Knock-off Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars

You know it's "beginning to look a lot like Christmas" when Starbucks places their Cranberry Bliss Bars in the pastry case!  They don't have them year-round because Cranberry Bliss Bars, like Peppermint Mochas just aren't right in July!

Anyway, these yummy seasonal treats are a personal favorite of my dad's.  I think he treats himself to 1 a year.  (His birthday is always right around or on Thanksgiving.)  Now, however, my sisters can make him a whole Cranberry Bliss Bar cake to help him celebrate!

I recently made these for a coffee I attended and they were a hit.  I did not make the drizzled royal icing to top the cream cheese frosting because I figured they'd be sweet enough.  They were!  :)

Ingredients:

Cake:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 bag craisins
1/2 bag white chocolate chips

Frosting:
1 8oz.-package cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
(the other) 1/2 bag craisins
(the other) 1/2 bag white chocolate chips

Drizzled Icing:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-3 tablespoons milk (add 1 tablespoon at a time)

Directions:

Cake:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Cream your butter and sugar together until smooth and fluffy with an electric stand mixer
3) In a separate bowl, sift together the flour & baking powder
4) Add eggs, 1 at time, mix until well combined
5) Add cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla.  Beat well.
6) Add flour mixture.  Be careful to not overmix (this could result in a tough cake)
7) Using a wooden spoon, stir in white chocolate chips and craisins.
8) Pour batter into a well greased 9X13 dish & bake for 25-35 minutes, or until cake it golden brown.
9)  Allow cake to cool completely before frosting

Frosting:
1)  Combine 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time with cream cheese in stand mixer (I like to use my whisk attachment - it gets out any powdered sugar lumps!) until cream cheese is smooth
2) Add extracts and beat well
3) When cake has cooled, using a spatula, spread the frosting evenly over the entire cake
4) Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips and craisins over the top of the frosted cake

Chill cake if not serving immediately.  Can be made 1 day ahead.

Recipe from: http://www.topsecretrecipes.com

Butternut Squash Lasagna

Photo courtesy of www.bhg.com

This recipe is one of my most favorite things to make in the fall!  I got it out of a Better Homes & Gardens Italian Cooking magazines a few years ago.  It's been a hit in our house ever since!  :)  One of the best things about it is that you don't have to roast the squash ahead of time.  Just peel, cube, and throw it in your lasagna layers!  :)  Sometimes I add ham if John is feeling the need for "meat."  :)  Oh & the no-boil noodles to make this SUPER easy!  :)

• 3
  pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4- to 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 3
  tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2
  teaspoon salt
• 1/4
  cup butter
• 6
  cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4
  cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2
  teaspoon salt
• 4
  cups milk
• 1
  tablespoon snipped fresh rosemary
• 9
  no-boil lasagna noodles
• 1 1/3
  cups finely shredded Parmesan cheese (5-1/2 oz.)
• 1
  cup whipping cream  (I usually just use milk)
  
  
  Directions:
  1.Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly grease a 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Place squash in the prepared baking pan. Add oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt; toss gently to coat. Spread in an even layer. Roast, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes or until squash is tender, stirring once. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

  2.For sauce: Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat butter over medium heat. Add garlic; cook and stir for 1 minute. Stir in flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in squash and rosemary.

  3.Lightly grease a 13x9x2-inch baking dish or 3-quart rectangular casserole. To assemble, spread about 1 cup of the sauce in the the prepared baking dish. Layer three of the noodles in dish. Spread with one-third of the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup of the Pamesan cheese. Repeat layering noodles, sauce, and Parmesan cheese two more times. Pour whipping cream evenly over layers in dish. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese.

  4.Cover dish with foil. Bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake about 10 minutes more or until edges are bubbly and top is lightly browned. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Makes 8 to 10 servings.
  
  
  
  

Spaghetti Squash with Veggies and Cheese

Do you love spaghetti squash but run out of inventive ways to cook it for dinner? I ran across this simple recipe today on allrecipes.com and was shocked at how amazing it turned out. I made a few tweaks of my own. The original recipe did not include the sausage, zucchini or green pepper but I think either way it would be delicious.

1 spaghetti squash halved lengthwise and seeded
2 Tb. EVOO
1 yellow onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 zucchini sliced in half moons
1 can diced tomatoes (italian style) drained
1 small can sliced black olives
1 Lb. spicy italian sausage
1 clove minced garlic
2 Tb. fresh chopped basil
4oz cheese of your choice ie: italian mix, parmesan, feta etc.

1. Preheat oven to 350 and place squash cut side down on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 30-40 min. or until skin pierces easily with a fork.
2. Meanwhile heat oil in a large skillet and sautee onions, green peppers, and sausage until sausage is nearly cooked through.
3. Add zucchini, and garlic and stir gently until sausage is cooked through and zucchini is soft and opaque.
4. Add tomatos, olives and basil and heat until warmed through.
5. Remove squash from oven and place aside until cool enough to handle.
6. Remove strands of squash and toss with skillet mixture and cheese (and butter if you're in the mood).

Basil Hummus

I found this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs Simply Recipes and I had to share it because it was so good & super easy!

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 2 cups sweet basil leaves, packed (yes, this is a ton of basil, but its worth it!)
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed then minced
• 2 15-ounce cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained*
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Up to 1/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons salt
• Several dashes Tabasco
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste

METHOD

1. Heat the pine nuts in a small skillet on medium high heat. Stir them when they start to brown. When most of them have lightly browned, remove them from the pan into a bowl to cool. (Reserve a few pine nuts for garnish.)
2. In the bowl of a food processor, place the basil leaves and the garlic. Pulse until finely chopped. Add the rinsed and drained garbanzo beans, most of the pine nuts, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, tomato paste, and a few dashes of Tabasco. Pulse several times, for several seconds each time, until the hummus is smooth. Add more Tabasco and salt or lemon juice to taste. Add water to the point of desired consistency.
3. To serve, place in a bowl and drizzle a little olive oil over it. Sprinkle with a few toasted pine nuts. Serve with pita wedges, crackers, or rustic bread.

Makes about 3 cups

Pork Tostadas (as seen on America's Test Kitchen)

(photo courtesy of America's Test Kitchen)

These slightly spicy pork tostadas were AMAZING! They are not hard to make, they just take some time. We also made our tostadas the way they describe in the recipe (fried in oil) but I suppose if you're looking for a healthier alternative you could brush the tortillas with EVOO and bake them until crispy. (But for the record they won't be the same... so go ahead... just this once and indulge in a crispy fried tortilla!! :-)

I was just reading on America's Test Kitchen's website that the video of how to make these should be available in a few weeks. Click on this link, it will take you to the web page, check there to see if the video has been posted. After watching it you'll see how easy these are to make!!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless pork butt, (I used a pork shoulder and it turned out just fine) trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 medium onions , 1 quartered and 1 chopped fine
• 5 medium garlic cloves , 3 peeled and smashed and 2 minced or pressed through garlic press
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• S&P
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1(14.5-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper (use only a 1/2 a tsp. if you don't want the pork to be too spicy)
• 2 bay leaves

Directions

1. Cut up your pork in 1-inch pieces and trim it of most the excess fat. Don't trim all the fat off as it will keep the pork tender as it cooks. 
2. Bring pork, quartered onion, smashed garlic cloves, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 6 cups water to simmer in large saucepan over medium-high heat, skimming off any foam that rises to surface. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover, and cook until pork is tender, 75 to 90 minutes. 
3. Drain pork mixture, through a colander, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid or the stock. Discard the onion, garlic, and thyme. 
4. Return pork to saucepan and, using potato masher, mash until shredded into rough ½-inch pieces, set aside.
5. Heat the EVOO in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add shredded pork, chopped onion, and oregano; cook, stirring often, until pork is well browned and crisp, 7 to 10 minutes. 
6. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
7. Stir in tomato sauce, cayenne pepper, reserved pork cooking liquid, and bay leaves; simmer until almost all liquid has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste.

To make the tostadas:

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 6 inch corn tortillas
• Salt

Directions:

1. Heat vegetable oil in small skillet over medium heat (if you have a thermometer heat it to 350 degrees).
2. Using fork, poke center of each tortilla 3 or 4 times (to prevent puffing and allow for even cooking). Fry 1 at a time, holding metal potato masher in upright position on top of tortilla to keep it submerged (see photo below), until crisp and lightly browned, 45 to 60 seconds (no flipping is necessary). 
3. Drain on paper towel-lined plate and season with salt to taste. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Serve your tostadas with the pork and your favorite garnishes. Here are a few suggestions, avocado, cilantro, lettuce, tomato, queso fresco or your favorite cheese.

Panang Curry Recipe

Serves 1 (I usually make double)
1 Tbl Panang Curry Paste (I use the Mae Ploy Panang Curry Paste)
1 cup coconut milk
1 Tbl sugar
2 Tbl fish sauce (even though this smells terrible you CAN'T leave it out!)
peanuts (optional)
Meat of choice (I have had it with salmon, pork and chicken)
Veggies of choice (according to the man at Uwajimaya you HAVE to have potatoes, but I have put in zucchini, broccoli or cauliflower, red peppers, onions and carrots)

Heat dry wok over medium heat, add curry paste and stir into pan until fragrant

Add meat and veggies and 1/4 cup coconut milk and stir until meat is cooked

Once meat is cooked add remaining coconut milk

In a separate dish mix sugar, fish sauce and peanuts and add to the mixture.

Stir until thick and serve over rice.

This recipe is compliments of a friend from school. It is very easy and delicious! It can be a bit spicy, but if you can handle the heat... it's a keeper!

Bree's meatballs

**  You can ask your butcher or usually find a "meatloaf" or "meatball" mix at your local grocery store **

1/2 lb. ground veal
1/2 lb. ground pork
1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 egg - lightly beaten
1 small-medium sized sweet onion, finely diced
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I try and get a blend of asiago, pecorino romano, and parmesan)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 and 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 and 1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 and 1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or more if you like it hot-hot-hot!)  :)
Favorite jar of marinara or my favorite Trader Joe's Organic Vodka Sauce!  :)

1. Turn crockpot on medium heat (depending on how much time you want meatballs to simmer - low heat if you want them to simmer all day!)  :)
2. Pour favorite sauce in crockpot - set aside
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees & spray a jelly roll cookie sheet with an Olive Oil spray (my fav is from Trader Joe's) - set aside
4. Beat your egg (I do this by hand with a fork) with all your herbs, finely diced onion, S&P, and cheese until well combined
5. Using your hands, thoroughly combine the meat with the egg mixture being careful to NOT over mix (this will result in a tough meatball) - set aside
6. Using a cookie dough or small ice cream scoop (I use the 2Tbsp. Pamper Chef scoop) scoop out meatballs & roll them with your hands to make them round & place them on your prepared cookie sheet (You should make between 48 and 56 meatballs depending on how much meat your started with)
7. Bake meatballs in your preheated oven for 20 minutes
8. Place your meatballs in your sauce that is in your crockpot.  Let simmer at least 2 hours before serving!
9. Serve with pasta or make meatball sandwiches with provolone cheese & hoagie rolls!  YUMMO! :)