Carrabba’s Bread Dip

I wonder how many loaves of bread I could eat at Carrabba’s, if I had their bread dip in front of me? I could make a meal out of that! I found this recipe on Pinterest, and it’s pretty good! It’s a little spicier than the dip at Carrabba’s, but it tastes pretty darn close to what they serve. It’s weird, Liam said his wasn’t spicy at all. I looked on Pinterest and there are several different recipes for this out there, so I might try another one and see how it compares. But in the meantime, “welcome to Carrabba’s!”

rating: 9

Carrabba’s Bread Dip
adapted from Chef 2 Chef

1 Tbsp crushed red pepper
1 Tbsp crushed black pepper
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp dried rosemary
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt

In a to-go container, combine all the ingredients together. Store mixture in the refrigerator until needed.

Put 1 Tbsp of mixture per person in a small saucer with raised edges. Pour extra-virgin olive oil over the mixture, and dip warm sourdough or French bread into the mixture.

 

Banana Chips

My 5 year old says he doesn’t like bananas anymore, so I figured I would try this recipe for my husband and myself. I made these yesterday, and when they came out of the oven they looked, well, interesting. I tried one and didn’t really like it, but it hadn’t hardened yet, so I decided to give it another taste later. I put them all on a plate and set them out to harden, then put them in some tupperware and into the snack drawer they went. Later that evening I saw that Liam had found them, and they were almost all gone! I tried another, and although it wasn’t like the banana chips I can get at the grocery store, it was OK. And then I had another. These things are strangely addictive. We ate them all, and Liam wants me to make more today.

rating: 9

Banana Chips
(Food Network Magazine)

Slice a banana into 1/8″-thick rounds and lay on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 200 degrees F until golden, 2-3 hours. Let harden at room temperature.

 

Applesauce Cookies with Caramel Frosting

Hello, do you remember me?? I’ve been MIA for a week or so. Toby went on a week-long business trip, and I didn’t cook much while he was gone! But I am ready to get back in the groove! Here’s another recipe I got from Pinterest! The picture looked so yummy, I knew I had to try it. The cookies taste more like cake to me (and that’s not necessarily a bad thing!). And the frosting just added an extra little something (and was super easy to make). These were tasty and a little something different. This recipe made about 4 dozen cookies for me. I sent some to Liam’s school, gave some to neighbors, and then I ate many of the “ugly” cookies. I couldn’t give those away, right?

rating: 8.3

Applesauce Cookies with Caramel Frosting
(http://www.chef-in-training.com/)

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
2 cups applesauce
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves. Set aside.
Cream sugar and shortening together.
Add eggs and applesauce and mix well.
Add in dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated.
Drop small spoonfuls of batter on greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 F for 8-10 minutes.

While cookies are cooling, prepare frosting.

CARAMEL FROSTING

6 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, heavy cream and brown sugar.
Cook, stirring occasionally until mixture just begins to boil; remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Let cool, then stir in the powdered sugar.

Spread frosting over cookies
Enjoy!

 

Fried Green Beans

I like green beans, and especially when they are fried! I know, I know, anything fried is unhealthy, but dang, these were good! I didn’t use the FOUR CUPS OF OIL the recipe calls for, so I think that’s why my green beans clumped together. But they still tasted great! The dipping sauce that is also in this recipe is really spicy, so I made another sauce for those of us that don’t like the heat. I mixed up some mayo, minced garlic, and some parsley. I wish fried food like this kept overnight, because I certainly would be eating the leftovers for lunch, but I know it would be a soggy mess.

rating: 9

Fried Green Beans
(Country Living, July/Aug. 2011)
serves 4
working time: 25 min.
total time: 40 min.
Ingredients:

1/2 cup Dijon Mustard
1/4 cup Honey
2 teaspoons Hot Sauce (I omitted)
1 1/2 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
1 pinch Dry Mustard
4 cups Canola Oil, for frying
2 large Egg Whites
1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/4 cups Club Soda
1 pound Green Beans, ends trimmed
Salt, to taste
Directions:

In a medium saucepan over low heat, whisk first 5 ingredients until warmed. Transfer sauce to a small bowl; let cool.
In a medium Dutch oven fitted with a thermometer over medium-high heat, heat oil to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk egg whites to soft peaks. Whisk in flour and club soda.
Working in batches, dip beans in batter, then lower into oil. Fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels; sprinkle with salt. Serve with dipping sauce.

calories per serving: 302

 

Raspberry Honey Tapioca

Are any of you on www.pinterest.com? I love it. It’s very addictive, however! It’s a virtual bulletin board, where you can “pin” ideas for whatever, like a new baby’s nursery, food, or hairstyles. I saw a picture of this dessert and I pinned it for future reference. I made this the other night. Have you ever had tapioca? Do you know what tapioca is?? It’s got such a weird texture, I had to read the ingredients to make sure it wasn’t gelatin! Tapicoa is a starch extracted from the cassava plant. Huh. Anywho, I didn’t love this dish, I am sad to say. And to be fair, I did use Silk Plain Lite soy milk in place of the milk. Maybe that had something to do with the taste? I also left out the rosewater, but so did the original poster, and she said hers was good. But…it was very pretty! It just left kind of a bitter aftertaste in my mouth, the more I ate it. PS: If any of you want to be on Pinterest, let me know and I can send you an invite! I just need your email address.

rating: 6

Raspberry Honey Tapioca
(http://17andbaking.com)

Serves 4-6
time needed: about 1.5 hours
3 cups milk
1/3 cup small pearl tapioca
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/4 tsp fine-grain sea salt
1/3 cup mild honey
Grated zest of 1 small lemon
1/4 to 1 tsp rose water (I omitted)
Chopped toasted pistachios or sliced raspberries to garnish
Soak the tapioca in 1 cup of the milk in a medium, heavy saucepan for 30 – 60 minutes. Whisk in the yolks, salt, honey, and remaining milk.
Bring the mixture barely to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring. This will take about 15 minutes. Decrease the heat so the mixture gently simmers, stirring constantly, for another 20 minutes or until the tapioca is fully cooked (this depends on how large your tapioca pearls are.) The tapioca is fully cooked when the pearls swell up and are nearly translucent – tasting is the best way to tell. The pudding itself will also thicken into a custard. Continue to taste and stir, preventing the tapioca from scorching.
Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the lemon zest, then let the pudding cool (it will thicken a bit.) Stir in the rose water, if using, and wait another few minutes. Heidi likes to eat it warm, topped with pistachios, but I liked it cold, with fresh raspberries

 

Salted Caramel Thumbprints

Have you ever made caramel before? It’s so easy and it’s REALLY good! I decided on a whim to make these cookies. They are super easy, but you have to refrigerate the dough for awhile. I left mine in the fridge for an hour. You have to make sure the “thumbprints” are really nice and deep, because you want as much of the caramel in there as possible! I did have a good amount of caramel left over. It was tempting not to drink it, but I quickly put the pot in the sink and filled it with water. Again, these were too good to have in the house, so I saved a couple for Liam, then packaged the rest up for neighbors.

rating: 9.3

Salted Caramel Thumbprints
(www.http://blogs.babycenter.com/)

Cookies:

1 1/2 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Caramel:
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter, sugar and egg. Add vanilla. Separately, sift together the flour and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together. Refrigerate for 1 hour, up to overnight.

Scoop level tablespoons of dough and roll into balls.

Place on a silpat or parchment-lined cookie sheet. Hold the cookie steady with one hand and press a light indentation into the top of each with your finger. Bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes, until they’re barely golden on the sides. Remove from oven and immediately re-poke your thumbprints if they’ve faded. (You can use the tip of a wooden spoon if too hot.) Let them cool. While they’re cooling, make the caramel.

Combine the sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a medium saucepan (high sides). Do not stir. Cook over medium-high heat to a dark caramel color, swirling as it begins to brown to distribute the sugar. While the sugar and water are going at it, heat up the cream in a saucepan or microwave just until warm.Take off the heat and add your room temperature butter. Whisk the butter in, being sure it’s totally combined. Add your warmed cream and whisk vigorously. Mixture will bubble, then settle down to a velvety caramel.

By now your cookies should be cooled. Spoon as much warm caramel as you can into the indentations of your cookies and top with sea salt.

Makes 24 cookies

 

Smoky Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches

I hadn’t made pimiento cheese in a while, and I kind of had a craving for it. I looked online and read some reviews of this recipe, and everyone seemed to love it. I couldn’t find smoked Cheddar, so I used sharp Cheddar. Also, like one reviewer mentioned, I added a little more mayo at the end, just to make it spread a little easier. This turned out plenty smoky without the smoked Cheddar. Oh, I did leave out the sun-dried tomatoes. I know, I know, there’s no bits of red in there, so I guess this is just officially “Smoky Cheese”, but I just feel like I really don’t need sun-dried tomatoes in my life. Toby ate 3 sandwiches, and Liam preferred his with crackers.

rating: 9

Smoky Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches
(Southern Living, Oct. 2009)

time needed: 15 min.
makes 7 servings

Ingredients:

1 (3-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded smoked Cheddar cheese (I used sharp Cheddar)
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded smoked Gouda cheese
1/2 (8.5-oz.) jar sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped (I omitted)
14 bread slices (sourdough and dark wheat)

Preparation:

1. Stir together cream cheese and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl until blended. Stir in shredded cheeses and sun-dried tomatoes until combined.
2. Spread cheese mixture on half of bread slices (about 1/3 cup on each); top with remaining bread slices.

 

Pumpkin Muffins

I am always afraid I won’t be able to find canned pumpkin when I need it (a pumpkin emergency?), so I always stock up on it. I was in a grocery store a month or so ago and they didn’t have any pumpkin! They weren’t carrying it yet!! I happened to have all the ingredients on hand for this recipe (well, all except the pumpkin pie spice, which I had to make myself), and I am glad I did. These muffins were really good, and you know what makes them so good? I think it’s the raisins and the molasses. This does make about 18 muffins, so get ready to share with your friends and family. These muffins taste and smell like fall.

rating: 9

Pumpkin Muffins
(Cooking Light, Cooking Through the Seasons)

makes 18 muffins

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, ginger, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in raisins; make a well in center of mixture. Combine brown sugar, canned pumpkin, buttermilk, canola oil, molasses, vanilla extract, and eggs, stirring well with a whisk. Add sugar mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist.
Spoon batter into 18 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pans immediately; cool on a wire rack.

per serving: 202 calories

 

Arugula Pizza with Poached Eggs

We are pizza snobs in our house. We are very picky about the crust. I saw this recipe and wanted to try it, but Toby was a little hesitant because, well, it wouldn’t be the great thin-crust pizza we love. But I decided that we shouldn’t look at this as pizza, but as something else, like a little flat bread or something. And the verdict? This is GOOD! I wasn’t sure how all of that arugula would be, and if it would be too much, but it was just right. When I was mixing up the arugula mixture, I didn’t add all of the arugula, thinking it would be too much, but once it sat for a few minutes, it settled down a bit, and I could add more to the mix. I did end up using all of the arugula. I would totally make this again. I served this with some Crash Hot Potatoes.

rating: 9

Arugula Pizza with Poached Eggs
(Cooking Light, Sept. 2011)

time needed: 20 min.

Ingredients:

1 (11-ounce) package refrigerated pizza crust dough (such as Pillsbury Thin Pizza Crust)
Cooking spray
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shaved fresh Romano cheese, divided
1 tablespoon white vinegar
6 large eggs
1 (5-ounce) package baby arugula
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh lemon rind
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. Unroll pizza dough on a baking sheet lightly coated with cooking spray; place in preheating oven. Bake as oven heats for 7 minutes.
3. Combine the ricotta and 1/4 cup Romano. Remove pan from oven. Quickly spread cheese mixture over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edges. Return pan to oven, and bake for 5 minutes.
4. While pizza bakes, add water to a large skillet, filling two-thirds full; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer. Add vinegar. Break each egg into a custard cup, and pour gently into pan. Cook 3 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Carefully remove eggs from pan using a slotted spoon.
5. Combine arugula, remaining 1/4 cup Romano cheese, and the next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl; toss well. Top pizza with arugula mixture and eggs; sprinkle with pepper. Cut into 6 pieces.

1 piece= 323 calories

 

Chex Party Mix

There are so many recipes out there for Chex Party Mix. You can throw in nuts, pretzels, whatever you have on hand. This one turned out really well. A little too well, actually. I have to grab a handful of it whenever I pass by the snack cabinet, and that is not a good thing.

rating: 9.3

Chex Party Mix

2 2/3 cups Rice Chex cereal
2 2/3 cups Wheat Chex cereal
2 2/3 cups Corn Chex cereal
1 cup mixed nuts
1 cup garlic-flavored bagel crisps, broken into smaller pieces
1 stick butter
4 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce (I used vegetarian Worcestershire)
1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt

Pour all the cereal, nuts, and bagel crisps into a large bowl. Melt the butter, then add the Worcestershire sauce and seasoned salt to it and stir. Pour over the cereal mix and mix well. Pour this mixed cereal onto a baking sheet and bake at 250 degrees F for about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so.