Monthly Archives: May 2012

Chewy and Craisin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Posted on May 31, 2012 | 3 Comments

Walk Through The Bible In One Year
Week 18 reading plan 1 Chronicles 27 – 2 Chronicles 29
Click on the colored link to read each day’s scripture.
Monday 1 Chronicles 27-29 , Tues 2 Chronicles 1-5,
Wed 2 Chronicles 6-9, Thursday 2 Chronicles 10-15,
Friday 2 Chronicles 16-20,
Saturday 2 Chronicles 21-25,
Sunday 2 Chronicles 26-29
Blessings as you read!

After my recent post for the ultimate comfort food, Macaroni and Cheese, Sandy wrote and said, “Your mac and cheese recipe reminded me of a recipe that’s on my bucket list — Patti Labelle’s Macaroni and Cheese. If you’ve not seen it before, Google it. Calls for 2+ cups of half and half, and 3 or 4 different cheeses. My-oh-my — my mouth waters just THINKING about it!“ Sandy knows me well and she won’t be surprised to know it only took me seconds to look up Patti’s mac ‘n cheese recipe. I have it on my “make it soon” list even though we will have to eat salads for a week before and a week after If you can’t wait for me to lower my cholesterol first, check out her recipe HERE. Thanks Sandy!

Soon we will be attending our bi-annual family reunion. I will have hours upon hours of play time with my grandchildren and my children I absolutely can’t wait. So this week I started doing what all good Grandmothers do when they are going to spend time with their grandchildren … bake cookies~!!! I solicited help from Great Grandma (previously known to you as my sous-chef, dish-washing mom) and she got right to work.

On Mother’s Day, Carmen from Baking is my Zen, made Big and Chewy Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies for her mother. One look and I knew I would be taking her recipe for a test drive. As is so typical in the world of recipes, Carmen got the recipe from Norah’s Menus and Recipes. She then tweaked it to suit her taste. I liked the idea of Craisins in the recipe but added some raisins too! Since the cookies are going to the family reunion we left out the nuts because we have plenty in the family. Oops, I mean we have family who can’t eat nuts.

I try to refrigerate my cookie dough overnight before baking. HERE are a couple of reasons why. Thank you Carmen – this is definitely a keeper recipe! We used a medium-size cookie scoop (not as big as an ice cream scoop), baked them for 20 minutes and the result was a nicely crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside perfectly size cookie.

Many Blessings and Happy Baking!

Chewy and Craisin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

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Chewy and Craisin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Serves	24-36
Prep time	15 minutes
Cook time	20 minutes
Total time	35 minutes
Website	Adapted from Baking is my Zen

Deliciously chewy cookies loaded with craisins and raisins and nuts if you want them.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
2 teaspoons Cinnamon (or 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg)
1 cup Unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1 cup Light Brown Sugar, packed
1 cup Granulated Sugar
2 Eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
3 cups Old-Fashioned Oats
3/4 cups Craisins
3/4 cups Raisins

Optional

1 cup Walnuts, chopped

Directions

1	Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon in a medium bowl and set aside.
2	Beat the butter and sugars at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping the bowl again. Add vanilla extract and mix to combine.
3	Decrease speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients until combined, about 30 seconds. Mix in oats, craisins, raisins, and walnuts (if you use them.)
4	Chill dough for an hour or more. I chilled it overnight. Chilling helps keep the cookie from spreading out too much while baking.
5	Set oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Use an ice cream scooper or medium size scoop to place dough on the parchment lined baking sheet. Space cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart (2" apart if using an ice cream scooper.)
6	Bake 20 to 25 minutes depending on amount of dough used. My cookies were done with a medium scoop and took 20 minutes to bake. Secret to chewy cookies - don't over bake!
7	Cool cookies on baking sheet for 2 minutes. Using a wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to a wire rack. Cool to room temperature.
8	Wrap individually in plastic wrap to keep cookie texture chewy. Can be frozen if need be.

Note

I bake my cookies one sheet at a time to insure even heating and browning. If you choose to back two at a time, rotate the sheets halfway through the baking time.

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Posted in Cookies, Dessert

Tagged Baking, Baking is my Zen, Cookies, craisins, Dessert, oatmeal cookie, oatmeal raisin cookie

Wilted Spinach, Blackberry and Goat Cheese Salad

Posted on May 29, 2012 | Leave a comment

My Chief Culinary Consultant is also the gardener in our family. Oh, I piddle around with a few herbs and water and weed a little flower garden, but the FOOD comes from the hands of the Chief. Early in the morning, late in the evening and just about anytime in between he can be found patiently planting, weeding, watering and tending to our garden. It is never too hot or too cold for him to be in the garden. This year, early in the spring, he planted spinach, lettuce, collards, and kale. Every week he brings in a mess of each and we feast on the fresh produce. I found the recipe for this wilted spinach salad in the Summer 2012 edition of the Tennessee Home & Farm magazine. The picture caught my attention and I quickly realized my refrigerator held nearly all the ingredients for this luscious salad.
I started with three plates of freshly picked spinach.
Next came the walnuts. I really love roasted walnuts. I generally start with a teaspoon or so of butter and cook the walnuts over medium heat. If the heat is too high the walnuts will quickly burn. As the walnuts are becoming nicely browned, I stir in 1 teaspoon of sugar and stir to coat, then remove from heat and cool.
While the walnuts are cooling, I mixed up the balsamic dressing. This dressing is so yummy and easy to make I can’t believe I even consider buying salad dressing at the grocery store — but I do. Mom recently purchased this cute little grinder/blender and it works perfect for mixing this dressing. Once the salad is ready, the well-mixed dressing goes into the microwave for about a minute. The incredible edible results ….
As I was making this salad I was tempted to add some “stuff”. Carrots, onions, broccoli sticks … but in the end I decided to stick to this recipe and give it a try. I am so glad I did! The cheese is garlic and basil feta and with the fruity flavor from the blackberries, the nutty walnut texture and the warm balsamic it is a home run without any other ingredients! We ate this as a main dish at lunch but I can imagine it paired really well with fish or chicken for dinner. Thanks to the Chief I will have more spinach recipes coming our way! Many Blessings and Happy Cooking!

Wilted Spinach, Blackberry and Goat Cheese Salad

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Wilted Spinach, Blackberry and Goat Cheese Salad

Serves	3-4
Prep time	10 minutes
From magazine	Tennessee Home & Farm

A stellar recipe loaded with flavor and texture! Healthy and delicious.

Ingredients

4 cups Fresh, Washed Spinach
2 cups Ripe Blackberries, Washed (set on paper towel to drain)
4oz Goat Cheese (I use garlic and basil feta)
1/2 cup Walnuts, toasted

Warm Balsamic Dressing

1/3 cup Extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
2 tablespoons Honey
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/8 teaspoon Ground Cayenne Pepper
Salt and Pepper To Taste

Directions

1	Over medium-high heat roast walnuts in 1 teaspoon of butter. When walnuts are nicely browned add 1 teaspoon of sugar, stirring well. Remove and cool.
2	Divide the spinach, berries, and cheese onto four plates.
3	Combine all dressing ingredients in a glass jar and stir. Also can be mixed in blender or processor. Microwave dressing for about 1 minute on high. Stir well.
4	Pour warm dressing evenly over the salads. (The spinach will wilt when covered in the warm vinaigrette.) Sprinkle with walnuts, serve immediately.

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Posted in Main Dish, Salads, Side Dishes

Macaroni and Cheese, The Ultimate Comfort Food

Posted on May 28, 2012 | 4 Comments

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” Acts 20:24 NIV

Macaroni and cheese seems to be near the top of the list for ultimate comfort food! Whether you are browsing through a favorite cookbook or surfing the internet you will find as many different variations of mac ‘n cheese as stars in the sky! I tend to use one basic recipe and then change-up the cheese or sometimes add some meat. In the recipe I posted last fall, Mac n’ Cheese, instead of using cheddar cheese I used three different cheeses joined to make an outstanding flavor.

In today’s recipe I wanted to make a one-dish meal so I started with one of my very favorite healthy foods, aidells Chicken & Apple Sausage. First of all, it has chicken instead of pork (healthier) and when they threw in the apples, in my mind, that has to put the healthy meter over the top, right?

I started out by a quick saute’ of the thinly sliced sausage. I put a bit of a crunchy browning (looks burned, but it’s not) which will add awesome flavor to the macaroni and cheese.

While those were cooking I cooked up some elbow macaroni. I cooked them just to under done. They will finish cooking in the oven and this keeps them from going mushy. A quick mix all together.

In the meantime I made the cheesy white sauce. Yum. This particular time I used 4 cups, which is 16 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese.

Everything gets mixed together, topped with some crushed Ritz crackers (or whatever you have on hand) and into the oven for 30 minutes.

You will find the full recipe at the bottom of this post. In the meantime, please don’t forget to stop by my new Facebook Fan Page and click the “like” button! www.facebook.com/praycookblog . You don’t have to have a Facebook account to view fan pages!

Also, if you are walking through the Bible this year with me, here are the links to this week’s reading. We are at week 18 and going strong!

Macaroni, Chicken Apple Sausage & Cheese

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Macaroni, Chicken Apple Sausage & Cheese

Serves	6-8
Prep time	40 minutes
Cook time	30 minutes
Total time	1 hours, 10 minutes

Make a family-pleasing one-dish meal by adding a healthy chicken apple sausage to this ultimate comfort food.

Ingredients

16oz Elbow pasta
1/2 cup Unsalted butter
1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
Salt and Pepper To Taste
5 cups Milk, whole or 2%
4 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
5 aidells Chicken Apple Sausage, sliced thin
Butter to Saute' Sausage

Topping

15 Ritz Crackers, crushed

Directions

1	Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2	Thinly slice chicken sausage and saute' in small amount of butter.
3	Cook the pasta according to the package directions for al dente. Drain and set aside.
4	In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour, then add the onion powder, garlic, salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in the milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens and the mixture begins to bubble slightly. Add the cheese and stir until the cheese melts.
5	Add the cooked pasta and nicely browned sausage. Pour the mixture into a slightly greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Mix together the crushed Ritz crackers and the melted butter until add the crumbs are moistened, then sprinkle over the top of the pasta mixture. (Pulsing on and off in a food processor will crush your crackers nicely and then it is easy to add the butter too!)
6	Bake for 30 minutes, until golden and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes and serve,

Note

aidells sausage is low in fat as well as loaded with flavor.

Saltine crackers can be substituted for the Ritz crackers.

Pepperjack, Monterey Jack, Mexican Mix or any of your favorite cheeses can be substituted for some of the cheddar cheese.

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Posted in Chicken, Main Dish

Tagged aidells sausage, Apple Sausage, Baking, Casserole, cheese, comfort food, Healthy, Macaroni and cheese, main dish, one-dish meal, Pasta

Weekend RoundUP May 26

Posted on May 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

Happy Memorial Day weekend! With this busy holiday, I don’t know who will have time to even read this post this weekend, but that is okay. I know you are all busy If you have time I hope you see a recipe or two of interest!

I recently completed a basic Photoshop Elements class to help with my photography skills. My goal is to shoot the best food pictures I can but I am definitely having some fun creating some photos like this one. As I read through my Bible this year I am making notes of certain scriptures that I want to share with you and I will continue to do this through the year. My hope is that it is a blessing to you.

Just in case you are doing some special baking for this holiday weekend I want to share a few of my favorites. Starting with breakfast, I just love quiche! Since spinach is really in season now this fresh spinach, red pepper and Gruyere cheese quiche has outstanding flavor and spectacular table appeal. (click on the picture or the highlighted link and you will find my original posted recipe.)

As long as you have the oven on you might as well whip up this Blueberry Cream Coffee Cake. Together with the quiche you have an awesome breakfast. You can use fresh or frozen blueberries and this cake is melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

If you plan to BBQ this weekend this Vidalia Onion Tart makes for a really tasty and a bit unusual side dish. Whenever I serve it there is not a crumb left! Thank you to my friend Cheryl for serving this to ME the first time I ate it (and for sharing the recipe.)

As you finish this weekend’s food fest consider a walk on the wild side with this Grapefruit Pie. The recipe comes from Lang’s Sun Country in Florida. I made it while visiting friends there this past winter. It combines the tart of the grapefruit with the sweet of the homemade filling. Very yummy and quite unusual.
And just in case strawberries and bananas take the place of grapefruit at your house, this recipe adapts perfectly. Any way you slice it the end result will be great. Rounding up the week, here are the goodies that found their way onto our dinner table this week. Have a blessed weekend and a Happy Memorial Day. God Bless those who have served our country to give us the freedom and protection we enjoy today.
BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwich