This is adapted from the January edition of Cooking Light but theirs is bland and mine is awesome. Sorry Cooking Light, you just didn’t make the cut.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz egg noodles
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 yellow onion chopped
• 2 carrots chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 Tbsp flour
• 3 c milk
• 4-6 oz cream cheese softened
• 2 Tbsp spicy dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 c grated parmesan, divided
• 3, 7 oz cans tuna drained and flaked

1. Preheat broiler

2. Cook noodles according to package.  Heat a large skillet over med heat. Add butter to pan. Add onion, garlic, carrots and celery. Cook until carrots are almost tender. Sprinkle with flour. Cook 1 min stirring constantly. Gradually stir in milk. Cook 5 mins or until slightly thick. Stir in cream cheese, mustard, spices. Cook 2 minutes stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Remove pan from heat. Stir in noodles, 1/4 c parmesan and tuna. Spoon mixture into a 9X13 baking dish and top with remaining parmesan. Broil until golden and bubbly.

I made these for Boaz the other day, thinking they would be a really great lunch. Well, I wouldn’t call them a ‘lunch’ item, but they were really great. These would be best as an appetizer and pairs well with marinara sauce. Very quick and easy to make although we did burn our tongues because we kept eating them before they cooled.

Zucchini and Mozzarella Patties

• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp dried parsley
• 1/4 tsp-1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Cheap, easy, and de-fricken-licious. This was found on the box of Quaker Medium Barley but I punched it up a lot because the original recipe was much too bland. I had such a hard time not eating the whole pot the first night, I hope you all enjoy.

Vegetable Beef and Barley Soup

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 7 cups water
• 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup medium barley
• 1/2 cup (3-4 medium) carrots
• 1/2 cup (3-4 stalks) celery
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 1 can beef broth
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 2 bay leaves
• 9 oz package frozen mixed vegetables
• Generous dashes kosher salt and pepper (to taste)

1. In a 4-quart saucepan or dutch oven, brown meat. Add onion and garlic, cook until tender. Drain. Stir in remaining ingredients except frozen vegetables.
2. Cover; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 50-60 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add frozen vegetables until tender. Additional water may be added if soup becomes too thick upon standing.

This wonderful recipe is adapted from the recipe found on allrecipes.com. My lovely and dear friend Whitney cooked it up and I couldn’t get it out of my head. I craved it all week then gave in because I am weak.

Enchilada Soup

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, diced 
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 quarts chicken broth, divided 
• 1 cup masa harina
• 3 cups water, divided
• 10 oz can red enchilada sauce
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)

1. In a large pot over medium heat, poach chicken breasts in 1 quart chicken broth for 20 minutes or until cooked through.
2. Cook onion and garlic in oil until onions are translucent. Pour in 1 quart chicken broth.
3. In a bowl, whisk together masa harina and 2 cups water until well blended. Pour into pot with remaining 1 cup water, enchilada sauce, Cheddar, salt, chili powder, cumin and cayenne. Bring to a boil.
4. Shred cooked chicken and add it to the pot. Reduce heat and simmer 30 to 40 minutes, until thickened.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

My boys are tofu-happy. I am very excited that Gideon displays the same tofu-love that his older brother does. Good thing too, otherwise I may have returned him for a tofu-loving model.

A little about this recipe: It’s a little too bland for my palette but that can be easily rectified by more seasonings. I would double the salt/pepper and paprika if I were to eat it otherwise some good ol’ organic ketchup will do the trick. Second, while this is good off the sheet, this is AMAZING frozen then re-baked. The texture is better, the flavor is better, everything is just better. My advice to you is to bake it ahead of time then freeze it for later.

This is from wholesometoddlerfood.com, a wonderful site that gives really healthy kid-friendly menu ideas.

Tofu Nuggets

• 1 package firm tofu
• 1/4 cup flour (more or less)
• 1 egg equivalent (2 whites or your favorite sub)
• 1 cup fine dry bread or cracker crumbs (mixtures are fun)
• 1 teaspoon garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 dash or a few grinds of pepper

1. Cut tofu into 1 in x 1 in squares (or rectangles, fingers, stars).
2. Spread flour on a small plate or flat dish.
3. Beat egg equivalent in a shallow dish.
4. Mix remaining ingredients in shallow dish.
5. Turn each piece of tofu in the flour to cover, then into the egg, then crumbs, and then to the rack.
6. Chilling will help to set the coating, but you can just bake right away. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes until crisp.
7. If freezing and reheating, bake frozen tofu nuggets at 375 for 20 minutes or until cooked through and firm.

This is such a wonderful desert and so easy to make. Mike said that it was exactly like what he had in Thailand for breakfast and while I don’t think my taste buds (or stomach!) could handle this much sweet first thing in the morning, it was an amazing compliment.

• 1 1/2 cups uncooked jasmine rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 3 mangoes, peeled and sliced
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

You will begin to notice, most of my recipes use very little ingredients.

I have a Ramsay food philosophy. Good food is simple. Good food is fresh.

Garlic Cheese Scones

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. Baking Powder
• 9 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2/3 cup milk

Simple ingredients, simple recipe.

I love authentic recipes because the flavors are clean, the ingredients are minimal and usually, they take very little time to cook.

Enchilada Verdes

• 2 chicken breast halves
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 white onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 pound fresh tomatillos, husks removed
• 5 serrano peppers
• 1/4 white onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 pinch salt
• 12 corn tortillas
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup crumbled queso fresco
• 1/2 white onion, chopped
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

I used a Mexican Mix shredded cheese blend instead of queso one of the times I made it and it still tasted amazing.

I have now completed Wilton’s Course 2 and am a royal icing extraordinaire.

For my Church’s swap meet I decided to sell some cupcakes and test the waters of some new flavors.

These are the flavors I offered:

• Triple Chocolate (Chocolate Fudge cake with Fudge Frosting)
• Lavender (Vanilla Cake with Lavender Frosting)
• Carrot (Low-Fat/Sugar Carrot with Cream Cheese Frosting)
• Mocha (Chocolate Cake with Mocha Frosting)
• Vanilla Latte (Vanilla Cake with Mocha Frosting)
• Peanut Butter and Chocolate (Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter and Fudge Frosting with Reese’s Cup bits),
• Peanut Butter and Jelly (Vanilla Cake with Peanut Butter and Strawberry Frosting)
• Classic (Vanilla Cake with Fudge Frosting)

Here are the new recipes:

Lavender Frosting

• 1/2 vegetable flavored shortening
• 3-5 cups powdered sugar (to taste)
• 1/8-1/4 tsp. Lavender extract (1/8 tsp. is a very faint taste, 1/4 tsp. is the absolute maximum I would use)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• dash kosher salt

1. Cream Butter
2. Add rest of ingredients. Flavor with extracts to taste.

Mocha Frosting (This is not a perfect recipe and needs more work but oh my, the flavor was incredible and currently my favorite frosting.)

• 1/2 cup butter
• 5 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. kosher salt (to taste, this takes out the bite of the sugar)
• 1-2 tsp. cocoa powder
• 2 Tbsp – 1/2 c. cold coffee to taste

So this is the deal with this recipe, I probably used about 1/2 c. coffee which left the frosting very thin. Unpipeable. I refrigerated it to return it to a desirable consistency but it melted over the span of a couple of hours. I would still make it again in a heart beat but would probably use 1/2 c. more butter or use coffee liquor. I wouldn’t add more sugar or less coffee. It was pretty darn good regardless of how it looked.

Strawberry Jelly Frosting

• 1/2 cup vegetable flavored shortening
• 3-5 cups powdered sugar (to taste)
• 1/4 cup-1/2 cup strawberry jam (to taste)

For Peanut Butter and Jelly cupcakes, pipe round of peanut butter frosting onto cake. Pipe a small round of strawberry jelly frosting on top of that.

All in all, I was very happy with the end result and had tons of fun.