Just a Mom, HA!

Gnocchi (Italian Potato Dumplings)

Gnocchi isn’t a meal that I order – I’m more a pasta girl, but I have seen Jay eat it from time to time and he’s always pleased.  When I saw this recipe I decided to make it to impress my man, but it impressed me too.  This was fun to make and the freshness of homemade gnocchi pleased my palate just as much as my men (even Cee partook).

What’s great about gnocchi is its versatility.  I just went with a simple marinara meat sauce, but these could be made with pesto, alfredo, with primavera veggies, or in soups.  This recipe will be a repeat in our house for sure.

Gnocchi (adapted from AllRecipes.com)

• 1 cup dry potato flakes
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 Tbs shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Wonder Bars (AKA Homemade Reese’s)

Now to reveal this other mystery goody on our caroling plate this year…

Wonder Bars – a classic, Mama D treat.  They are a wonder, because they are Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – homemade style.  They are wonderfully tasty, but also wonderfully fattening, so proceed with caution.

Wonder Bars

• 3/4 c. margarine or butter
• 1 3/4 c. graham crackers, crushed (11 crackers)
• 1 c. peanut butter
• 2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 16oz. milk chocolate chips

Melt margarine, add peanut butter and mix. Add graham cracker crumbs and powdered sugar to butter mixture then blend well. Pad “dough” into a 13×9 in pan. In a microwave safe bowl, microwave chocolate chips for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Spread on top of PB mixture. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to help the chocolate set.

Kim’s tips:  Doing half of this recipe in an 8×8 square pan is great for smaller families.  Also, if you choose to chill your wonder bars to help the chocolate set faster, let them come back up to room temp before cutting them so that the chocolate doesn’t crack.

Happy Cooking!

Homemade Pizza Sauce

I love pizza.  It is my great vice in this world.  I’ve never been great at making it at home, but I have high hopes for improving my standing.  My first great success was with my BBQ Chicken Pizza, now I’ve got sauce down, maybe if I can get over my baking-with-yeast anxiety I’ll try crust.

According to most cooking forums the key to pizza sauce is tomato sauce, tomato paste, a dash of sugar and then any other italian-y spices you can think of.  After looking over lots of ideas, I came up with this:

When Jay got home, I told him to try the pizza and tell me what he thought of the sauce:

Jay: I really like your sauce.
Me: Really?
Jay: Yes.
Me: Enough to keep me around?
Jay: Yes.
Me: Enough to buy me a great present?
Jay: Yes.
Me: Enough to father my offspring?
Jay: I already did that.
Me: And all future offs that I may spring?
Jay: Yes.

It’s the positive feedback I get that keeps me going. : )

Homemade Pizza Sauce

• 15 oz can tomato sauce
• 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1/2 Tbs. oregano
• 1/2 Tbs. basil
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder

Put both tomato products in a mixing bowl, blend together till you have an even consistency.  Add spices one at a time, stirring at each addition.

Kim’s notes:  This recipe makes enough sauce for 2 normal homemade pizzas, with a little left over. If you don’t use lots of sauce on your pizza it might even stretch to three pizzas. If you’re only making one pizza at a time, the sauce can be stored in the fridge for a few days or in the freezer for longer.  Also would make a great dip for bread sticks.

Ideas for making pizza healthier:

Homemade pizza is a great way to get the flavor we love, while controlling some of the fat/calories.  I used turkey pepperoni and was so impressed with it that I may never go back.   The flavor was great and there were no pools of grease sitting on top after baking.  I will say that the texture wasn’t like normal pepperoni, but it wasn’t bad either.  It also helps to use a very fine shredded cheese – it covers the pizza but with lots of holes so it isn’t as thick of a cheese layer.

Cheesy Burger Chowder

The weather has turned cold, even down here in Texas.  The time has come for me to unveil a Mama D classic, Cheesy Burger Chowder (AKA Cheeseburger Soup, but I’ve never liked that name since it sounds like a burger, bun, and mustard in a blender – ick).

This soup is seriously out of this world.  It’s creamy, flavorful, loaded with veggies, but it’s also bad… so, so bad for you.

I almost chickened out of posting this recipe, it’s THAT bad.  I told Jay that I didn’t think I’d ever be able to make it again in good conscience and he nearly cried.  So for him, I’m putting this recipe out there, and promising to keep on making it from time to time, but I’m also going to put my notes about how to cut out some of the fat and calories (both versions have been tested on Jay and both were considered delicious).

**Going to a potluck sometime this month?  This soup will make you a rock star, I guarantee it.**

Cheesy Burger Chowder – Mama D’s version, with Kim notes for cutting back fat

• 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
• 3/4 c. chopped onion
• 3/4 c. shredded carrots (the amounts of veggies don’t need to be exact, I usually add a bit extra)
• 3/4 c. diced celery
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. parsley
• 4 Tbs. butter/margarine, divided (I don’t use any butter in my version)
• 3 c. reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 4 c. peeled and diced potatoes (small bite sizes work best so that they cook faster)
• 1/4 c. flour
• 8 oz. Velveeta (I use the 2% milk variety that has less fat)
• 1 1/2 c. milk (skim)
• 3/4 tsp. salt (I skip this)
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 c. sour cream (I use fat-free)

Brown beef, drain, set aside.  In a large soup pot saute onion, carrots, celery, basil and parsley in 1 Tbs butter (or just use some cooking spray if omitting butter) until veggies are tender, about 10 minutes.  Add broth, potatoes, and beef.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender (this time will really depend on the size of the potatoes you cut).  Meanwhile, melt remaining 3 Tbs butter in a small saucepan and add flour.  Cook and stir for about 3 minutes or until bubbly, then add it to soup and bring to a boil.  (If not using butter, just throw the flour in the soup, but be very attentive for lumps and smash them out on the side of the pot with a fork if necessary.) Boil for 2 minutes, stirring well.  Reduce heat to low, add cheese in small chunks, milk, salt and pepper.  Cook and stir until cheese is melted, remove from heat and blend in sour cream.  Yields 8 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Bread

I’ve mentioned now a few times that I’m no baker.  7 out of 10 things that I bake seriously fail.  But today I’m proud… I’m oh so proud that I baked something that I made up and it was a success!

The flavor combo of banana, Peanut Butter, and chocolate has got to be one of my favorites of all time.  So I looked over some banana bread recipes that I know, made some adjustments, broke the batter down and made chocolate-peanut butter-banana STRATA!

Can you see the three strata?  Chocolate, PB, and then plain banana on top.  Delish!

This bread is fab, but I’ll also let it slip that I have more in store for this bread, but that is to come on another post. : )

The banana and peanut butter flavors are the strongest by far, so I may try adding chocolate chips next time to bring in more chocolate.*

Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Bread

• 2 c. flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 ripe bananas (mashed)
• 2 Tbs natural applesauce (you could use oil or softened butter here, but applesauce worked fine)
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/4 c. peanut butter
• 1 Tbs cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, prepare pan with cooking spray and a light dusting of flour (I used an 8×8 square glass dish, but you could use a loaf pan).  In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Stir until evenly combined.  In another bowl stir together the sugars, eggs, applesauce, vanilla, milk, and mashed bananas.  Add half of the powder mixture to the wet ingredients, stir to combine, then add the remaining powder and continue to stir until evenly combined.

Distribute the batter evenly into 3 bowls.  To one bowl add the peanut butter and stir until combined.  To another bowl add the cocoa powder and stir until combined.*  Now layer the batter starting with the chocolate into the prepared baking dish.  Turn or shake the dish until the batter lays evenly.  Next add the PB batter – this will be thicker than the last, so you will need to help it disperse.  Next add the plain banana batter and again shake dish until the batter lays evenly.

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until bread passes the toothpick test.

*In the future, I will try adding 1/4 c. of semi-sweet chocolate chips to both the PB and banana batters to help boost the chocolate flavor.

Happy Cooking!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

This is an absolute favorite in our house.  Yesterday Jay told me that it is up there right with the pizza he gets at his favorite pizza place – that is quite an honor since this throw together pizza is something that I just thought of one day, and is crazy easy.

I love to impress my man.

And he even impressed me by doing all the work for this recipe yesterday.

I love it when my man cooks.

This recipe, is really just more of an idea, that you can change up according to your tastes:

BBQ Chicken Pizza

• 1-3 cooked and shredded chicken breasts (amount really depends on the size of your pizza and your own taste preferences)
• 1-2 c grated mozzarella cheese
• fresh cilantro, chopped
• thinly sliced onions (white or red)
• Your favorite BBQ sauce
• pizza crust

Cook and shred chicken early. I generally boil mine since the sauce gives it plenty of moisture. Put the shredded chicken in a ziplock bag with lots of cilantro (use lots here because it sticks to the side of the bag and you lose some) and lightly drizzle it with BBQ sauce. Shake bag until the chicken is coated. Just use a little, so that it gets on the chicken, but not so that it is sopping. Refrigerate until ready to cook pizza.

When you’re ready, either make the crust from scratch, buy a Boboli or those packet crusts. I’ve used all of these options and they all turn out fine so do whatever works best for you.

Once crust is prepared, spread the BBQ sauce over it. This doesn’t have to be a heavy layer since BBQ sauce can be quite strong and salty. Cover crust with cheese, then add the thin onion slices and chicken. Add more fresh cilantro over the top and lightly sprinkle with additional cheese if you wish.

Bake according to crust directions.

*Kim’s notes: To cut back on fat and calories, I will often load my pizza with toppings, then sprinkle a little cheese over everything (the pictured pizza was made that way).

Just like with all pizza, toppings are up to you. Some fresh pineapple might be great on this, mushrooms, or some peppers if your family likes them.  For yesterday’s pizza I caramelized the onions ahead of time, and added spinach too.  It was heavenly.

Happy Cooking!

Green Chili & Chicken Enchiladas with Pink Sauce

It seems like just about every family has a recipe for Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas.  They all have chilies, onions, soups, and so forth, and everyone loves them.

I love them too, but don’t make them often since they take a lot of work (I hate shredding chicken), so when I told Jay that they were on the docket for the week he was pretty pumped.  What I didn’t tell him at the time was that I had a diabolical plan to try a new (and pink) idea for the enchilada sauce.

I’m glad that I did – changing up the sauce to be chili-lime cream was a stroke of pure genius (not that I want to toot my own horn, but seriously, I’m drooling just thinking about it).

Maybe I’ll start making these a bit more often.

Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas with Pink Sauce

• 3-4 c. shredded cooked chicken
• 2 (4 oz) cans green chiles
• 1 can reduced fat cream of chicken soup
• ½ c. non-fat sour cream
• 1 med-large onion, chopped very fine
• 8-10 medium sized flour tortillas (soft taco, fajita, gordita style)
• Grated cheddar cheese

For sauce:

• ½ c. non-fat sour cream
• ¼ c. milk
• ½ Tbs. chili powder
• 1 Tbs lime juice

In a skillet sauté onion and chilies in their own juices until just tender.  In a large bowl combine onion and chili mixture with chicken, soup and sour cream.  Mix until well combined.  Spoon filling mixture onto tortillas and roll them up, placing enchiladas in a sprayed casserole pan.  Once all enchiladas have been rolled and placed, combine the ingredients for the sauce in the same bowl that the filling was in.  Mix until evenly blended then pour over enchiladas, smearing it around with the back of a spoon until every enchilada gets coated.  Top lightly with cheese if desired.  Bake at 350 degrees until heated through and sauce bubbles at edges (about 20-30 minutes).

Kim’s Notes: This serves well with rice and corn.  If you want something a bit more special than plain rice, add 1 tsp of cumin, 1 tsp of chili pepper, and 1 Tbs of fresh chopped cilantro.

Don’t want to make the pink sauce?  Try a green enchilada sauce or simply mix milk with about 1/3 of a can of cream of chicken soup.

Happy Cooking!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip [Cake Batter] Cookies

It’s the season for pumpkin cooking!  I’ve got two pumpkin recipes for you this week, but since it’s getting late I’m just going to start with the easier of the two.

I get a lot of traffic to this site because of my recipe for Cake Batter Cookies – they’re easy, they’re delicious, you can really cut a lot of the fat, and they lend very well to add-ins.  One of my favorite variations of this recipe is to take spice cake mix and change it into pumpkin cookies!  This is a big fav for Jay too, so when I had some spare pumpkin lying around after a dinner I hosted last week, I knew that the time had come for this:

Hold me back from the cooling racks, I seriously have little restraint around these bad boys.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip [Cake Batter] Cookies

• 1 box spice cake mix
• 1 c. canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix, they are typically sold side by side)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 c. canola oil, applesauce, or a combo of both (I’ll fill my measuring cup most of the way up with natural applesauce, then just top it off with the oil – you can cut the oil completely, but I find that it adds a little extra weight and moisture to the cookies.)
• 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix first 5 ingredients together in a big bowl – I find that a hand mixer works well for this, but by hand gets the job done too.  Once blended and lumps are out of batter, fold in chocolate chips.  If not using oil, spray your cookie sheets before scooping dough to prevent sticking.  Bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes.

Happy Cooking!

Eating Out at Home: PF Chang’s Mongolian sauce

We tried this tonight and I was just too excited to wait to post it.  Jay and I love the Mongolian dish from Pei Wei (PF Chang’s) and I was lucky enough to stumble upon the copycat version of their sauce online this week.  It seemed like all of the copy-catters were agreeing on what made the sauce so amazing, so I thought it would be worth a try.  I did cut some oil, and smudged a few ingredients to work with what I had at home, but the end results were awesome!

I didn’t think it was an exact match, but after a bite Jay said to me, “Wow, this really does taste like the Mongolian chicken I get.”

This one is definitely a keeper at our house!

PF Chang’s Mongolian Sauce (with Kim twists)

• 1 tsp. canola oil
• 1/2 tsp. ginger powder
• 1 Tbs minced garlic
• 1/2 c. soy sauce (lite or low sodium works well)
• 1/2 c. water
• 3/4 c. brown sugar (the recipe calls for dark, but I used the normal kind with good results)

Warm oil in sauce pan, add ginger and garlic, stirring quickly to avoid scorching.  Add water, soy sauce, and sugar allowing sugar to dissolve.  Bring sauce to a boil then reduce heat to med-med/low.  Continue to stir sauce until it reduces and thickens slightly.

Sauce goes well with veggies and rice, but if you’re doing a meat dish:

Slice meat (chicken, steak, pork) into bite size pieces.  Coat lightly with corn starch and allow to sit for at least 10 minutes for the corn startch to do its thing (my chicken sat like that in my fridge for most of the afternoon and it worked out well).  When ready to cook, warm a frying pan over medium high heat and prepare pan with cooking spray or a little oil.  Cook meat until browned on edges, then add the sauce to the meat.  Allow sauce to boil and thicken around meat until meat is cooked through.  Serve over rice.

*Kim’s hint:  I did a veggie rice with this dish much like what you’d get at Pei Wei.  I added carrot strings to the rice water, and then when it was done cooking I tore fresh spinach into the rice and stirred it in until wilted.  Delicious!

Easiest Chicken Dijon

If you read my post yesterday about the crazy morning I had then you know that yesterday I was a bit short on time, energy, and subsequently, a desire to cook.  Still, I wanted to have a healthy meal at home and spare us all another trip out with a sick baby to find dinner.

I’d been sitting on this crock pot recipe from About.com for awhile, hoping to turn it into something magical, but yesterday I needed something simple that would take no time on my part.

I did make a few alterations, but nothing like I was hoping to try, so I didn’t have high-high hopes for the outcome.  Boy was I surprised when Jay gobbled this down and kept saying how good it tasted and how much he liked it.

Easiest Chicken Dijon

• 4-6 chicken breasts, trimmed of skin and gristle
• 1 can low-fat cream of mushroom soup
• 3 Tbs. honey-dijon mustard (I recommend Jack Daniels brand)
• black pepper
• 1/2 c.  non-fat half and half or skim milk

Place trimmed chicken breasts in the bottom of the crock pot and dust with pepper.  Combine soup and mustard  in a small mixing bowl then spread over chicken.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours.  In the last half hour of cooking, shred the chicken pieces and stir in the half and half or milk.  Allow to warm through.  Serve over rice.

Kim’s notes:  Next time I think I’ll try adding in some vegetables too – peas or mushrooms would go well.  You could also try serving this over pasta since it has a stroganoff feel or over potatoes for more servings of vegetables.

Happy Cooking!