Turkey meatloaf with feta and sundried tomatoes!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, my range/oven broke and I was outta commission for a week. Needless to say, all is up and running now, and the weather is cooling off, so I will be cooking again, yippie. Got some good soups and cookie/bread recipe's to try, so hopefully I can get back to doing something new once a week. The patient 9 month old...well, he's 10 months old now and not as happy to sit in a chair while mommy cooks, so I might have to get creative with my timing. Has anyone tried any of the recipe's that I have posted? If so let me know how they turned out for you, or if you did anything different to them, would love some feed back. 

I totally forgot to take a picture of this one, but once you've seen one meatloaf, you've seen them all!! The whole family ate and enjoyed this one. Easy and quick to make.

I did a side dish of roasted carrots and parsnips, and quickly learned, I don't like parsnips!! They made the house smell weird too. So maybe just carrots next time, or a nice green salad, like a spinach salad, I bet that would have been nice, especially if you want to keep it light. I also served it with mashed potatoes too.

Here's the recipe, my friend Karla shared it with me, and it came from Giada De Laurentiis.

Turkey meatloaf with Feta and Sundried Tomatoes
4-6-servings

vegetable cooking spray
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley (I used dried)
1/4 cup chopped garlic and herb-marinated sun-dried tomatoes (I used regular ones)
2 cloves minced garlic
2 eggs, at room temp, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons whole milk (I used low fat)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground turkey

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Spray a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray

In a large bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, parsley, tomatoes, garlic, eggs, milk, feta, salt and pepper. Add the turkey and gently stir to combine, being careful not to overwork the meat.

Carefully pack the meat mixture into the prepared pan and bake until the internal temperature registers 165F on an instant read thermometer, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve.


Hope you enjoy this nice twist on meatloaf!

It's almost here!

Fall, that is! I am getting excited. There is a certain smell, breeze and feeling in the air when fall is coming, and I felt it this weekend. Its already time for apple picking, and visits to the farm. It's almost time for the pumpkin patches to open too! Okay, well almost. LOL All the stores are starting to get their Halloween decorations out and it makes me smile like a kid in a candy store. I can't completely explain the feelings that fall gives me, but its amazing, its the only time of year I feel completely at peace. Your probably thinking I'm crazy, its just a season, and California doesn't see all that fall has to offer anyways, but its more than that to me, its holidays and celebrations, fun family activities and pictures. Only a few more days until the official first day and for me it can't get here fast enough!

I'm working on collecting some more recipes to try, I have a few in my back pocket. I have some amazing fall soups I can't wait to try, and a chocolate chip cookie recipe that blends chewy and soft all into one cookie, I'm hoping to try that one this week.

Go outside, stand there for a minute, wait for a light breeze to go by, and tell me if you feel it too!

Success!! Root Beer Bundt Cake=YUMMY

FINALLY! I bake something and it comes out exactly how it is supposed to. I'm so excited. Phil took one bite and had that look of pure bliss on his face (the G's liked it too!). It was such a nice way to end my day, and what a day it was. I cleaned the entire house, did all the laundry, folded and put away, and still managed to successfully make the root beer cake. Love spending Saturday's home with my family, even if it is cleaning! I've been going thru a lot of recipes and finding all kinds of good stuff to try, its such a nice break from the same ol thing all the time. I hope my family is enjoying it as much as I am.

My handsome baking partner!

Here's your spatula mom!

YUMMY

So here's the Root Beer Bundt Cake recipe, courtesy of TV Food Magazine.

Root Beer Bundt Cake

1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 1/2 cups root beer (I used A&W)
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon salt, plus a pinch
3 large eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven 325 degrees. Butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan; tap out the excess flour.
2. Heat 2 cups root beer, the cocoa powder, chocolate and 1 stick of butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool.
3. Combine 2 cups flour, the baking soda, allspice and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Whisk the eggs into the root beer mixture, then gently fold in the dry ingredients (the batter will be slightly lumpy).
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean, 55 minutes to 1 hour, rotating the pan halfway through. Transfer to a rack. Gently poke the cake all over with a skewer and pour 1/4 cup of root beer over the cake; let cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then invert cake onto serving plate and let cool completely.
5. Meanwhile, make the glaze: whisk the remaining 1/4 cup of root beer, a pinch of salt,, the confectioner's sugar and vanilla in a bowl until smooth. Drizzle over the cake.

Pumpkin Chiffon Cake=Epic fail

I have to laugh at this one, it just proves that I SUCK at baking! I totally screwed up the chiffon cake. First of all I did it in a bundt pan cause that was all I had, second of all I didn't take it out of the pan in time for cooling, thanks kids, so it totally sank into itself! Although it looked like a hot mess, it actually tasted pretty good. Just came out more like a pumpkin bread than a light and fluffy chiffon cake! I didn't take a picture to spare myself the embarrassment, but I probably should have just for the comedic factor. I wanted to share the recipe and invite someone to try a go at it and let me know if it works.

Pumpkin Chiffon Cake

Serves 12

1 cup flour

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1tbsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs separated, plus 5 egg whites (9 egg whites total, 4 yolks) at room temp

1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree

Confectioners sugar, for dusting

1. preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, the pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, combine the egg yolks and pumpkin puree. Stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture until smooth.

2. Using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, whip the 9 egg whites at medium speed until foamy, about 2 minutes. With the machine on, gradually whisk in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar; increase speed to high and beat until stiff but moist, 1-2 minutes.

3.Add one-quarter of the egg-white mixture to the pumpkin batter, folding with a rubber spatula just until no streaks remain. Repeat with the remaining egg-white mixture. Pour batter into a 10-inch tube pan with a removable bottom. Bake until cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes.

4.Let cool for 5 minutes, then invert the pan onto a narrow necked bottle; let hang upside down until completely cool, about 1 1/2 hours. Place the cake right side up and remove pan. To serve dust with confectioners sugar.

(As I was typing this I realized another mistake I made, I didn't measure out the pumpkin puree, I just used the whole can! OOP'S...See kids, follow directions and read them CAREFULLY!! HAHA)

Let me know if you try it and how it comes out, it tasted good, but like I said it came out more like pumpkin bread, so I'm curious how it would taste if made by someone who reads the directions!

Lots of good stuff coming up.

I went thru my mounds of recipes this weekend, and countless magazines to find something new to try. Between the constant callings for "mommy", and the little fingers of the boy trying to rip all my pages, I did manage to come up with some stuff to share this week and upcoming weeks. So, stay tuned, I may not post every day, but I will at least try to make something new twice a week.

Coming up...

Pumpkin Chiffon cake
Potato leek gratin
Harvest soup

My Autumn wreath

Before

After

I love going to my local Homegoods this time of year as they are setting out all the Fall and Halloween stuff. I scored some really cool dishes that you will see in upcoming posts and I also scored a wreath that needed a little TLC. I really enjoyed fixing it up. It looked pretty to begin with, but needed a little something extra.

Grilled cheese with Havarti, bacon and caramelized onions

OH...MY...GOSH! This was so good I wish I saved more of the ingredients from the soup just to make more sandwiches! A friend of mine suggested that I put bacon and caramelized onions in a grilled cheese sandwich, so I went with it and it was beyond awesomeness! Thanks Tricia

I don't have a recipe for this, so I will just tell you whats in it and you can add and or adjust your ingredients to make as many as you like. For ONE sandwich I used the following;

2 slices sourdough bread
4 slices precooked bacon
2 slices Havarti cheese (one on the bottom of the ingredients, one in the top)
about 1/3 cup caramelized onions

I used a grill pan (flat pan with raised grill lines) and put a heavy pot on top of the sandwich, since I don't have a panini press, this works just as good. I placed one slice of bread, buttered side down, then one slice cheese. then 4 slices of bacon laid out, then onions, then another slice of cheese, then last slice of bread buttered side up.  Grilled until golden brown on medium high heat.

Bacon and caramelized onion chowder

This soup turned out pretty good, would be awesome on a cold winter night. It basically is baked potato soup with a caramelized onion base. The onions really make the soup pop with flavor, nice sweetness to go with the potatoes. Here is the recipe, courtesy of the Costco in the kitchen cook book. I tweaked it a little to make it a tad easier, not that it was hard, but who doesn't want cooking to be easy?

3 tablespoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 jumbo sized sweet onion, peeled and vertically sliced (I used 1 1/2 medium white onions)
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 package diced potatoes
3/4 cup cooked bacon (I used about 8 slices of fresh cooked bacon)
2 ounces of cream cheese, cubed
3 cups whole milk
Sour cream for garnish
 chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Shredded cheddar cheese for garnish

*Set a 3-quart stock pot on medium-high heat for 30 seconds. Add 2 tablespoons butter and olive oil; stir in onions and saute until lightly browned and caramelized (about 10-15 minutes). Remove onions and set aside.
*Add carrots and 1 tablespoon of butter to pot and saute until carrots are tender, about 2 minutes. Add potatoes and saute until slightly browned. Stir in onions and bacon.
*Reduce heat to medium; add cream cheese, stir until melted. Add milk and cook, gently stirring, until soup begins to thicken.
*Serve with a dollop of sour cream, parsley and cheddar cheese.
**Makes 6-8 servings

Tortilla crusted goat cheese-and asparagus quiche and Pumpkin cheesecake dessert.

Yummy Quiche!

Quiche after cooking.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Things I learned today...1)I'm not a baker. I have tried to make cheesecake before and didn't like the way it turned out, today's pumpkin cheesecake didn't suck, but I wasn't impressed, Phil on the other hand, didn't complain. 2) I think I have the worlds most patient 9 month old, he happily sat in his high chair most of the day in the kitchen while I cooked, he had fun chewing on a ginger snap and a spatula!! 3) There IS a reason I have a  Kitchen Aid mixer and a food processor.  4) Cooking is super fun, and I'm excited I now have a blog to share my journeys on!!

On that note,  I am extremely happy with the quiche, wow, that was super yummy!! It was really easy to make, the only thing I might do different next time is to add more goat cheese, to me, you can never have enough goat cheese. The cheesecake...left a little to be desired, I'm not the best at baking like I said before, I don't mind doing it but I'm usually disappointed at the end result. One defense, my oven sucks, I had to paint the number of the degrees back on the oven knob cause they had come off with age, so I don't think they are 100% accurate. All in all, the cheesecake tasted pretty good, but it was a little over cooked and the crust was a little well done, other wise it was okay. I'm sure if you like to bake and your oven doesn't suck it will turn out just fine!!

Here's today recipes...ENJOY!

Tortilla Crusted Goat Cheese-and-Asparagus Quiche

Care of Everyday with Rachel Ray Magazine

Serves 4

Prep time 25 minutes/Bake 30 minutes (mine took 40 minutes)

Four 7 inch wheat tortillas

10 Asparagus stalks, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 red onion finely chopped

4 ounces sliced mushrooms (about 1 1/2 cups)

salt and pepper

one 4-ounce log goat cheese

3 eggs

1/2 cup plain yogurt, preferably Greek-style

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a greased 9 inch pie plate, overlap the tortillas to make a crust, place om a rimmed baking sheet. Meanwhile, fill a large nonstick skillet a third of the way full with salted water; bring to a boil. Add the asparagus and cooked until crisp-tender, about 1 minute; drain, rinse under cold water and pat dry.

2.Wipe out the skillet, add the olive oil and heat over medium high heat. Add the onion and mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook until the mushrooms are golden, about 3 minutes. Stir in asparagus, season with salt and pepper. Spread evenly in the tortilla crust, then crumble the cheese on top.

3. In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs and yogurt and season with salt and pepper, pour into the tortilla crust. Bake on the baking sheet until just set in the center and lightly golden, about 30 minutes. Let rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

 

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

Makes 16 servings (must be pretty tiny pieces!)

38 ginger snaps, finely crushed

1/4 cup butter, melted

4 pkg (8oz each) cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 can (15oz) pumpkin

1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

Heat oven to 325 degrees, mix crumbs and butter and press onto the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan. Beat cream cheese and sugar with mixer until blended. Add pumpkin, spice and vanilla, mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time until just blended. Pour into crust. Bake 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes or until center is almost set. Loosen cake from rim of pan, cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours. Serve with a dollop of Cool Whip and a dusting of nutmeg.

 

My first Dutch baby!

My father in law usually makes Dutch babies for the family, but now it was my turn to start the tradition at home with my family. So I made a Dutch baby for breakfast last Sunday and it was super yummy. Its pretty much just eggs, flour, milk and butter. Not a lot of ingredients, but man is it super tasty. I like to have syrup on mine, but the rest of the family likes honey and jam too. I hope you enjoy as much as I do!!

Recipe-
Big Dutch Babies
*Pan size 2-3 Quarts, 1/4 cup butter, 3 eggs, 3/4 cup milk and flour
*Pan size 3-4 Quarts, 1/3 cup butter, 4 eggs, 1 cup milk and flour
*Pan size 4-4 1/2 Quarts, 1/2 cup butter, 5 eggs, 1 1/4 cups milk and flour
*Pan size 4 1/2-5 Quarts 1/2 cup butter, 6 eggs, 1 1/2 cups milk and flour
Select the recipe proportions to fit your pan, and get out the ingredients you'll need. Put butter in pan and set into a 425 degree oven,  then mix batter quickly while butter melts. Put eggs in blender container and whirl at high speed for 1 minute. With motor running, gradually pour milk, then slowly add flour, continue whirling for 30 seconds. (With a rotary beater, beat eggs until light and lemon colored; gradually beat in milk, then flour.)

Remove pan from oven and pour batter into the hot melted butter. Return to oven and bake until puffy and well browned- 20-25 minutes, depending on pan. Dust with powered sugar if you wish. Serve at once.

*You need a paella type pan for this Dutch baby, pan should be shallow and no more than 3 inches deep.