Moon Cake Pops/ Flower Cake Balls

As the shuttle program was ending, my uncle's work group had a going away party. He wanted to give his co-workers something special as a going away present. I made these moon shaped cake pops with a Teddy Graham and American flag. They all liked them a lot.

My mom and dad went to a TGIF party last Friday and wanted to bring some cake balls to share with some of their friends. They told me a little last minute, so I decorated them with stuff I already had in my possesion. I had fun making these because I was free to do whatever I wanted with them.

Sicilian Sausage-Stuffed Pizza

Yield: 8 servings * Overall Price: ~$20 * Calories: 168

Ingredients:

1/2 pound fully cooked smoked chicken sausage, coarsely chopped
1 pound cremini or white mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
1 pound whole wheat pizza dough

Directions:

1. Place rack on lowest rung of oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray nonstick pizza pan or baking sheet with nonstick spray.
2. Spray large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Add sausages and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes; transfer to large bowl.
3. Add mushrooms and onion to skillet; cook, stirring, until mushroom liquid is released and evaporates, about 10 minutes. Stir in tomato and garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add mushroom mixture to sausages in bowl; let cool. Stir in mozzarella, ricotta, and Romano.
4. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth; cut in half. With lightly floured rolling pin, roll one piece of dough into 12-inch round. Transfer dough to prepared pizza pan. Spread mushroom filling evenly over dough, leaving 3/4-inch border. Lightly brush edge of dough with water.
5. Roll remaining piece of dough into 12-inch round; place on top of filling. Press edges together to seal; crimp edge. Cut 5 slits in top of dough to allow steam to escape. Bake until crust is golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool 5-10 minutes and serve hot, or transfer to wire rack and serve warm or at room temperature. Cut into 8 wedges.

Thoughts:
I attempted to make my own crust and it was an epic fail, but I'm not going to give up on ever making my own dough. I ended up buying whole wheat dough from Publix and it was really good. I couldn't find fully cooked smoked chicken sausage, so I bought turkey sausage and it also was really good. I always like homemade pizza better than any other kind, and this was one of my favorites.

Spiced Lamb Kebabs

Yield: 4 servings * Overall Price: ~$12 * Calories: 187

Ingredients:

Served here with mushrooms and tomatoes

1 1/4 cups plain fat-free Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound boneless leg of lamb, trimmed

Directions:
Combine yogurt, cumin, paprika, and garlic in a bowl. Cut lamb into 24 (1-inch) cubes; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Combine lamb and 1/2 cup yogurt mixture in a zip-top plastic bag (refrigerate the remaining yogurt mixture); seal and marinate in refrigerate at least 1 hour. Remove lamb, and discard marinade. Thread 3 lamb pieces onto each of 8 (10-inch) skewers. Heat grill pan over medium-high heat; coat with cooking spray. Arrange 4 skewers on pan; cook for 7 minutes or until desired degree of doneness, turning frequently. Remove from the pan. Repeat with remaining skewers. Serve with remaining yogurt mixture.

Thoughts:
I've always wanted to try a lamb recipe and I chose this one on a whim after getting frustrated trying to pick my 2 recipes for the week (I make 2 meals, my mom makes 2, my dad makes 1, Andrew makes 1, and we go out one night). I'm really glad this was the one in front of me because it was delicious! I don't have a grill pan, so I used a regular, large skillet. This was a little bit obnoxious, but it worked and I just had to cook it a little bit longer. I wanted vegetables on my kebabs, so I chose mushrooms and grape tomatoes. I'm sure you could choose just about any though.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Yield: ~50 cookies * Overall Price: ~$10

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cream butter and sugar until smooth, add peanut butter and blend, add eggs and vanilla and blend until smooth. Add dry ingredients one half at a time, mixing well after each addition.
3. Scoop out small balls of dough size of walnut and place on cookie sheet. Use back of fork and press dough flat.
4. Bake 7 or 8 minutes.

Thoughts:
For my birthday, my grandmom gave me a recipe book filled some of her favorite recipes. Ever since then, I've been really wanting to try out a recipe. I decided to go with this one. I added my own twist though and mixed in some Reese's pieces before baking. It turned out pretty good.

Fettuccini Alfredo with Zucchini Ribbons

Yield: 4 servings * Overall Price: ~$10 * Calories: 500

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 medium zucchini (about 8 ounces each)

12 ounces Fettuccini pasta, preferably whole wheat

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 cup cold 1% low-fat milk

1/2 cup evaporated skim milk (not condensed milk)

1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions:

1. Slice the ends off the zucchini and discard. Using a mandolin or carefully with a sharp knife slice the zucchini lengthwise into very thin slices. Stack the slices and cut with a knife lengthwise into 1/4 inch-thick ribbons.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in large non-stick skillet over a medium heat. Add 1 clove of the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the zucchini ribbons, cover and cook until the zucchini is tender, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Transfer the zucchini to a bowl.

3. Cook the pasta al dente according to the directions on the package. Ladle out a half cup of the pasta water and set aside. Drain the pasta and return it to the pasta pot.

4. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Stir the flour into the low-fat milk until it is completely dissolved. Put the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet and heat over a medium-high heat. Add the remaining clove of garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the flour-milk mixture and cook until the mixture begins to boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes more. Add the evaporated milk, salt and the cheese and cook, stirring, until the cheese is melted, about 1 minute. Season with additional salt to taste.

5. Add the sauce, the zucchini and 3 tablespoons of the parsley to the pasta in the pot and toss to combine. 6. Add a little of the reserved pasta water as necessary to loosen.

To serve, place 2 cups of the pasta mixture on each plate and garnish with remaining parsley.

Thoughts:
This was pretty good. It wasn't that hard either.

Sushi Cake Pops

For my birthday, some friends and I went out to dinner for sushi (one of my favorites). I made some sushi cake pops to go along with the theme.

Marinated Grilled Chicken Breast with Watermelon-Jalapeno Salsa

Yield: 4 servings * Overall Price: ~$15 * Calories: 304

Served here with a salad

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed seeded watermelon
1 cup (1/2-inch) cubed peeled ripe mango
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped seeded jalapeno
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken to bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator up to 4 hours, turning bag occasionally.
2. Prepare grill.
3. Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 5 minutes on each side or until done. Combine watermelon and remaining ingredients. Serve watermelon mixture with chicken.

Thoughts:
This was pretty tasty. I always like to try new things that put different tastes together to make even better ones. The sweetness of the watermelon and mango mixed well with the spiciness of the jalapeno and onion.

4th of July

I made these for our 4th of July party.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Mustard Roasted Salmon

Yield: 4 servings * Overall Price: ~$15 * Calories: 240

Served here with asparagus

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pound wild salmon, skin removed, cut into 4 pieces

2 tablespoons whole grain mustard

2 tablespoons 100% pure maple syrup

1 clove garlic, minced

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400-degrees Fahrenheit. Place salmon pieces on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Season with salt and pepper; roast for 10 minutes.

2. In a small bowl, combine mustard, maple syrup, garlic and lemon juice. After the 10 minutes of cooking, brush salmon with mixture and return to the oven for 5 minutes or until salmon is just cooked through.

Thoughts:
In my quest to find recipes that would make me want to eat more fish, I found this. It was really good, not just for fish (which I don't particularly like normally) but for all food groups! It wasn't that hard either.

Roast Beef Stroganoff

Yield: 6 servings * Overall Price: ~$15 * Calories: 289

Ingredients:
3 cups uncooked medium egg noodles
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
1 (17-ounce) fully-cooked beef roast au jus (such as Hormel)
1 (8-ounce) container light sour cream
1 (103/4-ounce) can condensed reduced-fat, reduced-sodium cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped green onions

Directions:
1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.
2. While pasta cooks, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add mushrooms cook, microwave roast according to package directions.
Strain roast, reserving 1/3 cup jus. Break roast into bite-sized chunks using a fork.
4. Drain pasta, return to pan, and immediately stir in sour cream and soup until blended. Cook over medium heat 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Gently stir in roast, reserved jus, mushrooms, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Garnish with green onions and freshly ground black pepper if desired.

Thoughts:
This was really easy and really good! I'd recommend this to anyone that's in a hurry, but still wants something tasty.