Cheesy Tomato Bread

I am a sucker for all things tomatoes.  Therefore--this is perfect for me!  Quick, healthy meal with some added protein.  


Cheesy Tomato Bread
From Made Blog 

Here are the toppings:
* Mozzarella Cheese
* Fresh Tomatoes (sliced or diced)
* Parmesan Cheese (fancy or plain jane, like mine)
Lightly butter the front and back of your bread. If it's a "let's eat a light lunch since I had 3 cookies last night (and ice cream)" kind of day, I may use spray butter or none at all. But the butter really adds to the toast, so go for it!

Sprinkle the buttered top with tomatoes:
add a little salt and pepper:
Then comes my favorite part: cheese. Bread is really just a vehicle for consuming melty cheesy goodness, right?
Be as liberal as you'd like with cheese over the tomatoes.
Finish it off with Parmesan Cheese and you're ready to toast!
I prefer using the Toaster Oven because it's small and uses less energy for one little piece of bread. If you're making a large batch though use the conventional oven.

Now the KEY here is to first toast the bread and then broil the top (If you just toast, the cheese doesn't brown enough on top. And if you just broil, the bottom of the toast is soggy. So do both).

Toast the bread for the normal time you would toast a slice of bread. Then flip your Toaster Oven to Broil and let the top get bubbly and brown. No time frame here; just broil to your liking. And you're done!

Fruit Dip

Fruit Dip
From the Crafting Chicks Blog

1 (8 oz) container of Cool Whip
1 (6 oz) container of flavored yogurt (Key Lime, Strawberry–whatever is in the fridge)
Mix together and serve with your favorite fruits.
I used to think lemon juice (or the fruit preserve stuff I never remembered to buy) was my only option to keep my apples from turning brown. And the lemon juice is pretty sour.
But you can just dip your bananas and apples in Sprite or 7-Up before arranging on the plate. The citric acid in the pop will take care of the browning, and the mild lemon lime flavor isn’t noticeable. No more puckering when eating an apple!

Caramel Apple Bread Pudding

Pic courtesy of Our Best Bites

I didn't actually make this dessert, but we were invited to dinner this week at a friend's house and she made it and I have been dreaming about it ever since. It was SO incredibly delicious. She said it was pretty easy, so I'm taking her word for it, though she is an amazing cook. I helped her make the buttermilk syrup (Ok, I only stirred it while it turned in to caramel-y goodness:)) and I would say that you don't want to eat this without the syrup. It also didn't hurt that she served it with the smooth and creamy Haagen-dazs 5 ingredient vanilla ice cream. My tummy hurt afterwards (a good hurt, though).


Caramel Apple Bread Pudding

Recipe adapted by Our Best Bites from C&H Sugar

5-6 c. stale French bread cubes (about 1/2 of a standard loaf cut into 1" cubes)

3 c. apples, peeled and chopped into small pieces

4 eggs

3 egg yolks

1 1/2 c. milk

1 1/2 c. heavy cream

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. almond extract

2 tsp. pumpkin or apple pie seasoning

1 Tbsp. butter, chopped

1 recipe Buttermilk Syrup

*If possible, cut the bread into cubes and leave it out for several hours or overnight. If not, place the bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the bread cubes are dried out but not toasted.

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease or spray a 9x13" baking dish with shortening or non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, toss together the bread cubes and the apple pieces. Transfer to the baking dish. In the same large bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients except for the butter. When combined, continue to whisk while pouring over the bread/apple mixture (just to make sure the spices are evently distributed). Gently combine the bread and egg mixture, making sure each piece of bread is soaking in part of the egg and milk mixture. Allow to stand for at least 15 minutes (longer, if you can; you could even do this the night before, cover it tightly, and then bake it in the morning).

When the egg/milk mixture has mostly soaked into the bread, dab the butter over the bread and place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake for 40-50 minutes or until the center is set but not dry or burned.

Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Cut into pieces and serve with warm Buttermilk Syrup (and vanilla ice cream if you really want to walk on the wild side.)

SOFT Worthington Caramel Popcorn

I got this recipe from my cousin Katie Worthington about 3 years ago. I am pretty sure every one of my sisters and close friends have the recipe because it is a-mazing. My sister Jennefer weighs herself everyday and she says every time she makes it she gains five pounds. The point is- the popcorn is so delicious that you can't stop eating it. So, don't focus on the weight gain part. Just the delicious factor, ok? Just forget I mentioned the weight gain part.

SOFT Worthington Caramel Popcorn
Pop 2-3 bags bags of butter flavored popcorn. Sort out the seeds with your hands.Place the following in a saucepan:
1 stick butter or margarine, 2 cups of brown sugar and 1 cup of Karo syrup. Light Karo is fine.

Cook on MH heat until caramel come to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Turn heat to low and add 1 can of sweetened condensed milk. Stir constantly. Cook until softball stage. In other words, when you put a drop of caramel into a cup of tap water the caramel should feel like chewing gum. Remove from heat and add 1 t. vanilla. Pour over popcorn and mix well. Cool and store in airtight container.

Chicago-Style Garlic and Butter Pizza Crust

I would go so far as to call this luscious.  Seriously.  It was so good and thick and almost too thick-my kids wouldn't eat it.  But that was fine because that meant I could.  A lot of work for pizza (I love DiGiorno) but it was delicious!


Chicago-Style Garlic and Butter Pizza Crust
 From Real Mom Kitchen Blog

1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
3 1/4 cups flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 garlic clove, ground to a paste
pizza toppings, your choice

In large bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water.
Add 1/4 cup flour and the sugar, stir together.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
Stir the remaining 1 cup lukewarm water, 3 cups flour, the cornmeal and salt into the yeast mixture.
Combine the butter and garlic; mix into the dough.
Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until soft and elastic, 10-12 minutes (I let my kitchen aid do this).
Lightly grease a large bowl, add the dough and turn to coat.
Cover and set in a warm place until the dough is doubled in size, 1 hour.
Punch dough down, then knead for 2-3 minutes (again I let the kitchen aid do this part).
Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan (I used glass), then press in dough to cover the bottom and 2 inches up the sides; let rise for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
Top the pizza dough with your favorite toppings.
Lower the oven to 450 degrees and bake for 30 minutes.

Quick, Crunchy Coffee Cake

Pic courtesy of A Mingling of Tastes

I don't know where this recipe came from, though I want to say it was from our backyard neighbors (the O'Briens). I just remember having it quite often growing up. Coffee cake is seriously one of my favorite breakfast foods and this recipe, if done right, is so light and fluffy, without being overwhelmingly sweet (Because who wants to be on sugar overload at breakfast?). Don't get me wrong, it is very sweet, it's just not slathered in sugar and butter. Now, like I said, I've made this many times but the last time I made it it absolutely blew my socks off (and Christian's) and let me tell you what the secret is: a pastry cutter. They cost maybe $3 at Wal-Mart (yes, that's where I got mine).

Quick, Crunchy Coffee Cake

from Becky Jewkes

Cake:
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter, slightly colder than room temp.
2/3 c milk
1 egg

Topping:
4 Tbl flour
6 Tbl granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbl butter, softened to room temp.


Preheat oven to 350*. Spray a loaf pan, 8x8 pan, or bundt pan (my fave) with non-stick spray. For the cake, sift dry ingredients together into a medium mixing bowl. Cut slightly chilled butter into dry ingredients. Don't be a perfectionist here. Your dough should be like pearl-sized chunks. The butter will fluff up and make the lightest cake. If you mix it too much, it will be flat and dense. Mix milk and egg together. Make a small well in the middle of butter mixture and pour egg and milk in. Mix just until incorporated. Pour into prepared pan. Combine first 3 ingred. of topping mixture in small bowl. Cut in the butter until it forms a crumb topping. With a spoon, distribute evenly over the cake batter (there will be plenty to form a good crumb layer). Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out relatively clean (some crumbs will come up).

*The original recipe said to heat the oven to 375 but I've found that's a little too hot. So, I usually preheat the oven to 375, then decrease the temp. to 350 when I put the cake in. Watch carefully because baking times can vary.

Maple Meatballs

Why are  meatballs such a man meal?  Jake begs me to cook meatballs all the time.  He loved this one, to me it just tasted like another meatball.  A man is definitely a better judge than me on this one.

Maple Meatballs
From Real Mom Kitchen blog

1/2 cup real maple syrup
1/2 cup chili sauce
2 teaspoons dried chives (or 2 tablespoons fresh chives)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
26 (1 pound) frozen, fully cooked meatballs, thawed

In a saucepan, combine syrup, chili sauce, chives, soy sauce,and ground mustard. Bring to a low boil. Add meatballs and then return to a boil. Simmer over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until meatballs are thoroughly heated. Serve as an appetizer with toothpicks or over hot cooked rice (I made 1 1/2 recipes of the sauce if I’m doing this). Makes 5-6 servings.