Homemade Peanut Butter

How have I never made my own peanut butter before today?!  It was so easy and tastes much more like peanuts...imagine that!  I can't say I'll never buy the jarred stuff again, but I will definitely be making this much more often.

Homemade Peanut Butter

2 cups shelled peanuts
6 teaspoons oil (peanut oil would be the obvious choice, but I couldn't find any so I used canola)
3 teaspoons honey

Add peanuts to food processor.  Pulse until broken into very small crumbs.  Add oil and honey, process until completely smooth.  You can add more or less oil and honey to reach the desired taste and consistency.  You can also add salt if needed.  Place in a jar and refrigerate.

Beef and Cheddar Potpie

Here's another recipe from my giant stack of pages torn from magazines that I told you about the other day.  Now I'm asking myself why I've waited so long to make more of these!  This was another great dinner.  I didn't think Ezra would like it since he seems to forget that he's from Texas where we like meat, but he loved it and probably ate more than I did.  You should try this!

Beef and Cheddar Potpie
Adapted slightly from Every Day with Rachael Ray

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 14.5 oz. can petite diced tomato, drained
1 can Rotel tomatoes, drained
1 small can tomato paste
1 cube of beef bouillon, crumbled
salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, chilled
2 cups shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk

Pour the oil in a skillet.  Add the onion and cook until softened but not browned.  Add the beef, break it up and cook until no longer pink.  Add all 3 cans of tomato, beef bouillon, salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Stir until well combined and cook over medium-high heat until completely heated through and most of the liquid has cooked off.  

While the meat mixture is cooking, combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.  Stir to combine.  Add butter and cheese.  With your hands or a pastry cutter blend until course crumbs form.  Add milk and continue to mix until a dry dough forms.  Mix and knead with your hands until dough forms a ball.

Grease a 9x13" baking dish.  Transfer meat mixture to baking dish.  Break the dough into small lumps and place on top of the meat mixture.  Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes or until lightly browned.

Chicken in Creamy Pan Sauce

Hello!  I have hardly cooked for the past 2 weeks, but I'm back with an easy recipe and a picture!  I have a big stack of pages that I've ripped from my cooking magazines over the years with recipes to try.  If I'm honest, I'll probably never get around to a lot of them, even after I sort through them and throw out ones I know I'll never really make.  But I'm trying to actually make some of them, and this one, although I modified it a decent bit, was really tasty!  Aaron liked it as well, so we will definitely have it again.  The original recipe didn't include the noodles, but I thought it needed a little something to beef it up (or should I say chicken it up?), so I made more sauce and added the noodles.

Chicken in Creamy Pan Sauce

Adapted from Kraft Foods

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used the thin sliced ones)

1/4 cup flour

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/4 cups chicken broth

6 oz. Philadelphia Cooking Creme (I used the Italian Cheese & Herb flavor, but any would work)

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

1/2 lb. egg noodles (I don't know how much I used because I just used what I had in the pantry; this is a guess)

Pour the oil in a skillet and heat to medium-high.  Place the flour on a plate.  Dip each side of each chicken breast in the flour; shake off excess.  Place chicken breasts in the skillet.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook a few minutes on each side until starting to brown and cooked all the way through.  Remove chicken from pan and cover with foil to keep warm.

Pour chicken broth in skillet.  Stir to scrape up browned bits from the chicken.  Cook over medium-high for 1-2 minutes.  Add cooking creme and stir until sauce is smooth.  Continue cooking and stirring until the sauce starts to thicken, about 5-7 minutes.

While sauce is cooking, cook noodles according to package directions.

Once sauce begins to thicken, add noodles, tomatoes and chicken to pan.  Stir until all is coated.  Serve chicken over noodles and tomatoes.

Chicken Tamale Casserole

This is another recipe I found on Pinterest.  It was part of a pin for 40 recipes using shredded chicken.  I often buy a 5 lb. pack of chicken breasts (they're cheaper that way!), cook them in water in the crockpot and then shred them and freeze them.  This was a good recipe to use up some of that chicken sitting around in my freezer!  Overall I really liked this.  It is maybe just slightly on the mushy side, but I think if you make sure you cook the cornbread mixture until it is really set it would be better.  Also, I would personally prefer it to be a little spicier, but for Ezra it was probably just right.  We all enjoyed this and I'll make it again!  It would also be good with other meats (ground beef with taco seasoning, pulled pork, leftover roast).

Chicken Tamale Casserole
From Cooking Light via Pinterest

1 cup preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided (I just used cheddar and grated it myself)
1/3 cup nonfat milk
1/4 cup egg substitute (I used 1 large egg)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 14.75 oz. can cream-style corn
1 8.5 oz. box corn muffin mix
1 4 oz. can chopped green chilies, drained
cooking spray
1 10 oz. can red enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts (I used about 3 cups)
1/2 cup nonfat sour cream (I omitted this)

Preheat oven to 400.  Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chilies), stirring just until moist.  Pour mixture into a 9x13-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.  Bake for 15 minutes or until set.  Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top.  Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese melts.  Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes.  Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream. 

Orange-Vanilla Frozen Custard

I wasn't really wild about this.  In fact, the leftovers in my freezer will probably get dumped because it just wasn't worth the calories to me.  But maybe someone else would like this more than me.  I had high hopes for this ice cream.  I hoped it would taste like a creamsicle.  There was almost a hint of bitterness from the orange, and the orange zest was kind of clumpy and made the texture weird.  If I ever decide to make this again I would leave out the orange zest.  If you give this a try, let me know what you think!

Orange-Vanilla Frozen Custard
From Food Network Magazine

1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
4 teaspoons grated orange zest

Whisk the cornstarch and 1/2 cup milk in a small bowl until smooth.  Whisk the eggs, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan; whisk in the cornstarch mixture and the remaining 1 cup milk until smooth.

Cook the mixture over low heat, stirring until thick enough to coat a spoon, 7 to 8 minutes (do not boil).  Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, then set the bowl in a larger bowl of ice water.  Add the cream and stir until cool.  Remove from the ice bath; stir in the vanilla, orange juice concentrate and orange zest.  Cover and chill until cold.

Freeze the custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.  Scrape into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe into cups.

Note:  I have the ice cream maker attachment for the Kitchen Aid mixer.  It's very convenient, but it doesn't really get the ice cream cold and thick enough.  I poured the ice cream into a container and let it freeze for a couple hours before serving. 

Bacon and Broccoli Mac and Cheese

I've really been trying to cook more recipes from the food magazines I receive each month.  This is another Cooking Light recipe.  I don't know that it's super light, and I might have added an extra slice...or two...of bacon, but it was pretty good!

Bacon and Broccoli Mac and Cheese
From Cooking Light

3 cups broccoli florets
8 oz. uncooked rigatoni (I used rotini)
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups 2% reduced-fat milk (I used 1%)
2 oz. reduced-fat processed American cheese, cut into pieces (I used 2% Velveeta)
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (I left these out)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 slices center-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled (I used about 3 1/2 slices :)  )
2 oz. extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1/2 cup packed)


Steam broccoli 5 minutes or until crisp-tender; drain.  Pat dry, and keep warm.  Cook pasta in boiling water in a large saucepan for 8 minutes or until al dente; drain and keep warm.  Wipe pan with paper towels, and return to medium heat.  Melt butter in pan.  Sprinkle flour over melted butter; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly with a whisk.  Gradually add milk to the flour mixture in pan, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a whisk.  Cook for 1 minute or until slightly thick, and remove from heat.  Add American cheese; stir until smooth.  Stir in sliced green onions and the remaining ingredients.  Stir in broccoli and pasta; serve immediately.
  

Sweet-and-Spicy Meatloves

I feel like I have hardly had a chance to breathe lately, let alone post any recipes.  But the end of tax season will be here in less than a week, so I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!

We've eaten out more than we usually do since I've been so busy, but I do have a few recipes I need to catch up on.  I tried to take a pic of this one, but my camera battery died literally as I was trying to push the button to get the first shot.  Oh well...

This recipe was really good!  Aaron's never been a meatloaf lover, but I think I converted him with these.  Ezra, who quite often curls up his lips and sticks out his tongue when offered meat, actually loved this when we had it for leftovers.  We'll add this to the dinner rotation for sure!

Sweet-and-Spicy Meatloaves
Adapted from Food Network Magazine

2 slices whole-wheat sandwich bread, torn into pieces
1/2 small onion, quartered
1 medium carrot, quartered (I used some canned carrot)
1 pound lean ground beef
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup peach preserves/jam/jelly

Pulse the bread in a food processor until finely ground.  Add the onion and carrot to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped.  Add the meat, egg and curry powder and pulse until just combined.  Set aside.


In a small bowl, stir together the ketchup and peach preserves.

Shape the meat mixture into 4 small loaves.  Place on a foil-lined baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.  Spoon some of the sauce over the loaves.  (Don't cross-contaminate the sauce and save the extra for adding later if you want more on your meatloaf.)  Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes.