reader recipe poll: peanut butter cereal movie mix

Movie Mix
2T. margarine or butter
2T. peanut butter
3c. crispix cereal
1/2c. peanuts
1c. pretzels
3/4c. raisins
1/2c. M&Ms

Preheat oven to 250.  Melt margarine and peanut butter together in a 13x9 pan in the oven.  Stir until smooth.

Gradually add in cereal and peanuts, stirring to coat.  Bake 15 minutes (at 250).  Stir in pretzels.  Return to oven and bake 10 more minutes.

Spread cereal mix on waxed paper to cool.

Stir in raisins and M&Ms.  Makes 6c.

I really liked this mix.  The peanut butter was a really light coating (Dave wanted it more peanut butter-y), and it didn't feel really heavy or sugary in your stomach.  I would probably nix the peanuts (I'm not a huge fan of them in snack mixes) and add more pretzels instead.  Definitely a repeatable mix.  I like snack mixes you can munch on without feeling like you need to nap afterwards (ahem: puppy chow).

We ate ours in the hills of Tennessee, beside the white picket fences of Kentucky, over the bridge of the Ohio River, and into the flat, boring lands of Indiana!  I'll leave you to guess if any of the mix actually made it into our house, or if it all disappeared on the drive.  You probably already know the answer to that.  The drive was 10 hours after all, and followed a trail run.  And it's the two of us.  We love food.  And snacks.

This reader recipe poll brought to you by my mom, who paid for all the ingredients!

reader recipe poll: cereal snack mixes

Dave and I are driving back from Tennessee to Indiana on Wednesday (a 10+ hour trip), so this week's reader recipe poll is a snack mix to help fuel us home!

poll by twiigs.com

I'll announce the winner Tuesday at lunch.  Recipe and review Friday morning!

reader recipe poll: baked flax french toast with hot cinnamon apples

Baked Flax French Toast

7 eggs

1/2c. milk

1T. cinnamon

1t. vanilla

1/4t. nutmeg

1/4t. ginger

2T. ground flaxseed

6-8 slices of bread

Lay slices of bread evenly (and close together) in bottom of a greased small casserole dish.

Whisk together eggs, milk, spices, vanilla, and flaxseed.  Pour mixture over bread, making sure pieces are evenly covered.  Let sit for at least 30 minutes.  Turn bread pieces.  Let sit for another 30 minutes.

Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes, or until eggs are set.  Serves 4.

Hot Cinnamon Apples

1 pound apples, chopped (2 large apples)

1T. butter

2T. water

1T. brown sugar

1t. cinnamon

1/4t. nutmeg

1t. vanilla

Combine all ingredients in saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until apples are soft (about 10 minutes).

The bread and egg get nice and fluffy - almost with the airy texture of a quiche!  Most of the recipes I saw online used sugar, which I didn't think was really necessary since we'd be putting apples or syrup on top.  And it didn't need the extra sweet at all!  

You can also make this dish ahead of time, then pull it out to bake.  So you could put it together the night before, then grab it in the morning, turn the bread, and bake!  

We are off to Tennessee this morning to visit my parents and sister for a bluegrass music festival!  We've got a cooler full of sandwiches, grapes, animal crackers, peanut butter cookies, and more!  And maybe a giant paper bag full of popcorn... 

What's your favorite car snack?

reader recipe poll: breakfast!

poll by twiigs.com

I'll announce the winner at lunch on Tuesday!  Recipe and review to come on Friday morning.

I'll have a race recap (and pictures!) at lunchtime today!

reader recipe poll: s'mores pie

Here's a blog I love: Peas and Thank You

Many many recipes have come from that blog (including another recipe tomorrow!).  They're all so creative and delicious.

And s'mores pie?  Yep.  From there, too.

Because I pretty much used the recipe just as I found it (shocking, I know), except I used regular milk and dairy creamer, I'm going to send you over to her blog to get the recipe: here.  Note: I used the flax egg, not the tofu.

My reward for actually following a recipe instead of modifying?  A gooey pie that didn't really set up.  I followed the recipe, I promise!  It's not the recipe though.  I probably just needed to let the pie set longer in the fridge.  Nobody said I was patient, especially around desserts.

It tasted like chocolate marshmallow pudding with graham cracker bits - not a bad thing at all!  Melody commented, "this is like a chocolate chip unbaked cookie!"

But practice makes perfect right?  Guess I'll just have to make it again...

Don't forget to enter the $45 CSN giveaway!  Winner announced at lunch today!

reader recipe poll: marshmallow!

poll by twiigs.com

I'll announce the winner Tuesday at lunch.  Recipe and review Friday morning!

reader recipe poll: taco lasagna

Taco Lasagna
whole wheat tortillas
3c. black beans, dry (or 3 cans seasoned black beans)
1c. tomato paste
1/2c. sour cream
1/2c. salsa
4c. shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
3T. cumin
1t. garlic salt

Boil black beans in 12c. water for 5 minutes.  Turn off and let sit for one hour.  Drain and rinse beans.  Return beans to pot and add another 12c. water, cumin, and garlic salt for one hour, or until beans are tender.  Drain beans.

Mix tomato paste, sour cream, and salsa together.

Grease a 9x13 casserole dish.  Layer about half of the beans on the bottom of the dish.

Add a layer of tortillas (about 2, depending on size).  Spread about half of the tomato mixture on top.  Add cheese if desired.

Add the remaining beans.  Top with more tortillas and spread with the remaining tomato mixture.  Top with more cheese if desired.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until cheese is brown and bubbly.  Top with sour cream, avocado, chopped tomatoes.

Cheesy gooey beany lasagna!

We really liked this!  The tortillas stayed soft but not soggy and the beans, cumin, and tomato mixed together really well.  In the future I want to add more veggies, some corn, some onion, maybe spinach or broccoli (when do I not want to play with a recipe?  But I didn't have the ingredients on hand last night).  

Another perk?  Really low cost.  Beans are insanely cheap, as is tomato paste and sour cream.  Cheese and cumin are generally on hand, and tortillas are great for this recipe and then leftovers can be used for lunches!

What would you add to the mexican lasagna?

POM blueberry muffins

Remember the POM reader recipe poll?  Tonight I made POM blueberry muffins, using a recipe from the POM website, and swapping out the cranberries for blueberries.

Sadly, these muffins were only so-so.  When I was making them I thought it was a little odd they didn't have any fat in them - oil, butter, or even applesauce.  The result was a pretty dry muffin... that was completely saved by the berries!  I think these actually would be really good with the addition of a half cup of applesauce to give a little moisture.  I'm not sure the POM taste really came out that strong though.  Maybe when I make fruit soup I'll finally have a recipe that brings out the POM!

Alongside the muffins we had a spinach tomato quiche.

This, on the other hand, was delicious!  So light and fluffy!

Tomato Spinach Quiche
1 large tomato, chopped
1/2c. spinach, roughly torn or chopped
3 cloves garlic
8 eggs
1/2t. salt
1T. Italian seasonings
1/2c. cheddar cheese (optional)

Saute spinach, tomato, and garlic in olive oil over medium high heat until spinach just starts to wilt (about 4 minutes).  Meanwhile, in small bowl whisk together 8 eggs, salt, and Italian seasonings.  Pour egg mixture into greased square pan.  Spoon tomato spinach mixture evenly over the egg.  Top with cheese if desired.  Bake at 325 for 30 minutes, or until casserole is firm, cheese is brown, and knife comes out clean.

This might have been my first time making a quiche?  But I'll definitely be making it again!

What new recipes have you been trying?

Don't forget to vote in the reader recipe poll!  I'll announce the winner today around lunchtime!

reader recipe poll: mexican

poll by twiigs.com

I'll announce the winner Tuesday at lunch.  Recipe and review Friday morning!

reader recipe poll: POM brownies

Last week the people at POM Wonderful sent me 8 8oz. bottles of POM juice.  I was super excited.  I've had POM once before and I really liked it... but let's face it, I'm too cheap to pony up the money to buy the juice on a regular basis.  I defiitely could have downed those little bottles all on my own, but why not use them for more creative things - like brownies!

Double Chocolate POM Brownies (adapted from POM Wonderful Recipes)
1/3c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2c. butter (1 stick), softened
3/4c. semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2c. sugar
3 eggs
1T. vanilla
1 1/2c. flour
3/4c. POM juice

Melt the 1/3c. chocolate chips and butter in a small bowl in the microwave (about 1 minute on high).  Stir together until chocolate is mostly melted.  Combine butter and chocolate mixture and sugar in a medium bowl.  Stir well.  Blend in the eggs and vanilla.  Add in flour and chocolate chips.  Add in POM juice.  (Oooh and ahhh over how pretty!)

Mixture will be thin.  Pour in greased 9x13 baking dish.

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean and brownie edges are just pulling away from the pan.

While brownies bake, drink the rest of the POM juice.  I prefer mine watered down - it still tastes just as great!

Enjoy on its own, with ice cream, or pull a Dave and "frost" it with peanut butter and nutella!

The review: Delicious!  The POM gives just a hint of tang under the brownies - very subtle.  The brownies are cakey, but moist.

Recommendations: Try a smaller pan for thicker, maybe more fudgy brownies?  I also wonder if you could decrease the amount of sugar?

Overall: I'm not sure the POM made enough of a difference in the brownies to justify buying it... regular brownies without the POM would be cheaper and probably just as delicious?  But drinking the leftovers is fun!

Coming soon: fruit soup!  I have a feeling the POM will make a bigger difference in this one!

I'm headed out for a long run - hoping to get my 20 miles in that I missed last week!  It's cold this morning - 48 degrees!!  Fingers crossed!

a tie!

Phew!  That was the closest reader recipe poll we've had!  POM brownies and fruit soup ended up tying.  I hadn't really considered what I would do in the case of a tie, so how bout this: at least one (possibly both!) recipe and review will be posted Friday morning, with the other recipe/review to come sometime soon!  I'm thinking fruit soup first, because it's so unusual and different!  Who knows - I might make and post all three recipes - Dave was really hoping for the muffins.

I wish I had something else interesting to post, but it's just been a normal day in the office.  What unusual things have happened to you today?

reader recipe poll: POM juice

poll by twiigs.com

Winner will be announced Tuesday at lunch.  Recipe and review Friday morning!

reader recipe poll: vegetarian calzone

Vegetarian Calzones
pizza dough:
6c. whole wheat flour
2t. salt
2T. sugar
1 1/2T. yeast
3c. boiling water

filling:
1 red pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bag frozen chopped broccoli
1 carrot, chopped
3 small tomatoes or 1 slicing tomato, chopped
2c. tomato paste
1c. tomato sauce
2-3T. basil pesto
italian seasonings to taste
salt to taste
mozzarella cheese (optional)

Combine the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl.  Pour in 2c. boiling water and mix well.  Add in more water as needed until flour is all incorporated and dough is mixed well.  Divide the dough into four balls and set aside.

Boil the broccoli and carrots together in a small saucepan until just tender, but still a little crisp.  About 3-5 minutes.  Drain and rinse.  Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until browned and tender.  In a large bowl, mix together all the vegetables and sauce.  Add italian seasonings and salt to taste.

Roll out the four balls of dough into circles.  Roll the dough as thin as you like for your crust, but avoid holes, cracks, and pulls in the dough.  When ready, spread a layer of vegetable evenly over half the circle, leaving 1" clear around the edges.  Add cheese if desired.

Fold the dough in half and pinch down the sides.  Set on a greased baking sheet.  Brush the top with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and italian seasonings.  Repeat with remaining 3 balls of dough.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until dough is firm when knocked on.

Makes 4 calzones.  Serves 6-8.

Vegetarian calzone and calzone with veggies, cheese, and pepperoni.

Recipe Review:

"Pretty good." - me

Okay, so that's not the most glowing review, I know.  Full disclosure: I got home last night at 6pm and wanted to get these made so we could eat before it got too late (as you know, we go to bed early).  So I kind of rushed.  Our recipe didn't include the tomato sauce, which would have made it, well, saucier, and a little better.  Plus I didn't take the time to add seasonings and salt, or to brush the top of the dough with olive oil and salt.

I pulled the dough recipe from here, but it only made 2 calzones for the three of us (which was enough), leaving us with leftover veggie mix.  I doubled the recipe above to make 4 calzones, which would use all the veggie mix.  I think in general you could use whatever pizza dough recipe.  If you have a personal favorite, I'd go with that over this dough recipe here.  However, this crust was crisp yet soft, and - bonus perk! - didn't have to rise.  So it terms of expediency, it's a winner to me.

Will I make these again?  Definitely.  They were fast (I started prep at 6pm and had these in the oven at 7pm) and fun and I know this version will taste even better with the extra sauce.  They're also affordable - a can of tomato sauce, tomato paste, and a couple veggies won't set you back too far.  I added pepperoni to one of the calzones, which Dave really liked.  They're versatile and can be changed around to accomodate what veggies you love and what veggies you don't!

What would you put in your calzone? 

reader recipe poll: italian!

poll by twiigs.com

I'll announce the winner on Tuesday at lunch!

reader recipe poll: caramel ice cream

caramel ice cream (adapted from Williams-Sonoma Frozen Desserts)
2c. heavy whipping cream, divided
1c. milk (I used skim)
3/4c. sugar
2T. water
2t. light corn syrup
1/2t. lemon juice
1t. vanilla

Freeze the bowl to your ice cream maker at least 24 hours in advance.

Combine sugar, water, corn syrup, and lemon juice in a deep saucepan over medium heat.  Stir frequently, until the sugar is completely dissolved and it's clear and bubbly.

Bring the heat to medium-high and boil, stirring occasionally, until it reaches a light brown/caramel color.

Remove from heat and slowly pour in 3/4c. heavy cream, stirring constantly as you pour.  Stir until smooth.  If the mixture doesn't become smooth, return to low heat, stirring constantly, until it smooths out.  Cool to room temperature.  Once at room temperature, stir in the milk and the remaning 1 1/4c. cream.  Return to medium heat and stir until mixed and smooth.  When it is smooth, remove from heat.  Transfer the mixture to a bowl and place in the refrigerator to chill (at least 3 hours).

Pour the chilled mixture into the ice cream maker bowl and mix according to your ice cream maker instructions.  Enjoy right away or transfer to a freezer container and freeze overnight.  Makes about 4 servings.

The problem: Unfortunately, our ice cream didn't firm up in the ice cream maker.  This has been a problem the past times we've used this ice cream maker - despite freezing the bowl and having the mixture chilled.  So we let it run in the ice cream maker, then switched it to the freezer.  It was still pretty loose when we ate it, so it became caramel milk shakes... still, the flavor was the same!  Dave really loved the ice cream/milkshake.  I thought it was a little too sweet (I'd maybe drop the sugar down to 1/2c.), but the caramel taste really stood out (in a good way).

The review:

"I'm spoiled. - Dave

Price-wise, the only real cost for these was the heavy whipping cream - everything else I had on hand in the kitchen, as it's pretty standard baking supplies.  That means this was a really really cheap dessert - just a few bucks.  While I was intimidated by the instructions at first, it really was very easy and probably only took about 15 minutes total, with a break in between to let the mixture cool to room temperature.  

Health-wise, there isn't much redeeming to these babies, but that's half the fun of it, right?!  

Do you make your own ice cream?  Have you had a similar problem to ours?

reader recipe poll: basil tomato and crouton casserole

I might have a new favorite recipe.

This week's reader recipe poll winner was basil tomato and crouton casserole.

My only big modification was the addition of corn - because I had it on hand and because what goes better with tomatoes and basil than corn on the cob??  

The new herb scissors from my mom came in handy!

Oven-ready.

Holy moly. Between this and last week's fresh corn pesto, I'm just going to have you guys pick all my meals from here on out. So freakin fantastic. And really really easy - took about 15 minutes all together (maybe less) and then just put it in the oven!  I'd estimate the cost to be about $7 - I made the bread myself and the corn was leftover from some ears we bought last week.  This made a smaller casserole dish and between the three of us we totally dominated it.  I only wish that I had more basil (because what isn't better with more basil?) and that I had made a much much much larger pan. I want leftovers!

Reader recipe poll review:

"A fun, flavorful, family-friendly dish!" - Melody

Melody is my sister-in-law (Dave's youngest sister) and our new housemate!  She moved in to the house last week (remember that room we painted?).  We love having her with us!

Basil Tomato and Crouton Casserole (from OhSheGlows)

4-5 slices whole wheat bread

2 pounds tomatoes (any kind), diced 

1/2-1c. corn off the cob

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2T. sugar

1t. salt

1/2c. chopped basil leaves (loosely packed)

parmesan cheese to top

Cut the bread into 1/2inch cubes.  In a large skillet, toss the bread with a little olive oil (1-2T.).  Toast the bread over medium-high heat, stirring often, about 5 minutes.  In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, corn, garlic, sugar, and salt.  Once the bread is toasted, add the tomato mixture to the skillet.  Cook together an additional 5 minutes, stirring often.  Remove the skillet from the heat and add in the basil.  Mix gently and well.  Pour the mix into a small, greased casserole dish.  Top with parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 for 35 minutes, or until bubbly and just browned.  Let cool 5-10 minutes before serving.  Serves 2-3.

Let me know if you end up trying this recipe.  I would really really really strongly recommend it!