Cheesy mashed potatoes

This Christmas I got the urge to try a bunch of new and different recipes. I was watching the food network (as always) and Giada De Laurentis was making this recipe for mashed potatoes. They sounded so yummy I knew I had to try them. I know it not a great idea to try new recipes for the first time on a holiday, but when else am I going to make such a decadent dish?
Well I made it, and EVERYONE loved them! My sister told me that my niece never eats mashed potatoes....well she ate her serving and asked for more! I got so many compliments. This may become a family tradition!

Cheesy Baked Mashed Potatoes
Courtesy of Giada De Laurentis
(Printable Recipe)

4 pounds peeled and cut into small pieces (so they boil faster)- I used 5 pounds of Yukon Gold
1 cup whole milk
1 stick butter melted
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated parmesean
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 Tbsp plain bread crumbs

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 13x9 inch baking pan and set aside.
2. Cook potatoes in salted boiling water until tender. Drain the potatoes and return to same pot. Mash well.
3. Mix in milk and melted butter. Mix in mozzarella and 3/4 cup parmasean cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Transfer potatoes to prepared baking sheet. Mix remaining parmesean cheese and bread crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over potatoes.
5. Bake until golden brown.

Nut Crescents - aka Sand Tarts

These are one of my favorite Christmas cookies. My mom makes them every year. This year, I decided I wanted to make them. This would let me try out the recipe and give my mom some help with the hectic holiday baking. Funny enough, the night before I was going to make them, Paula Deen made them on her cookie swap show. Her recipe is the same, the only difference is she cooks them lower and slower. I will put her recipe here. You may be wondering why they are called sand tarts. The cookie has almost a sand like texture because it crumbles and melts in your mouth. It is SO delicious!

Nut Crescents aka Sand Tarts
Courtesy of Paula Deen
(Printable Recipe)

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners sugar (you will need more for dusting the cookies after they bake)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup finely chopped pecans (almost to consistency of raw sugar)

1. Preheat oven to 270F.
2. Using a mixture on low speed cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the vanilla. Add in the flour. Mix in the pecans with a spatula.
3. Take 1 Tbsp of dough and shape into a crescent. Place 1-2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.
4. Bake 40 minutes.
5. While still warm, dredge cookies in confectioners sugar. (Careful because they break easily when warm) Allow to cool completely on racks. Store in airtight container.

YUM!

Apple Strudel

I made this recipe for Thanksgiving last year and this past Thanksgiving as well. It is always a huge hit. So much easier than pie and just as tasty, if not more tasty. I might make it for my dad for Christmas, because he is asking for pie.

Apple Strudel
Courtesy of Peppridge Farm
(Printable Recipe)

1 sheet of thawed puff pastry (1/2 of a 17.3 ounce package- there are 2 sheets per package)
1 egg
1 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 large apples, cored, peeled and sliced thinly (original recipe calls for Granny Smith, but I used a mixture with Gala and Granny Smith)

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. In a small bowl, beat egg and water. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Add sliced apples and toss to coat.
4. On a lightly floured surface, unfold sheet of puff pastry. Roll into 16x12 inch rectangle with the short side closest to you.
5. Spoon the apple mixture onto the edge closest to you. Roll up like a jelly roll. Tuck in edges to seal. Place seam side down on a baking sheet. Brush the pastry with the egg mixture. Cut slits on top of pastry.
6. Bake 35 minutes, or until browned. Let cool for about 20 minutes before serving.

This would be SO good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Low Fat Chicken Alfredo and a Contest

Tonight I made a very yummy dinner. Chicken Alfredo. Instead of cream, I used skim milk. In order to have a low carb meal, serve over low carb pasta, or even just eat it alone. My picker eater hubby liked it and so did I!

Low Fat Chicken Alfredo
(Printable Recipe)

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 Tbsp flour
1 tsp butter
1/4 cup grated parmesean cheese
(I used other cheeses that I had in the fridge and needed to use up)
1 tsp garlic powder
3 cups skim milk (or more or less depending on desired consistency)
Salt and pepper to taste


1. Over medium high heat, cook cubed chicken until no longer pink. Drain any juices.
2. Melt butter in pan with chicken. Add flour. Allow to cook for about 1 minute. Add milk, spices, grated cheeses. Bring to slow boil. Allow to thicken.
3. Enjoy!

Baklava Bars

I made these for Thanksgiving and they were the BIGGEST hit. So delicious! You can use any nut you like. The recipe (I will post the original below with my modifications in parenthesis) called for walnuts, but I wanted to have a pecan dessert, so I used pecans...YUM!

Baklava Bars (courtesy of Betty Crocker)
(Printable Recipe)

Cookie base
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
1 egg

Filling
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (feel free to substitute any nut you like- I used pecans)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
8 frozen mini fillo shells (I used the whole package)

Glaze
1/3 cup honey
2 Tbsp butter or margarine, softened
1 Tbsp brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Spray bottom of 13 x 9 inch pan with cooking spray
2. In large bowl, stir cookie base ingredients until soft dough forms. Press dough into bottom of pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, stir nuts, granulated sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 1 tsp cinnamon, and salt with fork until well mixed and crumbly.
4. Sprinkle nut mixture over partially baked crust. With hands, crumble frozen fillo shells evenly over nut mixture. Bake 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Meanwhile, in small microwavable bowl, combine 1/3 cup honey, 2 Tbsp butter, brown sugar, lemon juice, 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Microwave uncovered on High for 1 minute or until bubbly. Stir in vanilla. Drizzle evenly over fillo. Cool completely (about 2 hours).
7. Optional- before serving, drizzle honey over bars, cut and serve. (I didn't use the extra honey).

I will definitley be making this again! It is so delicious. The entire pan was eaten in about 2-3 days.

Money Saving, Alice.com & Giveaway

No recipes in today's blog. Things have been hectic as is usually the case. Today I wanted to share some super great ideas for saving money when buying groceries. I have a subscription to the Sunday paper, so my typical Sunday mornings include looking through sale ads, clipping the coupons. I then visit a few different websites for ideas of how to use these coupons. I check my cousins blog www.savingyoudinero.com which has ideas for coupons for groceries, household items, and the list goes on. Through using her site, I have come across some other truly great blogs which have helped me save money. Some of my favorites are www.fiddledeedeemom.com, www.couponingtodisney.blogspot.com. I use fiddledeedeemom for Publix deals and couponingtodisney for Christmas shopping ideas.
In clipping all of these coupons, I am in dire need of a better organizational tool. I have a plastic thing that holds my coupons, but has no sorter. I tried to design my own by putting small envelopes labeled with different grocer departments. This helps a lot, but I have had more than one occasion where all of my envelopes slid out of the plastic holder all over the floor of the store. Ugh! This brings me to another blog that I enjoy reading for delicious recipes (I spend hours a day looking at food blogs for recipe ideas...lol). http://www.thenovicechefblog.com/. Today, she decided to blog about her money saving advice. Some great ideas I got from reading her blog today include getting 2 newspapers, keeping your coupons with you at all times, and making a plan. I definitley impulse buy especially when I have a good coupon. If I had a plan, I might not be tempted to buy those impulse buys. She also has a link to a website www.alice.com where you can buy household items for much less and with free shipping! Check out her blog http://www.thenovicechefblog.com/2009/11/alicecom-and-giveaway.html. She is also giving away a super cute coupon organizer!
Enjoy!

Pumpkin Scones

I bought a cute little sugar pumpkin at our local fruit stand this year. I used it mostly to decorate, but after Halloween, I started to get antsy that I needed to use it before it rotted into a mushy smelly mess. I knew I didn't want to use it to make a pumpkin pie....I wanted something more interesting. Plus we are going to have pumpkin pie in a few weeks and wanted something different. I looked through tons of blogs and found so many wonderful ideas....pumpkin fudge, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin bars, muffins, cookies, etc. Note- I do not like pumpkin in savory recipes....I came across lots of those too. I finally found something I knew I wanted to try. Pumpkin scones! I had my very first scone at Panera...their orange scone...so these had some big shoes to fill. Panera's scones are soft, slightly sweet, and SO delicious. These came out a great texture, but just a little dry.....I probably didn't put enough liquid though, because I don't have real half and half....so try the recipe below if you like and tweak as you might see fit. YUM!

Pumpkin Scones
From Recipezaar.com

2 cups all purpose flour
7 Tbsp sugar (I used mostly brown sugar)
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
6 Tbsp cold butter (cut into small pieces)
1/2 cup mashed pumpkin
3 Tbsp half and half
1 large egg

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Grease baking pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, spices). Add in butter and combine until resembles crumbles.
3. In a medium bowl, combine pumpkin, half and half, sugar, and the egg.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
5. Turn dough out of bowl onto lightly floured surface. Knead 4-5 times. Shape dough into disc. Cut disc into 8 wedges. Place onto baking pan and bake 15 minutes or until golden.

These would be great with a glaze...yummm!! This link above has recipes for different glazes.