My Meatloaf

This is a combo of my mom's teaching and my MIL's recipe. It uses my staple ingredients (bell peppers), but tastes sooo good!

You'll need:
1lb ground beef
1 cup mixed bell peppers (red, yellow, orange), chopped
1 cup bread crumbs
1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine meat, crumbs, peppers, and egg
3. Form into a loaf (flatten to speed up cooking time) and place in a glass baking dish
4. Bake for 45- 60 minutes, or until cooked through
5. Enjoy!

Serve with mashed potatoes and your favorite veggie.

Substitutions: Instead of peppers, pour canned diced tomatoes over the top of the loaf before baking.

Chocolate Marshmallow Cupcakes

These are known on the Weight Watchers site as "Chocolate Halloween Cupcakes," but I figure you could decorate them for any occasion, once you have the basic recipe. It's a yummy looking chocolate cupcake with marshmallow icing... all from scratch and only 3 points each!

You'll need:

• 2 sprays cooking spray
• 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cup McNeil Nutritionals SPLENDA No Calorie Sweetener
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp table salt
• 1 cup fat-free egg substitute
• 2 cup water
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 medium egg white(s)
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 1 Tbsp light corn syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 tsp decorating icing, orange

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat two 12-hole muffin tins with cooking spray and line with cupcake wrappers.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, Splenda, cocoa, cornstarch, baking soda and 1 teaspoon of salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg substitute, 2 cups of water and 1 cup of light corn syrup.
4. Spoon egg mixture into flour mixture and mix until completely smooth and incorporated.
5. Pour batter into muffin tins until each hole is completely full. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.
6. While cupcakes cool, make frosting: Heat a medium pot of water to boiling.
7. In a medium metal or glass bowl, beat sugar, 1/2 cup of water, egg whites, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of corn syrup and vanilla extract with an electric mixer on high speed for 1 minute.
8. Place bowl of frosting over rapidly boiling water (you are creating a double boiler) and beat at high speed until the mixture forms soft peaks, about 7 to 10 minutes.
9. Remove frosting from heat and beat on high speed until mixture is thick enough to spread, about 5 minutes. Frost cupcakes, create a spider web-like design on each with icing and decorate as desired. Yields 1 cupcake per serving.


I can't wait to make these for tomorrow! Happy Halloween, everyone!


p.s. Side note, I'm down 2lbs from two weeks ago! Hurray!

Bailey's Milkshakes

For a night in with friends, this drink is pretty awesome!

You'll need:
Bailey's Irish Cream
Vanilla Ice Cream
milk
ice cubes

1. scoop ice cream into blender
2. pour 1-2 shots of bailey's over the ice cream
3. add a dash of milk
4. toss in a few ice cubes for thickness
5. blend

One of my favorites.. but be careful! These things can come back to bite you.

Breakfast Casserole

This was part of Sunday brunch yesterday. Uses all of my favorite ingredients, too!

You'll need:
2 cups eggs, beaten
1/2 of each: red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup diced white onion
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup milk
3 slices bread, torn

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. mix eggs and milk in a square glass baking dish
3. soak bread in egg mixture
4. sautee peppers and onion in pan until soft. add to egg mixture
5. Top with cheese
6. bake for 50 minutes

Layered Pumpkin Loaf

As soon as the leaves begin to change, I begin to crave fall foods, like sweet potatoes, apples, and especially PUMPKIN. So here's a recipe I borrowed from Kraft Foods for a tasty pumpkin bread.

You'll need:

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar, divided

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

4 egg whites, divided

1/2 cup fat-free milk

1/4 cup canola oil

2 cups flour

2-1/2 tsp. CALUMET Baking Powder

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp. salt

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese, softened

PREHEAT oven to 350ºF. Grease a nonstick 9x5-inch loaf pan; set aside. Mix pumpkin, 1 cup granulated sugar, the brown sugar, 3 of the egg whites, milk and oil in large bowl. Add flour, baking powder, pie spice and salt; stir just until moistened. Set aside. Beat Neufchatel cheese, remaining 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar and the remaining egg white with wire whisk until well blended.

SPOON half of the pumpkin batter into prepared pan; spoon Neufchatel cheese mixture evenly over the batter. Cover with remaining pumpkin batter.

BAKE 1 hour to 1 hour 5 min. or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Run knife or thin spatula around edges of pan to loosen bread; cool in pan on wire rack 10 min. Remove bread from pan to wire rack; cool completely.

Next on my list... pumpkin roll!

Candy Corn Cookies

You'll need:

1	pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/3	cup butter or margarine, melted
1	egg
	Orange paste food color
2	oz semisweet chocolate, melted, cooled

1. Line 8x4-inch loaf pan with waxed paper, extending paper over sides of pan. In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, butter and egg until soft dough forms.

2. On work surface, place 3/4 cup dough. Knead desired amount of food color into dough until color is uniform. Press dough evenly in bottom of pan.

3. Divide remaining dough in half. Gently press one half of remaining dough into pan on top of orange dough. On work surface, knead chocolate into remaining dough until color is uniform. Press over plain dough in pan, pressing gently to edge of pan. Refrigerate 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until firm.

4. Heat oven to 375°F. Remove dough from pan. Cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Cut each slice into 5 wedges. On ungreased cookie sheet, place wedges 1 inch apart.

5. Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are set and edges are very light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet. Cool completely. Store in tightly covered container.


I can't wait to try this recipe! These look so cute!

Exciting news!

Well, exciting to me. I just realized that there is a Betty Crocker recipe site! I'm a HUGE fan of Kraft Foods.com, but I didn't even think to look at Betty Crocker.... It's a nice site. Not as cool as Kraft Foods, or interesting as Food Network.com, but still, not bad. They have a candy corn-shaped sugar cookie recipe that I'm DYING to try...

If you know of any other good recipe sites, let me know!

Fully Loaded Mashed Potatoes

I LOVE both mashed and baked potatoes, so here's a yummy combo of both!

You'll need:
4-6 med. to lrg. russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 1/2 cups chedder cheese
3/4 cup sour cream
2-3 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
chives
2 tbsp butter

1. Boil potatoes until soft.
2. mash potatoes with sour cream and butter
3. Salt and pepper to taste
4. Once mashed, add cheese until melted
5. mix in bacon and chives

Tips: Best served with beef, though chicken will work.

Substitutions: Light sour cream will work, too. You can also add anything else you'd use on a loaded baked potato.

Maryland Chicken

Just made this one tonight and it is SOO yummy! I named it Maryland chicken b/c one of the main ingredients is Old Bay seasoning, a common spice on Maryland steamed crabs!

You'll need;
boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 per person)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup veg. oil
1 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
1tsp cracked black pepper


1. Mix oil, lemon juice, Old Bay, and pepper together to create a marinade
2. Poke chicken with forks, cover with marinade and marinate chicken for 30 minutes
3. Heat oven to 350 degrees
4. Bake chicken in a shallow glass baking dish for 30-40 minutes.

Tips: Best served with steamed asparagus and cheddar mashed potatoes!

Subsitutions: None, really....

Super simple dinner and VERY tasty!

Slacker!!

I know, I know. I haven't posted anything in AGES. Truth is, I haven't really cooked anything special in ages. We're doing lots of basic stuff b/c I'm busier than a one-armed paper hanger lately. But, I'm hoping to put up some really good stuff soon!

Chocolate Croissants

*recipe courtesy of Weight Watchers magazine, a favorite of mine on Saturday mornings

You'll need:
1 pkg Pillsbury crescent rolls (or other canned crescent rolls)
1 bag chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
1 egg

Preheat oven as directed on package.
1. separate crescent rolls into individual triangles, as normal
2. place 1-2 tbsp of chocolate chips into the center of each roll
3. roll crescents as normal
4. beat the egg in a small bowl
5. spread a small amount of egg wash over each roll crescent.
6. bake until golden brown

Serves 4 (2 each, 2 WW pts ea.)

Tip: These pair very nicely with a good breakfast scramble or just eggs and bacon. Also a crowd-pleaser at brunches.

This is my favorite way to get a morning chocolate fix (next to my latte, of course!)

Double Cranberry Muffins

*100% stolen from Kraft Foods.com, but oh so tasty!

You'll need:

1-3/4 cups flour

1 cup plus 1 Tbsp. sugar, divided

4 tsp. CALUMET Baking Powder

2 cups POST SELECTS CRANBERRY ALMOND CRUNCH Cereal, divided

3/4 cup fat-free milk

1 egg

1 tsp. grated orange peel

1/3 cup orange juice

2 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. oil, divided

1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped

PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Combine flour, 1 cup sugar and baking powder in large bowl. Mix 1 cup cereal and milk in medium bowl; let stand 3 min. Add egg, orange peel, orange juice and 2 Tbsp. oil; mix well. Add to flour mixture; stir just until moistened. (Batter will be lumpy.) Gently stir in cranberries.

CRUSH remaining 1 cup cereal; mix with remaining 1 Tbsp. sugar and 1 tsp. oil. Spoon batter evenly into 16 paper-lined medium muffin cups. Top with cereal mixture.

BAKE 22 min. or until muffins are golden brown and toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 min.; remove to wire rack. Serve warm or cooled.

Makes a great addition to any Sunday brunch!

Simple Spinach and Artichoke dip

*stolen from Kraft Foods, but modified b/c I like my way better!

You'll need:
2 14oz. cans/jars of artichoke hearts, drained (I like the seasoned ones, best)
1 cup mayo
1 & 1/2 cups parmisan cheese (You've got to use the shredded stuff, not the stuff in the green can!)
1 med. bag frozen spinach
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
chopped green onions
1 sm. diced tomato

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1. Mix artichokes, mayo, 1 cup cheese, spinach, & garlic in a glass baking dish
2. Bake for 20 - 25 mins, or until golden brown
3. When there are 5 mins. left on the timer, sprinkle remaining cheese on top and finish baking.
4. Top with tomatoes and onions.
5. Serve hot.

Tips: Best served with baked tortilla chips.

NOTE: I do not recommend substituting the mayo for the light kind b/c it may throw the taste of the dish off.

Serves: 6-8 hungry people

This is a definite mother-in-law pleaser! I used it to impress her at a Labor Day picnic... now she's jealous of my cooking skills!