (I left this out)
1 green bell pepper, sliced (I left this out)
4 fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 green onion, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
Place the chicken and the Cajun seasoning in a plastic bag. Shake to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the chicken in butter or margarine until almost tender (5 to 7 minutes).
Add the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, mushrooms and green onion. Saute and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat.
Add the cream, basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder and ground black pepper. Heat through. Add the cooked linguine, toss and heat through. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and serve.

Pig Rating: He thought it was too salty, but he thought if I hadn't added salt, that he really would have liked it.

Mrs. Pig Rating: This smelled so good while it was cooking, but I do agree it tasted too salty. I think that I added Cajun seasoning salt instead of just seasoning. Oops....I am definitely going to make this again with the appropriate seasoning though. I think we will love it!

Recipes from www.allrecipes.com, picture from my kitchen

Lemon Meltaways

I really like lemon cookies, lemon muffins, etc., so I wanted to try some this year while I was on one of my baking frenzies. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and I was so excited to try it!!

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch

FROSTING:
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
3 drops yellow food coloring (optional)

Directions

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy; beat in lemon juice. Combine the flour and cornstarch; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Shape into two 8-in. rolls; wrap each roll in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm.
Unwrap and cut into 1/4-inch slices. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-12 minutes or until the cookies are firm to the touch. Remove to wire racks to cool.
For frosting, in a small mixing bowl, combine the butter, confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, lemon peel and food coloring if desired; beat until smooth. Frost cooled cookies.

Mrs. Pig Rating: I was not impressed with these. They received awesome reviews on allrecipes.com and I just wasn't feeling it. It was weird...they smelled and tasted too buttery for me. Not sure what I did wrong but I wasn't feeling them at all. I was disappointed. :(

Pig Rating: The Pig doesn't do lemon. : )

Recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/, picture from my kitchen

Fun cooking with the kids!!!

This weekend we visited my parents. My mom bought the kids and the CUTEST outfits ever because she knows we all always cook together as a family. : ) I mean, how cute are these?!?! Will might hate this some day but he loves it now. He just likes to be involved. LOL

Here we are in action baking cookies this weekend:

Anyway, I love these new outfits to add to our cooking dinner/breakfast/goodies together. : ) As you can see, it's a family effort every time. We really have a good time with it.

Thanks mom for the outfits!!!!!

Chicken and Potato Pizza

My great friend Clara who is also a foodie (she has 3 food blogs....THREE!!!), had this pizza on her blog and it intrigued me. Her hubby likes this one from CPK and I figured that mine would as well so I thought I would give it a whirl. At first I was a little scared...I mean, potatoes on a pizza?!? But, I like potatoes and I like pizza, so why the heck not?? : )

Thanks for the recipe Clara!! I changed it a bit from her recipe so we'll call this Clara's recipe modified to April's taste.. ; )

Ingredients

1 pizza crust (I cheated and bought Pillsbury refrigerated crust)

1 jar pizza sauce

mozzerella and/or cheddar cheese

1 large potato (fry in oil until potatoes start turning golden brown)

1 chicken breast (I shredded the chicken but you can cut it into chunks if you prefer)

1/4 or 1/2 cup onion (to taste)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Pre-heat oven 400F

Roll out dough on pan (I used a big cookie sheet as my crust was more rectangle than round). At this point, I baked my dough in the oven first for about 8 minutes before putting on toppings. I think it depends on the crust that you use.

Spoon on the pizza sauce & sprinkle with cheese. Add all other toppings. (Clara uses tomato chunks on hers but Tommy isn't a huge tomato fan so I omitted but I bet it is yummy!)

Bake for 15-20 minutes

Pig Rating: He really liked this a lot. He said, "Pig says this one is REAALLLLY good! Put that on your blog!". LOL Definitely a keeper (the recipe and the Pig ; )

Mrs. Pig Rating: I really liked this one a lot. I think I might try it with something other than pizza sauce....maybe a white sauce of some type. This is a really awesome easy recipe though. YUMMMM!!!

Recipe from Clara's blog, picture from my kitchen

November SBGEX - Thank you Clara!

Another month, another baked goods exchange with my Facie/Foodie friends. And my secret baker this month was....Clara!!! Totally funny because she kept giving me updates on what my "secret baker" was saying about the mailing progress, etc. and I totally thought it was someone else because everyone goes to Clara with updates. Sneaky sneaky!!!

Anyway, I was so excited when I saw the box on the doorstep - so was Tommy! LOL

Lots of yummy goodies....I had 4 different kinds of cake truffles - white chocolate with rainbow sprinkles, white chocolate with cocoa powder, cocoa powder, and white chocolate with dyed white chocolate stripes. Also, she made me chocolate cream cheese cookies! YUMMO!

See links for these recipes on Clara's blog - I'm too lazy to type them out. LOL : )

http://iheartcooking-food.blogspot.com/2007/11/cake-truffles.html

http://iheartcooking-food.blogspot.com/2007/11/homemade-chocolate-sandwich-cookies.html

THANK YOU CLARA!!!!!! Now you might be Sheridan's favorite friend...if the goodies last long enough for her to see them! : )

Recipes from Clara, picture from my kitchen

Off Topic...Christmas Tree!

Yes, this is a cooking/food/wine blog, but how can I resist putting some pictures of my favorite Christmas ornaments on here?? I don't think that I can. I am such a Christmas freak. I love putting up the tree, the stockings, listening to Christmas music, wrapping gifts, etc. Yes, I am a Christmas cheeseball. : ) I love it even more now because I have an amazing family to share it with. Growing up it was always a big deal in our house to decorate the tree and I am carrying on that tradition with my kids and my husband. He says our tree is "a happy tree" and indeed I think it is. It has random ornaments on it - from our vacations, ones that the kids have made, ones from when I was little, etc. I can't wait until we build a bigger house in a few years - multiple trees will be residing in my home. : )

This is one of my favorite ornaments. My dad painted this when he was a little boy so it means so much to me. My grandmother gave it to me last year - 4 years after his passing. I will cherish this one forever. : )

When I was about 5-6 years old my grandmother started taking me to the Nutcracker ballet which was done by our city's Philharmonic and the dance theatre. I was always so wide eyed and just amazed by the "real ballerinas" and the music. I still go every to this day. She bought me this in for me in 1986. You stick a light in it and the ballerina is under a "spotlight". Love it!

Sheridan made this ornament in school in kindergarten. Everyone needs a painted macaroni wreath that they made in kindergarten. : ) Homemade ornaments are the best ones in my mind!

Okay...so this is a start. I have way too many favorites to post in one posting. Sorry if this bores you but I LOOVE Christmas and I love my Christmas memories that I have. : )

More to come... : )

Banana Cake - Happy Birthday Tommy!

Yesterday was my husband's birthday and of course I wanted to bake his cake myself rather than buy one. His favorite cake is banana cake and I definitely wanted to attempt to make one. I was a little nervous considering that my banana bread didn't turn out how I wanted it to. However, I asked some of my friends for their banana cake recipes and my friend Jamie gave me her grandmother's recipe - it did NOT disappoint!!!! THANK YOU JAMIE!!!!!!!!

Ingredients

1.5 c sugar

1 c sour cream

0.5 c butter softened

2 eggs

3 med-lrg bananas, mashed

2 tsp vanilla

2 c flour

2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

Directions

1. preheat oven to 375.

2. mix sugar, sour cream, butter and eggs in large bowl.

3. beat in banana and vanilla.

4. gradually add in salt, baking soda, and flour.

5. spray a 9X13 pan with pam, fill and bake for 35 min. or until toothpick comes out clean.

Brown butter Frosting

0.5 c butter

2 c sugar

2 tbsp milk

1. Heat butter over med. heat in a frying pan until delicate brown.

2. remove from heat.

3. mix in powdered sugar and milk.

4. pour over cake.

Pig Rating: It was the Pig's birthday and the Pig was impressed! He kept going on about how "really good" this cake was and he ate two or three pieces I think. : )

Mrs. Pig Rating: YUMMMMMM! I love banana anything and this cake was awesome! I think next time I will cook the butter a little more for the frosting...I got impatient but it still turned out amazing!

Friends of the Pigs: They LOVED this cake also. I love impressing friends : ) Thanks again Jamie!

Recipe from Jamie's grandmother, picture from my kitchen (don't mind that it's half eaten already at this point...LOL)

Time for Christmas Baking!

I love to bake for Christmas. My mom and I have an annual baking day/night where we just find all kinds of recipes that we like and we bake all day and night. It is SOOO much fun! We love giving all of our baked goodies as gifts for co-workers, family members, and some for ourselves of course! : )

I have started my list of things that I really want to make this year - I am sure that the list will grow but this will be a place for me to at least keep track as I add to it/

Chocolate Truffles
Chess Squares
Chocolate Oreo truffles
Chocolate chip coffeecake (for Christmas morning breakfast at mom's house)
Chocolate crackletop cookies
Gingerbread men
Puppy Chow
Peanut Brittle
Spiced Nuts

More later! : )

The Chicken Enchilada Incident of 2007

Tonight I was so excited to get home and make chicken enchiladas. I had a recipe for enchiladas that I made awhile back with ground turkey and I decided this time I would try chicken. They were so good the last time I made them and we love Mexican food.

I came home at lunch today so that I could go ahead and boil and shred the chicken so it wouldn't take me so long to make dinner tonight. Good job for me for putting in so much effort huh? : ) Tonight when I got home from work I started making the enchiladas. I was so craving them all day at work and I couldn't wait for them to be finished!

I mixed the shredded chicken in with the taco seasoning and water just as the recipe said, then I looked and it said to add 2 cups of brown rice. So, me, doing ten things at once, without even thinking about what I was doing measured out two cups of brown rice and dumped it in with the chicken and stirred vigourously.

Only when I was about to put the mixture into the tortillas did I stop and think, "Oh my gosh. I am the biggest dumba** ever. I just put 2 cups of uncooked rice in to bake with these enchiladas." I mean, what was I thinking? That the rice would just automatically fluff up and cook while baking? As if rice does that?! I wanted to kick myself. But, I stuck it in the oven anyway thinking that maybe, just maybe with all of the sauce, etc. it would be okay (when in the back of my mind I knew it wouldn't).

And of course, I warned Tommy before they were finished..."Um, I think I messed up our dinner." At least I warned him. If there is one thing he hates it's crunchy rice. And, as expected, I yanked the beautiful enchiladas out of the oven, took a big bite and....::CRUNCH:: Awesome.

Needless to say, I was really unhappy with myself. I hate messing up something when I'm cooking. HATE it. So...it was frozen pizza for us tonight. : ( I am already currently in the process of boiling more chicken and COOKING brown rice so I can make this again tomorrow night...

Sorry so long. Had to vent...anyway, here is the awesome recipe!

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef (or ground turkey or chicken) 2 cups of cheddar cheese divided
1 pack of taco seasoning 10 tortillas
1 cup water salsa
2 cups of brown rice (COOKED RICE!!) 1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can of refried beans

Directions
Fry ground beef or cook chicken and shred. Stir in taco seasoning and water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Stir in (COOKED) rice and cook until liquid is gone. Spread 2 tbsp. Of beans, ¼ cup beef, 1 tbsp. Cheese down center of tortillas and then roll them up. Place them in a 9 x 13 pan seam side down. Combine salsa and soup. Pour down center of enchiladas. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Serves 6-10 depending on how many your guests can eat ; )

Pig Rating: Crunchy. LOL Update:::Second time around- The pig said they were good and even ate seconds : )

Mrs. Pig Rating: Crunchy and I am mad at myself. Stay tuned for the real thing tomorrow night...:::Second time around - Definitely yummy and super filling. I will make these again for sure!

Recipes from http://www.allrecipes.com/ (I think), picture from my kitchen

Chunky Cheesecake Brownies - JFacie baked goods exchange November!

It's that time again! Time for me to bake for the great JFacie baked goods exchange! I love it : ) I have really been wanting to make cheesecake brownies and I know that my girl loves chocolate and she likes cheesecake so I thought I would go for it. I have honestly never made homemade brownies before at all so this was even more special for me. I wasn't sure how they would turn out but OMG....best brownies ever....

Hope she likes them! : )

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch square baking pan. (I used a 9 inch round pan)
Combine cream cheese with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 egg in a mixing bowl; beat until smooth. Stir 1 cup chocolate chips into the cream cheese mixture. Set aside.

Fill a saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat off, and set a heatproof mixing bowl over the water. In the mixing bowl, combine butter with the remaining cup of chocolate chips; stir until just melted and blended together. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and 2 eggs, then sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into chocolate until evenly blended.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared baking pan. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the chocolate layer. Top with remaining chocolate mixture (this doesn't need to completely cover the cream cheese layer). Using a knife, swirl the top chocolate layer into the cream cheese to make a marble pattern.

Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes, or until top is crinkled and edges pull away from sides of the pan. Cool thoroughly. Cut into 12 to 16 squares. Store in the refrigerator or freeze.

Pig Rating: He thought these were awesome - that's because they are. LOL

Mrs. Pig Rating: These are SOOO good. Really rich and just yummers all the way around. Definitely a good recipe to make if you want something rich and sweet and chocolately. I will definitely be making this again.

Recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/, picture from my kitchen

"Best Marinara Sauce Yet"...or so they say

I have really been wanting to try to make my own marinara sauce for something since we eat a lot of Italian food. I was craving chicken parm so I figured it was a good time to try out a new sauce. To this point I have pretty much been strictly a shopper who stares at all of the many varieties of jar sauce at the grocery store, but I was up for a challenge this time.

I found this recipe on www.allrecipes.com and it is titled "best marinara sauce yet". I figured that sounded like a winner!

Ingredients

2 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes (I used crushed)
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup white wine

Directions

In a food processor place Italian tomatoes, tomato paste, chopped parsley, minced garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth.
In a large skillet over medium heat saute the finely chopped onion in olive oil for 2 minutes. Add the blended tomato sauce and white wine.
Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pig Rating: He thought this was just okay. He ate it and didn't dislike it, it just wasn't a favorite.

Mrs. Pig Rating: I kind of agree with the pig on this one. It was okay...definitely not a bad sauce, it just seemed to be missing something to me. Maybe sugar? Not sure...can't put my finger on it but I'll keep trying : )

Recipe from www.allrecipes.com, picture from my kitchen

Chess Squares!

The one thing my husband has requested for me to take to Thanksgiving dinner are Chess Squares. A lot of my friends had never heard of this wonderful little dessert. I think maybe it's a southern thing?? Anyway, I made them for the first time tonight. Super easy!

I'll post our reviews and more after we eat them...

Are you ready for the recipe? It's a toughie! ;)

Bottom Layer
1 box yellow cake mix
1 stick butter softened
1 egg (slightly beaten)

Top Layer
8 oz package cream cheese (softened a bit)
2 eggs (slightly beaten)
1 lb box of powdered sugar

Grease a 13” x 9” pan.
Spread bottom layer evenly and then pour top layer (spread evenly).
Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Pig Rating: All the pig could say was, "Oh yeah...oh yeah" when he ate it so...I guess that is good? : ) He loves them : )

Mrs. Pig Rating: So yummy! So sweet and moist and just GOOD. You HAVE to make these if you like really sweet things!

Recipe from a friend at Tommy's work, picture from my kitchen

Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken Pasta

I am always looking for new ideas for chicken and pasta dinners. We love them! I found this one on the blog of Orange Kitchen and it looked really different and really yummy.

(I am copying straight from her blog)

Ingredients

1 cup chicken broth

1.5 tbls lime juice (adjusting amount to your liking)

1 tbls corn starch (I used more like a tbsp and a half)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (I used a lot more than this, I like things spicy!)

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder (I used dried onion flakes instead)

1/4 tsp dried thyme (I ommitted this)

1/4 tsp dried parsley (I ommitted this)

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into bite size pieces)

1 tbls butter

Few drizzles of olive oil

8 oz pasta (I used whole campanelli)

1-2 cups broccoli florets

Optional - Parmesan cheese for topping

Directions

1) Bring pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. During the last 5 minutes of pasta cook time add the broccoli into the boiling water. Drain.

2) Mix together all the sauce ingredients (chicken broth through parsley) and set aside. (I actually cut the chicken into pieces and then put the spices right on the chicken like a dry rub)

3) Meanwhile, heat butter and olive oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add bite size chicken pieces into heated pan. Cook chicken until no longer pink. Pour the sauce ingredients into the pan with the chicken and bring to a simmer. Let simmer until chicken is cooked through and sauce has thickened. (When the chicken was finished I added the cornstarch then when that was dissolved I added the lime juice and then the chicken broth)

4) Toss cooked broccoli and pasta with the chicken and sauce (I let it simmer for another 2 minutes in the sauce!). Sprinkle with parmesan cheese if desired and serve.

Pig Rating: The pig took one bite of this and almost threw up. No, seriously. LOL I ended up making him a sandwich for dinner. I think the lime probably freaked him out.

Mrs. Pig Rating: I liked this one! Not my favorite, but definitely not bad. I ate leftovers the next day even. : )

Recipe from Orange Kitchen, picture from my kitchen

"Best Ever Banana Bread"...supposedly

I had 3 bananas this past weekend that were beyond ripe and I didn't want to waste them. So, I thought I would look for a good banana bread recipe and see what happened. Tommy and I both like bananas, so why not? I looked on my "go to" www.allrecipes.com and found "Best Ever Banana Bread." See ratings for how it turned out...

Ingredients

2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup mashed bananas
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray one 9x5 inch loaf pan with non-stick spray coating.
Blend together the eggs, buttermilk, oil and bananas.
Sift together the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt. Add to banana mixture and stir in pecans. Mix well.
Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Pig Rating: He said this was not moist enough and that there was something missing that usually gave banana bread a little "kick"

Mrs. Pig Rating: I agree with the Pig. I don't know why this was tagged as "Best" because I didn't think it was moist enough at all and not near flavorful (is that a word?! LOL) enough for me. I won't make this one again. : ( Boo! I had looked so forward to a good banana bread!

Recipe from allrecipes.com, picture from my kitchen