Meat and Cheese Manicotti

My family loves my lasagna. I have been making it for a very LONG time. Last night, I decided to "rock" my family's world by making manicotti!!

Lauren helped me out and took Dominic to a music therapy session, so I could focus on making dinner. I stuffed about half of the manicotti shells before I realized I didn't have enough mixture to put in the shells! Good grief. I had to "un-stuff" them, add more ricotta cheese and "re-stuff."  It was what you would call a learning "curve" to make these. After dinner, I asked Lauren which she liked better, lasagna or manicotti. She just recently graduated from college and hasn't had my home cooking for a while. She told me she liked the manicotti better.  I knew she learned a lot in those four years!!

Ingredients

8-ounce package manicotti noodles, uncooked
1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
24-ounce jar tomato and basil pasta sauce
1 large egg, beaten
15-ounce container ricotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese (1 cup reserved)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large pot, cook the manicotti according to the manufacturer's directions. Drain and rinse with cold water and set aside. In a medium saucepan, brown the ground chuck until it is no longer pink and then add the pasta sauce. Stir to combine thoroughly with a large spoon and set aside. In a medium bowl, put the egg, ricotta cheese, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, salt, basil and black pepper. Stir with a large spoon. Pour half of the meat and sauce mixture evenly in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Stuff each manicotti noodle with a heaping teaspoon of the cheese mixture. Lay on top of the meat and sauce mixture. Pour the remaining half of the meat and sauce mixture on top of the stuffed manicotti and then sprinkle the other cup of mozzarella cheese on top. Bake uncovered for about 30-40 minutes until it is bubbly.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter "Icebox" Pie

*Photo courtesy of Mary Gajda - Capital Area Women's Lifestyle Magazine.

My hubby is a great cook, but with a very demanding job, I do about 90% of the meals. This past Monday, I was asking him what he wanted for dinner and he said, "I'm making my split pea and ham soup!" It was DELICOUS. Anyways, one of his VERY favorite combinations is peanut butter and chocolate. Since he made the soup for me, I made him a chocolate and peanut butter "icebox" pie. This decadent pie is quick to whip up and requires no assistance from the oven! The hardest part is waiting for it to freeze up.  My husband is a supportive and loving father to his three children, so for a surprise, I am going to make him this pie again for Father's Day!! Please don't tell him, it will be our little "secret."

Ingredients

6-ounce graham cracker crust (ready to eat)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup chunky or smooth peanut butter
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
3.9 ounce box chocolate instant pudding and pie filling
1 cup milk
8-ounce whipped topping, slightly thawed
2/3 cup Reese's "Minis" Peanut Butter Cups, chopped
2/3 cup Reese's Pieces

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and the peanut butter together slowly, stirring constantly with a large spoon, do not boil! Remove from heat and set aside. Immediately add the powdered sugar and combine well with a large spoon until smooth. Spread evenly into the graham cracker crust. In a small bowl, put the contents of the chocolate instant pudding and pie filling and add one cup of milk. Mix well with a large spoon (it will be thick). Spread on top of the butter, peanut butter and powdered sugar mixture. Sprinkle 1/3  cup of the Reese's "Minis" Peanut Butter Cups and 1/3 cup of the Reese's Pieces. Cover with the whipped topping and then sprinkle 1/3 cup of the Reese's "Minis" Peanut Butter Cups and the 1/3 cup of the Reese's Pieces. Freeze eight hours. Serve frozen - it's delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Butter Pecan Biscotti

Up until a handful of years ago, I didn't even know what biscotti was.  Earlier this week, for some reason, the idea of making butter pecan biscotti popped into my head. Of course I had to act on it! When I showed Dominic what I had made, he picked one up, looked at it and said "it has walnuts." I have tried multiple times to explain to him that there are pecans, not walnuts in the biscotti. I was pretty sure Dominic would eat it, because earlier in the week he ate part of a granola bar that had peanuts and almonds in it, so I figured since he had almonds (which he has never eaten before) he would eat pecans. WRONG!!  After he fully inspected the biscotti, he put it back down on the plate. I grabbed it and ate it. Dominic is missing out, these are yummy!!!!


Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups white flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecans, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Parchment paper is my new best friend - it saves time because you don't have to wash the cookie sheets so often, you just toss the parchment paper in the trash! In a large bowl, beat the butter, white sugar and brown sugar with an electric mixer or by hand with a large spoon until smooth. Next, add the eggs, vanilla extract, flour, baking powder and salt. Combine well with the large spoon and then "fold" in the pecans. Using your hands or the spoon (I like to use my hands), split the dough in half and gently form two "logs" each measuring eleven inches long and five inches wide. Put in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the logs comes out clean. You don't want soggy biscotti!! Pull out of the oven and let them hang out on the cookie sheets for five minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut each log into 12 pieces and then place cut side down back on the cookie sheets. I was able to fit the 24 slices back onto one cookie sheet. Bake for an additional 20 minutes and then remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.  If you want to make an easy glaze, in a small bowl put 3/4 cup of powdered sugar and add one tablespoon of water. Mix with fork or spoon until smooth. Drizzle evenly over all 24 biscotti. Enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea!!!

Springtime Cake

*Photo courtesy of Mary Gajda, Capital Area Women's LifeStyle Magazine

About five years ago,  I was on my way home from the Kroger and my cell phone rang. I answered the phone and this gal said something along these lines, "I'm from the Rachael Ray Show, I'm one of the producers and we loved your "double duty" idea! can we talk?" (The idea was using powdered lemonade in a biscotti). I said, "well, I'm in the car now and have a bunch of groceries, can we chat when I get home?" I ended up talking with the woman from the Rachael Ray Show for a while and when she got to the question about how often I watch the show, being the extremely honest person I am replied, "as often as I can!" That wasn't exactly what they wanted to hear and after a few email exchanges, I never heard back! Anyways, the reason I told the above story was because when I made cake pops for the first time recently, I came up with another "double duty" idea!! My idea is this - when you are dipping the cake pop into melted candy melts, you need a place to put them to harden up and dry. Take a 12-count egg carton, flip it over, take the stick and press into the bottom of each egg "cup." After you are done with the egg carton, it can be recycled! I sent my idea to the Rachael Ray Show, again. We shall see!

Ingredients

For cake:

4 cups white flour

2 cups white sugar

1 cup margarine, melted

4 large eggs

5 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups milk

Other ingredients needed:

16-ounce container vanilla frosting, any brand

1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

Green food coloring

Small plastic or wooden fence (35 inches x 1.93 inches)

Sliced almonds (2.25 ounces)

Candy melts/wafers, any color, any brand (16 ounces)

6-inch lollipop sticks (50)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-inch square pan and a 9-inch round pan with non-stick spray and set aside. In a large bowl, put the ingredients in the order given for the cake and mix well with a large spoon, whisk or electric mixer until smooth. Pour the batter evenly into the two pans and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of each cake comes out clean. Remove pans from oven to cool on a wire rack. When completely cool, remove both cakes from their respective pans. Place round cake on a serving platter. Use 1/2 of the container of frosting (approximately one cup) to frost the round cake. To make the "grass" add a few drops of green food coloring to the cup of coconut and using a fork, mix gently until you get the shade of green you like. Sprinkle the coconut evenly on top of the cake. Toss the sliced almonds on next. Set aside. In a medium bowl, break the square cake finely into crumbs with a fork or with your hands.  Add approximately one cup of frosting (the other half of the container) to the crumbs and combine well with your hands until dough forms. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for a minimum of one hour. Roll into four dozen equal-sized balls, cover with plastic wrap and chill again for one hour. In a medium bowl, melt the candy melts/wafers according to the manufacturer's instructions. Place a lollipop stick into the melted melts/wafers and then press half way into each cake ball. Let it harden up (about one minute) - this little trick will keep the ball from detaching itself from the stick! When the cake pop is ready, dip completely into the melted melts/wafers and place into the egg carton "stand." When dry, place seven cake pops on top of the cake. If you want the cake pop shorter, just cut off the bottom of the stick. When done, wrap the white fence around the cake. Enjoy!!

Blondies

 

I was stumped recently when I was trying to come up with a new recipe for a dessert!! Just for the heck of it, a few weeks ago, I asked my dad. He said, "how about butterscotch?" I immediately thought of blondies, even though I have never made them😉.  Ever since I decided to make the blondies, I have been giving my dad updates on how the recipe was progressing whether he wanted to hear it or not. LOL.  I did learn one very important thing that I didn't know about my dad - he's a big fan of butterscotch!! I already knew he liked my "tea!"

 

 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1 large egg

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup white flour

1/3 cup butterscotch chips

1/3 cup milk chocolate chips

1/3 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 8x8 inch square pan with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium bowl, put the butter and light brown sugar and mix well with a large spoon until smooth. Next, add the egg, salt and vanilla extract and combine well. Add the flour and stir vigorously for 50 strokes (the batter should be starting to pull away from the bowl).  Gently "fold," in the butterscotch chips, milk chocolate chips, pecans and stir to combine. Pour into prepared pan and spread the batter evenly with a knife and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the blondies comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Store covered at room temperature.

Monte Crisco

One of my favorite things to eat out is a "Monte Crisco." They have always been so delicious no matter which restaurant I have been in. I thought you needed a special kind of "sandwich maker," and subsequently put off making one for YEARS!! Well, after tons of research, I came to the conclusion that I could make them in a frying pan. Okay, now that I had that finally figured out, I needed to look in the fridge to see if I had all the ingredients. I had ham (leftover from Christmas), mustard, mayo, one egg and sliced turkey breast. I was only missing some sliced Swiss cheese, so the next time I went to the store I picked some up!! Last week, I made Monte Crisco's for the hubby and myself for dinner. I have NEVER made them before, so I wasn't sure what he would think.  I shouldn't have worried, he gave them a 9.5 out of 10! Well, they did turn out great and were really yummy!!!



 Ingredients (For One Monte Crisco) 

One large egg
Two slices bread (I have used both wheat and white) 
Two slices Swiss cheese 
One slice turkey breast 
Two slices ham 
One tablespoon butter, unsalted
One teaspoon mayonnaise
One teaspoon mustard (I used stone ground)

In a medium bowl, beat the egg with a fork and set aside. To assemble the sandwich, put 1/2 teaspoon of mayonnaise and 1/2 teaspoon of mustard on each slice of bread. Next, on one of the slices of bread, put a slice of Swiss cheese, then the two pieces of ham, followed by the turkey and another slice of Swiss cheese. Place the other piece of bread on top and then dip and coat the entire sandwich in the egg. Melt the butter slowly in the frying pan and then put the sandwich in. Brown on each side until the cheese is starting to melt. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.Enjoy!

Cardamom Spice Cookies

Back a while back, I made a loaf of cardamom bread. I tucked the bottle of cardamom back into my kitchen cabinet and promptly forgot about. A few weeks ago, I re-organized said cabinet and "rediscovered," the glass bottle of cardamom. I spent more time than I probably should have looking for cardamom cookie recipes on the Internet and couldn't find any! So, I did the next best thing and took my basic sugar cookie recipe and "tinkered," with it. Guess, what? These cookies are so tasty, that Dominic had three and wanted more!! These cookies make your kitchen smell beyond amazing. Hmm, could it be the combination of nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon and cardamom ?!?!?! I think Dominic and I will bake some for Santa and Mrs. Claus!

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 large egg

3 cups white flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

In a large bowl, put the butter and sugar and cream together with a large spoon or electric mixer. Add the remaining ingredients in the order given. Combine well with a large spoon. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for a minimum of three hours. When ready to make, remove from fridge and roll into 36 equal-sized balls. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, put a dozen at a time on the sheet and press down gently with the bottom of a small glass. Sprinkle with colored sugars and bake for 12-14 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies  are just starting to turn brown.  Remove from oven and remove immediately to wire rack.