Spinach-Artichoke Pasta Bake

yum yuM yUM YUM!!! We had the Dorfner's over for dinner on Sunday, and this was our main dish... and it was amazing. It's the one of four leftover dishes that I'm actually excited about eating all week long. Next time, I will add chicken into the dish (we had it on the side).

Ingredients:
about 12 oz. whole-wheat pasta (short, sturdy)
1 - 14-oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and cut into quarters (I cut each quarter in half)
9 oz. frozen creamed spinach (I used 14 oz. Trader Joe's creamed spinach w/ asiago & parmesan cheese)
2 c. mozzarella cheese (8 oz.)
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Directions:
Cook pasta as directed on package. Drain and return to warm pot. Stir in artichokes, spinach, parmesan, 1/4 tsp. pepper and half of the mozzarella. Pour into a 2-quart baking dish and top with the remaining cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes, then turn the oven to Broil and leave in the oven until cheese is brown and bubbly (about 2 minutes).

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German Apple Pancake

America's Test Kitchen recipe... I would recommend using Braeburn Apples, not Pink Lady (like we did). Nonetheless yummy! Also, when I say to "dust with powdered sugar, if desired", I mean DUST HEAVILY WITH POWDERED SUGAR, even if undesired. A large shower of powdered sugar is a must. Don't skimp.

Ingredients:
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 T. white sugar
1/2 t. salt
2/3 c. half-and-half
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 T. unsalted butter
3-4 large apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the half-and-half, eggs, and vanilla together. Whisk the half-and-half mixture into the flour mixture until smooth with no lumps.
Melt the butter in a 10-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add in apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cook, stirring often, until the apples are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice.
Quickly pour the batter around the edge of the skillet, then over the apples. Place the skillet in the oven and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Bake until the pancakes i brown and has risen above the edges of the skillet, about 18 minutes.
Loosen the edges from the hot skillet with a spatula (don't forget to use an oven mitt to get the pan out!), and flip the pancake onto a large plate or serving platter. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired, (DO IT!), cut into wedges, and serve immediately.

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Creamed Potato Soup

We really enjoyed this soup, although it's fairly heavy... recipe from Passionate Homemaking Delicious served with homemade bread!

Ingredients:
5 medium russet potatoes
1 large onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 lb sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled (save bacon grease for sauteing)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
4-5 kale leaves, chopped, more or less as desired

Directions:
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Scrub the potatoes, pat dry, and pierce several times with a fork. Set them directly on the oven rack and bake until tender, about 1 hour. Let cool completely on a cooling rack. If you don't have an hour (like me, just microwave them... for 5 potatoes, I put them in for 18 minutes).
Combine reserved bacon grease, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened.
Add the chicken broth to the onion mixture.
Cut the cooled potatoes in 1/2 inch cubes. Remove peel on one or two of that potatoes. Set aside one cup of diced potatoes. Throw the remaining potatoes into the pot with the onions.
Puree the contents of the pot in batches in a blender until very smooth. (remember that hot things expand in the blender, so don't fill it more than halfway). Return the soup to the pot and reheat over medium low.
Whisk together the milk and sour cream and then whisk this into the soup, along with the reserved 1 cup potatoes, cheese, and bacon. Add chopped kale and allow to simmer for 10 minutes or so. Season more with salt and pepper as desired.
Serve garnished with cheese, bacon bits, or green onions, as desired.

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Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

Inspiration for the chocolate-dip came from a co-worker who shares my love for chocolate and peanut butter combos. The cookie recipe is slightly changed from the wonderful Mrs. Wade. :)

Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. Adam's crunchy peanut butter
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. salt
1/2 c. baking soda
approximately 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (i'm not really sure on this amount yet)

Directions:
Cream together butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla extract, then add peanut butter and continue to beat until well-creamed. Add in flour, salt, and baking soda and mix well. Drop by tablespoonfuls on ungreased baking sheets, then press each cookie with a fork (twice to make the criss-cross pattern). Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

When the cookies are cool, melt chocolate chips in the microwave. This is where you'll have to eyeball it... I used a little over 1/4 c. of chocolate chips and that 1/2 covered 6 cookies. For the whole batch, you'll probably need a cup of chocolate chips. I microwaved for 1 minute, stirring at 30 seconds and then at the end. Then, dip the cookie halfway in the chocolate and use a knife or spoon to spread evenly. Place on wax paper and let set. Then eat... with milk!

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Scalloped Sweet Potatoes

These would have been perfect had I used all the exact ingredients, prepped the potatoes as instructed, and cooked the full time. Do as I say, not as I do, and follow the recipe from RealSimple!

Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes (1 pound), peeled
2 medium russet potatoes (1 pound), peeled
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
Salt and Pepper
2 1/2 c. heavy cream
Butter (for the foil)

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a food processor fitted with the thinnest (2 mm) slicing disk, slice the potatoes. In a shallow 1 1/2-quart baking dish, toss the potatoes, garlic, thyme, 3/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Add the cream and press gently to submerge the potatoes.
Cover the dish with buttered foil, place on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the potatoes are tender and the top is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

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Favorite Pancakes

Do you know what my favorite thing is? Enjoying a delicious recipe that is ridiculously healthy! Enter, new favorite pancakes.


Ingredients:
1 c. whole-wheat flour
1/2 c. rolled oats
1/4 c. wheat bran (you can also crush up some bran cereal - it works the same)
3 T. flax seed
3 T. brown sugar
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
2 c. buttermilk
1 egg
1 t. vanilla extract
(and next time I'll consider 1-2 t. cinnamon)

Directions:
Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the egg and vanilla to the buttermilk and beat until smooth. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the milk mixture. Stir just until mixed, leaving some lumps. Cover and let sit for about 10 minutes (or you can put it in the fridge overnight and make it the next morning). Heat a skillet over medium heat (we used our electric griddle set at 400 degrees), grease with butter and then add 1/4 c. of batter for each pancake. Flip when bubbly, remove when golden brown. Serve with berries, applesauce, or grade B maple syrup.

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Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

Mac made these today for dessert with friends' and everyone loved them - even me, who doesn't like cheesecake! So yummy... not healthy, but next time I will adapt the recipe a bit to increase the health factor.

Ingredients:
3/4 c. shortening
3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 c. miniature chocolate chips
3/4 c. chopped pecans

Filling:

2 pkgs (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, salt, and baking soda; gradually add to the creamed mixture until blended. Fold in the chocolate chips and pecans.
Set aside a third of the dough for topping. Press remaining dough into a greased 13x9" baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Spoon over crust.
Drop teaspoonfuls of reserved dough over filling. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

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Buttermilk Biscuits

Test Kitchen Baking Book strikes again! I wasn't sure how to label this recipe... you can have it for breakfast, snack, dinner, and if you're like me, throw a little honey on and call it dessert. However you have it, just make sure you follow the directions... biscuits can be a little finicky.

Ingredients:
3 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. powdered buttermilk (you can substitute 1 1/4 c. buttermilk for milk and powdered buttermilk if you want, but it won't have as much flavor)
2 T. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 c. unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and chilled
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/4 c. whole milk

Directions:
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 450 degrees.

Pulse the flour, buttermilk powder, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together in a food processor to combine, about 3 pulses. Scatter the butter and shortening evenly over the top and continue to pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 15 pulses.

Transfer the flour mixture to a large bowl. Stir in the milk with a rubber spatula until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Lightly flour your hands and the dough, and knead the dough gently until uniform, about 30 seconds. Roll the dough into a 10-inch round, about 1 inch thick.

Using a floured 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, stamp our 12 biscuits (don't twist the cutter or they'll be lopsided), gently patting the dough scraps back into a uniform, 1-inch-thick piece as needed. Arrange the biscuits upside down on the prepared baking sheet, spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart (you want to bake them upside down to ensure a more even rise).

Bake for 5 minutes. Rotate the pan, reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees and continue to bake until golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, let cool for 5 minutes then serve warm.

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White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

The perfect amount of sweetness and saltiness, these cookies (4 dozen, mind you), were gone in a matter of hours at our friends' house...

From allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c. white sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 pkg. white chocolate chips (10-12 oz)
1 can macadamia nuts (7-9 oz)

Directions:
Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the vanilla and eggs. Add the dry ingredients and stir until well-incorporated. Stir in the chips and nuts. Drop by spoonful on ungreased baking sheets and bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes.

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Apple Dumplings

From the kitchen of Jan Evans

All this was lacking was vanilla ice cream... yum!

Ingredients:
2 c. sugar
2 c. water
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. butter
2 c. flour
3/4 c. shortening
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
about 4 apples, grated
Cinnamon-sugar

Directions:

Mix the sugar, water, cloves, and cinnamon together in a pan and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add the 1/2 cup of butter, and let cool while preparing the rest of the dumplings. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in the shortening and then add the milk. Roll out dough to 1/4" thick rectangle. Cover generously with grated apples, sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar and roll up as for jelly roll and cut into 1" slices. Place in pan (so it looks like cinnamon rolls) and pour the syrup over all. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.

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Herbed Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough

I make this in the bread machine, but you can also just mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, knead for about 5 minutes, then let it rise until doubled (about 1 1/2 hours).

For 2 lbs of dough, which makes 2 large pizzas:
1 1/3 c. warm water (80-90 degrees)
3 T. olive oil
1 c. bread flour + 2 c. whole wheat flour (I use 3 c. whole-wheat bread flour which you can get at WinCo in the bulk section)
1 T. italian herb seasoning
1 t. salt
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 1/4 t. active dry yeast

Directions:
But all ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed and set it on the dough cycle. When it's complete, separate the
dough into two pieces and shape into a ball. At this point, I wrap one in saran wrap and put in a freezer bag and store in the freezer for a later date. Take the piece you're using and cover with saran wrap and let rest for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to about 375 if using a metal baking sheet and 450 if using a pizza stone (we prefer the pizza stone). Prep the toppings (our faves are red onions, green peppers, mushrooms, chicken, feta, and sun-dried tomatoes). You'll need about 3 cups of cheese. We use all mozzarella, but you can throw in a little variety if you'd like. My favorite sauce is pesto, but this time we used tomato because it was all we had. Use whatever you'd like.

Roll the pizza dough out flat, make a crust as thick as you want, then add your toppings. Tonight, Mac decided to put the chicken and veggies on before the cheese and it turned out great. Bake in the preheated oven for about 18 minutes.

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Granola Bars

Ingredients:
7 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 t. salt
3/4 c. honey
3/4 c. light brown sugar
1 T. vanilla extract
2 t. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 c. whole almonds, pecans, peanuts or walnuts, chopped coarse (I used almonds and walnuts)
1 c. dried cranberries
1 c. flax seed

Directions:

Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Toss the oats, oil, and salt together in a medium bowl. Spread the mixture out over a baking sheet and toast in the oven, stirring often, until pale golden, 20-25 minutes.
Meanwhile, line an 18 x 13" rimmed baking sheet with foil and grease the foil. Cook the honey and sugar together in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar is fully dissolved, about 5 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the vanilla and cinnamon.
Transfer the toasted oat mixture to a large bowl and reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees. Toss the oat mixture, honey mixture, nuts, cranberries, and flax seed together in a large bowl until well combined. Spread the mixture out over the prepared pan and press into an even layer using a greased spatula. Bake the granola bars until golden, 35-40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.
Let the granola bars cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then cut into bars. Let the bars cool completely, then remove individual bars from the pan using a spatula. Will store in an air-tight container for up to 2 weeks.

I adapted this from the Test Kitchen Cookbook, yet again...

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Stuffed French Toast

The Test Kitchen Cookbook strikes once again! This brunch is the type of amazing where you want to eat more than one serving, but if you do you'll feel sick, and the idea that you get to eat it again tomorrow is satisfying.

I'm always careful to follow exactly what the Test Kitchen says to do the first round, and then I modify to make it healthier/lighter the following times. You can do what you want.

Ingredients:
6 oz. cream cheese, softened (I used neufachtel cheese, which is just "light cream cheese")
1/4 c. white sugar
1/4 t. cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
8 slices high-quality white sandwich bread (no joke, that's what it says... we don't know what "high quality" white bread is, but we went with Oroweat Classic White - next time I'll just use our normal, homemade wheat)
4 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 c. whole milk (used 1%)
1 large egg
2 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. all-purpose flour (i'll use whole wheat next time)

Directions:
Mix the cream cheese, 2 Tablespoons of the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a small bowl until smooth. Wrap tightly and refrigerate until chilled, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 200 degrees. Arrange the bread on a wire rack set over a baking sheet and bake until slightly dry, about 15 minutes; set aside, leaving the oven on.
Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over 4 pieces of the bread, leaving a 1/2-inch border at the edges. Lightly press the remaining slices of bread over the top to make 4 sturdy sandwiches.
Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and whisk it together with the milk, egg, vanilla, salt, and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in the flour until smooth. Pour the batter into a large shallow dish.
Lay 2 sandwiches in the batter and soak both sides, about 1 minute per side. Meanwhile, melt 1 more tablespoon butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until beginning to brown, swirling to coat the pan.
Remove the bread from the batter, allowing excess batter to drip back into the dish and lay in the hot skillet. Cook until golden brown on both sides,a bout 2 1/2 minutes per side (*Seriously set the timer and let it cook for 2 1/2 minutes; don't bother it. If you set it on medium heat and cook it for that time, it won't burn... patience, young grasshopper!). Transfer the French toast back to the wire rack and keep warm in the oven. Repeat with the remaining sandwiches, butter, and batter. Serve with Grade B maple syrup (or whatever you'd like).

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Big, Beautiful Muffins

If you happen to read my Words Page, you would have seen that I checked out The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book from the library yesterday. Then, I sat down to determine exactly which recipes I could manage to make in the 3-week checkout time. The conclusion: I need to buy the book.

This was the first recipe out of the book, and we couldn't agree on a flavor, so I made a half batch of lemon-berry for Mac and the other half mocha-chip for me! We both liked the berry ones best. Add whatever you'd like to the basic batter and they should turn out great! Also, please note that the picture makes them look overcooked, but it's the espresso powder and whole-wheat flour... I NEVER overcook my baked goods. :)

Ingredients:

3 c. flour (I used 2 c. whole wheat + 1 c. all-purpose)
1 c. white sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. plain yogurt (Can use homemade!)
2 large eggs
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Directions:
1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk the yogurt and eggs together until smooth. At this point, if you are making two different kinds of muffins, you need to split the dry mixture and yogurt mixture in half because there will be different things you add to the yogurt mixture. If you're making all one kind, continue on...
3. Gently fold the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined, then fold in the melted butter (don't forget to split the butter in half also)
4. Using a greased 1/3 c. measure, portion the batter into each muffin cup. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with just a few crumbs, about 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.
5. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before serving (or devour immediately as we do).

For Lemon-Berry:
Add 1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon zest to the yogurt mixture (I eye-balled about 1/2 tsp since I split the batch in half). Toss 1 1/2 c. fresh or not-thawed frozen berries with 1 tablespoon flour, then gently fold into the batter (used 3/4 c. of berries and 1/2 tbsp. of flour). Tossing with flour keeps the berries from sinking to the bottom of the muffins.

For Mocha-Chip:
Add 3 tablespoons instant espresso (again, since only 1/2 batch, I used 1 1/2 tablespoons) to the yogurt mixture and fold 1 cup (I only used 1/2 c.) semisweet chocolate chips into the batter.

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Chicken & Dumplings

Thank you, Passionate Homemaking, for the foundation of this recipe! We loved this soupy-style chicken and dumplings recipe. So wholesome and filling... Next time, I think I'll add a little more liquid and some corn.

Ingredients:
2 c. carrots, chopped (about 4)
1/2 onion, chopped
2 potatoes, chopped
2 celery stocks, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 c. chicken broth
2-3 c. cubed cooked chicken
1 1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
1 c. milk
Dumplings:
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 c. milk
5 Tbsp butter, melted
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:
Saute chopped vegetables in coconut oil and spices for approximately 5 minutes. Add water/broth and heat to a boil and then simmer for about 10 minutes. Add cooked chicken and milk in the last 5 minutes. Pour into a 13×9 baking dish. I top it off with a dash of each of the spices again (sage, thyme & garlic powder). Scoop dumplings by rounded tablespoon onto the top. Cook for about 18 minutes at 425 degrees.

Dumplings:
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir in the milk and melted butter until combined.

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Candied Sweet Potatoes

This is a very out of place post; I'll just fore-warn you there. Please note that the unconventional food photo of all my cousins DOES contain the finished dish. It's the one on the hright underneath Kelli's (in the pink) plate. I also made those rolls on the left under Kimo's (beardman) plate, which also contains a little serving of today's dish. Okay, enough with the rambling. Today, we're visiting sweet potatoes. Yup, those orange root things that we only eat around Thanksgiving. A lot of times, some aunt ruins the dish by putting marshmallows on top. Not this one. This sweet potato casserole is perfection. I could eat it every day. Really. Thank you America's Test Kitchen for creating this new craving.

Sweet Potato Ingredients:
8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch chunks
5 lbs. sweet potatoes (7 medium), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 c. packed light brown sugar
1/2 c. water
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Topping Ingredients:
2 c. pecans (I used 1 c. walnuts because I ran out of pecans)
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp. salt
pinch cayenne pepper
pinch cumin

Directions:
1. For the sweet potatoes: melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the sweet potatoes, brown sugar, water, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring often until the sweet potatoes are tender (a paring knife can be slipped into and out of the center with very little resistance), 45-60 minutes.
2. When the sweet potatoes are tender, remove the lid and bring the sauce to a rapid simmer over medium-high heat. Continue to simmer until the brown sugar mixture has reduced to a glaze, about 8 minutes.
3. For the topping: Meanwhile, mix together all the ingredients for the topping in a medium bowl.
4. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 450 degrees. Pour the potato mixture into a 9x13" baking dish. Spread the topping over the potatoes. Bake until the pecans are toasted and crisp, 10-15 minutes.

I made it the night before, doing everything except step 4, then baked the next day right before dinner.

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Crockpot Yogurt

There is a sense of great accomplishment in making your own staples, such as yogurt. Keep in mind that this will not have the same consistency as store-bought yogurt. It's a little more soupy. I'm not hardcore enough to eat it plain, so I use it in recipes that call for yogurt, in smoothies, and with things like granola or fruit.

Ingredients:
1/2 gallon whole milk
1/4 c. vanilla yogurt
1 pkg. unflavored gelatin (optional)
1/4 c. honey (optional)

Directions:
Pour milk into a 2 1/2 qt. crockpot and heat on low for 2 1/2 hours. After the time is up, unplug the crockpot and let milk sit for 3 hours. Once it's done sitting, take out 1-2 cups of the milk and add the yogurt and gelatin. Mix well, then whisk back into the crockpot. Wrap the entire crockpot in two bath towels and let "incubate" overnight for 12-15 hours. Stir in the honey and transfer yogurt to glass jars or other desired storage containers.

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Olive-Oil Crackers

Request for crackers recipe! I feel like such a "professional blogger" with all these requests and comments. Thanks, guys!

I've made this recipe 3 times, and added various toppings each time. You can add whatever you want to them, but I found my favorite to be just lightly salted. I got this recipe from 101Cookbooks... love it!

Ingredients:
3 c. whole-wheat flour (or combo of any flour except bread)
1 tsp. sea salt
1/3 c. olive oil
1 c. warm water
various toppings (salt, dried herbs, parmesan cheese, poppy seeds, etc.)

Directions:
Whisk together flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add in the olive oil and water and mix with a dough hook on medium speed for 5-7 minutes. Roll the dough into a large ball, then cut into 12 pieces. Brush each piece with olive oil and roll into a ball. Place each ball on a plate, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rest for 30-60 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450 degrees with a pizza stone in it (if you don't have a pizza stone, which I highly recommend getting one, just use a cookie sheet but don't preheat it). After dough has rested, flatten one ball and roll out into a thin, long strip. Place strip on a floured baking sheet and poke with a fork so they don't rise in the oven. At this point, I like to score the strip with a knife into squares and dust with coarse salt. You can add whatever toppings you want. Then, slide the dough off the baking sheet onto the pizza stone and bake until golden brown (about 6-10 minutes). Repeat until all dough is used, making sure to only bake one strip at a time. Let cool all the way before eating - then they'll be crisp!

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Shrimp Linguine

We like this for dinner last night. We think we would've liked it better had I followed the recipe.

Here's the actual recipe with all my improvs in parenthesis:
Ingredients:
3/4 pound uncooked shell-on medium shrimp (about 20-30), peeled, deveined and tails removed (I used frozen, pre-cooked shrimp that was already peeled and deveined)
3/4 c. coarsely chopped carrots
2 large plum tomatoes, seeded and diced (didn't have any because they're not fresh - used 1 can diced tomatoes, drained)
1/4 c. sliced green onions with tops (used a 1/4 of a red onion)
1/3 c. grated fresh Parmesan cheese
8 oz. uncooked linguine (used whole-wheat spaghetti)
1 tsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
3/4 c. sour cream (used fat-free, only about 1/2 cup)
1/2 c. fat-free evaporated milk (used about 3/4 cup since I didn't have as much sour cream)
1/4 c. snipped fresh basil leaves (used dried)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Additional Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Remove tails from shrimp. Cook pasta according to package; drain, return to pot and keep warm. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skilled - add shrimp, carrots, and garlic. Cook and stir over medium heat 3-4 minutes; remove from skillet and keep warm. Gently heat sour cream and evaporated milk in same skilled over low heat. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Add shrimp mixture, tomatoes, onions, basil, salt, and pepper. Mix gently. Pour over past; toss gently to coat. Serve with additional parmesan cheese.

From Pampered Chef "It's Good for You"

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Baked Chimichangas

We love this dish! From the Quick & Healthy Cookbook, it is again - quick and healthy! I really like to use my homemade yogurt recipe in this, which I'm really surprised I don't have posted on here already... that will be my weekend task - look for it!

Ingredients:
8- 6" flour tortillas (we use whole wheat)
1 1/2 c. cooked and cubed chicken
2 oz. grated low-fat cheese (we use cheddar)
3/4 c. salsa, thick and chunky (best when it's fresh, but your favorite will do!)
Spanish Yogurt Sauce:
1 c. nonfat plain yogurt
1/2 t. dried cilantro
1/4 t. cumin
1 t. dried parsley
1/2 c. salsa

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix chicken, cheese, and salsa. In a separate bowl, mix together ingredients for spanish yogurt sauce. Warm tortillas in microwave until pliable. Wet one side of them, and place wet side down on a plate or clean countertop. Spoon filling onto tortillas, and fold over to hold in filling. Spray baking dish with non-stick coating and place filled tortillas on baking dish. Pour sauce on top and bake for 15 minutes. We also like to add some extra cheese!

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