Homemade Peppercorn Ranch Dressing

As promised yesterday, here is the peppercorn ranch dressing recipe I use.

I originally got this recipe from Allrecipes.com, but I can't find it on there now. So here it is:

Ingredients:

1 cup mayo

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup milk

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Mix!

That's it.

A Week of Easy, Vegetarian Meals

I want to offer you a week of easy, vegetarian meals.

I often am asked by meat eaters what are my favorite dishes and what I commonly eat. I usually just say pasta because that's the first thing that comes to my mind, but I've been thinking about it for a few days and wanted to document some of my favorite meals. These are meals I can make on a weeknight because I usually keep these ingredients on hand and they are relatively quick to make.

You will see spinach salad on here with almost every meal because I actually do eat that all the time. I love it, it's good for me and it's easy.

For dressing, I like to make homemade peppercorn ranch dressing or balsamic vinegar. I'll share my peppercorn ranch recipe tomorrow.

1) Tri-color rotini pasta with green beans, bread and spinach salad.

I love this recipe. I have it memorized by now because I make it alllll the time. I always have the ingredients on hand for this one so it's a go-to dish.

I found the recipe many years ago on Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade website, but I can't find it now. Here it is from my recipe book:

Ingredients:

1 (1 pound) package of tricolor rotini (I like the hidden veggie kind)

1 package frozen broccoli stir-fry mix (Birds Eye brand)

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons black pepper

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups shredded Parmesan

In a large pot, bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Add the stir-fry mix to pasta water during the last 2 to 3 minutes. Drain well.

In a bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, pepper, red pepper and salt. I like to add basil too. Add the pasta mix and cheese, tossing to coat. Serve.

Here's the recipe for the Focaccia.

2) Baked Potatoes, parmesan green beans and spinach salad.

This one is easy peasy.  There's only like 5 minutes of actual cooking time for you! You just have to plan ahead to get the potatoes in the oven. I first pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. I wash/scrub the potatoes, cut up aluminum foil for each potato, rub the potatoes with olive oil, sprinkle sea salt on and then wrap them in their little aluminum foil blankets and toss them in the oven. After an hour they are steamy and ready for eating.

When the potatoes are almost ready I start the green beans and prepare my salad.

I've shared the green bean recipe before, you can find it here. They are soooo easy! It takes about 5 minutes to make them.

3) Lemon pasta, spinach salad, edamame

The pasta is Pioneer Woman's Baked Lemon Pasta. 

In the picture those are Parmesan green beans, but I like to switch it up sometimes and have edamame. It's yummy and easy (I just heat up one of those 'steam in the bag' packages in the microwave) and they have protein.

4) Pita pizzas, fresh fruit, spinach salad

This one is just fun. I like this for guests because they can put whatever they want on it. I buy the pitas when they are BOGO at Publix. :) On mine, I like pesto sauce, a little sea salt, spinach, cut up tomatoes, olives, mushrooms (if I have them), mozzarella cheese.

This is the brand of pitas that I buy, but I prefer the wheat kind.

I put them in the oven for about ten to fifteen minutes and they're good to go.

I always keep fresh fruit around the house. I like to wash and cut it up when I get home from the store so it's ready to go, so whatever I have on hand I serve.

5) Stuffed peppers, mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.

Yes, I like cheese. I will admit this one takes me a little more time because I have to prepare the items for the "stuffing" of the bell peppers, but it's still easy.

I found the recipe I use on the blog Mom Machine. I love these peppers! I add cayenne pepper to mine cause I like the rice to be a little spicy to contrast with the sweetness of the bell peppers.

And there you have it,

Man, I could have listed even more. I didn't even get to the soups yet. Yum, soup.

Now, please don't let me mislead you into thinking that I cook every night. I don't. On days that I have improv rehearsal (yes, I really do improv) or church I usually head straight there after work and eat leftovers when I get home. These are just ideas for meals that I make pretty regularly. :) I also have the habit of when I cook, making a lot extra of stuff so I usually can eat on it for a few days and take leftovers to work so that cuts down on how often I cook too.

And sometimes I just eat this for dinner. :)

Tomato Basil Soup

As promised on Monday, here is the recipe I use for Tomato Basil Soup! (From Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

4 tomatoes, diced
4 cups tomato juice
14 leaves fresh basil
1 cup heavy whipping cream (I use whatever I have on hand, half and half or cream)
1/2 cup butter
salt and pepper

In a large stock pot, heat the tomatoes and tomato juice on medium heat. Let simmer for 30 minutes.

At this point I use my immersion blender to blend the tomato mixture with the basil leaves while it's still on the stove (LOVE my immersion blender!).

Then stir in the cream and butter. Season the soup with salt and pepper and heat until butter is melted.

When I make this soup I usually make a double batch and I'll eat it throughout the week (I love carrying soup to work for lunch).

Yum!

Homemade Brownies

I had never made homemade brownies before this past weekend. Wellll, never that I can remember. It's possible that I made them with my grandmother growing up, but I have no recollection of those events.

So anyway, I got an itch to bake and whipped up some brownies following this recipe from About.com. I altered it a bit.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups margarine
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and then mix with cocoa. Stir in sugar and blend in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla. Stir in the flour and and mix for about 2 minutes. Bake in greased 9 x 13-inch pan for 25 minutes.

 Yay for brownies!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

The other day I got a hankering for broccoli cheese soup and what did I do? I made some. I thought I would share the recipe I used with you. It originally used chicken broth, but you all know I made it vegetarian. =)

Broccoli Cheese Soup (altered from this recipe from My Blessed Life):

1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. all purpose flour
4 c. milk
4 c. veggie broth
1 lb. fresh broccoli (I actually used frozen *gasp!* - the scandal!)
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 t. nutmeg
16 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Whisk butter and flour in a stock pot over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and slowly add in the milk (heat it up a little first). Then add in the veggie broth while still whisking. Let this simmer for 20 minutes.

During this time, prepare the onion by sauteing it in 1 tablespoon of butter.

 

You can also take this time to grate the cheese.

Since I used frozen broccoli, I microwaved it for about 4-5 minutes and then set it aside.

After the mixture has simmered for 20 minutes, add in the broccoli and onion.  Cook the soup over low heat for about 20-25 minutes then add salt and pepper to taste.

At this point, you can puree your soup in a blender. I recently bought a Kitchenaid immersion blender from Target for $50 so I just used that and it worked really well. If you use a blender, return the soup to your pot after and set the stove to  low heat. Add in your cheese and stir until well blended.  Then add the nutmeg.

I served the soup with some tasty bread.

The finished product:

I loved this soup! It was everything I dreamed it would be.

No Bake Reese's Bars

Growing up my mom would make Reese's bars for me and my sisters and we loved them. Since then I got the recipe from her and would make them from time to time for parties or just hanging with friends. They are easy to make and so yummy!

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups peanut butter
1 stick butter
1 (6 oz) pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup graham cracker crumbs crushed
1 box powdered sugar
1/3 block paraffin

Melt butter. Mix with rest of dry ingredients. Press into a long cake pan. Melt chocolate chips and paraffin. Pour over ingredients in pan. Let cool; cut into squares.

Those are the basic directions. Here are my directions -- with visuals!! (More fun that way, right? Get enough powdered sugar to kill a horse (1 box) and pour it into a big bowl.

 

Get 1 1/2 cups of peanut butter and dump that in on top. (make sure your counters are as messy as possible before doing this step)

 Melt a stick of butter and pour that in too. (Paula Dean would be so proud!)

Pour in 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs and mix together.

Once your hands are covered with all your ingredients, wipe them on your pants and get your pants all messy too.

Melt 1/3 block of paraffin in the microwave (mine took me about 3 minutes). Then pour your chocolate chips into the bowl with the paraffin. Stir until mostly mixed.

Put the bowl back in the microwave for 30 second intervals until the chocolate is good and melted, stirring at the end of each 30 second interval.

Pour your peanut butter mixture into a pan and roll it out.

Then pour your chocolate on top.

You, my friend, have homemade Reese's bars!

And a messy kitchen too, but what-evs. You get to enjoy a tasty treat so it doesn't matter! =)

Fake Grilled Cheese

Growing up my sister and I spent a ton of time at our grandparent's house and my grandma would cook and bake for us all the time. I took it for granted as a kid, but once I got into college I really appreciated it. The university I went to required those of us who lived on campus to buy a meal plan that was pretty expensive and to use up all the money I had to eat in the cafeteria almost every day. After eating in there for about 2 weeks I was cafeteria'd-out.

Every weekend that I got a chance I would drive the hour away to my grandparent's house and spend the weekend with them. Of course during these weekends my grandma would cook for me and sometimes for a snack she would make me her "grilled cheese" sandwiches that we always had growing up.

As an ode to my nanny (what we all called her), I made fake grilled cheese this weekend. I call it fake grilled cheese because it's baked instead of grilled in a pan on the stove. They are so easy to make and cook pretty quickly.

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees and spread a little butter on one side of each piece of bread. Put your cheese on one piece of bread and then put another piece on top.

Bake for about 3 minutes and then flip. Cook for 2-3 minutes more and then you're done!

Both sides should be golden brown and you have a crispy, non-greasy "grilled" cheese sandwich.

One of my to-dos this weekend was to make soup. I made a double batch of the same tomato-basil soup we served at our Halloween party so that we'd have extra for throughout the week and we had some yesterday with our "grilled" cheese sandwiches.

Thanks grandma for another go-to recipe!

Another exciting thing that happened this weekend was that McKenna's soccer team placed first in their division today! I know in sports it's not all about winning, but that is quite an accomplishment and her team played really well and had great sportsmanship. =) I'm a proud sister.

Snickerdoodles!

This past weekend, for the first time I made homemade snickerdoodle cookies. I mean, who doesn't love snickerdoodles? I found the recipe on Betty Crocker's website and they did not disappoint.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  
Pre-heat oven to 400ºF. 

Mix 1 1/2 cups sugar, the butter, shortening and eggs in large bowl. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. 

Now for the fun part! Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Mix 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

I thought the cookies looked so cute waiting to go in the oven. =)

Bake 8 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

This recipe was so easy to follow and the cookies turned out to be really tasty. The recipe makes 4 dozen so there are plenty of cookies to go around. I brought some to work for my co-workers and I to snack on.

In other news I've been seeing a lot of this pretty face lately.

I love getting to spend time with my sweet little sister. I am feeling very blessed these days.

Party Decorating/Food

I thought I would share a little more about our decorations and food for our Halloween party. Our menu for the party was:

Fresh Apple Cider
Tomato Basil Soup
Broccoli Cheddar Soup
French Bread for dipping
Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

And of course, plenty of candy corn.
 

For decorations I had several mini pumpkins and for a table runner I used a scrap of fabric I had intended for a project, but didn't end up using.

For the broccoli cheddar soup, I found the recipe on Eighteen25. This soup was pretty quick to make and very tasty. The tomato basil soup recipe was found on allrecipes. I doubled the recipe and really enjoyed making the soup - it made the kitchen smell sooo good!

The apple cider recipe was found at Food.com. Now this took a loooong time to make. You have to boil the apples for one hour and then let them simmer for 2, but the end product is so worth it. We all really enjoyed the cider.

As for the living room, I added a few touches there as well. I mimicked the banner I had made for the dining room and placed another one on the bookshelves as well as adding some mini pumpkins.

You can see all my "new" (well, new to me) Nancy Drew books that I received from my grandmother. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with them yet, but I feel like they kinda fit the theme.

And of course I put my spider web picture back up for the party.

I decorated this little bookshelf too a bit although I suppose it's more fall-like than Halloween-like. =)

So there you have my Halloween/Fall decorations. I guess pretty soon I'll be decorating for Christmas!

Tofu!

As a vegetarian, I search for protein in forms other than meat (obviously). I love tofu and don't eat it too often, but when I do it's a treat for me. I don't have a lot of recipes for preparing tofu, but here is a new one I recently discovered here. I altered the recipe a bit (surprise, surprise, haha).

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) package extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch thick slices; then cut again into 1/2-inch wide sticks. Put the tofu in a bowl and pour the broth over the top. Let soak for about 5 minutes.
In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, salt, pepper, basil, parsley and cayenne.
Heat a griddle (or pan) and spray with preferred cooking spray.
Remove tofu sticks from broth, and squeeze most (but not all) of the liquid from them. Roll the sticks in breading (I rolled the tofu in the breading twice to get it fully coated). Place the tofu in the griddle or pan and cook until crisp and browned on all sides.

I served the tofu with roasted carrots and pasta. This is my favorite tofu recipe that I have made so far as the tofu pieces were so crispy and the texture was really nice.

Mozzarella Sticks

I love quick snacks and I had been browsing Pinterest for some new ideas and I saw a picture of homemade mozzarella sticks. I was intrigued. This creative person used eggroll wrappers to cover the mozzarella and then fried them, but I wanted to bake them instead.

I headed to the store and got some mozzarella and some wonton wrappers instead of eggroll wrappers as I wanted them to be mini-sized. I began by cutting the mozzarella sticks into 3 pieces each. I laid out a wrapper and then placed a piece of mozzarella in it and just rolled it up.

When I got to the middle I would tuck the edges in and keep rolling -- kinda like a burrito.

Rolling them up was actually pretty fun!

If you're wondering about all the receipts on the fridge, they're my trophies from my couponing adventures. Haha. Looking at them makes me happy.

Once I finished rolling, I would brush a little water on the edge to seal the wrapper.

Then I lined them up on a baking sheet. They were so cute and little!

I baked them at 350 degrees for about 7 minutes. I flipped them halfway through to prevent sticking.

The sticks turned out golden-brown and with the addition of some warmed up marinara sauce, they were quite tasty!

I always love adding recipes like this to my collection - quick, easy and tasty. =)