No-Bake Marshmallow and Pretzel Bars

I have been trying really hard lately to limit my chocolate "intake," but yesterday, I had a taste for something with chocolate, but didn't want cake, brownies or cookies.  I also didn't want to turn on the oven, because our house was already warm enough.  That means only one thing, right?  Time to whip up a no-bake "treat!" These bars were so incredibly easy to make and were ready for me to take a "sample" in less than 45 minutes.  Around lunchtime today, I asked the hubby if he wanted to try a bar and give them a "rating" of between 1-10.  He told me they were a "9."  I asked him why they weren't a "10."  His response back, "not everything you make can be a 10!" Really?!?!?! I think it is!


Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups mini marshmallows
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups pretzels, broken into small pieces

Line a 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside. In large saucepan or small stockpot, melt the butter slowly and then add the mini marshmallows. Stir with a large spoon on low heat until the marshmallows are completely melted. Remove from heat and add the chocolate chips. Stir until smooth and then add the pretzels.  Press the mixture evenly into the pan with the spoon and allow the bars to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.  Cut into 12 squares.  Store covered at room temperature.

Frozen Fruit Smoothie Circles

Even though I found the smallest watermelon I could for Memorial Day weekend, we still had a lot left over. I was trying to figure out a way to use it all up and I wasn't coming up with any good ideas. Since I had just a handful of blueberries and raspberries also kicking around in the fridge, I thought, why not just throw all the fruit into a blender and make a smoothie? I wanted to take it a step further and freeze it, which was an awesome idea, but I couldn't locate my ice pop molds!!!! I was just about to give up, when I thought, how about using a 12-cup muffin tin for the "molds"? Lo and behold, it worked out great! Since Lauren is my smoothie "girl," she loved this recipe!  The hubby had a few of these "circles" after a long bike ride this afternoon and said, "I think you might be on to something!" If he only knew how easy this recipe was :)

2 cups chopped watermelon
1 cup blueberries, rinsed
1 cup raspberries, rinsed

Put all the fruit into a blender and blend until smooth. Distribute the mixture evenly between the 12 cups of the muffin tin. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap and put into the freezer for a minimum of four hours. When ready to eat, lightly loosen each "circle" with a dinner knife and remove.  Eat immediately!!

Slow Cooker Ratatouille

I can probably count on one hand how many times I have had eggplant in my life. I bought an eggplant at the store recently and then it sat for a few days on the kitchen counter. I knew I wanted to attempt to make ratatouille. Friday morning before the hubby left for work, I told him of my plans to make it in the slow cooker. To say he was a tad skeptical would be an understatement.  With a few clicks of a mouse on the computer, I found everything and anything I ever wanted to know about making this traditional French Provençal stewed vegetable dish. Last night, since we were planning on grilling salmon for dinner, I knew ratatouille would be an awesome side dish.  Both kids were around in the early evening and I wanted to spend time with them, so I took a few minutes to chop up the eggplant and zucchini and then tossed a bag of the Kroger brand frozen three-pepper and onion blend, a can of diced tomatoes, water, a can of tomato paste and some various spices into the slow cooker. After just two hours, it was done.  I had no idea how it would taste when I put a spoonful on the hubby's plate (I don't think he did either). Well, he gave it a 10 out of 10!! Yeah! FYI - if you can't find a 12-ounce bag of frozen three-pepper and onion blend, a 14-ounce bag would be fine too. Birdseye makes a "Recipe Ready" Tri Color Pepper and Onion blend that's really good - I've used it before :)

Ingredients

3 cups eggplant, skin on (cubed)
2 cups zucchini, skin on (cubed)
12-ounce bag frozen three-pepper and onion blend (any brand)
14.5 ounce can, diced and peeled tomatoes, no-salt, undrained (any brand)
6-ounce can tomato paste (any brand)
3/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon marjoram

On a cutting board, chop both the eggplant and zucchini into cubes. Put into a 2 1/2 quart slow cooker. Add the bag of frozen three-pepper and onion blend, tomatoes, tomato paste and water. Stir with a spoon until well combined. Add the garlic powder, black pepper, thyme, basil and marjoram. Stir well and then put the lid on. Turn on high for two hours. Stir before serving. Makes 4-6 servings.

Waldorf Salad

Do you know that the Waldorf Salad originated at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City? It was not created by a chef, but by a dining room manager named Oscar Tschirky over 100 years ago! The original recipe had mayonnaise, celery and red-skinned apples. Evidently, the addition of walnuts came later. I decided to change it up a bit and use Greek yogurt instead of mayo and use a tart apple, like a Granny Smith. Just for kicks, I looked up how much a night at the Waldorf-Astoria costs and also how much a plate of Waldorf Salad was at the Peacock Alley (one of the restaurants located on-site). I just about fell on the floor when I saw. The most inexpensive room for one night that I could find on kayak.com was $529.00 and a plate of Waldorf Salad was $19.00!! Good grief.  I don't know about you, but when we travel, we usually stay at a Comfort Inn and eat at Burger King. If you want to make this Waldorf Salad more "elegant," you can toss in a handful of mini marshmallows. That's what I did yesterday!!

Ingredients

Two 5.3 ounce containers Greek Yogurt (any brand)
1 cup celery, chopped
2 cups apples (like a Granny Smith), chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

In large bowl, put the yogurt.  Rinse and pat dry the celery and then chop into bite-sized pieces.  Remove the core and seeds of  2-3 small apples (leave the skin on), then chop into bite-sized pieces. Add the salt and walnuts. Stir well with large spoon and cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Chill for at least one hour. Stir before serving. Sprinkle additional walnuts on top if desired. Makes 6 one-half cup servings.

Cream Cheese Cookies

When we would visit my in-laws in Cleveland, somehow I always managed to end up in their kitchen.

When they visited us, my mother-in-law ended up in our kitchen.
 

After every meal, my mother-in-law would bring out her tin of homemade goodies, usually kolache and chocolate chip cookies. She and my father-in-law called it, "bakery." I was recently looking through the many newspaper and magazine clippings of recipes that my mother-in-law had saved and found a cream cheese cookie recipe. I love cream cheese, so I thought it was worth making! In the directions it said, "this grand, adaptable dough can be dropped by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet, put through a cookie press (if you're lucky enough to have one) or chilled until firm and then rolled with a rolling pin and cut with cookie cutters."  I love the part that talks about a cookie press and being lucky if you own one! When my "sous chef" saw me getting out the ingredients to make these last night, he came over to help me.  Since Dominic is still learning to crack an egg, I did the "separating" of the yolk from the white. I think he thought I was using some magic when I put just the yolk and not the white into one of the shells! Since I don't own a cookie press, we used the bottom of a drinking glass. Maybe I'll get "lucky" and the kids or the hubby will get me a cookie press for Mother's Day (hint, hint). These cookies are fine without frosting, but they are even better with it!

You can also make them a little bigger and add sprinkles - yummy!

 
Ingredients:

1 cup shortening
3 ounces cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups white flour

In large bowl, put the shortening and cream cheese. Mix well by hand with a large spoon or with electric mixer until fluffy. Next, add the sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix well again . Lastly, with a large spoon, add the flour, a half a cup at a time, until all the flour is well incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and put into the fridge for about a half hour. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and set aside. Roll the dough into 2 1/2 dozen equal sized balls or if you prefer bigger cookies, then roll into 15 equal sized balls. Flatten with the bottom of  a drinking glass and sprinkle a little white sugar on top if desired. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges and the bottom of the cookies are starting to turn brown. Let them cool five minutes and the remove to wire rack to continue cooling.

Butterscotch and Banana Muffins

Back at the end of March, I made some trail mix with butterscotch chips. Every time I opened up my cabinet where I keep my baking chips, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, etc. I kept seeing that half empty bag. I have been racking my brain trying to figure out a way to use up the rest of the bag of chips.  Well, yesterday morning, I looked over on the kitchen counter and the bananas that were ripe earlier in the week were now prime candidates for banana muffins! Hmm, the light bulb went off and I thought how about bananas and butterscotch chips mixed together??  I have given up chocolate for the time being, so I am looking for other baking chips that aren't chocolate.  I love cinnamon chips, but neither of the two grocery stores I shop at have them in stock now. The dude at Kroger last week told me it was a "seasonal" item. Okay then, around the holidays, I'm stocking up on cinnamon chips!!! I put a picture of my muffins on my Facebook page yesterday evening and asked my "buddies" to guess the three main ingredients. A few guessed bananas, but they weren't able to guess the other two main ingredients - sour cream and butterscotch chips.  I get a kick out of doing my "mystery" ingredient game.  If you have to bake anyways, why not make it fun?!?!?!?!  These muffins are DELICIOUS heated up in the microwave for about 30 seconds.  I had two for breakfast this morning with my coffee as I was writing this blog post :)

Ingredients

1/3 cup margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup light sour cream
1 cup mashed bananas, about 2 large
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups white flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In large bowl, put the margarine, sugar, eggs, sour cream, bananas and vanilla. Beat by hand with large spoon or with electric mixer until well blended.  Add flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well.  Add the butterscotch chips and mix in gently with large spoon. Distribute batter evenly between 18 muffin tins that have been lined with paper liners.  Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the muffins comes out clean.

Baked French Toast Casserole

If you had to make an individual serving of french toast for every single hungry person sitting around your kitchen or dining room table during breakfast or brunch, it would probably take a while, wouldn't it?? what if you could feed everyone, all at once? Good idea, right? You assemble this casserole the night before, pop it into the fridge and put it into the oven about an hour before you want to eat it the next morning. This casserole uses a type of bread called, "Texas Toast."  That kind of bread is thicker than a regular piece of bread, so it absorbs the liquid ingredients better :)  The next time you are serving brunch or breakfast for a crowd, think about putting this casserole on the "menu!"

Ingredients

1/2 cup margarine, melted
12 slices Texas Toast, cut in half
1 cup light brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk

Melt margarine slowly in a small saucepan or microwave. Pour into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan. Set aside. In small bowl, put the light brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir until blended with a large spoon and set aside. In medium bowl, put the vanilla extract, eggs and milk.  Stir until well mixed with a  fork.  Set aside. On the bottom of pan, put 12 halves of the bread - three rows down, four rows across.  Sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture evenly on top of the bread slices. Put another 12 halves of the bread on top - again, three rows down, four rows across.  Pour the egg and milk mixture evenly over the bread halves. Sprinkle the other half of the brown sugar mixture evenly on top.  Cover with a  piece of foil and put in the fridge for a minimum of eight hours. When ready to eat, preheat oven to 350 degrees, remove the piece of foil and replace with a new piece of foil and put into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes and then remove the foil and cook an additional 20-25 minutes or until the casserole is starting to brown and is set in the middle. Remove from oven and let cool about 5-10 minutes. Serve with or without maple syrup!  Makes 12 servings.