Chipotle Mac & Cheese

This recipe comes from the Homesick Texan blog.  I wasn't familiar with the blog, but Mom has this cookbook in her collection. 

I liked this recipe a lot.  I used whole wheat noodles and no bacon (surprising, no?).  It comes together quickly, as you don't boil the noodles and you don't have to make a white sauce.  The sauce is made in a blender, and looks like a Chipotle milk shake.  I probably could have used more Chipotle, but it did have nice flavor and wasn't so spicy that T couldn't eat.  In fact, he ate a few servings of it.  Meanwhile, I ate the rest!

Mini Whole Wheat Apricot Muffins

Muffins for my muffin!  I made these muffins for T, since muffin is one of his nicknames; also, I am looking for more breakfast/snack options for the kid.  They are from a Cooking Light First Foods cookbook.  I really liked these and T does too.  They freeze well too.

~ 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
~ 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp grated orange rind
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 large egg white
1/2 cup finely chopped dried apricots (soak for 10 min before chopping)

1) Preheat oven to 375.
2) Combine flours, sugar and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. 
3) Combine buttermilk, and next 3 ingredients in a bowl stir with a whisk.  Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist.  Fold in apricots.  Spoon batter into 24 mini muffin cups coated with cooking spray.  Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center.  Remove from pans immediately; cool on wire rack.

Beet, Cabbage, Ginger Soup

Someone recommended this soup and I thought I would try it, even though I was hesitant about a WW recipe. I didn't have fennel as the original recipe requires. Instead, I made it with a little shallot, and a lot of ginger, and I also added in the beet greens and stems. 

This soup is delicious. It's also very red. Lastly, your niece loves it.

Here is the recipe.

Frosting utopia

I finally found the frosting of all frostings. And, it's so easy. I have always been intimidated by frosting recipes that call for egg whites or ones that you have to heat to a certain temperature.

The recipe is from Smitten Kitchen.

Here is the cake recipe. I have made this cake a few times and I really love it. The chocolate sour cream frosting that comes with that recipe is awesome, but only if you love sour cream.

Spinach and Chickpeas

I jumped on the bandwagon.

Which one you say?  The meatless Monday bandwagon.  I feel like a lot of my days, not just Mondays, are meatless, but why not make it "official"*?  On the first Monday of the year, I made this Spinach and Chickpea dish from a list of recipes for the semi-vegan. 

I really enjoyed this dish.  I used a little less spinach than it called for, because a full pound seemed like a lot; in hindsight, I should have used it all.  The breadcrumbs are delicious and the seasoning mix is key, as is the vinegar. 

* On the second Monday of the year, I ate bacon on my salad.  Oops.

Spinach and Chickpeas

Ingredients

Chickpeas
Spinach
Bread crumbs
Pimentón (smoked paprika)
Cumin
Garlic
Sherry vinegar
Olive oil

Preparation

1. Cook a couple of cloves of minced garlic in a generous amount of olive oil until fragrant, and then add bread crumbs made from 4 or 5 slices of crusty bread (pulse in a food processor for best results); cook, stirring frequently until evenly toasted; remove.
2. Add a little more oil to the pan and sauté a pound of spinach, along with 1 teaspoon each cumin and pimentón.
3. When the spinach begins to wilt, add a can of chickpeas, drained (or 2 cups cooked chickpeas), and cook for 5 minutes or so.
4. When you’re ready to serve, stir in a tablespoon of sherry vinegar and sprinkle with the toasted bread crumbs.

Tomatillo Chili

Hello again!

We had a chili cook-off with our parenting group recently.  No, we did not feed the 13 month olds chili, but it did remind me of the scene in Mr. Mom.

One friend made this chili.  I really enjoyed the flavors, and have been looking for a good white bean chili.  While the recipe doesnt call for white beans, my friend successfully added them in.  I did not use any chicken, except for the broth (note, when my friend made it, she used a rotisserie chicken from the store).  To the flavor paste, I added one can of white beans so they were pureed to add thickness.  I also added one additional can of white beans, whole.  It ended up being pretty thick, so perhaps I would add more broth next time, or not puree as many beans.   I used canned tomatillos but think it would be better with fresh and will try that next time.

Thai-Spiced Pumpkin Soup

My soup obsession continues, and boarders on addiction: Sometimes I eat it for breakfast. A friend asked that I bring a butternut squash soup to a dinner party, but I wanted something more fun. I found this recipe on 101 Cookbooks and it sounded exotic enough, and super easy. I used a butternut squash or two, and then delicata squash because they are new to me. Lovely display at Whole Paycheck:

This soup is supremely easy, and as you would guess, the only thing I changed was the amount of curry paste (more more more!). You could also make this vegan by brushing the squash with olive oil instead of butter. The soup was a huge hit at the party, I will make this all fall / winter long!