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New Name!!

I changed the name of this blog to better portray my current reality. I am hoping it will become a place to showcase my hobbies, and to share bits and pieces of my daily life.

~Amie

Tortellini Chili Bake

from Company's Coming - Simple Suppers cookbook

Ingredients:

1 Can of diced tomatoes (or 2 Cups chopped fresh tomato)

2 C Tomato juice

2 C of chili (if using leftover chili) but the recipe used a can of chili, so you can do that as well

1 1/3 C chopped green bell pepper

1/4 C finely chopped onion

1/4 C Cream Cheese, cut up

1 package of refrigerated beef or cheese filled tortellini (12-16 oz)

Combine first six ingredients in greased 2 quart casserole.

Add tortellini. Stir gently. Bake, covered in 425 degree F oven for about 45 minutes. Stir once at the halfway point, bake until tortellini is tender but firm. Makes about 8 cups.

This was something my husband picked out of one of the many cookbooks around here (when I asked that he come up with just one dinner idea out of 2 weeks worth of dinners, lol)....it was actually pretty darn tasty!

Blonde Brownies

I just love to make things that have memories behind them.....the memory here is simple, my mom would make these, and we would inhale them.

Ingredients:
3/4 Cups Butter or margarine (softened)
2  Eggs
2 Cups Brown Sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 Cups Flour
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
chocolate chips (depending on how many you want, you can use a whole bag, but I usually use about 2/3 of a bag)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the butter, eggs, brown sugar and vanilla until creamy.



Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Slowly add all the flour mixture into the sugary egg mixture until you have a nice thick batter.



Transfer into a 9x13 baking dish.



Pour the chocolate chips on top of the batter.



Use a spoon or spatula to smash the chocolate chips into the batter.





Place into the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.

Let cool as long as you can possibly contain yourself.....eat with a nice glass of cold milk. Repeat, repeat...etc.

Variations:

If you use melted butter instead of softened, they make a flatter more fudge-like brownie.

These can also be made with butterscotch chips or a mixture of chocolate and butterscoth.

These are great with a cup of chopped nuts added at the same time you do the chocolate chips.

 

A Strangely Good Snack

Ok, so I ran across this idea online one day, but totally forgot about it....honestly, it sounded too odd to even try. Today, my 3 year old and I were a little bored. We played outside for a bit, but it isn't warm enough to stay out terribly long. For some reason, this memory popped into my head and I decided it was experiment time....so we chalked it up as science!

Microwave Potato Chips


These were actually pretty good.....unexpected to say the least. You can play around with your favorite spices to make them to your liking. I enjoyed them with just sea salt.

I just tossed the sliced potatoes in a bowl with a little bit of olive oil and some sea salt. Spray a microwave safe dish with a little bit of cooking spray (or use parchment paper) then I nuked them for about 5-6 minutes in my lower wattage microwave (think the $40 one at Wal-Mart, lol). I would probably use my food processor next time, but the baby was sleeping....so, I used the side of the cheese grater.

Try them, you will be surprised too!

Banana Nut Bread with Nutty Streusel Topping

Sometimes my husband likes to ask me why I don't buy him bananas....I tell him I stopped because he wasn't eating them. He lets me know he wants some, so I pick some up. He will eat them the next couple of times I buy them, but then it always goes back to where they don't get eaten again. This last time, I bought 5 bananas....and I ate one. Yesterday, I had four bananas that were getting too ripe to eat. That's okay though...because overripe bananas mean one thing....Banana Nut Bread!! This recipe isn't for purists that only want flour, banana, sugar etc. This one has a few spices, but I just love it....and the Streusel topping just takes it one step further.

Ingredients:



Bread
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (or cooking oil)
1/2 cup chopped nuts



Topping
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp butter


Directions:

Grease bottom and sides of one 9x5x3 inch pan or two 7.5x3.5x2 inch pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.



Mash up the bananas...nummy



Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and set aside.



If you are using nuts, sprinkle them on the flour mixture now. Combine the eggs, bananas, sugars, and butter and pour all at once onto the flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). If you mix too much, the bread will be dry and super dense. Spoon batter into prepared pan(s).



Making the Streusel Topping

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and all-purpose flour. Using a pastry cutter or two  knives...or forks, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles course crumbs.



Add the nuts and then sprinkle Streusel topping over the batter.



Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cover with foil last 15-20 minutes to prevent over-browning.



Now, eat some while it's still hot...mmmmm.

My big fat fluffy pancakes

The first time I made these pancakes I knew I would never buy another pancake mix...ever. They are fluffy, yummy, and made from things I always have on hand. The pictures show double ingredients, because I took pictures as I was making some for the boys. I like to make a double batch and freeze tons of little pancakes for easy grab and nuke breakfasts during the week.



Ingredients:

1 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C milk
2 Tbsp white vinegar
2 Tbsp melted butter
2 Tbsp sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine the vinegar and the milk to sour the milk. This will take about 5 minutes (you can also use regular buttermilk if you have it, but I rarely do. You would just use slightly less than a cup of buttermilk about 7/8 Cup) Wisk all the dry ingredients together and set aside. Once the soured milk is ready, mix in the butter, egg, and vanilla then wisk together. Combine milk mixture to the flour mixture. It's a pretty thick batter, but it works! I use about 1/4 C of batter for a large pancake and a Tbsp of batter for small ones. All the pictures are of the Tbsp sized pancakes. Feel free to add any fruit or chocolate chips into the batter too. These can be made in a skillet or on a griddle. I used my Griddler because it's faster...and I like faster.









This recipe will make about 8 of the big pancakes plus 12 of the smaller pancakes. Enjoy!

edited to add salt