Day 1753 | Tortellini with Brussels Sprouts

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It’s been a bit since I’ve shared a recipe. And this is a good one. I have ulterior motives for sharing it, though. The only place this recipe exists is as a photo buried in my email. It always takes me forever to find it and is super annoying to try to read as a photo on my phone. Shout out to Erica for sharing this recipe with me [six years ago]. Also, did you know there’s an “s” at the end of Brussel? You learn something new every day.

TORTELLINI WITH LEMON AND BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Ingredients:
Salt and pepper
2 pounds brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
3 TB unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
20oz package of cheese tortellini
Zest and juice from 1 lemon (grab an extra one if you want it extra-lemony)

Directions:

  • In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook brussels sprouts until crisp-tender, about four minutes. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt butter over medium: add onion and cook until translucent, about eight minutes.

  • With a large slotted spoon, transfer sprouts to skillet. Increase heat to high and cook, stirring occasionally, until sprouts begin to brown, about five minutes. Meanwhile, in pot, cook tortellini according to package instructions then drain. Toss tortellini with vegetables and stir in lemon zest and juice.

Day 1648 | Homemade Bread

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Is there anything better than homemade bread? Knowing exactly what the ingredients are, the smell of it baking, eating it warm…it’s all so good.

I checked out this book from the library, The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and it has inspired me. You make one batch of dough and it lasts in the fridge for two weeks. Then you take out 1/4 of it at a time and make a small-ish fresh loaf for dinner with just a few minutes worth of work. Genius, right? And the bread is really delicious, too. There are a bunch of different recipe variations that I haven’t explored yet, but I’m excited.

Day 1470 | Brownie M&M Cookies

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I really like making cookies. What I don't like is how many of these cookies I end up consuming. Therefore, I rarely make cookies. In fact, I can't even remember the last time I did. 

Luckily, since we're living the week of extravagance leading up to school starting, I decided to be crazy and let the boys pick out a new cookie recipe to try. And it's a good one. We found a solid brownie cookie recipe and then decided to kick it up a notch by adding M&M's. Chase even did all the ingredient collecting and most of the mixing (even cracking his first egg...all over his hand, but still!). 

They are super delicious. No doubt about it.

BROWNIE M&M COOKIES

Ingredients:
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips 60-70% cacao
1/2 cup butter
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder not Dutch-processed
1/2 cup mini M&M's

Directions:

  • Melt bittersweet chocolate chips and butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until melted and well-combined. Remove from heat, and set aside.

  • In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugars, vanilla, baking powder, and salt on high speed 5 minutes, or until the batter is thick and creamy. This step is key, so make sure to beat the mixture for the full 5 minutes.

  • Reduce the speed to low, and mix in the melted chocolate until well-combined.

  • Stir in flour and cocoa powder just until combined.

  • Add mini M&M's (saving some for sprinkling on top). Stir in to combine. The batter should be the consistency of a thick brownie batter at this point. Cover the batter, and chill for 30 minutes.

  • Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

  • Drop batter by rounded 1.5 tablespoon-full onto the prepared cookie sheets about 2 inches apart and sprinkle with remaining M&M’s, about 7 or so per cookie (push them in a bit so they stay put).

  • Bake cookies 8-10 minutes. The cookie will look set at the edges but still be a little wet looking in the center. Don't overbake, or the cookies won't be crackly and fudgy. The shiny, crackly crust will develop as the cookies cool on the baking sheet.

Modified from this recipe.

Day 1269 | Holiday Baking Extravaganza

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My mom came up after school today for our official holiday baking extravaganza. The goal was three cookies (with two additional crafts added while we waited for cooling + baking) and we nailed it. All the sweets turned out super yummy. Now if only we can manage to have them in the house and not eat them all. That's no joke.

Here are the recipes in case anything's looking too good to resist:

Glazed Little Orange Cookies with Cinnamon and Cloves (I didn't come up with this name)
Pretzel M&M Hugs (although our preference is for round pretzels)
Peanut Butter Blossoms (thanks, Aunt Pam for hooking me on this cookie!)

Happy baking!

Day 1232 | Spider Donuts

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Aren't these the cutest? The boys and I made them for the pot luck 4-H Halloween party and they were a big hit. I was really excited to involve them in the preparation of our contribution this time around. Aside from some spiders with all eight legs on one side, they were shockingly helpful. 

**Side note: I saw these little guys online and the original "recipe" suggested using circle pretzels cut in half so the donuts were lifted off the table. I couldn't find round ones so I decided pretzel sticks were just fine. And I found the little candy eyes at a local grocery store (I was extremely surprised). Just a dot of frosting as glue for the eyes and you're all set!

Day 1199 | Bruschetta

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I've had a corner of my counter dedicated to housing my harvested tomatoes for the last few days and, try as I might, I couldn't come up with the perfect recipe for them. Finally, I remembered my go-to favorite bruschetta recipe and knew immediately that was the solution. I might be breathing a garlic-fire right now, but it was totally worth it.

Bruschetta

Ingredients:

6 or 7 plum tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBSP + 1/4 cup olive oil
6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
salt + pepper to taste
1 baguette

Directions:

  • Prepare tomatoes first. Bring a pot of water (enough to cover the tomatoes) to a boil. Immediately remove from the heat and add the tomatoes for one minute (parboil them, if you're familiar with the term). After the minute, remove from the water and cool until able to handle.
  • Remove skins of tomatoes. Once peeled, cut in quarters to remove seeds.
  • Preheat oven to 450° with the rack at the top.
  • While oven is heating, chop up the tomatoes finely. Put tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and vinegar in a bowl and mix. Add chopped basil and add salt + pepper to taste. 
  • Slice baguette about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Coat one side with olive oil and place oil-side down.
  • Toast for 5-6 minutes, until golden brown.
  • Heap a healthy serving of the bruschetta on top of the slice bread and enjoy!

*Special note: if you're making this for a gathering, make sure you plate the bread and bruschetta separately. The bread will get soggy if you plate them together. 

Day 1197 | Dark Chocolate Marbled Banana Bread

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The bananas in my freezer have been taunting me for weeks. Chase and I have been craving banana bread for a similar amount of time. Thankfully, Smitten Kitchen published an appealing enough recipe to get me motivated to make all of our dreams come true.

Don't worry, my tried-and-true sugar-free banana bread recipe from years ago (look how little Chase is!), remains my favorite for *most* occasions. Today, though, the Dark Chocolate Marbled Banana Bread recipe was calling my name. As an indulgent alternative recipe, I couldn't ask for more. Oh, and one super cute side note...Robbe kept calling it monkey bread (Get it? Because monkeys eat bananas!!). We thought it was adorable.

I did make a few modifications to the original recipe, but the foundation remained. Here's what I did...

Dark Chocolate Marbled Banana Bread

Ingredients:
3 large very ripe bananas
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoonvanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table or fine sea salt
1 cup  plus 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

  • Heat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9×5-inch loaf pan, or coat it with a nonstick baking spray.
  • Melt butter in the bottom of a large bowl in the microwave. Mash the bananas right into it until mostly smooth. Whisk in brown sugar, egg, vanilla, baking soda, and salt until thoroughly combined. Add 1 cup of the flour, stirring just until it disappears.
  • Pour half of batter into a second bowl.  Into one bowl, stir the remaining 1/4 cup of flour and ground cinnamon. Into the other bowl, stir in the cocoa powder and chocolate chips.
  • Dollop batters in large alternating spoonfuls into bottom of prepared loaf pan. Attempt to “checkerboard” the rest in, roughly meaning that you’ll drop a chocolate batter dollop on top of a chocolate-free one and vice-versa until both batters are used up. Use a butter knife or small offset spatula to make a few figure-8s through the batters, marbling them together — but just a little, say, 2 to 3 figure-8s. Any more and the swirls may not look distinct when you cut the cake. As you can see from my photo, I didn't do *the best* job of marbling, but it still tastes good!
  • Bake 55 to 65 minutes, until a tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out batter-free. (A melted chocolate chip smear is expected, however.) Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert it out onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Day 1144 | Blueberry Overload

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If we were living the lives of our favorite bear family, the title of this week would probably be called, The Berenstain Bears and Too Many Blueberries. Don't get me wrong, we love blueberries around here but it's possible we have maxed out. Two berry picking field trips, three yummy blueberry recipes (see below), and handful and handfuls of straight berries consumed. We *just might* have reached our limit. 

In case you're interested in using up some of the spare berries around your house, I highly recommend these recipes:

Day 1095 | No Sugar Lemonade

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Check out the latest no-sugar recipe I've been working on for MaryCatherineStarr.com: lemonade! I had to make the recipe three times to get it just right, so I hope you motivate yourself to give it a try to make all the hard work worth it.

SUGAR-FREE LEMONADE SLUSH

Prep time: 10 minutes | Yield: About 1 liter (or about 4.25 cups)

Ingredients: 
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (two large lemons)
2 cups no-sugar-added white grape juice
2 cups ice
1 tsp lemon zest (from one of the two lemons)

Directions:

  • Add all ingredients into a blender. Pulse or blend until combined (but not entirely smooth).

  • Serve immediately.

Extra notes:

  • Zest one of the lemons before it is juiced. Zesting a juiced lemon is much more difficult.

  • This recipe makes just the right amount of lemonade for our family of four (two adults and two young kids). If you’re making this for more than three adults, double or triple the recipe.

  • If you don’t have a blender or would rather make regular lemonade (instead of the slush), you can just stir up the ingredients (instead of blend). Leaving it in the refrigerator overnight brings out the lemon flavor even more.

{Created by modifying this recipe.}

Day 1033 | Homemade Granola

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Perhaps you saw my latest recipe post on Mary Catherine's blog, but this granola was just too yummy not to double-post. Plus, I wanted to be able to search for it on my own site for the next round of baking. 

As I said in the Simply Sugarless post, I was really skeptical of attempting a granola recipe. I'm very particular about the granola I like and I was convinced that a no-refined-sugar recipe would never satisfy my picky tastebuds. I'm so happy to report I was wrong. I've been eating this granola for breakfast with a bit of yogurt all week and, I'm going to say it, it's better than any store bought versions I've found - at least it is in terms of what I'm looking for in granola. I will definitely be making this as a staple around our house. Yippee!

HONEY PECAN GRANOLA

Hands-on time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 25-30 minutes | Total time: 40 minutes
Yield: 6 cups

Ingredients: 
4 cups old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 325°. Grease a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.

  • Mix oats, flour, shredded coconut, pecans, and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Stir in honey, coconut oil, and vanilla extract until evenly incorporated.

  • Spread oat mixture on the prepared baking sheet.

  • Bake in the preheated oven until lightly golden, about 10 minutes. Stir gently. Continue baking, stirring every 5 minutes, until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.

  • Let cool until crispy, about 15 minutes.

  • Store in airtight container.

A Couple of Notes:

  • I left my granola in the oven for an extra few minutes (past 25 minutes) because mine didn’t brown very much. Maybe it was the whole wheat flour, but it still turned out crunchy and delicious even though it stayed light in color.

  • Now that I’ve made this, I would consider mixing some freeze dried strawberries in at the end. I love a little fruit in my granola.

  • I would also increase the amount of pecans, to a half a cup. I don’t really even like pecans all that much, but I think a few extra would only be a good thing.

  • Probably an obvious comment, but you can add/substitute fruit, nuts, etc. as you fit, I would just warn against adding too many dry ingredients because you still need the wet ingredients to coat + bind it together.

Day 972 | Banana Coconut Muffins

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I made these delicious muffins for my friend's blog and they're too good not to share (and archive) here as well. Seriously. So good. 

Here's the link to Mary Catherine's blog with more of an intro + extra photos. For mine, I'll just post the recipe. Enjoy!

Banana Coconut Muffins

Prep time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 20 minutes | Total time: 40 minutes
Yield: 11 muffins

Ingredients: 

  • 1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

  • zest of ½ lemon, finely chopped

  • *1/2 cup virgin coconut oil, melted

  • 1 cup mashed ripe banana (approximately 3 bananas)

  • 1/4 cup honey

  • 1 large egg, preferably at room temperature

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

  • 3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, divided

*A bit of advice as you melt the coconut butter: scoop slightly more than the desired liquid amount into a microwave-safe bowl or glass measuring cup. Melt in 15 second increments in the microwave, stirring after every 15 seconds. Continue until all solid chucks are dissolved. Mine took about 45 seconds to melt.

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a muffin tin or line the tin with muffin liners.

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Stir in ½ cup shredded coconut.

  • In a separate, medium bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, mashed banana, honey, egg and extracts.

  • Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

  • Divide batter among prepared muffin cups (feel free to fill pretty high, they don’t rise very much), then sprinkle the muffin tops with the remaining ¼ cup coconut (about 1 to 2 teaspoons each).

  • Bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer muffins to a cooling rack and let them cool.

[ Created by modifying this recipe. ]

Day 927 | Rolo Turtles

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This recipe came across my Facebook feed and I couldn't resist. I don't even really like pecans but something about this was calling my name. And boy, oh boy, are they tasty. Was there really any question? 

'Tis the season for indulging! 

Rolo Turtles

Ingredients:

  • Small pretzels (we used the Old Dutch holiday shape version)

  • Pecan halves

  • A bag of Rolos

Directions:

  • Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

  • Place one pretzel down on sheet for each turtle desired.Top each pretzel with one unwrapped Rolo.

  • Bake 3-5 minutes or until caramel piece begins to soften, but not melt. Remove from oven; top with pecan halves by pushing down slightly. Cool completely.

**Good luck keeping these around until the holidays!

Day 907 | Tomato, Zucchini, Bacon Pasta

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This is hands-down one of my all time favorite recipes.  To the boys, it's known as "fancy mac & cheese." To me, it's just delicious. The only problem with it is that I tend to eat way more than I should. Such problems, I know.

Tomato, Zucchini, Bacon Pasta

Ingredients

  • 1 box spiral whole wheat pasta

  • 8 slices bacon (I use turkey bacon)

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

  • 2 medium zucchini (about 1 pound), halved and thinly sliced

  • salt and black pepper

  • 1 pint grape tomatoes, sliced in half

  • 6 ounces crumbled Feta

  • 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves (or a sprinkle of dried basil)

Directions

  • Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot.

  • Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes; transfer to a plate, let cool, then break into pieces. Reserve the skillet.

  • Add the oil, zucchini, a sprinkle of salt and pepper to the drippings in the skillet and cook, tossing occasionally, until tender, 4 to 6 minutes.

  • Add the zucchini, tomatoes, and cooking water to the pasta and cook over medium heat, tossing, until the tomatoes soften slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the Feta and bacon and toss to combine. Serve sprinkled with the basil.

[ Modified from this recipe ]

Day 883 | Apple Crisp

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Nothing screams fall like heaping serving of apple crisp. It's probably my favorite dessert. And, thanks to my Aunt Pam, I finally found the perfect recipe. I realized what I need the most out of apple crisp is the crunchy, sweet oats + brown sugar topping. This recipe has plenty of that. Hope you enjoy.

Apple Crisp

Ingredients

3 cups apples, peeled and sliced (I prefer Cortland, of course)
Cinnamon
2/3 stick butter
1/3 cup flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

  • Spread apples in a greased 9x9 pan. You want a decent layer of apples so add extra slices if you think it looks a little sparse. Sprinkle apples with cinnamon.

  • Melt butter and stir in the brown sugar.

  • Add flour and oatmeal to the butter + sugar. Mix to a crumbly texture. Sppon over apples.

  • Bake for 40 minutes.

Notes

  • Serves six

  • Double recipe for 9x13 pan

**Again, special shout out to my Aunt Pam for coming to the rescue with this recipe years ago (October of 2009, to be exact). I hope she's not offended by the *small* tweaks I made. :)

Day 816 | Blueberry-Lemon Crumb Bars

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Sorry to tease you yesterday, but here you go: a super yummy blueberry-lemon crumb bar recipe. A great way to use some of the surplus of berries we have around the house.

BLUEBERRY-LEMON CRUMB BARS

INGREDIENTS

Crust:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour

  • 2 tablespoons white sugar

  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest

  • 1 pinch salt

  • 1/2 cup butter, chilled and diced

  • 1 egg

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:

  • 2 cups fresh blueberries

Crumb Topping:

  • 5 tablespoons butter, softened

  • 1/2 cup packed brown

  • all-purpose flour 3/4 cup

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan

  2. Start by making the crust. In a medium bowl, stir together the 2 cups flour, 2 tablespoons white sugar, lemon zest and salt. Cut in the 1/2 cup butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat egg and vanilla together; stir into the crumb mixture until a dough forms. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan.

  3. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden. Remove from oven and set aside to cool slightly.

  4. Sprinkle blueberries over the crust.

  5. Make the topping: In a medium bowl, cream together the 5 tablespoons butter and brown sugar until smooth. Mix in the flour, so that the mixture is crumbly like streusel. Sprinkle over the blueberry layer.

  6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until browned. Cool before cutting into bars.

Modified from this recipe.

Enjoy!

Day 773 | Berry Delicious

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What do you do with a surplus of berries in your fridge? Find as many delicious ways as possible to enjoy them. After all, what's more motivating to make you try new recipes than buckets of tempting blueberries and black raspberries?

  1. We had a delicious fresh berry yogurt parfait for breakfast.

  2. We enjoyed these yummy popsicles (sans sugar) for snack this afternoon.

  3. And I attempted my first-ever pound cake (this recipe) with berries + whipped cream for dessert tonight. Simply amazing.

Yeah, it was a good day.

Day 745 | Corn Avocado Salad

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This *might* just be my favorite salad. I've been counting down the days until fresh sweet corn hit the shelves at the grocery store...and this week it did!

Here's the recipe

. I look forward to enjoying this yummy concoction several times this summer.

For those of you recreating, I don't add the jalapeno. We're not a big fan of spice around here and I don't think we're missing anything.