Make-ahead Spinach Manicotti

I totally blew it on the picture of this dish, it looks way ugly - but don't be deceived - this was delicious! I've never made manicotti before, and this recipe I found is awesome, and way easy. The recipe comes from Taste of Home magazine submitted by Christy Freeman.

1 carton (15 ounces) ricotta cheese

1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided (I used the grated kind from the can)

1 egg

2 tsp minced fresh parsley (I used 1 tsp dry parsley)

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp garlic powder

2 jars (28 ounces each) spaghetti sauce with meat

1 1/2 cups water

1 package (8 ounces) manicotti shells - left uncooked

In a large bowl, combine ricotta, spinach, 1 cup mozzarella, 1/4 cup parmesan, egg, parsley, onion powder, pepper and garlic powder. Combine spaghetti sauce and water; spread 1 cup sauce in an ungreased 9 x 13 baking dish. Stuff uncooked manicotti with spinach mixture; arrange over sauce. Pour remaining sauce over manicotti. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and parmesan. Cook it right away or you can put it in the refrigerator and save it for a day. Take out of refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 40-50 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 14 manicotti shells or 6-9 servings depending.

I found it to still have a lot of sauce even after cooking uncovered. The water may be able to be reduced a bit. I liked the extra sauce though, it was not watery at all. This fed my family of 4 two dinners and a lunch - winner! I liked it so much I'm going to make three pans of it for my big family reunion in June!!

Homemade ice cream sandwiches

These are the easiest things in the world to make, and so worth it. I've had homemade oreos, or chocolate sandwich cookies. While very yummy, they are always so rich. Even after just one bite I'm not sure if I get through the whole thing. These ice cream sandwiches were light and refreshing and perfect.

I started with cake mix cookies - very simple

1 cake mix (any flavor really, but I chose Devil's food)

1/3 cup oil

2 eggs

**side note - I substituted the oil in the recipe for 1/3 cup bean puree. Bean puree???, yep. You can substitute it for oil in a lot of baked goods and you don't know the difference. In fact, in my opinion, if you're substituting oil in cakes, breads, and muffins - things that are supposed to be light and cakey and fluffy, they turn out better with the beans (more moist). If you are substituting beans for butter in things that are supposed to be flat and chewy like cookies and brownies - they don't turn out right, they're too cake-like. Anyway, for these cookies though, it made them the perfect texture for the sandwich - PERFECT. Go to this link to see where I got the idea for using bean puree and information on how to do it http://everydayfoodstorage.net/?s=bean+puree.

Mix the cake mix, oil (or beans), and eggs together until you get a dough similar to sugar cookie dough. I had to add some water because I used the beans. Roll cookies into a 1" ball and flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in powdered sugar (or you could use cocoa powder). Bake at 375 for 9 minutes or until done. Let cool on cooling rack.

After cooled, scoop a large ball of any flavored softened ice cream you want (I used reduced fat cookies and cream). Place on one cookie (turned upside down) flatten with spatula then top with another cookie and press.

So simple! The slightly warm soft chocolaty cookie, the cool ice cream. My husband kept saying "mmmmmm" with every bite.

Try it (if you haven't already!)

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

When planning out my month of meals I assigned Thursday to be my "bean" day of the week. Each day of the week has it's own main ingredient or type of food. Monday is soup day, Tuesday is leftover day (I always have leftover soup), Wednesday is Pasta, Thursday is rice or bean or rice & bean, Friday is Chicken...etc.

This Slow Cooker Turkey Chili recipe comes from Cook's Country magazine. It is definitely not a 5 ingredient or less recipe, luckily I already had all the ingredients but one on hand. It turned out really yummy. A little too spicey for the kids though. One problem for me was that the recipe made way too much to fit into my little slow cooker. I ended up having to just simmer it slowly on the stove top in my stock pot. I felt it turned out perfectly yummy just the same. The recipe says it feeds 8 - 10, but I think it feeds more. I would say at least 12 if you're eating anything else with this dish. It makes a lot, I'm going to have to freeze some of it.

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

1/4 cup chili powder

1 TBSP ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

2 slices of hearty white sandwich bread, torn into pieces

1/4 cup soy sauce

6 garlic cloves, minced

salt and pepper

2 lbs of ground turkey (anything but 99 percent lean)

3 TBSP vegetable oil

3 onions, chopped fine

1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 (16- ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 (28 - ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce

1 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth

1 TBSP brown sugar

2 tsp minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo (this is your heat, eliminate it for mild chili, or use crushed red pepper or something else for heat, if you prefer)

1. Heat chili powder, cumin, and oregano in large nonstick skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Set aside.

2. Using potato masher, mash bread, soy sauce, 1 TBSP toasted spices, half of garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in large bowl until smooth. Add ground turkey and gently knead until well combined.

3. Heat 2 TBSP oil in now-empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Cook turkey mixture, breaking up meat into 1 inch pieces with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Transfer to slow-cooker insert. Add onion, bell pepper, and remaining oil to now-empty skillet and cook until softened, 6-8 minutes. Stir in remaining toasted spices, tomato paste, and remaining garlic, and cook until paste begins to darken, 1 - 2 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.

4. Stir beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, brown sugar, and chipotle into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low until turkey is tender, 4 to 6 hours. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips.

Orange Walnut Chicken

I was tired of walking to the pantry at 4:50 pm every day and not know what to cook for dinner, then ultimately settling for something routine and boring. I decid

ed at the beginning of March to plan out my entire month of dinners. A week or so before this I had taken home a stack of cooking magazines from a church free market and subscribed to Cook's Country magazine (America's Test Kitchen). So in figuring out how to plan my month of dinners I found myself continually wanting to try all these new fantastic recipes in these magazines, and why not. This month has been so much fun. New recipes, new ingredients, new adventures!

This Orange Walnut Chicken recipe was my first new recipe of the month, it comes from a Taste of Home magazine, submitted by TerryAnn Moore. When I first saw

the recipe, I didn't get overly excited about it, but it had won the grand prize in a contest they do every issue. That's got to be worth something right? Definitely. It turned out phenomenal. I loved it. So so yummy. The crunchy toasted walnuts and the green onions just set it off perfectly. When my husband bit into it he said, "It's like I'm eating at some exotic restaurant." Thank you honey! Here you go!

Ingredients

3 TBSP Orange juice concentrate

3 TBSP Vegetable oil (divided)

1 TBSP Soy sauce

1 garlic clove minced

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (I actually used chicken tenders)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1 TBSP Butter (I used margarine)

4 Green onions, thinly sliced (divided)

1/2 cup orange marmalade

1/2 cup Orange juice

1/4 cup Lemon juice

2 TBSP Honey

1 to 2 TBSP Grated orange peel

2 to 3 tsp Grated lemon peel

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Hot cooked rice

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine orange juice

concentrate, 2 T of oil, soy sauce, and garlic. Add chicken; seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours. Remove chicken; reserve marinade. In a skillet, cook chicken in remaining oil until juices run clear. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, saute walnuts in butter until lightly browned; removed and set aside. Set aside 1/4 cup green onions for garnish. Add remaining onions to saucepan; saute until tender. Add reserved marinade and the next eight ingredients. Bring to a rolling boil; boil for 2 minutes, Reduce heat; si

mmer, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes or until sauce reaches desired consistency. Serve chicken over rice, top with sauce and reserved walnuts and onions. *note - I found the sauce to be very intense - start with a little and add more as you need it, don't just dump a bunch on right off the bat! (If I had a nicer camera or better light at dinner time, the picture would do the dish justice, but this will have to do, and it will have to do for future recipe posts!)

Cake Decorating

For my first post, I wanted to show my favorite cakes that I've done. I've only been 'dabbling' in cake decorating for about 2 years, getting a little more serious these past few months. I'm 100% self-taught and 100% obsessed. I've listed them in chronological order starting with the most recent (and most fabulous!)

My first 3 tiered cake. I made it for a church dinner. It turned out wonderful. The bottom tier is white cake with lemon curd filling. Middle layer is chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and crushed oreo filling. The top layer is spice cake with cream cheese frosting for a filling. It's decorated in homemade marshmallow fondant.

6" mint chocolate chip cake with chocolate buttercream. So little and cute!

Whole wheat carrot cake with cream cheese icing.

Valentine's cake for a bake sale.

Basket of roses cake. Love it!

Father's day cake. Chocolate heaven. Chocolate cake with chocolate and oreo filling with chocolate buttercream icing.

Cherry chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and whipped cream.

My very first fondant cake, and still one of my very favorites!

Basket weave cake. Pretty and elegant.