Sausage, Pepper and Fennel Pasta

This week started so beautifully.  We had unseasonably warm fall weather, with the high temperatures hitting the mid-70's.  Then the snow came.  I had the worst drive to work ever on Thursday, with a ton of slushy snow and wind.  I was happy when school was released at noon and I got to spend the afternoon at home with my girls.  After we watched "The Goonies", we took a little time to make a double batch of my Rosemary Focaccia Sandwich Bread, which I cut into meal-size portions and stashed in the freezer for later.  I could get used to working half-days.  Think of everything I could accomplish!

Focaccia bread--for sandwiches or dipping in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

For supper on Thursday, I used a bunch of items we got in our produce box from Red Goose Gardens. We had red, green and purple peppers, a bunch of tiny fennel bulbs, onions and tomatoes.  I sliced and sautéed the peppers, fennel and onions, then added about a dozen two-inch tomatoes that I chopped and a little rosemary-garlic seasoning I picked up at Sams Club.  I love how tomatoes melt down into a delicious sauce and make everything taste so much better.  I tossed the resulting sauce with hot pasta (the end of two boxes) and some chicken italian sausage (which we got in the meat clearance bin at the grocery store) I sliced up and sautéed.  Seriously delicious.  As I told the girls, they are so lucky their mama can cook! See my recipe below.

Sausage, pepper and fennel pasta.

Then Thursday night I still had the cooking bug, so I whipped up some Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark.  You should make it.  Seriously.  I'm not sharing my batch.  Pretzels coated in butter and brown sugar boiled into caramel sauce and topped with melted chocolate chips.  Cool, break apart and eat.  Enough said.  

Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark

Figure skating started this week.  Yep, October 3 was our first evening at the arena.  The girls really enjoy their time on the ice learning new moves and visiting with their friends while Phil and I walk many laps around the quarter-mile track.  With the start of figure skating, our Wednesday nights became very cramped for time.  We had a couple of avocados aging on the windowsill and I had a bunch of cilantro in the fridge and some limes leftover from last time I made mojitos, so I searched online for recipes that incorporated all of those ingredients.  I came up with Creamy Avocado Pasta, a recipe in which I threw the avocados, cilantro, lime juice and garlic into the food processor and tossed the pesto-like sauce with hot pasta.  I decided the meal needed some protein, so I dug a couple of chicken breasts out of the freezer and baked them topped with chopped cilantro, minced garlic and a squeeze of lime juice.  I'm not sure I would make the pasta again, but the chicken was sure yummy.  

Creamy Avocado Pasta topped with a chicken breast.

I also made my favorite breakfast foods for supper this week--Eggs Benedict and Hash Browns.   As I have discussed in the past, our chickens are good little producers.  Right now we have ten chickens, but only five of them are of laying age.  The other five are still maturing.  Nonetheless, the three or four eggs we get each day are enough for our needs.  I used six of them to make Eggs Benedict.  I had ham and english muffins in the freezer and bought a packet of  Hollandaise sauce mix and poached the eggs.  Almost as good as Perkins, though they probably make their own Hollandaise.  Along with the Eggs Benedict, I served hash browns (shredded baked potatoes) that I cooked on the waffle iron to get them nice and crispy (thanks Pinterest!) and an acorn squash I quartered, baked and sprinkled with cinnamon and brown sugar.

Eggs Benedict with waffle iron hash browns and brown sugar squash.

This weekend, we got together with my family to celebrate a couple of birthdays.  We grilled steaks and shrimp skewers and served them with sautéed green beans and Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes.  Have you tried these potatoes yet?  They have been circulating around Pinterest for quite awhile now and I saw them in the Grand Forks Herald a couple months ago.  If you haven't had them yet, give them a try.  They are totally worth the effort of the two step recipe:  First you boil the potatoes, then you crush them, sprinkle them with with seasonings (I used rosemary and cracked pepper) and bake them until they are crispy.  Every time I make these, my girls beg for more!  My brother suggested that they would be really good with cheese on them...why not add bacon, too?

Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes

For dessert, I made Apple Crisp with vanilla ice cream.  I always use the recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook we got for a wedding gift.  An old standby that is always delicious...especially with apples from my Grandpa's trees.

Apple Crisp

Tonight for supper, it's chicken cooked in the crock pot.  I jammed two frozen chickens in my large crock pot at lunch time today, sprinkled them with seasoning and turned the cooker on high.  By 6:00 tonight, supper will be done and I will have leftovers for at least two meals this week and the makings of home made chicken broth that I will stash in the freezer for another day.  Check out this link for the recipe!

Two whole chickens roasting in the crock pot.

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Sausage and Pepper Pasta
1 package chicken Italian Sausage
3 sliced peppers (one red, one green, one purple)--about 2 cups total
1 sliced red onion--about 1 cup
5 small fennel bulbs, sliced--about 1 cup
12 small (2-inch) tomatoes, cored and chopped
seasoning to taste
cooked pasta

1.  Slice and sauté the sausage over medium heat until mostly cooked.  Move to a plate.
2.  In same skillet, drizzle a little olive oil, then add in peppers, onion and fennel.  Cook for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften.  Add the tomatoes and seasonings (I used a garlic rosemary seasoning mix and some salt and pepper).  Simmer for about 20 minutes, until the sauce comes together.  Add in sausage for the last ten minutes to blend all flavors.
3.  Serve over or mixed with hot pasta.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

mmm...Fudge!

Every Christmas season I like to make fudge and caramels with my girls. We got a start by making a double batch of fudge and I think this is going to last us awhile.  It made a huge pan...my biggest sheet pan, must be 11 x 17 at least.  Cutting the fudge into about 1 inch square pieces makes 187 pieces.  I better give some away before we eat it all! 


Just seven ingredients!

 Fudge (I doubled this recipe)

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk (I used 2%)
1 12-oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 7-oz. jar marshmallow creme
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

chopped nuts and heath bits (or whatever topping/mix in you like)

Combine sugar, butter and milk in saucepan, bring to full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate until melted. Add marshmallow creme and vanilla, beat till blended. Either stir in nuts/heath bits or sprinkle them on top after you pour into greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Let cool and cut into 1-inch squares.

That's a big pan of fudge!

Last year I used mint chocolate chips for one batch I made and it turned out delicious.  Next time I may add some mint extract instead of the vanilla...something different. 

Peppermint Bark

The time has come for some holiday baking.  On Sunday, the girls asked me if they could help me in the kitchen for awhile and they each picked out a recipe.  Anna picked out Peppermint Bark, which hardly counts as baking.  The hardest part was probably opening and crushing the candy canes and I made her do that part. 


Only three ingredients, how simple is that?

Peppermint Bark (you could cut this in half easily for a smaller batch)
1 box candy canes (12 in the box I used)
2 bags of dark chocolate or white chocolate chips (I used dark)
1 t. peppermint extract

Open and break up candy canes.  Melt the chocolate in the microwave.  I stirred it every 30 seconds, it took about 2 1/2 minutes.  Stir in extract.  You could also stir in the tiny smaller pieces of candy cane, too.  Pour onto wax paper, foil or greased cookie sheet.  Press in bigger pieces of candy cane.  Cool (not refrigerate), then break into pieces. 

In the past, I have made this with white chocolate chips, but they are not my favorite, so I tried dark chocolate chips.  Definitely better, in my opinion.  I will probably have to make these again before Christmas next week...these definitely aren't going to last that long.

Remembering Grandma Val with Peanut Butter Blossoms

Today is the 11th anniversary of the death of my mother-in-law, Valerie Huck.  It is also my daughter, Anna's 10th birthday.  Ten years ago, on the day Anna was born, we were happy that she could share her special day with the Grandmother she never got to meet.

To remember Grandma Val today, Olivia (who turned 8 last week), asked to make cookies.  Phil took this opportunity to bake with the girls while I got the last of my weekend homework done.  At first, they followed a recipe they picked up in the grocery store last night.  That one turned out way too salty, so they tried again with a recipe I've used over and over from "Cookies for a Year of Celebrations", a cookbook I got from my own Grandmother before I got married. 

While Phil was mixing up the second batch of dough, the girls got tired of helping and went to go watch a movie.  Before she left the room, Olivia said "you got this dad?".  She wanted to make sure he could handle it without her, I guess. The second batch turned out great and I am happily munching on a huge plate of my favorite cookies right now. 

The aprons the girls are wearing were made for their grandma by her mom when she was small.  Phil's apron was also made by Grandma Rose for Val when she was an adult. 

Peanut  Butter Blossoms (This is easily doubled, but 48 cookies is plenty)
1 1/4 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 shortening
3 T. milk
1 T. vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 c. flour
3/4 t. baking soda
1/4 c. sugar
48 unwrapped Hershey's Kisses

Heat oven to 375.  Mix together brown sugar, peanut butter, shortening, milk and vanilla.  Beat at medium speed until will blended.  Add egg, then beat until blended.  Combine flour and soda, then add to shortening mixture, beating a low speed until just blended.  Roll dough into 1 inch balls and then roll the balls in the sugar.  Place on baking sheet  2 inches apart.  Bake for about 10 minutes.  Immediately after removing from oven, place one Hershey's kiss in the middle of each cookie, then move the cookies to foil or wax paper to cool. 

This is one of my favorite holiday cookie recipes, but of course, it can be enjoyed all year 'round.  Happy eating!

Muffins for Breakfast!

I woke up yesterday morning in the mood to bake.  Olivia had a friend sleep over and I promised them I would make "Egg Muffins" for breakfast.  This recipe is one that I use with my students often.  It is easy, relatively inexpensive (especially with our fresh eggs) and pretty dang delicious.   The other day Phil came home with a magazine full of recipes and pointed at this one and said we should make it.  I had to laugh, because I make it all the time, just not at home.  I was happy to share this recipe with my family. I was hoping for leftovers to put in the freezer, but the five of us easily devoured 24 muffins, with Olivia claiming she ate 7. 

Egg Muffins (makes 24)
1 can of flaky biscuits (8 biscuits)
6 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. bacon pieces or chopped ham (bacon is better)
1/4 c. shredded cheddar


Preheat oven to 400.  Spray muffin tin or cups with olive oil or nonstick spray.  Separate each biscuit into 3 layers and flatten each layer like a pancake.  Lay each pancake in a muffin tin, these will be the crust.  Sprinkle in a few pieces of bacon or ham.  Combine eggs and milk in a glass measuring cup with spout.  Pour egg mixture into muffin tins.  Top with cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes. 



These little silicon muffin cups are so cute and easy.  This kids love them and I love that they wash up nice, nothing sticks to them and they don't take up much space in the cupboard. 

 After the egg muffins were devoured, the girls asked for muffins.  I decided on banana chocolate chip because they're super easy and I know the kids love them.  I almost always have bananas in the freezer that are past their prime, but are still great for recipes.  I either make smoothies or shakes out of them or save them for baking. 

This is a recipe straight out of the Betty Crocker Cookbook I got for a wedding gift.  Once in a while, Betty gets it right, especially with the baking recipes.  I still use the chocolate chip cookie, banana bread, apple pie and apple crisp recipes from this cookbook as well.  The cookbook has spent so much time on my counter the pages are stuck together and some are missing.  I may have to go on ebay or amazon to find a replacement once of these days...

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (12 muffins, but I always double it and freeze some)
3 medium mashed ripe bananas
3 T. vegetable oil
1 large egg
1/3 c. sugar
2 c. Bisquick
1/2 c. chocolate chips

Heat oven to 400.  Grease bottoms of muffin cups.  Beat bananas, oil, egg, and sugar until blended.  Stir in Bisquick, then chocolate chips until moistened.  Divide evenly between muffin cups.  Bake about 15 minutes until golden brown.

Combined, these two recipes made a great start to the weekend.  I honestly wish I had the time and energy to bake like this all the time.  I'll have to settle for getting my fix on weekends and making double batches to get me through the week.

Vegetables are a must on a diet, I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.

I find it kind of funny that I made an eggless brownie recipe when we have eight chickens that lay eggs nearly every day (six eggs so far today). Earlier this week, Olivia came home from school with a cookbook that she had checked out from the library. She marked a couple of recipes she thought looked good and asked if we could make this one, Zucchini Brownies. This confirmed that she is definitely my child. I totally do this. I regularly check out cookbooks at the library. Reading cookbooks is actually one of my favorite leisure activities. I have five recipe apps on my phone. I love to browse recipes in my spare time. I'm glad one of my children is learning something from me, anyway. On a totally unrelated note, said children discovered a stash of baby teeth in my bedroom closet in baggies labled "Anna" and "Olivia"... you know what that means...

So Olivia and I made these brownies this morning with shredded frozen zucchini leftover from one of my CSA boxes from Red Goose Gardens. (I just shred it like cheese and put it in 2 cup portions in baggies.) I was a little confused about the no egg part in the recipe so checked out a few similar recipes online. All the comments were good, so I decided to give it a shot. They are more cakey than brownieey but still pretty delicious. I don't believe in sneaking vegetables into my children's diet (they should know what they're eating and like it!), but if I did, this would be a good way to do it. If you have zucchini still sitting in the fridge or in the freezer, this is a good way to use it up. I modified the recipe a little, substituting yogurt for half of the oil (I always do this with baked goods. Unsweetened applesauce works too) and doubling the amout of cocoa powder. I also added chocolate chips instead of walnuts, though either one would be delicious.

Zucchini Brownies:

2 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 c. shredded zucchini
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. nonfat plain or greek yogurt
1/2 c. chocolate chips

Mix together dry ingredients then stir in wet ingredients. It will be drier than you think. When it is all moist, stir in the chocolate chips. Bake in a greased 9 x 13 pan for 30 minutes at 350. Chocolate frosting would be a great finishing touch.

Oh, and credit to Jim Davis, creator of Garfield for the inspiration for today's title.