12 Days of Christmas, Post #1: Pumpkin Oatmeal Smoothie

So one of my New Year's resolutions was to blog once a week. You can tell from looking over there -----> and scrolling down that I didn't meet my goal. . .not even close. To kinda sorta make up for it (but not all the way), I'm planning on blogging the twelve days up to and including Christmas. Call it compensating for my lacking. . .call it a self-inflicted punishment. Either would probably be at least somewhat true :)

I don't know about you, but to me pumpkin flavor is not just a Thanksgiving thing, but a Christmas thing too. I'm sure it's partly because of big family dinners that end with a hefty slice of pumpkin pie. But I also think it's just one of those inanimate things that gives me a warm happy feeling! It fits right up there with fireplaces, hot chocolate, and candles flickering on the hearth. So even when it's in a cold smoothie, something about it being pumpkin just gives me warm fuzzies inside :) But I've come to realize that Oreo doesn't share my same sentiment as I can't seem to find pumpkin oreos now that Thanksgiving is over. If you've seen 'em somewhere--fill me in!!



Oatmeal smoothies. Have you had one? No? Sounds gross? Well, all I can say is, don't knock it 'til you try it. I've been making banana oatmeal smoothies for well over a year now and when I first served one up to my husband, he said "hmmm. . .it's like drinking banana bread batter. . .but I actually like it!" So there you have it. Oh! And my little girls really like them too, so that's a plus. I like them because they are kind of a stick-to-your-ribs kind of on-the-go food, they're yummy and not packed with calories=win, win, win!

So a week ago, I started thinking I would make a pumpkin oatmeal smoothie, 'cause those two things seem to go pretty well together. In fact, if you agree, you gotta try this pumpkin pie oatmeal--It's sooo good! But I made the smoothie it and it was missing something in texture and sweetness. I threw a frozen banana in (like I do with the banana oatmeal smoothie) and voila! That did the trick! But you'll notice I didn't call this recipe "pumpkin-banana oatmeal smoothie" and there's a reason for that--not only is that title too long to fit on one line, you actually can't really taste the banana that well, so it doesn't deserve to be in the title! Like I said, it just helps with adding smoothness to the texture and a natural sweetness without over-doing it.

Ingredients

1/2 cup cooked and cooled oatmeal (it could be any kind--even from the packets)
heaping 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (more or less to taste)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
1 cup of any kind of milk (I use almond milk, but if you use sweetened almond milk, don't use honey or it will be too sweet)
1 Tbs. honey
1 frozen banana (I like to slice mine into quarters before I plastic wrap it and throw it into the freezer)
About a 1/2 tray ice pellets **see note below

Instructions

In a small bowl combine oatmeal, cinnamon, vanilla, pumpkin puree, milk, and honey. Stir together and dump in blender. Add frozen banana and 1/2 tray of ice pellets. Blend until smooth. Add more milk if necessary to achieve desired consistency. Makes 2 glasses.

Here is a pic of my unique ice cube tray that I swear by for making smoothies.
You can see see that roughly half the tray is empty, 'cause I used it to make a pumpkin
oatmeal smoothie. Honestly, when I try to dump the ice into the blender I get a good
number of them all over the floor and my 3-year-old goes scrambling for them as though
 I just hit the jackpot on a pinata. So it's, really probably a little less than half a tray
 that ends up in the smoothie :)

**Note: One trick I use in making smoothies of all kinds is to use an ice cube tray that makes little pebbles rather than big honking blocks. I got mine in a pack of two at Target. I find that my blender (a Ninja--so not a small potatoes Osterizer, but not a high fluting Blendtec either) can break it down into smoothie texture better without having those random chunks of  ice floating around in my smoothie. I don't know what it is, but I like to chew my orange juice (extra pulp), but I don't like to chew my smoothie. . .no thanks! So you can use regular ice cubes, I just don't know how many--I'm sure it's not an actual science. . .I would guess 4 or five would be great.

If you try it, let me know! Even if you hate it, 'cause at least you'll have the right to say so if you've actually tried it :)

Birthday-Worthy Recipes (Nutella Chocolate Cake & Blender Salsa)

Baby girl turned 1 a few weeks ago! It has gone by so fast! And I have so much to say about her that I just haven't been able to wrap up all my thoughts! So I'm going to put that on hold a little longer and just post the easy thing--the recipes from her birthday party. I had a few people ask for the cake and/or salsa recipe. So instead of just emailing them, I figured I would just blog about it, 'cause maybe someone else wants those recipes too, right?

 

     NUTELLA CHOCOLATE CAKE

Nutella Chocolate Cake--Heidi's Birthday Cake . . .sort of. . .except she is allergic
to eggs and dairy, so she couldn't actually eat it. But as you can see, she did
have a cupcake and what a cute little cupcake eater she was!

I have a question--from one baker to another: What could be better than having someone compliment you on your baking? Having someone go out of their way to compliment you on their baking! Am I right? Let me illustrate--I made this Nutella Chocolate cake for Heidi's birthday. Four layers of moist chocolate cake stuffed with plenty of thick, creamy Nutella-y frosting, then topped off with a fudgey chocolate ganache. 

My cousin shoved a piece into a plastic cup ('cause I forget to get paper plates) and brought some home for her husband who wasn't able to attend (you just can't compete with a BYU game, ya know?) Well, my husband received a text like this not too much later:

M: Where did you get that chocolate cake?!


R: My lovely wife

M: I'm sincerely serious that that's maybe the best chocolate cake I've ever had. How did she do that?

R: It's a boiled batter cake. If you come over you can have some more.

M: Is right now a good time?

Yep. He came right over and got some :)

So. . .it's very yummy! Want the recipe? Here it is! And the only thing I would change is to use heavy cream instead of milk or water in the frosting. You need heavy cream for the ganache anyway, and there is plenty of extra in the smallest carton you can find at the store to make both the ganache and the frosting.

Yay for Heidi girl! She's 1!

BLENDER SALSA

INGREDIENTS

2 cans (14.5 Ounces) Diced Tomatoes (I used Western Family brand)
1 can (10 Ounce) Rotel Tomatoes (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies-Original)
1/4 cup Chopped Onion
2 cloves Garlic, Minced
1/4 teaspoon Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/2 cup Cilantro (more To Taste!)
1 whole Lime, Juiced (about 2 Tablespoons)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Loosely drain (but don't squeeze 'em dry) all 3 cans of tomatoes. 
• Combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or large food processor. 
• Pulse until you get to the right consistency, a dozen pulses or so. 
• Taste and adjust seasonings to taste.
• Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips

Adapted from Restaurant Style Salsa on pioneerwoman.com

This was the main course--a crazy yummy burger that Robby suggested. Mine is
shown here with lettuce, tomato, red onion, ketchup, mustard, grilled pineapple,
a fried egg, and cheese. . . After I took this picture, I picked up the plate and this tower
of a burger fell over, but it's OK. . .'cause I caught it.

Opening presents at the family party!

Little cutie got a new coat and some baby cutlery!

Pi(e) Night!

We had Pi(e) Night again for 3.14 (March 14th)/my birthday this year! Thanks again to everyone for coming and for bringing your wonderful pies! I made a chicken pot pie so people wouldn't have to worry about dinner, and 5 dessert pies (. . .though I only served 4). That was a downsized number from 2 years ago when I made 9 pies and had about 5-6 leftover pies if you combined them all!! 

I love getting together with friends and eating food! Those who stayed around for long enough got to play a party game with us too! (Games are another favorite of mine!)

Here are the dessert pies I made this year. 

Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake Pie

Banana Pudding Cheesecake

Ice Cream Pie (I just spread a layer of Breyers Heath bar ice cream on a graham cracker crust, followed by crushed up chocolate covered pretzels, followed by homemade hot fudge, followed by softened vanilla ice cream, followed by more hot fudge. . .mmmm!)

Pecan Brownie Pie (which I overbaked, so I didn't actually serve it. . .brownies are meant to be gooey or not eaten at all :)

Key Lime Pie (it's from my Betty Crocker cookbook, but for some reason I can't find that exact recipe online, so here it is:

Ingredients

Pastry for one-crust pie, or graham cracker pie crust

3 large eggs

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon grated lime or lemon peel

1/2 cup key lime juice or regular lime juice

Preparation

1) Preheat oven to 350

2) Beat eggs, milk, lime peel, and lime juice in medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed
    for about 1 minute or until well blended. Pour into pie crust. 

3) Bake 30-35 minutes or until center is set. Cool on wire rack 15 minutes. Cover and refrigerate at
    least 2 hours. Serve with whipped cream if desired. 

Double Chocolate Chip/Mint Cazookie with Courtney's "Famous" Hot Fudge Sauce

A few years ago, my sister-in-law introduced me to the beautiful hot/cold paradox of a cazookie. I love to freeze cookie dough and make these when people come over for dinner/games/family night. That way I always have something yummy and more impressive than rice crispy squares. I made these the other night and one friend asked for the cookie recipe, so I thought, why not blog about it?

Ice cream and hot fudge? Mmm. . .yes! But there's more! This is a cazookie! Underneath that creamy/fudgey,
melty goodness is a double chocolate cookie with a chocolate mint filling. What makes a cazookie?
Cookie dough baked in a ramekin, with ice cream overtop! It's a simple principle, but the fact that you
eat it hot makes it a delightfully indulgent dessert :)

And the hot fudge. . .it might not be famous past my friends and family, but that's enough for me!

The truth is, you're pretty lucky to be getting this cookie recipe! (The original doesn't include the mints and has 1 cup of regular chocolate chips). I had lost if for several years (maybe seven). Then I found it hidden away in some of my stuff in my Mom's basement just a year before the fateful flooding that all but washed away my hometown. There were many casualties among my stuff.

For the Double Chocolate Chip/Mint Cookie

1 1/4 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
3/4 cups cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
About 24 mint chocolates

Nana brought these for Heidi's baby blessing dinner, which inspired putting them in cookies. Thanks Nana!

Preparation

1) Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
2) Add eggs and vanilla and beat well
3) In separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt
4) Blend into creamed mixture
5) Stir in chocolate chips
6) Roll into 1" balls, then squish the ball in your hand to form a cookie dough pancake. place the mint in the middle of the circle. fold the cookie dough around the mint until it is covered. Squeeze the ball lightly in your hand to seal the edges
7) Place in greased ramekin dishes
Cook in oven at 350 for 12 minutes. remove from oven, place ramekin onto a hot pad. Immediately spoon ice cream and hot fudge over cookie.


For The Hot Fudge

1 1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 12oz. can of evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

*This recipe makes a TON, like 4 cups which I would say is about 30 servings. It does keep in the fridge for about a month (I couldn't tell you past that--it hasn't survived longer than that before); so you've got time to use it up. But if you want, you can halve the recipe and use a mini 5 fl. oz can of evaporated milk (I get Kroger brand from Smiths). Don't worry that it's slightly less than half the size of a regular can. Just halve all of the other ingredients and it'll turn out great!

Preparation

Melt chocolate chips and butter over medium heat. Add sugar, salt, and evaporated milk. Bring to a slow boil and cook for 5-10 minutes, until thick. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

This recipe can be refrigerated and reheated. In fact, it seems to be thicker this way (which I like!)

Freezer Meals

So this is the story--when I was anticipating the arrival of my precious second baby, I started getting nervous about this huge new transition that was about to take place. My mom wouldn't be arriving for a week and a half after the baby was born and I wasn't sure how I could handle a needy toddler, a needy newborn, recovering physically, and getting dinner on the table. Thankfully, Robby was around for the first couple of days. . .but I wanted to be prepared after that. I started making a few freezer meals, then started dreaming up visions of having yummy home-cooked meals on the table with little time and effort aaaaand I started getting a little carried away :) I ended up with 23 freezer meals in total! 

My baby is now more than 3 months old and I'm just now getting down to the last few! And my dreams have come true! Dinner has been gloriously easy whenever I want it to be! (At first, I dipped heavily into the freezer meals, but then started to alternate between freezer meals and ummm. . ."just-cooked-that-day meals" (I dunno what to call 'em, but you know what I mean). The beauty of freezer meals is that you can just double a recipe and eat one batch that day and freeze the other. That way, you're maybe putting in 20% more work for 100% more meal. So here are some of the freezer meals I made. My plan is to periodically update this list. So check back!

Turkey Sloppy Joe's
Chicken Pillows--maybe my all-time fav. recipe EVER!!! (freeze the filling and sauce and keep crescent dough in fridge, thaw filling when ready and continue with recipe)
PF Changs Lettuce Wraps (On my husband's top 5 list)
Chicken Broccoli Alfredo
The Most Flavorful and Moist Meatloaf 
Easy Calzones
Freezer Beef and Bean Burritos 
Italian Stuffed Shells
BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
Tortellini Casserole (I cut up one of those U-shaped turkey sausages into this cuz we're NOT vegetarians :) and it was the perfect addition)
Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas
Slow Cooked Peanut Chicken
Cream of Tomato Soup
Beef Stroganoff 
Baked Potato Casserole Instead of bacon, I got some thick sliced ham from the deli and cut it into cubes, I think it was about half a pound. It was great! And that way I didn't have anything to cook up ahead of time!

You'll also notice I cheated a little with some purely store-bought freezer meals, some you can see, some you can't:

• I got some Marie Calendar's chicken pot pies for Robby for his lunches (from Costco). 
• I also got two packages of Chicken Tikka Masala from Costco--SOOOO good! . . .Like better than Bombay House--I'm not kidding! Also, it freezes well, and if you add a can of coconut milk to it, it'll stretch to give you 6 servings! 
• Birdseye Garlic Chicken Pasta (Also from Costco)
• Mixed berries from guess where?! Costco! I use these to have berry pancakes. You can get Krusteaz pancake mix from Costco, but I prefer the 10-grain pancake mix from the bulk bins at Winco. You just add a Tablespoon of oil, an egg, and a cup of milk or water and voila! You have breakfast for dinner (serve with fruit, eggs, turkey bacon, or whatever other breakfast food). 

Other Frozen Foods

• I wanted to make sure my gluten free princess had food to eat, so I froze chili (compliments of my lovely cousin) in muffin tins, then threw those in a ziploc bag; made gluten free brown rice pancakes by the dozens and froze those. . .I'm gonna post that recipe one of these days, and lots of corn tortillas.
• Cooked chopped chicken in 2 cup portions has been a lifesaver many times--so versatile. It can be thawed and used for BBQ chicken pizza, a casserole, Hawaiian Haystacks etc. etc. 
• Homemade banana muffins--I'm so glad I had these, because we had lots of stuff for meals, but our snack supply withered down very quickly! In fact, when my cousin and her kids came to visit the new baby, I pathetically asked if they would bring me a piece of fruit, cause I was dying for a healthy snack!

Hey! Share the love! If you have a favorite freezer meal that isn't posted, share it with me :)

Alfredo Chicken Pizza

My husband LOVES white sauce pizza, so I made this for him one day thinking I might get a good reaction. He came through :) He said this recipe was "a keeper!" This was a few months ago now and I keep thinking about it, so I figured it was worth blogging about! The sauce would go great with chicken and fettuccine too!

Also note that the sauce recipe leaves you with leftover cream cheese. I'm wanting to try these microwave cheesecakes in a mug--I'd have enough leftover cream cheese to make two of these babies for a hot "date" in :) 

To Make Pizza Dough 

(this makes enough dough for one pizza, double it if you want to use all the sauce in one go) 

1 tablespoon active dry yeast 

1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees) 

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1 tablespoon honey 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

2 1/2 cups all purpose or white whole wheat flour 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

2. Mix yeast and water in a small bowl. Cover and let stand until foamy (about 5 to 10 minutes). 

3. Mix the oil, honey, and salt; add to yeast mixture and stir to combine. If using a food processor, add 1 cup of flour at a time, up to 2 1/2 cups, mixing well after each addition. Or mix in all the flour at once by hand (using a wooden spoon). 

4. Lightly grease pizza pan or cookie sheet with oil. Roll out the dough on a floured surface. Gently stretch the dough to fill the pan. 

5. Let the dough rise (it will not rise very much) while you make the sauce and prepare the toppings. I usually just place the pizza pan on top of the preheating oven. 

To Make Alfredo Sauce

2 tablespoons butter 

3 cloves minced garlic 

4 ounces cream cheese, softened 

1 cup skim milk 

1 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese 

garlic salt & pepper 

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. 2. Add cream cheese; cook 1 minute until mixture is smooth, stirring constantly with a whisk. 

3. Gradually add milk and cook 3 minutes or until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly. 

4. Add Parmesan cheese, stirring until cheese melts and sauce reaches desired consistency, about 2 minutes. Season with garlic salt and pepper to taste. 

Pizza Toppings (For 1 Pizza) 

several slices of ham 

2 cups cooked, cubed chicken 

4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled 

1/2 cup red or green onions, chopped 

2 cups mozzarella cheese 

1. Spread alfredo sauce onto pizza crust. Top with slices of ham, sprinkle with chicken. 

2. Sprinkle cheese on top; follow with bacon and onion. 

3. Bake in oven until crust is golden-brown (about 12-15 minutes) 

Adapted from Foodie Misadventures

Gooey Goodness Bars

1. So I've got a rule when it comes to cooking or baking--if you're going to take the time to make food, you might as well make a lot of it! If I'm cooking, I want leftovers so I can be off the hook for cooking for one meal (don't get me wrong, I love cooking but it's nice when you don't always "have" to. And for baking, I want lots (. . . no. Not just so I can gorge myself on a bigger pan of brownies) so I can try a little, make sure my husband has a good-sized portion, and then either have enough to bring to some friends or take with me to a social event. That said, this dessert violates that rule. I generally stay away from recipes that call for a 8/9" pan and gravitate toward recipes that call for a 9x13" pan.
   However, this time I was searching for a recipe to use up my leftover evaporated milk (from making Oatmeal Cookie Cake with Coconut-Pecan Frosting), so I couldn't be too picky. PLUS the vision of chocolate-peanut butter-caramely goodness lured me in. Not to mention, I have a total weakness for layered desserts

Ingredients

• 10oz. caramels, unwrapped (about 34-36)
• 1/3 cup PLUS 1/3 cup evaporated milk, divided
• 1 box (1 lb. 2.25 oz. ) chocolate cake mix
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup- 1 cup mini peanut butter cups (I only used 1/2 cup, but as you can see from the picture, it could use more)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray 9- x 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Melt caramels in 1/3 cup evaporated milk in medium saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, about 12 minutes; set aside.
3. Microwave Peanut Butter with butter in medium microwave-safe bowl 1 minute or until melted; stir until smooth. Stir in remaining 1/3 cup evaporated milk and cake mix until smooth, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Press 1/2 of the cake mixture into prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven, then spoon on melted caramel mixture. Sprinkle mini peanut butter cups on top of caramel. Flatten pieces of the remaining cake mixture between hands and lie on surface of the caramel layer, the batter does not need to completely cover the caramel. Bake an additional 18 to 23 minutes or until top is set, caramel will still be quite liquidy but will firm up as it cools. Cool on wire rack until room temperature before serving.

Note: I have made recipes similar to this one before and for whatever reason, it never set and it was too gooey (and that's hard to do with a brownie if you ask me), but it was more like brownie batter. If somehow this happens to you, don't dismay! When it's all gooey, this makes an AMAZING ice cream topping--I just put it in a container, stuck it in the fridge, and when I wanted some for ice cream I just microwaved some and poured it on. This lasted a good week without going bad. . .I might have to undercook this on purpose just so I can have a gooey brownie sundae!

(Adapted from: yummly.com--a country crock recipe)

Oatmeal Cookie Cake with Coconut-Pecan Frosting

Oatmeal Cookie Cake with Coconut-Pecan Frosting

So I tried this amazing cake recipe this weekend! It's the kind of recipe you may have eaten at your grandmas house, but the recipe has since disappeared into the bottom of a dusty box somewhere in a family members home, waiting to be sorted through. In other words, it's one of "the world's forgotten recipes." 

Although it has oatmeal in it, don't think this is one of those guilt-free indulgences for those who are trying to eat healthy (though there are times when I'm all about that). No fat is being substituted by applesauce here and you don't even know there's oatmeal in it, it just adds to the amazing flavor, like in an oatmeal cookie! Oooh--and the topping is just like what you'd find on a german chocolate cake. . .MMMmmm!

Cake Ingredients

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup butter

1 1/3 cups boiling water

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Topping Ingredients

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup canned evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

11/2 cups chopped pecans

1 cup coconut

For Cake:

1. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan and preheat oven to 350.

2. Combine oatmeal, butter, and boiling water, stir well. 

3. Mix sugars, vanilla, and eggs into mixture. 

4. Sift flour, spices, and baking soda together in separate bowl.

5. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture and stir until incorporated. 

**Note: At this point, if you're like me, you might be thinking ". . . this is cake batter?! I've baked enough cakes to know that this is way too runny to be cake batter!" But don't be deceived! And don't add more flour like I ALMOST did.   

6. Just pour batter into the 9x13" pan, bake for 30-35 min at 350 and have FAITH! You will be rewarded with moist, cakey goodness!

For Pecan-Coconut Topping: 

1. Boil together the brown sugar, butter, and evaporated milk. 

2. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, pecans, and coconut. 

3. Pour topping over baked cake.

4. Eat and go "mmmm!" (if you react to good food like my toddler and I do!)

(Adapted from: nummiesforyou.blogspot.com and pilsbury.com)