Cranberries, cranberries, cranberries!

I am not a baker.  In fact, I hate baking anything other than cupcakes....& these cranberry muffins.  Mainly because they're so easy & delicious.  Every Thanksgiving & Christmas I make these for my family in NY, & take some back to Boston & throw them in my freezer.  Pop one in the microwave for 20 seconds & it gives me a little taste of home :) Enjoy!

Cranberry Muffins / Cake

Ingredients:

3 eggs

2 c sugar

3/4 c softened butter

1 tsp almond extract

2 c flour

2 1/2 c fresh or frozen cranberries ( I prefer one bag of Ocean Spray fresh cranberries!)

Preparation:

- In mixing bowl, beat eggs with sugar until slightly thickened & light in color (~5 minutes)

- Add in butter & almond extract, beat for 2 minutes..

- Stir in flour until combined

- Fold in cranberries

- Drop batter into greased muffin lid pan (**batter does not rise too much, so fill muffin cups / muffin lid pan / bread pan generously!**)

- Bake at 350 degrees for ~20 minutes (muffin lid pan) 45-50 minutes in a baking pan.

Pleasantly Surprised!

A few weeks back, a girlfriend of mine blogged about her experiences cooking with spaghetti squash.  I am a huge pasta lover - so I became instantly fascinated with the idea of eating a vegetable that mimics my favorite carbohydrate! I decided to follow Meghan's instructions for cooking the squash, and just substitute it for the pasta in an easy favorite (& inexpensive) recipe of mine.  The results were unbelievable.  I honestly will sub pasta for this squash quite frequently in the future. 

Chicken Pesto "Pasta"

1 spaghetti squash
1/2 C pesto
1 pkg stir fry chicken
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 small can evaporated milk
Parmesan cheese

I cut the squash in half & placed it cut-side down on a greased baking sheet - baking it at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Defrosted half a cup of pesto my mom had made a few weeks back on the side.  Sauteed one small package of chicken strips (seasoned lightly). Shredded the chicken strips & placed them along with the pesto into a sauce pot over low heat.  Added one can of diced tomatoes (I prefer the ones with basil), one small can of evaporated milk & let the sauce simmer.  Removed the squash from the oven & ran a fork through it creating spaghetti strands.  Added strands to the sauce, tossed with grated Parmesan cheese & serve!

Yum yum yum!

Pasta With Tomatoes, Spinach and Goat Cheese
1 6-ounce bag baby spinach, rinsed, or 1 bunch (about 12 ounces) fresh spinach, stemmed and washed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound fresh, ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and finely chopped or grated
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons slivered basil
3/4 pound farfalle or fusilli
2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1. Begin heating a large pot of water for the pasta. Wash the spinach, and wilt in batches over high heat in a large frying pan. Transfer to a colander, rinse with cold water and then squeeze dry. Coarsely chop and set aside.
2. Dry the pan, and heat over medium heat. Add the olive oil and the garlic. Cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute. Stir in the tomatoes. Turn up the heat to medium-high, and cook the tomatoes, stirring often, until they have cooked down to a fragrant sauce, 10 to 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the basil and spinach. Keep warm.
3. When the pasta water comes to a boil, salt generously and add the pasta. Cook until just al dente and firm to the bite. Add a ladleful of the pasta water to the pan with the tomatoes and spinach, then drain the pasta and toss immediately with the tomato-spinach mixture and the goat cheese, which should melt. Serve at once.


Yield: Serves four.


Advance preparation: Wilted spinach will keep in a covered bowl in the refrigerator about four days. You can make this through Step 2 several hours before you cook the pasta. Reheat the tomato and spinach mixture, and make sure to thin out with a ladleful of the pasta water before tossing with the pasta and goat cheese.
Nutritional information per serving: 472 calories; 14 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 15 milligrams cholesterol; 70 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 95 milligrams sodium (does not include salt added during preparation); 18 grams protein


**One thing to note: The sodium content can be high in some brands of bagged spinach. A 3-ounce serving of Dole organic baby spinach, for example, contains 135 milligrams of sodium. The same amount from Fresh Express contains 65 milligrams. The difference may have to do with the solution that certain commercial producers use to wash the spinach.
If you do use bagged baby spinach, check the values on the package. A 3-ounce serving (85 grams) should not have more than 70 milligrams of sodium.

Low Fat Delish Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients


Topping:
1/3 c. chopped pecans
1/4 c. splenda
1/4 c. brown sugar (or you can use splenda brown sugar blend)
1 tb. cinnamon

Batter:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup splenda
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 egg
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup natural applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:

1 (8 ounce) package fat free cream cheese
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons splenda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Pam the muffin pan you plan to use.
Mix topping ingredients together in a separate bowl and set aside.
In a small bowl, beat cream cheese until soft. Add egg, vanilla and splenda. Beat until smooth, then set aside. (Don't worry if it's a little lumpy.)
In a large bowl, mix flour, splenda, baking soda, and spice. Add egg, pumpkin, applesauce and vanilla. Beat together until smooth. Set aside.
Place pumpkin batter in muffin cups about 1/4 full. Then add one to two tablespoons of the cream cheese filling. Top with more pumpkin batter and sprinkle with pecan topping.
Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 15 minutes or until done. Makes 12 moist muffins.

"Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who are alive." Howard Thurman

Wanting:

Dorothy's Ruby Slippers!

CharityFolks.com is hosting the 2009 Ruby Slippers Collection which benefits the

Elizabeth Glaser  Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Top shoe designers all over the world are coming together to reinvent Dorothy's kicks for a good cause.

If I had one the lottery yesterday - I would put a heffftyyy bid on those beauties that Oscar De La Renta did.

Loving:

ABC's new show Modern Family.  A mockumentary much like "The Office" but 100 times funnier. (I know what you're thinking. What the hell is a 'mockumentary'?  A mockumentary is a way of presenting a recording as a real life documentary, but it is actually fictional. It's commonly used as a medium for parody and satire.)

The half-hour show airs at 9 p.m. EST on ABC & will leave you with sore abs from laughing so hard, seriously.

Enjoying:

This recipe:

Not all of us are Rosie Riches who can afford to eat at The Ritz on a nightly basis, some of us actually cook for ourselves on occasion. Maybe we even cook for our boyfriend after we "accidentally forgot to call him when we got back from happy hour the day before". Whatever the reason is, I've got the recipe to go with it.

I'm not sure how, or even why, but this recipe is idiot proof. It was my Mother's go-to dish for a spontaneous dinner party, for last minute hungry kids, for everything - & now I know why. The best part of the dish isn't how easy the recipe is, or that you probably already have the ingredients - it's that it tastes even BETTER the next day...hello bag lunch for work!

Ingredients:
7 Roma tomatoes
Canned artichoke hearts (not in oil)
> 1 cup grated cheese (parmesan, romano, or asiago)
Linguine pasta
Olive Oil
>4 cloves of garlic
Oregano
Basil (fresh – at least 6 leaves)
Chicken breasts

Sauce:
Wash & chop tomatoes into large chunks.
Add into a large pot with olive oil covering bottom (generous amount).
Stir in chopped garlic cloves, oregano, salt, and chopped basil. Heat low adding artichoke hearts.
Cut two chicken breasts into bite sized chunks, cook in a pan over medium heat with salt & pepper (or our family’s favorite: Goya Adobo)
Bring sauce to a slow boil, stirring occasionally.
20 minutes prior to meal, add cheese to sauce (too soon & it will stick to the bottom of pot). Low heat & let simmer. Add Adobo as needed.

Cook pasta – al dente!
Pour sauce on top of linguine, add chicken, toss & serve.

No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace, as I have seen in one autumnal face. - John Donne

The first glimpse of fall foliage brings one thing to mind:

Pumpkin!

Pumpkin lattés, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin pancakes!

I will almost immediately trek over to Starbucks for a warm Pumpkin Spice latté.
The only setback?  Five bucks!

I managed to find an easy recipe for a surprisingly better-tasting version of my favorite fall beverage.

Not only can I make them in the comfort of my own home, but I also save myself $25 bucks a week!
( I know what you're thinking...I drink aaaLOT of pumpkin lattés a week. )  & I'll be the first to admit it - I can't get enough of them!

Pumpkin Spice Latte

1 tablespoon canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup milk
1/2 cup of your favorite coffee
*cinnamon, nutmeg, or pumpkin pie spice for sprinkling over the top

In a saucepan, heat milk and pumpkin until steaming, or even easier–mix the milk and pumpkin in a 2 cup measuring cup and microwave for 2 1/2 minutes.

Stir in vanilla and cinnamon.

Pour the milk mixture in a blender, and blend 20 seconds until it's all foamy and pretty.

Pour into your favorite mug, then add coffee.

Add splenda to taste, if you like (and I do!).

A sprinkle of nutmeg, cinnamon, or pumpkin pie spice over the top, and drink up!
 
 
Nothing sounds better than a warm pumpkin muffin to go with this.  I'll be experimenting with recipes for those - & will post here as soon as I find a recipe worthy!
xo

I swear by this recipe.

Baked Penne with Corn, Zucchini and Basil
Ingredients:
Kosher salt, to taste
1/2 lb. penne
6 Tbs. olive oil, plus more as needed
Kernels cut from 2 ears of corn
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 zucchini, about 2 lb. total, cut into half-moons
1 small eggplant cut into half-moons
1 small summer yellow squash cut into half-moons
1/2 yellow onion, diced
4 tomatoes, cored, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 Tbs. sliced garlic
1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 Tbs. tomato paste
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
6 oz. mozzarella cheese, grated
2 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
Directions:
Preheat an oven to 400ºF. In a 12-inch nonstick fry pan over medium-high heat, warm 3 Tbs. of the olive oil. Add the corn, season with salt and black pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the corn is lightly golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Set aside. Return the pan to medium-high heat and warm the remaining 3 Tbs. olive oil. Working in batches, add the zucchini, eggplant, & summer squash season with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is tender and golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Add to the bowl with the corn. Repeat with the remaining zucchini, adding more oil to the pan as needed. Set the pan over medium-low heat. Add the onion, 1 tsp. salt and black pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes soften and begin to form a sauce, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine and cook until the wine has reduced and the sauce is fairly thick, about 3 minutes more.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Generously salt the water, add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta and rinse under cold running water. Set aside.
Add the pasta, tomato sauce, basil, mozzarella and half of the Parmigiano-Reggiano to the bowl with the vegetables and stir to combine. Transfer to the fry pan and sprinkle the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano on top. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until golden brown on top, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve warm. Serves 8.

Sausage & Bowtie Pasta

Ingredients:

2 tbl olive oil
1 lb Italian sausage (casing removed & crumbled)
½ tsp dried red pepper
½ C onion diced
3 minced garlic cloves
1 28oz can italian plum tomatoes (drained & chopped)
1 ½ C whipping cream
½ tsp salt
12 oz bowtie pasta
3 tbl minced fresh parsley

Directions:

Heat oil, add sausage & red pepper. Cook 7 minutes. Add onion and garlic, cook until onion is tender & sausage is light brown. Add tomatoes, cream, & salt. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly ~4 minutes.

Cook pasta, add to sausage and cream mixture til thick. Serve with parsley & grated cheese.