Baked Potato Pizza

A few weeks ago I made meals for two good friends - one who just had a baby and one who underwent pretty major surgery that has sidelined her from her kitchen. I decided to do my "signature" meal - baked potato pizza! It's a wildly delicious carb-fest and just one slice will probably be more than enough to fill you up. We barely put down half of one among the four of us for an entire meal. It's always been well-received (or at least people lie well?!), and a definite to try out.

Baked Potato Pizza
Ingredients
1 large pre-made pizza crust
4 medium unpeeled potatoes, baked and cooled
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled (optional)
3 to 5 green onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. 
2. Cut potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes. In a bowl, combine butter, garlic powder and oregano. Add potatoes and toss.
3. Spread sour cream over crust; top with potato mixture, bacon, onions and cheeses.
4. Bake at 400 for 15 - 20 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned.
5. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

Yield: 8 slices

Green Bean Casserole

I'm only 15 weeks into this pregnancy, so the cravings haven't struck vengefully, but when they do, I like to entertain them. Especially when they're mildly healthy. The latest one? Green bean casserole. Not the mushroom soup kind, but this one recipe I found and altered from Allrecipes.com. It might not be the best sodium or fat-wise, but damnit, it tastes good. I have no idea what we're having with this for dinner tonight, but likely it will be grilled cheeses because they're easy and meatless (in a meatless mood again all of a sudden). Enjoy! :)

Grandma's (Modified) Green Bean Casserole
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 T dried onion
1 cup sour cream
3 (14.5 ounce) cans low-sodium French style green beans, drained
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (12 crackers) crumbled buttery round crackers
1 tablespoon butter, melted
French fried onions

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth, and cook for one minute. Stir in the salt, sugar, onion, and sour cream. Add green beans, a handful of French fried onions and 1 cup of cheese, and stir to coat.
3. Transfer the mixture to a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Spread remaining cup of shredded cheese over the top. Top with a handful of French fried onions. 
4. In a small bowl, toss together cracker crumbs and remaining butter, and sprinkle over the cheese.
5. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden and cheese is bubbly.

Sesame Chicken w/ Lo Mein

I found this recipe on Wegmans' site and it is one of my favorite make-at-home Asian dishes. It's so incredibly easy to make and doesn't take long at all. Some of the ingredients are Wegmans brand, but you can find the same ingredients in your local grocery store. The only thing I forget is that it has a bit of a spicy kick (the garlic sauce from Wegmans does, at least), so it's not too Lindsay/Luke-friendly.

Sesame Chicken with Lo Mein & Green Beans
Ingredients
12 oz pkg green beans
16 oz. lo mein noodles
1 lb chicken breast strips
3 T vegetable oil, divided
2 cloves minced garlic
1.5 cups Asian slaw
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup Wegmans Garlic Sauce (International Foods)
1 T sesame seeds

Directions

1. Blanch green beans in large pot of boiling salted water 3-4 min. Remove beans with slotted spoon; drain and set aside. Add noodles to blanching water; blanch 2 min. Drain and set aside.
2. Drizzle 2 Tbsp oil around sides of stir-fry pan; tilt pan to distribute evenly. Heat oil in pan on HIGH until oil faintly smokes. (If oil smokes too much, pan is too hot.) Stir fry chicken 4-5 min; remove from pan and set aside.
3. Drizzle remaining Tbsp oil around sides of pan; tilt pan to distribute evenly. Heat oil in pan on HIGH until oil faintly smokes. Add garlic, Asian slaw, and green beans. Stir and toss, 2-3 min. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Add chicken, noodles, and garlic sauce to stir-fry pan. Stir briefly to heat through, 2-3 min. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Broccoli & Cheese Soup

It's been 2 months since I've posted anything and got a little nudge from a pal on Thursday (yes, Sarah, I'll try to update more often!). I've got a good excuse, though - I found out soon after that last post that I'm pregnant again! As of now, I'm just about 15 weeks along and finally feeling like I'm "coasting" now that it's the 2nd trimester. The first wasn't terribly awful - but morning sickness kicked in at 4 p.m. like clockwork, so I avoided cooking, eating, and for the most part just looking at food for a while there.

Now that the worst of it's over, I'm gradually getting back to cooking. It's tough - the boy has decided to start taking the train back into work (partially to save money, but mostly to save sanity, as that drive into the city is BRUTAL), so our family meals during the week are no longer. He only started in the beginning of November, so I'm trying to figure out the easiest way to cook dinner so that it's good for the kids, but also not a leftover mess for us when we eat later in the evening. The other night I grabbed the frozen bag of broccoli and cheese soup I made a few weeks before and reheated that for all of us. It's an easy recipe to make and the kids really enjoyed it, too.

Broccoli & Cheese Soup
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 onion, chopped
2 (16 ounce) packages frozen chopped broccoli
4 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 (1 pound) loaf processed cheese food, cubed
1 cup shredded cheese (or about a handful out of the bag, if you're me)
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2/3 cup cornstarch
1 cup water

Directions

1. In a stockpot, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onion in butter until softened. Stir in broccoli, and cover with chicken broth. Simmer until broccoli is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Reduce heat, and stir in cheese cubes until melted. Mix in milk and garlic powder.
3. In a small bowl, stir cornstarch into water until dissolved. Stir into soup; cook, stirring frequently, until thick.

Crack Pie

They call this crack pie for a reason - I'm pretty sure this is to a food junkie like myself what crack is to a drug junkie ;-) It's highly addictive and one piece is definitely not enough!

I found this recipe featured in Bon Appétit in last year's September issue. I was intrigued (mostly because of the name!) and stuck it in my collection. I have avoided making pies, cookies, cakes, etc. recently because I'm usually the only one in the house who ends up eating it, but when I was in charge of dessert for the boy's family's Labor Day picnic, I thought I'd give it a shot. The name rang true - everyone seemed to like the salty-sweet pie and I had just one little sliver left by the end of the day. I'd definitely make this one again!

Crack Pie
Ingredients
Oat Cookie Crust
9  T (1 stick plus 1 T) unsalted room temperature, divided
5.5 T packed brown sugar, divided
2 T sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup plus 2 T old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 T nonfat dry milk powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
6.5 T heavy whipping cream
4 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 13x9x2 baking pan with parchment paper; coat with nonstick spray. 
2. Combine 6 T butter, 4 T brown sugar, and 2 T sugar in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat mixture until light and fluffy, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, about 2 minutes.
3. Add egg; beat until pale and fluffy. Add oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and beat until well blended, about 1 minute.
4. Turn oat mixture out onto prepared baking pan; press out evenly to edges of pan. Bake 17 to 18 minutes. Transfer baking pan to rack and cool cookie completely.
5. Using hands, crumble oat cookie into large bowl; add 3 T butter and 1.5 T brown sugar. Rub in with fingertips until mixture is moist enough to stick together. 
6. Transfer cookie crust mixture to 9-in diameter glass pie dish. Using fingers, press evenly onto bottom and up the sides. Place pie dish with crust on rimmed baking sheet.
7. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350. Whisk both sugars, milk powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Add melted butter and whisk until blended. Add cream, then egg yolks, and vanilla and whisk until well blended.
8. Pour filling into crust and bake pie 30 minutes (filling may begin to bubble).
9. Reduce oven temperature to 325 and continue to bake until filling is brown in spots and set around the edges. Center will still move slightly when the dish is gently shaken - about 20 minutes longer.
10. Cool pie 2 hours in pie dish on rack. Chill uncovered overnight. Can be made 2 days ahead.
11. Before serving, sift powdered sugar lightly over top of pie. Serve cold.

Zucchini Brownies

These sound bizarre - believe me, I know. I needed to bring dessert to the boy's family's annual Labor Day gathering and I've been itching to make this one recipe I found in Bon Appétit (crack pie - look for that post after this one). I had no idea how the pie would turn out, so I thought I'd bring brownies as a safe bet back-up (and it was kid-friendly for the 6 little ones we had there). When I opened up my fridge and saw mounds of zucchini and (of course!) no eggs, I remembered seeing this recipe and figured I'd try it out. What are the odds of a double dessert failure?!

Luckily, the brownies were a HUGE hit. Even my father-in-law, who hates zucchini and isn't a big fan of chocolate, thought they were great. I definitely recommend them if your garden is overflowing with zuchs! The icing is what really makes them perfect (alone the brownie was just a tiny bit bland).

Zucchini Brownies
Ingredients
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup margarine
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan. I like to use cocoa powder to flour the pan so the brownies don't have white powder all over the bottom.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched. 
4. To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners' sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.