Breakfast Spinach, Fruit, and Yogurt Smootie

Made a quick smoothie for breakfast from two handfuls of spinach, one carton of yogurt, fruit, and 1 cup of juice.  I used fruit I had on hand, one kiwi and some frozen blueberries.  This could be made with any type of yogurt, fruit, and fruit juice.  I don't taste the spinach at all with all the fruit, but still get all the benefits from it.  Super easy to make and take with you on the go!

French Bread

This was super easy and cheap to make your own french bread.  This was made by combining 2.5 cups of warm water, 2 Tablespoons of active dry yeast, 3 Tablespoons of sugar, and 2 Tablespoons of vinegar.  Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes until bubbly.  Then add 1 Tablespoon of salt, 1/3 cup of olive oil, and about 6 cups of flour (I used white and wheat flour).  Add enough flour to make it the right consistency to work with, so it's not too sticky but not too stiff.  You should knead the bread dough for about 4 minutes.  Let it sit in the bowl in a warm kitchen for about 15 minutes, punching it every 5 minutes.  Once it's ready, divide into 2 or 3 loafs any shape you want and slice the top if desired.  Let the dough rise in the oven for 30  minutes at 170 deg.  Once the dough has almost doubled in size, turn the oven up to 375 deg and bake until golden brown.

Mini Fruit Cheesecakes

Super easy dessert made with store bought sugar cookie dough, cool whip, cream cheese, and whatever fruit you love.  I pressed the sugar cookie dough into mini cupcake tray and baked until golden brown.  While the cookies were baking, I made the cheesecake filling, which was cool whip and cream cheese blended together.  Once the sugar cookie cups were cooled, I added the filling and topped the filling with fruit.  I tried to use all colors of fruit so it came out very colorful.

Zucchini Surprise

I call this Zucchini Surprise because my mom used to make something very similar and use whatever ingredients she had on hand.  I made mine with 4 zucchini's that I diced up small and tossed with 3 eggs, 1/4 cup of cheddar, 1/4 cup of Parmesan, and a 1/4 cup of bread crumbs.  My mom would also used bread, rice, or croutons in place of bread crumbs, whatever she had on hand and any kind of cheese would do.  Once everything was combined and evenly coated, I put the mixture in cupcake tray and baked at 350 deg until brown.

Fresh Bruschetta

Using ingredients from my garden, I made bruschetta to go with the fresh french bread loaf I baked.  This was super simple, I diced and deseeded a large tomato I bought from a local farmers market, I chiffonaded some fresh basil from my garden and added these together.  I also added 1 Tablespoon of Olive oil, 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar, and 1 garlic clove.  Mix all ingredients together and it's better if you let it sit in the fridge for a couple hours before serving.  Check out my fresh french bread I made to go with it in another post.

French Macaroons II

This is my second attempt at French Macaroons.  I followed the previous recipe but using the tip I learned last time, pipe the Macaroon one time because it forms a thick film immediately after piping.  Made with 2/3 cup of ground almonds (I used my food processor for this), 1.5 cups of powdered sugar, 3 egg whites (older is better), a tsp of vanilla, and 5 Tablespoons of granulated sugar.  Mix the granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla together and once combined, slowly add the sifted powdered sugar and ground almond mixture.  This time I sandwiched my macaroons with a traditional butter cream.  I decided I like the salted caramel sauce much better.

Spinach Queso

This was a super simple recipe made with 1 pound of 2% milk velveeta, 8 ounces of cream cheese (I used neufchatel since it has less fat), 10 ounces of frozen chopped spinach, and a can of rotel.  I mixed all the ingredients together and put them in my crockpot and stirred often until the cheese melted, then turned it on low and serve.  Amazing with chips, but could also serve with toasted bread.

French Macaroons

These are difficult to make, but worth it.  Made with almonds that I ground in a food processor, powered sugar, egg whites, and granulated sugar.  I followed a recipe from a book.  Next time I will make other flavors.

Tip: let the macaroon rest BEFORE putting them in the oven and only pipe the macaroon ONCE, don't add more filling to already piped macaroons.  The macaroon forms a film and dries, if you pipe on top, it will create an air pocket in the macaroon.

Peach Kolache

Peach Kolache, so so so good, made with store bought dough, half a peach for each kolache.  Lay the dough out, put a tablespoon or 2 of cream cheese on top, then place half the peach, sliced, on top, cover with sugar.  Wrap the dough around so completely covered.  Bake in the oven at 350 deg, until brown.

Chicken and Orzo

Sauteed Chicken paired with Orzo.  Marinade the chicken and saute until cooked through.  For the Orzo, saute the orzo in olive oil until just brown.  Then add required amount of water for amount of orzo cooking.  Once the orzo is aldente, add 1/4 Parmesan cheese and chopped basil (mine was fresh from my garden, yum).

Beef Wellington or Pork Carlington

This is a lot like a beef wellington, but made with Pork instead of Beef and Cream Cheese instead of Pate.  I used a store bought refrigerated dough, rolled out.  Cover the dough with the sauteed mushroom mixture and the cream cheese.  Lay the seared pork tenderloin on top and wrap the dough around it, cut off any excess.  I followed the recipe I found in This Old House with the above two substitutions.

Peach Cobbler

Made from ripe peaches drenched in sugar and covered with leftover dough from the pork wellington.  Baked at 350 deg until brown.