Mary Lou’s Blueberry Cobbler

I really only make dessert for a special occasion. I can’t just have sweets sitting around in my house, I would eat the entire thing! My friend Lisa just visited me (with her two great kids), and I decided to make a dessert (I also made this: http://peppertree.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/tortellini-florentine-soup/). I couldn’t decide between the Blueberry Buckle that I’ve been dying to try (from A Mighty Appetite blog), or this one. I decided on this one, since it sounded so easy and only had 5 ingredients! I have three words for you: Oh. My. Gosh. This is FABULOUS! I just knew that it wouldn’t turn out because it’s just so darn simple! And it really is just as simple as it sounds. This made enough for 7 small bowlfuls. Next time I will double the recipe. What, I can’t have leftovers?! This cobbler is just the perfect amount of sweet fruit with flaky crunchy cake goodness. Of course I topped it off with some vanilla ice cream. Oh, and I used Silk lite vanilla soy milk for the milk. This got thumbs up from everyone.

rating: 10 (seriously!)

Oh, I got this from a Daily Candy email.

A DailyCandy mom from rural Virginia knows how to make two things: sweet iced tea and fruit cobbler. With a recipe for the latter that’s as simple and drop-to-your-knees delicious as this, that’s all she needs to know. Best eat it up before your resolutions kick in.

Mary Lou’s Blueberry Cobbler
Serves six

Ingredients
1 c. sugar (up to ¼ c. more if you’re feeling especially sweet)
1 c. self-rising flour
1 c. milk
1 stick butter (melted)
1 c. blueberries (you can also use sliced peaches)

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Combine dry ingredients.

3. Mix in milk and butter.

4. Gently stir in blueberries.

5. Bake for one hour (or until center is set) in a greased glass dish.

6. Top with vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream.

7. Prepare for a major sugar high.

Grilled Vegetable, Herb & Goat cheese sandwiches

I was nosing around on the Food Network website and came across this recipe. Even though it calls for eggplant (which Toby hates), I thought I would be able to tweak it enough so he would like it. I was right! I left out the eggplant and substituted portobello mushroom caps. I followed some of the advice in the comment section and mixed the olive oil mixture in a food processor instead of a bowl. The zucchini were SO good this way. I used a grill pan for the zucchini and the mushrooms, and they turned out really good. Toby ate two (!) sandwiches and added some hot sauce (no surprise, right) to the second sandwich. He said these were good, but that was alot of bread. I agree. Next time I will use a different bread. Other substitutions: I used dried tarragon and thyme instead of fresh, and my goat cheese was red pepper flavored (didn’t notice this when I bought it). We had these sandwiches with some chips and a salad.

rating: 8

http://tinyurl.com/mrjzfy

Peach & Raspberry Parfait

We went on a week-long cruise to Bermuda recently (this explains why I haven’t been posting lately!), and when we got back home, we vowed to start eating better. ;D Eating at an endless buffet 3-plus times a day really takes a toll on you! So I decided to buy alot of fruit at the grocery store, and thought we could enjoy said fruit in a dessert (hey, it’s LITE vanilla ice cream!). This took no time to make, and it was so tasty! There was alot of fruit left over, so the next morning, I had some in my cereal, and Liam had some over his mini-waffles. Good stuff!

rating: 8

Peach & Raspberry Parfait
(from the July 2009 issue of Real Simple magazine)

2 peaches, cut into 2.5″ pieces
1/5 cups raspberries
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 pint vanilla ice cream

1. In a large bowl, combine the peaches, raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice and let sit, tossing once, for 20 minutes.
2. Scoop the ice cream into bowls or glasses and top with the fruit mixture.

Sauteed Kale

I really need to eat more greens, and fortunately enough, I have discovered that I LOVE kale! Love it! I’ve only made it once or twice, so I wanted a new way to cook it. I found a good-sounding recipe online, and it was great! Toby is not a big fan of the green world (except for lettuce), and wasn’t looking forward to this dish. I told him when we sat down to eat this that he didn’t have to eat it if he didn’t want to, that I would eat his. But he liked it! Yes! So, thank you Mr. Flay for this easy delicious recipe! With this I served some grilled (faux) Italian sausages (with dijon mustard), and some mashed red new potatoes.

rating: 9

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/sauteed-kale-recipe/index.html

Black Beans Cakes revisited

So I am still on the search for the perfect black bean cake, and I got a comment from a reader several posts back about the black bean cakes SHE makes, so I gave them a try. I have to say that these are SO much better than the ones I’ve tried! Toby really liked them too. Thank you Jennifer! Here’s her version:

I just made a fantastic black bean cake. They included 1 can of black beans (mashed), 1 small zucchini (shredded), 1/2 tsp. chilli powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 dry unseasoned bread crumbs, 1 egg, 1/4 cup finely diced onion and 1/2 cup shredded mexican cheese. You form the patties and bake in the oven at 350 for 1/2 hour. Or, you can broil for 3 or 4 minutes per side. I served this with a fresh salsa, sour cream and avacado.

I served these with some jazzed-up green beans and sour cream and salsa. Yum!

rating: 8.9

Product Review: Bush’s Grillin’ Beans- Southern Pit Barbeque

Out of the four flavors of Bush’s new “Grillin’ Beans”, three are vegetarian. This is the second kind we have tried so far. I was afraid that these would also be too sweet for Toby, but he really liked them! I liked them too (even though they have a little bit of a kick to them!). I served these with some (Faux) meatball subs and potato chips.

rating: 9

http://www.bushbeans.com/products/grillinbeans/

Almost-Famous Garden Salad

There’s actually one new recipe in this post and TWO product reviews! I know, I went a little crazy. First, the salad. This is a copy of the Olive Garden’s famous salad! I actually only copied the dressing part and didn’t attempt the salad part. Who knew that there was Miracle Whip in their dressing? I sure didn’t! It was super-easy to make and yep, it tastes just like the Olive Garden! Now for the product reviews. We tried another fake meat product from It’s All Good. This one was “Veggie Pulled Chick’n. I served it on a bun with some cole slaw, kind of like a BBQ sandwich. I didn’t like it. Toby said that it was scary how meat-like it was, and he ate his sandwich plus most of mine. I don’t know what it is about most of It’s All Good’s products…they use some kind of seasoning that I don’t like. Anyway. The second product review is for Bush’s Grillin’ Beans. They have four new kinds of baked beans (sorry, Grillin’ Beans!), and three of them are vegetarian. This first one we have tried is the Steakhouse Recipe. I thought they were really good. Toby didn’t love them. He doesn’t like his baked beans sweet (and I do!). Oh well. Two more kinds left to try.

rating: Olive Garden salad dressing: 8

It’s All Good Veggie Pulled Chick’n: 5

Bush’s Grillin’ Beans- Steakhouse Recipe: 8.5

Almost-Famous Garden Salad
(from the June/July 2009 issue of Food Network magazine)

dressing
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp Miracle Whip
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning

salad
1 10-ounce bag American salad blend
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
4 small pickled peppers, such as pepperoncini
1 small vine-ripened tomato, quartered
2 tbsp sliced black olives
1/2 cup large croutons
1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

1. Combine all the dressing ingredients and 1-2 tbsp water in a blender or food processor; puree until smooth.
2. Place the salad blend in a large bowl and top with the remaining salad ingredients. Drizzle with the dressing.

Onion-Topped Sausage-n-Mashed Potato Casserole

I love finding recipes that are meat-based and then tweaking them to make them awesome VEGETARIAN recipes! Yes! So for this recipe, instead of sausage I used the Gimme Lean brand of fake ground beef. I was going to use a sausage substitute, but could never find one, so fake ground beef had to do. I also omitted the basil, and I couldn’t locate refrigerated mashed potatoes, so I just used the instant kind. The Gimme Lean wasn’t as crumbly as I was hoping for, but wow, it has a great taste! I don’t know WHAT makes this dish so good and flavorful, but it was REALLY good, people! Toby had 3 servings! I don’t know if it was the Gimme Lean, the Italian seasonings, or that whole bag of cheese (!), but this is really good. With this, we enjoyed a green salad.

rating: 9.5

Onion-Topped Sausage-n-Mashed Potato Casserole
(from the June 2009 issue of Southern Living magazine)

1 (19.5 ounce) package sweet ground turkey sausage, casing removed (I used Gimme Lean Ground Beef, the whole tube)
2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes in sauce
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, chopped (I omitted)
1 shallot, chopped
1 tsp salt-free garlic and herb seasoning
1 (24 ounce) package refrigerated garlic-flavored mashed potatoes (I used instant)
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Italian five-cheese blend
1/4 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 cup French fried onions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brown sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often, 6-8 minutes or until meat crumbles and is no longer pink; drain.
2. Stir in tomatoes and next 3 ingredients, and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Transfer sausage mixture to a lightly greased 11×17-inch baking dish.
3. Stir together mashed potatoes, cheese, and Italian seasoning in a large bowl. Mixture will be dry. Spread potato mixture over sausage mixture in baking dish.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly. Top with fried onions, and bake 5 more minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Mayonnaise Muffins (aka Quick Rolls)

I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for months but I kept forgetting about it. I got it from one of my favorite cooking blogs: http://www.dingybroad.com/. The author of that blog, Stacy, and her stepson Joel, Jr. are avid readers of MY blog as well! I halved this recipe, since I knew we wouldn’t eat 12 rolls. They seemed really dry when I was mixing the dough (and I am NOT a baker), so I added a little more milk (plain soymilk) and a little more mayo. They just didn’t look right to me when I plopped them in the muffin tins, but I crossed my fingers and shut the oven door. The verdict? These were actually better than they looked! They had a great texture, and weren’t tough at all. We each had one, and I saved them in some tin foil and microwaved them the next night for dinner as well. With these we had some Quorn cutlets, some leftover cole slaw, some Potato Plops (from the same blog- try them! you will be amazed!), and a green salad.

rating: 8

http://www.dingybroad.com/?p=71

Open-Face Veg Burgers with Sauteed Onions

I really had some hesitations about this recipe. I am not a huge veggie burger fan (I prefer a veggie dog). But, hey, I am willing to try new things. And you know what? I am so glad I tried this recipe! Wow! I think the combination of the ciabatta bread, the mayo-mustard combo, and the onions really made this recipe fabulous. I used Yves refrigerated veggie burgers, and just microwaved them until they were warm.  These are open-faced (no top bun), but you can eat them with the bun on as well (that bread is so good!). We will add these to our dinner line-up, that’s for sure. With these, I served some curly fries and some cole slaw.

rating: 9.3

Open-Face Veg Burgers with Sauteed Onions
(from the May 2009 issue of Better Homes & Gardens magazine)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
4 refrigerated or frozen vegetable burgers (10-ounce pkg)
2 tbsp mayonnaise or salad dressing
1 tsp prepared yellow mustard
4 1/2″ slices ciabatta bread, toasted
1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves
2 tbsp steak sauce

1. In large skillet heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion slices and cook 8-10 minutes or until very tender, stirring frequently.
2. Meanwhile, prepare burgers according to package microwave directions.
3. In small bowl combine mayonnaise and mustard; spread mixture on one side of each bread slice. Top bread with spinach and burger. Stir steak sauce into cooked onions. Spoon onion mixture on burgers.