Chocolate Chip Bread

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starbucks came out with a chocolate cinnamon bread that my daughter Kenzie and I love.  I absolutely do not want to know how many calories are in a slice so I decided to attempt my own version!  This is certainly healthier and pretty close the Starbucks bread.  I chose to top mine with mini chocolate chips instead of cinnamon and sugar like Starbucks does.  Feel free to top yours however you like!  I know I am not getting any complaints come dessert time from my kids!

 

Makes 1 Loaf

 

2 Ripe Bananas, mashed

1 Cup Pumpkin Puree

1 Devil's Food Cake Mix

4 Egg Whites

1 Tsp Cinnamon

3/4 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

 

In a large bowl, mix the banana and pumpkin.  Add the cake mix, egg whites, and cinnamon.  Mix until combined and all large lumps are gone.  It will not be perfectly smooth.  Add 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips and stir.  Pour into a greased 9x5 loaf pan and top with the remaining 1/4 cup of mini chips.

 

Bake for 55-60 minutes until cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.  Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes before letting cool completely on a wire rack.  



Cookie Dough Truffles

These truffles are seriously good. For all cookie dough lovers, this is a yummy treat!  My three-year-old particularly enjoys them.  In fact, she helped make them.  If you want to be fancy you can cover the entire truffle with chocolate.  Since my daughter was helping me, I let her spoon the chocolate over the truffles, just covering the tops.  Either way they are delicious!

Makes about 50 Truffles

1/2 Cup (1 stick) Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
3/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla
2 Cups Flour (White or Whole Wheat works)
14oz Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
3/4 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips
12oz Package of Dark Chocolate Candy Coating
50 Mini Cupcake liners

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar.  Beat in vanilla, flour and milk, alternate the flour and milk until all incorporated.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Place liners on a baking sheet.  Using a 1" cookie scoop, scoop a ball of dough into each liner.  Cover with waxed paper and place in the fridge for about an hour, until firm.

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the candy coating slowly, stirring until smooth.  Using a spoon, drip candy coating over top each of the truffles.  Work fairly efficiently so the chocolate does not harden and get clumpy.  Once each truffles is topped, refrigerate again to set the chocolate.  Then sit back and enjoy one!

Spaghetti & Meatball Soup

This is now the most requested dinner in my house.  Seriously, almost every night, "Are we having meatball soup tonight?"  I won't pretend like I don't love it as much as the kids.  I look forward to it too!  Plus it is loaded with veggies and the meatballs can be turkey to make it a little healthier.  I will warn that the spaghetti will absorb the sauce so if you like the soup to be thinner, lay off the tomato paste and cook the spaghetti separately and at the last moment.  I personally love it super thick and stew like, especially leftover the next day!

Note:  I made this exact recipe with 1lb of sweet Italian sausage cut into 1" peices and it was fantastic!

Makes 8 Servings

1-2 Tbsps Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion, diced
2 or 3 Carrots, peeled and sliced into coin sized bites
2 Stalks Celery, sliced
1 lb Mini Meatballs (raw, fresh or frozen)
10oz Pureed Squash
4 Cups Chicken Stock
1 28oz Can Crushed Tomatoes
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 6oz Can Tomato Paste (optional)
Half a Box of Cut Spaghetti or Filini
Parmesan Cheese or Romano Locatelli for Topping

I cook this recipe in my multicooker so I can saute the veggies and slow cook the sauce in the same pot.

Place the olive oil in multicooker or saute pan over medium heat.  Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook until tender about 5-7 minutes.  Add meatballs and saute until just starting to brown. 

Place squash in a slow cooker (or add to multicooker and set cooker to slow cook) and set to low.  Add the veggie and meatball mixture to slow cooker, get all the good juices! Pour in chicken stock, crushed tomatoes and garlic and stir. Let cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.

About 30 minutes before eating raise slow cooker to high and add the paste and filini.  After 15 minutes, stir and let cook for another 10-15 minutes.  When pasta is cooked, serve with generous topping of cheese and enjoy!  Truly yummy with a slice of garlic bread!

Apple Pear Sauce

This is a slight deviation from my usual applesauce and boy was it a good one!  This may become my new "usual" applesauce.  The pear makes the texture a little creamier. Yum!

3lbs Apples, peeled and cored (I used Gala, but so many kinds are delicious)
2 or 3 Bartlett Pears, peeled and cored
2 Cinnamon Sticks
1/4 Brown Sugar
1/4 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

Place the apples, pears and cinnamon sticks in a slow cooker with about a cup of water.  Cook on low for about 3 hours.  Remove the cinnamon sticks.  Add the sugar and spice and smash up the apples.  Mix in the sugar and spice until well combined.  Serve warm or let cool and refrigerate and serve cold the following day.

Nutmeg Acorn Squash

Last night we tried acorn squash for the first time.  My husband and I were more thrilled with it than the kids, but they still ate it.  It truly needs the full 50 to 60 minutes to roast and next time I may sprinkle a little cinnamon with the nutmeg.  I will definitely be making this again!

Serves 4 (as a side)

1 Acorn Squash (1-1 1/2lbs)
2 Tsp Butter
2 Tbsps Brown Sugar
1/4 Tsp Nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 425.

Slice the squash in half and scoop out all the seeds.  Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and place the squash in the dish skin side up.  Roast for about 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and flip the squash over.  Place a teaspoon of butter in each half and a tablespoon of brown sugar in each half.  Stir gently as the butter melts to mix the butter and sugar and spread over the squash.  Sprinkle with the nutmeg and place back in the oven for another 25 to 30 minutes.

When finished squash should easily pull away from the skin and be eaten warm.

Stuffed Pepper Pasta

This dish probably qualifies for what Rachael Ray would call a "stoup."  Too thick to me a soup and too thin to be a stew and too thin to be a pasta dish.  We had all of these lovely green peppers still in our garden ready to be used.  My husband asked for stuffed peppers.  I was dragging me feet to make them because the kids never really like them.  While shopping this week I saw orzo on sale and this recipe came to me.  And it worked!  Everyone ate it, even my super picky toddler!

Serves 4-6

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 or 3 Medium Green Bell Peppers, seeded and sliced into bite sized pieces
10oz Package of Mushrooms
1 Large Onion, diced
1lb Sweet Italian Sausage
14oz Can Diced Tomatoes
Half a Box of Orzo Pasta
Parmesan Cheese

In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the peppers, mushrooms, onions and sausage to the pan.  Stir occasionally until sausage begins to brown.  Add the diced tomatoes, juices and all and stir.  Lower the heat to low and let simmer so all the flavors meld.

While simmering, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the orzo until al dente.  Add some of the starchy cooking water to the sausage mixture, about 2 ladles.  Drain the orzo and add to the sausage mixture.  Combine and serve.  Top with some Parmesan cheese and enjoy!  Fork or spoon, your choice!

Honey Mustard Chicken with Sweet Potatoes & Bananas

I confess this was our break the fast Yom Kippur dinner.  The girls still had gymnastics so I needed a meal I could completely prep ahead of time and this was it.  And the only thing we had leftover was some challah!

Serves 5-6 People

For the Chicken:

2lbs Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
2 Medium Yellow Onions, sliced into rings
A good handful of fresh basil
1/2 Cup Newman's Own Lite Honey Mustard Dressing

Place the chicken thighs and onions in a slow cooker.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and top with the basil and honey mustard.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours.


For the Sweet Potatoes:

3 Medium Sweet Potatoes
2 Tbsp Butter
2 Small Bananas, overripe is best
2 Tbsp Honey
1/4 Tsp Nutmeg
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
Marshmallows

Begin by roasting the sweet potatoes, skin on.  Prick the potatoes a couple of times each before roasting.  I personally stick mine in the microwave on the baked potato setting and they come out perfect every time!

Once baked/roasted, let the potatoes cool for a couple of minutes.  While they are cooling, place the butter and bananas in a baking dish.  While potatoes are still hot but able to be handled, peel off the skin and place hot potatoes on top of butter to melt the butter.  Using a potato masher, mash the sweet potatoes and bananas.  Add the honey, nutmeg and brown sugar and mix.

Sprinkle some marshmallows over top the sweet potatoes.  I used large marshmallows, but small ones would work too.

At this point the sweet potatoes can be cooled and refrigerated for later or placed in a 400 degree oven and baked for 15-20 minutes until the marshmallows are roasted and delicious.


Note: The other items pictured are the challah (recipe under Rosh Hashana) and some steamed string beans with seasoned salt.