Love meatless chili? Then you might be intrigued.

I found a recipe for vegetarian Sloppy Joes, I made it my own without oil and with extra veggies, but then I served it up on brown rice and had a meal that even my healthy brother could eat.  It’s tasty, but it has a bit more of a kick than I expected, so watch for that if you’re sensitive.  We aren’t super spicy people around here but Jay and I devoured it, no prob.

If anyone tries this on buns I’d love to hear about how it holds up.  I also think it would be great with the rice I used but also in lettuce wraps and with a glob of sour cream.

Veggie Joes (adapted from Allrecipes.com)

• 1/2 c chopped onion
• 1/2 c chopped celery
• 1/2 c chopped carrots
• 1/2 small zucchini, cubed into small pieces
• 1/2 bell pepper (I used yellow), chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 Tbs tomato paste
• 1 Tbs white-ish vinegar (I used rice vinegar)
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• Rice, rolls, buns, lettuce wraps, whatever you plan to serve it with

So, when I saw this recipe over at My Kitchen Cafe (a favorite food blog that I stalk), I got so excited.  Just think of all the money I’ll save if those same cravings come back in my next pregnancy? Woo!

Now, as a connoisseur of soft pretzels, let me say just a couple of things.  First, these pretzels were not like Pretzel Time in the mall – more like soft pretzels at sporting events, which made them a little too pretzely for my liking.  I think that I will lessen the amount of baking soda in the wash next time to see if I can soften them up a touch.

Second – since these pretzels cook very hot (500 degrees!) this recipe has a HIGH SMOKE WARNING! The pretzels were perfect, but the cooking spray that I greased the pan with set my fire alarm off when I opened the oven for the first batch.  I’d suggest making these on parchment paper to save yourself the smokey headache.

Homemade Soft Pretzels

Dough:
2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant or regular yeast
7/8 c. warm water (can use up to a cup in needed)

Topping:
1/2 cup warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
salt, you can just use plain table salt, or get some coarser salt for a fun look
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Place all of the dough ingredients into a bowl and beat until well combined. Knead the dough, by hand or machine, for about 5 minutes, until it is soft, smooth, and quite slack. Lightly flour the dough and cover it.  Let dough rest for 30 minutes or longer if not using instant yeast (dough should almost double).

Preheat your oven to 500°F. Prepare two baking sheets by spraying them with vegetable oil spray, or lining them with parchment paper (I’d say paper over spray – note my high smoke warning).

Divide dough into eight equal pieces. Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes. While the dough is resting, combine the 1/2 cup warm water and the baking soda, and place it in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Make sure the baking soda is thoroughly dissolved; if it isn’t, it will make your pretzels splotchy.

Roll each piece of dough into a long, thin rope (about 28 to 30 inches long), and twist each rope into a pretzel. Dip each pretzel in the baking soda wash (this will give the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color), and place them on the baking sheets. Sprinkle them lightly with salt. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Bake the pretzels for 7 to 8 minutes, or until they’re golden brown. I only baked one baking sheet at a time and let the other rest while the first is in the oven.

Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them with the melted butter. Eat the pretzels warm, or reheat them in an oven or microwave.

Happy Cooking!

Which meant I made it while his Mom was in town visiting us.

This is kind of an “out there” recipe for down-home Ohio types, but the flavor was subtle enough to get great reviews from everyone (even Cee).

When you read this recipe over, you might not believe me when I say that it is subtle, but it really is!  I think I just might up the Chili Powder next time to take the flavor up a notch.

Thai Coconut Stir-Fry (adapted from Coconut Chicken Chili on BHG.com)

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut to bite size pieces
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbs flour
• 1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
• 1 Tbs. Peanut Butter
• 1 c. water
• 1 can cannellini beans, drained, rinsed
• matchstick carrots (about half a bag, 2 c.)
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbs fresh cilantro, chopped
• cooked rice

In a large saucepan combine the first 6 ingredients and saute until chicken is no longer pink (don’t worry about oil, just a little cooking spray will do).  Next stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute more.  After the minute is up add the coconut milk, water, and peanut butter, stir until blended in and bring mixture to a boil.  Add all remaining ingredients, mixing until blended.  Return to a boil, reduce heat to med-low and simmer for 10 minutes or until veggies have softened and liquid has thickened.  Serve over cooked rice.

Happy Cooking!

Only there was one problem – this recipe is a Bread Machine recipe.

Bread Machines are not always found in an Average Pantry, so I took Betty’s recipe and messed with the instructions, until I was able to turn my oven into a bread machine.  Hope you enjoy!

*And in case you’re curious, Challah is pronounced like HA-Lah.  Just drop that ‘C’ to call your bread by it’s true and authentic name.

Challah Bread

• 3/4 c. + 1 Tbs warm water
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbs butter or margarine, softened
• 3 1/4 c. flour
• 2 Tbs sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp yeast (I used bread machine yeast, but any would be fine)
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 Tbs cold water
• poppy seeds, optional

Dissolve yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes or until water becomes milky.  Preheat oven to 200 degrees, once it reaches that temp turn the oven off while you finish combining the bread ingredients.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugar, salt, and egg.  Stir until well mixed, then add the yeast water.  Next add the flour, cup by cup, stirring between each addition.  Knead dough until it has a smooth consistency.  Remove dough from bowl, spray bowl with cooking spray, return dough to the bowl, cover with a towel and put the whole thing into the warmed oven.  Allow to rise for about 1 hour or until doubled.

Spray a large cookie sheet, or line it with parchment paper.  Remove the dough from the oven, sperate it into 3 equal pieces and roll them into long ropes (about 13 inches).  Place the ropes side-by-side, then gently and loosely braid them, pinching the ends and tucking them under to seal the loaf.  Place loaf on the prepared cookie sheet.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  While the oven heats, combine the egg yolk and the water in a small bowl.  Beat together until well combined. Brush or spoon the egg mixture onto the loaf, covering it entirely (I didn’t need to use all of my egg wash).  Sprinkle with poppy seeds if using them.  Bake loaf for about 20 minutes, or until well browned and cooked through.

Happy Cooking!

Here’s a little secret – you can half the butter on LOTS of cookie recipes.

I even used low-cal butter.

That being said, the flavor was perfect.  Not too sweet, smooth inside and slightly crisp on the outside.  Fierce.

Half-the-Butter Oatmeal Cookies

• 1/4 c. butter/margarine, softened (I used light Blue Bonnet)
• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 1/4 c. white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 c. flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 c. quick oats
• 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used the mini-chips and they were great)

Cream together the soft butter, brown sugar, white sugar, egg, and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients all at once, then stir until well blended.  Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets.  Bake at 325 for 13 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet, then transfer for racks.  Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Happy Cooking!

AND the ideas used on these cupcake could be applied to other holidays/events, so let’s check these ideas out:

What you need:

• 1 cake recipe or one cake box mix
• 1 frosting recipe or 1 can frosting
• food coloring
• marbles
• plastic bags

To make the heart shaped cupcakes, line the baking pan with cupcake papers, fill them according to your recipe’s directions (about 2/3 full is normal), then slide a glass marble between the paper and the wall of the pan.  It will look like this:

Bake the cupcakes according to your recipe’s instructions (mine baked at 350 for 18 minutes).  Be careful of the marbles when you remove the cupcakes – they pop out and are HOT!

Here’s a good view of what the marbles actually do to the cupcake:

I looked at these and said to Jay, “I think they look like little Pac Man heads more than hearts.”  He said that made them all the better Valentine for him.

IDEA for OTHER USES:  Make these into Pac Man cupcakes with yellow frosting and chocolate eyes!  Or use some green and white for little dinosaur heads with open toothy mouths.

To Make Three Color Cupcakes: To make the tri-color cupcakes as seen here, start with a white-colored cake (mine was a type ofvanilla).  After the recipe is mixed together take about 1/4 of the mix and put it in a plastic bag with food coloring.  Squish the bag until it is evenly colored.  Do the same thing with another 1/4 of the mix adding a new color, or a darker shade of the first color.

Fill the cupcake papers about 1/2 full, then snip the corner off the plastics bags and funnel the colored cake batter one at a time onto the center of the white batter until filled about 2/3 full.  Try not to let the colors mix together very much, just layer them.  Bake according to recipe directions.

IDEA for OTHER USES:  Use any color combo you want, or add some flavor extract to make flavor layers to your cupcakes!DECORATING:

I won’t ever pretend to be an expert on this, so if you’re like me here are some ideas:

• To get that smooth frosted look, warm up your icing.  A few moments in the microwave makes frosting much more liquidy, you can then dip your cupcakes in the frosting and let them dry for a no-stroke iced finish.  NOTE: If there are bubbles in your icing just be patient and wait for them to clear on their own.  If you dip them too soon the bubbles show on your cupcakes.
• No frosting funnels? No PROB! This is the average pantry after all – just spoon some frosting into a plastic zip bag, snip a very small piece off of one corner and squeeze away for easy decorating with no special tools (that is was I did for all cupcakes pictured).

Happy Cooking!

Lots of recipes online claim to have the exact Olive Garden recipe, but since most call for spaghetti sauce as an ingredient, I haven’t put a lot of stock in these claims.  However, as it is possibly my favorite soup, I took a stab at making it in my trusty crock pot, but Kim style (meaning no oil and extra veggies).  Jay and I loved it, it was great the second time around, and it will definitely be a repeat in our house.

Pasta E Fagioli

• 1/2 lb lean ground beef
• 1/3 of a large red onion, chopped
• 1 c. carrots, cut very fine (the larger the chunks the longer the cook time)
• 3 small-med celery stalks, cut lengthwise then chopped
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 c. low-sodium beef broth
• 3/4 of a 16.5 oz jar red pasta sauce
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt (this was with low sodium broth and may not be necessary if using regular)
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 c. dry ditalini (small tube pasta), other small pastas could be substituted if needed

Brown the meat, then drain well.  Chop veggies to desired sizes – the larger the carrots, the longer the cook time.  Add all ingredients except the pasta to your slow cooker.  Cook on low for about 6 hours, check veggies for tenderness.  If the veggies are just about ready, add the pasta and cook for one more hour.  Serve with grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

Boom Baby!  You can make this as lean or as fatty as you want (I went lean – imagine that?!), but either way it is a taste KNOCK OUT.  The first time around we went fancy with the lime chicken, but for the week after I made quick salads with lettuce, beans and corn which were also amazing.

Thanks to The Double Dipped Life who gave me the idea for this (thought I did make the occasional tweak here and there).

Cilantro Ranch Salad

Dressing

• 1 packet of Buttermilk Ranch Dressing mix
• 1 c. mayo (I used fat free)
• 1/2 c. buttermilk (to make this fat free, simply take one Tbs of lemon juice, then add enough skim milk to it to make one cup)
• juice of one lime (about 2 Tbs, add zest for extra kick if desired)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 c. rough chopped cilantro
• 1/4 c. green salsa

Toss everything in a blender and blend it until everything is pureed.  Store in the fridge until ready to use. (For best results make the dressing early in the day so that it is chilled for serving.)

Kim’s note:  This dressing is THICK and this recipe makes TONS!  Adjust accordingly for texture and amount preferences (I might try adding a bit extra milk the next time I make it).

Lime Chicken (Salad topping or for any Mexican food filling)

• Juice of one lime
• 1 Tbs sugar
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4-1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp fresh chopped cilantro
• 3-4 chicken breasts cut to bite sized pieces
• 1 small onion, sliced

Combine all marinade ingredients and chicken in an air-tight container, let chill for at least 30 minutes (mine was in the fridge all afternoon).  Dump out chicken and sauce in a frying pan and cook with sliced onion until done.  Serve warm.

Serve the salad as you wish with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, beans, corn, cheese, chips, quesadilla wedges, whatever you like.

It wasn’t like the Bolivian dish that I knew, but it has become a new favorite of mine.  I see HUGE potential here for making it as a taco/burrito filling, making it in the slow cooker and shredding it, or just serve it simply over rice as the recipe calls for.

Picante de Pollo (from Campbell’s Kitchen)

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 1/2 c. fresh salsa
• 3 Tbs brown sugar
• 1 Tbs honey dijon mustard

Place trimmed chicken breasts in a baking dish.  Mix remaining ingredients together until blended then pour over chicken.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until cooked through.  Serve over rice.

Happy Cooking!

#1 Pizza:

Naan pizza was fantastic and is a great way to “healthify” a favorite comfort food of mine.  Naan is oil free, I used turkey pepperoni, and went light on the cheese, giving me ALL of the glorious taste without grease puddles to mop up.  Heaven!

To try this: Make naan as directed, but break it up only into 3 sections.  Roll them out, place on a sprayed cookie sheet for the second rising.  After the second rising, top dough with your favorite pizza ingredients, and bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes (or as long as it takes to cook through and lightly brown the edges).

#2 Cinnamon Rolls.  Again, heaven (and easier than I thought)!

To try this: Make naan as directed, but break it only into three pieces. Roll pieces out into as even a rectangle as possible.  Cover dough with melted butter, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Roll the dough until you have formed a long ‘log’ and pinch the edges to seal it up.  It’s okay if some of the cinnamon slime squeezes out, I spooned the extra over the tops when they were all placed.

Slide a thread (or dental floss could work) just under one end of the log until you reach about an inch and a half, then cross the thread over the log and pull ends until you make a slice through the dough.  Remove the now cut roll and place cut side down in a lightly sprayed cake pan.  Repeat this for the entire log.  Allow rolls to rise the second time.  Bake rolls at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until tops are lightly browned like in the picture.  Top with a simple glaze and serve warm.

Simple glazes can be made with powdered sugar, a little melted butter, a little vanilla and a little milk. Happy Cooking!