Monkee Bread

In honor of Davy Jones, I present to you Monkee Bread!

The television show The Monkees was aired in syndication on Nickelodeon when I was a kid in the 80s. Like many young girls, I had a pretty big crush on Davy!  I loved the show and his appearance on the Brady Bunch and as a cartoon character on Scooby Doo.  Later on, I was thrilled when he played a concert at Marsha Brady’s prom in The Brady Bunch Movie (one of my all time favorite movies!) doing a slightly more rockin’ version of his solo song “Girl.” And I took any opportunity to watch any sort of The Monkees biography that came on TV.

I also have a soft spot in my heart for jockeys.  My dad was a jockey and Davy dabbled in the sport.

Below are some great Davy Jones links:
On The Brady Bunch
Audtion for The Monkees - check out that baby face!
Singing on The Brady Bunch Movie – watch this entire movie for a great laugh!

Davy, thank you for your contributions to pop culture and know that your music will live in our hearts forever!

Monkee Bread – this really easy recipe is great to try with the kiddos.
2 ea 10 oz. refrigerated biscuit dough
½ cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

For the glaze:
1 stick of butter
¼ cup brown sugar

-or-

Maple Syrup* (if you are in a pinch or pressed for time) enough to coat

Directions
1.  Cut biscuits into quarters.
2.  Pour cinnamon and sugar into a food storage bowl with a lid.
3.  Drop in several biscuits pieces (we did them 8 at a time) into the bowl and close lid securely.  Allow your little one to shake it – mine loved this part.
4.  Layer these in a well greased loaf pan.  If you are short on space, grease a muffin tin and put the remaining biscuit pieces in the muffin wells, three or four per well.
5.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. 6.  In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Once melted mix in the brown sugar and allow to boil for one minute.
7.  Pour the brown sugar glaze over the layered biscuit pieces in the loaf pan.
8.  Bake for 20 minutes.  After baking, allow to cool for 5 minutes and flip the bread over onto a plate. Once cooled a bit, pull off pieces and enjoy!

*I ran out of the glaze when it came time to pour over the muffin tin monkee breads, so my husband suggested using Maple Syrup.  I did. It wasn’t too bad! Just be sure to use enough to fully cover.  However, the recipe above calls for more than enough glaze.

I’m submitting this recipe to the following fabulous food events:
Sweets for Saturday @ Sweet as Sugar Cookies
Friday Favorites @ Simply Sweet Home

Seven Layer Magic Bars

Have you ever had a seven layer magic bar?

You will likely find them lurking around at potlucks, just waiting sneak in your mouth and attach themselves to your thighs and love handles.

“Oh, that seven layer magic bar!” you say.

So, you know what I’m talking about, then?

The last time I had one was in 2005, at the baby shower of a co-worker.  Needless to say, the haunting memory of that fabulous treat has stuck with me for the past 7 years.

Where has the time gone?

2011 was a crazy year.  And like everyone’s year, it was a rollercoaster ride emotionally.  But while most bloggers can stay committed to their blog during their emotional highs and lows, I in 2011 could not.

During the last year, I was laid off, became a stay-at-home mom, attempted a career in web design, went back to work in local government, gained 15 pounds and neglected my blog.

But also during this time, I got a DSLR camera and an external flash – finally my poor food photography days are behind me!  I have also redesigned my blog (because I can’t stand they way this one looks!).  However, I’m waiting on my phenomenally talented and busy web developer husband to implement the new design into the old site – a Valentine’s Day gift to me!

So with my renewed enthusiasm about the camera and the website I plan to get back into the food blogging community.  I do so miss following my favorite bloggers, discovering new recipes and drooling over food porn!

Additionally, I am extremely motivated to lose those 15 pounds (or more).  I think getting back to my portion-controlled casserole meal-planning and putting exercise first (and side projects second) will help me achieve that goal.

And I have a weight-loss deadline to reach!  On March 30th, my office is a having a Trash-to-Treasure “swap” in which employees bring things such as unwanted, gently used clothes.  My goal is to be down a pants size or two by this date so that I may donate them to the swap!  I DO NOT want to be going to that swap in the jeans I’m wearing now…

I may weekly post my progress on this blog, mainly as a way to keep myself accountable.  I may even post pictures of my body as it (hopefully) transforms!

I look forward to sharing this journey with you and returning to the world of food blogging!

Classic Macaroni Salad

Back in my single days when I was a gal about town, I used to frequent a local pub that served this fabulous macaroni salad.  It was one of the few non-greasy, vegetarian dishes offered and I could not get enough of it.  I also loved the fact that I could order a pasta salad at a restaurant that did not have onions in it.

Oh, did I mention I hate onions.  Unless of course they are thinly sliced, breaded, fried and barely distinguishable as an onion.

Also I love pasta…

And I love to reminisce about the past.  Especially when good food and friends were involved!

The pub’s macaroni salad evokes fond memories of time well (and sometimes not so well) spent with my girl friends..talking about heartaches and hopefulness, weekend plans and life lessons learned…always over a beer or a cheap glass of wine.  Sigh…

I eventually found love, started a family and moved away from that town with the great little bar.  I’ve gone back and the macaroni salad is now off the menu.  What a pity, no more memory lane macaroni salad, I thought.

But I was wrong!!!  Thank goodness I was wrong!

I was staring recently at the 50 some odd boxes of pasta sitting in my pantry, realizing I needed to start using this stuff up.  So I did a search for some pasta recipes that included ingredients I had on hand.  What I was most drawn to was the Classic Macaroni Salad.  I found many variations of this recipe and morphed them into something I actually could eat.

The result…a stroll down memory lane.  The macaroni salad tasted surprisingly similar to that old favorite of mine. Apparently, that old favorite wasn’t as proprietary as I had believed it to be.

Cucumber Macaroni Salad
1.5 cups macaroni noodles
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup light mayonnaise
1/8 cup distilled white vinegar
1/3 cup cucumber, diced
1/3 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup carrots, shredded
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
salt and pepper

Directions:
1.  Prepare pasta according to package directions.  Rinse thoroughly and allow to chill in refrigerator before mixing remaining ingredients (to reduce the amount of dressing absorbing into the pasta).
2.  In a large container, mix remaining ingredients.
3.  Gently fold in chilled noodles.
4.  Refrigerate until serving.

I will be submitting this recipe to following fabulous food events…
Presto Pasta Night #224 hosted by Anu from Truth Personified
A Little Bird Told Me
Tasty Tuesdays
Cast Party Wednesdays
These Chicks Cooked
Whats on Your Plate

Vegetarian Cocktail Meatballs – Lightened Up

Last football season, I made this fabulous vegetarian cocktail meatball dish.  My family LOVED it! Even my 4 year old son!

But there was some aftermath. . . it really spiked my diabetic husband’s blood sugar.  For those who are not familiar with diabetes, this is not a desired affect of eating and its usually caused by high sugar foods.

I thought the one cup of jelly was the problem.  But I also learned the chili sauce had quite a few grams of sugar, as well.

I thought that was the end of my husband’s cocktail meatball eating days until I discovered low sugar jelly several months later.

The low sugar jelly, which has 1/2 the carbs and sugar as regular, got me thinking of how I could lighten up this dish so that we all could enjoy it healthily.

I attempted the recipe again with 1 cup of low sugar jelly and I reduced the chili sauce from 12 oz to 6 oz.  And for no particular reason other than to give the recipe a slightly different flavor, I substituted the mustard for lemon juice.

This version still turned out very tasty!  The sauce was considerably more runny than the original recipe, but low-sugar jelly is not nearly as, well, jelly-like as jelly.  And of course, lemon juice is runnier than mustard.

With 1/2 the calories and sugar as the original, this is a much safer alternative.  And although I will continue to use the diabetic friendly substitutions on all vegetarian cocktail meatball recipes, I now have 2 versions.  The one with mustard for fall/winter and spring/summer for the lemon juice.

Vegetarian Cocktail Meatballs (Summer Version/Lightened Up Version/Reduced Sugar Version)
1 cup low-sugar grape jelly
1/2 cup chili sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 packages frozen vegetarian meatballs

Directions
1. Thaw vegetarian meatballs.
2. In a sauce pan combine jelly, chili sauce and lemon juice.
3. Heat over medium heat until the sauce reaches a low boil.
4. Add the thawed vegetarian meatballs.
5. Cover and continue heating for at least 10 minutes.

I will be submitting this recipe to follow fabulous food events…
My Meatless Mondays
On the Menu Monday
Sundae Scoop

Unstuffed Pepper Casserole

My mother made the best stuffed peppers. They were simple, but delicious. However, once I became a vegetarian, this item was off the menu for me. I’ve tried several times to recreate her recipe using vegetarian products, but have yet to successfully capture that taste I remember so well.

What is missing is the infusion of the pepper flavor into the rice and meat mixture. Vegetarian ground beef does not absorb flavor as the real deal does.

Tofu is great for absorbing flavor. I’ve used a tofu/vegetarian ground beef mixture as the stuffing. I’ve sauteed tofu and green pepper together hoping for some infusion. Although tastey, these methods fell short of the goal.

So on my fifth (or so) attempt, I have unstuffed the peppers. The hope was that sitting in an oven for 35 minutes would allow the pepper’s juices enough to time to release and get acquainted with the other ingredients.

Did it work? Almost! Its not quite there, but it made for an extremely easy and delicious…and almost well-infused recipe. If my low-carb dieting husband is willing to cheat for a recipe, I know its a good one!

Unstuffed Pepper Casserole
1-2 green peppers, chopped
1 package vegetarian ground beef
25 oz (approximate) jar or can of pasta sauce
1 cup white or brown rice, uncooked
1 cup shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare rice according to package directions.
3. In a 9×9 or 7×11 casserole dish, mix together all ingredients except reserve 1/2 cup shredded cheese for topping. The rice should be completely moistened by the sauce.
4. Sprinkle top with remaining cheese.
5. Bake 35-45 minutes to ensure some pepper juice infusion!

I will be submitting this recipe to the following fabulous food events…
Lady Behind the Curtain’s Cast Party Wednesdays
This Chick Cooks’ These Chicks Cooked

Balsamic Pasta Salad

Ok, somehow the past two weeks got away from me. I’ve been entertaining my son, redesigning my blog and doing web designs for clients, not realizing that I haven’t been posting for some time.

What is more distressing is that I haven’t been checking up on what’s cooking with all my friends in the food blog world! I feel so empty and (gasp) uninspired! Time to get back on track!

Anyway on to the recipe…

I’m an admitted carboholic. I love carbs. Bread, rice, pasta. I could survive solely on carbs and be content.

Well, my taste buds would be happy but thighs would not be. Carbs tend to burrow themselves into my legs and stay there for a long time.

One day recently when my concern over my jean size was overpowered by a craving for something carb-y, I made a box of macaroni noodles. Currently, I’m the only one in my house eating pasta. My husband is on a low carb diet and my son really only likes pasta covered in red sauce, of which I had none.

So a giant pot of macaroni noodles were all mine. And rather than use all the noodles to make a giant pot of one thing, I decided to divide them up for multiple recipes.

Its summer and I’m avoiding my oven (hence the lack of casseroles lately), so a baked pasta dish was out. But a crisp, cool pasta salad…that was the way to go.

Using whatever ingredients I had on hand, I threw together a fabulously refreshing summer dish. I call it Balsamic Pasta Salad.

The key to this whole operation is the balsamic. More specifically, the balsamic dressing. I used Ken’s Steakhouse Creamy Balsamic. It is over the top, amazingly good. I want to use it on everything! Vegetables, pasta, salads, crust breads and I think these would be good on french fries (like a twist on chips and vinegar). The best part…only 7 grams of fat per 2 tablespoons!

Pick a bottle up and give it a try. It will not disappoint!

Oh and I am in no way endorsed by Ken’s or any company for that matter. My opinions are my own and unsolicited! Promise!

Without further ado here is the recipe. The quantities of veggies, noodles and dressing are completely subjective. So I’ll just list the ingredients I used, with a special note to adjust per preference.

Balsamic Pasta Salad
Macaroni Noodles
Avocado, diced
Tomatoes, diced
Crumbled feta cheese
Cucumber, diced
Dried dill weed
Balsamic dressing

Directions
1. Prepare pasta noodles according to package directions for cold pasta. Drain and rinse thoroughly. If time allows, place pasta in the fridge to chill completely (to avoid the dressing drying out).
2. Once chilled, place all ingredients in a bowl and mix gently. Add more dressing, if not moist enough.

I will be submitting this super summery recipe to the following fabulous foodie events….
Presto Pasta Nights #222 hosted this week by Lavender and Lime
My Sweet & Savory’s My Meatless Mondays (hey that’s everyday for me!)
Stone Gable’s On the Menu Monday
The Tablescraper’s Seasonal Sunday #57

Cucumber Salad

I love a cucumbers! But whenever I buy them they seem under-ripe and taste more like watermelon rind than cucumber. But lately, Wal-Mart’s produce has been on fire. Nearly everything I’ve purchased has been at the peak of freshness and ready-to-eat. Its been fabulous!

The cucumbers too have been outstanding!

It reminded me of this cucumber salad, my girl friend Amber once made for one of our summer cookouts. So I searched and searched for a recipe which seemed close to her’s. I combined a couple of different recipes and the result was close to what I remembered.

I’m going to have to make a large batch and bring it to my brother-in-law’s Fourth of July picnic!

Cucumber Salad
2 cucumbers, sliced (peeling is optional)
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon dill weed
Salt, to taste

Directions
1. In a large bowl, mix together mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, dill and salt until sugar is well dissolved.
2. Add in the cucumbers.
3. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

I’m submitting this cool and creamy recipe to…
Blessed with Grace’s Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays
This Chick Cook’s Link Party
Rook No. 17′s A Little Bird Told Me