Homemade Applesauce

I love making homemade applesauce. It's so very easy and a great way to use up extra apples. The brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg make it so sweet and it’s even better when served warm. Enjoy!

Homemade Applesauce

Ingredients
-- 4 large apples, peeled, cored and cut into pieces
-- 1/2 cup of water
-- 1/4 cup brown sugar
-- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
-- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions
Bring water and apples to a boil. Simmer for 10 mins, stirring occasionally to break up the apples. Then stir in brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 min. Then take off the heat and let cool slightly. This is best when enjoyed warm.

Peach Cobbler

I had been wanting to try and make peach cobbler for some time, and I had some extra peaches that I needed to use, so I thought this would be a great way to get my fruit serving for the day. I got this recipe from the Paula Deen cookbook The Lady and Son's, which I picked up at her store in Savannah, GA. It was so delish, I ended up eating some before we even got a picture.

The Lady and Son's Peach Cobbler

For peach mixture

-- 2 cups peaches, peeled and sliced (about 6 peaches)
-- 1 cup sugar
-- 1 cup water

Mix peaches, sugar and water together in a saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Stir often, making sure the sugar is completely dissolved.

If you don’t have fresh peaches, you can use 1 (28-oz) can of sliced peaches in heavy syrup, un-drained.

For Cobbler
-- 1 stick of butter
-- 3/4 cup sugar
-- 3/4 cup self-rising flour
-- 1 cup milk
-- Peaches mixture (see above)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Put butter in a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish and place in the oven to melt. Stir sugar and flour together and mix well. Slowly add milk and continue stirring to prevent the batter from lumping.

Being careful not to burn yourself, remove hot baking dish containing melted butter from oven; pour batter directly over butter in baking dish. Do not stir.

Spoon fruit on top of batter, then gently pour syrup on top. Do not stir. Sprinkle cinnamon on top of batter, if using. (The most important part of this dish is not stirring the mixture at this point in the recipe.)

Bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until golden brown (I baked mine for 45 mins). Your batter will rise above your fruit, producing the most wonderful of crusts. You can serve warm with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream, but it was just as good without!

Skinnygirl Mojito

Saturday evening, I had a good friend over to watch a movie, and we tried these Skinnygirl Mojito's from Bethenny's book The Skinnygirl Dish. They were very good, but very strong. If you don't like them strong, I would recommend adding more soda (they are about half liquor/half soda).

Image from Bethenny's website

Skinnygirl Mojito

Ingredients:
-- 2 tbsp. fresh mint
-- 1/2 lime cut into 6 wedges
-- 1 cup ice
-- 1 1/2 tbsp. lime juice
-- 1/2 tsp. gently warmed honey
-- 2 oz. clear rum
-- 4 oz. club soda (I used diet 7-up)
-- mint and lime for garnish

Directions:
In a martini shaker, use a long spoon to muddle the fresh mint (tear into smaller pieces first to release the flavor) and the 1/2 lime cut into 6 wedges. Add 1 cup ice and 1 1/2 tbsp. lime juice. Combine 1/2 tsp. gently warmed honey, 2 oz. clear rum and 4 oz. club soda. Add this combination to muddled mixture. Stir until well chilled. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with mint and lime.

Squash and Zucchini Casserole

I tried this recipe a few weeks ago, and it was so delicious, I had to dig in before I could even get a picture (bad me!). This recipe came from the July/August 2010 issue of Cooking with Paula Deen, and I was shocked there wasn’t any butter in it (especially since Paula usually cooks with at least a stick of butter). This was in the “light and luscious” section of the magazine and it was a lightened makeover of one of her recipes. I halved the recipe because I was cooking for myself, but I am providing the full recipe below.

Squash and Zucchini Casserole

Ingredients:
-- 6 cups (1/4 inch thick) sliced yellow squash
-- 6 cups (1/4 inch thick) sliced zucchini
-- 1 teaspoon salt
-- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
-- 2 cups (1/4 inch thick) sliced yellow onion
-- 2 cups shredded reduced-fat sharper Cheddar cheese
-- 1 cup crushed reduced-fat round buttery crackers (Ritz)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.

Spray a 13x9 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine squash, zucchini, salt and pepper. Arrange half each of squash and zucchini in a single layer on the bottom of the dish. Top with half of the onion, and sprinkle with half of the cheese. Repeat layers, ending with cheese. Top with crushed crackers. Cover and bake until vegetables are tender, about 1 hour. Uncover and bake until a lightly golden, about 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Tomato-Peach Pizza

This recipe is originally from the Aug 2010 issue of Southern Living. I adapted it slightly by using a premade pizza crust, and I baked it instead of grilling it. You can find the original recipe here if you would like to try it grilled. Also, I made an individual size pizza, but you can always make a larger version, you just need to add more toppings. It was surprisingly delicious! When I told my family and friends I made a tomato-peach pizza, many were like "What?!?" But the sweetness from the peaches blend really well with the cheese and the tomatoes. I highly recommend it!

Tomato-Peach Pizza (individual size)

Ingredients
-- 3 - 4 slices of tomatoes (red, yellow, whatever you prefer or have on hand)
-- salt
-- 1 large peach, peeled and sliced
-- shredded mozzarella (or any cheese you prefer)
-- parmesan cheese
-- olive oil
-- premade pizza crust

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 (or if you are using premade pizza crust, use the directions for baking on the package, my package actually said 425).

Sprinkle tomatoes with salt and let stand for 15 minutes.

Place pizza crust on a baking sheet or pizza stone. Brush with olive oil. Layer cheese, and then arrange tomatoes and peach slices as you desire. I then added some parmesan cheese on top of the peaches/tomatoes just for a little added kick.

Bake pizza for about 12 - 15 mins or until golden brown (once again, check your premade pizza package directions).

Enjoy!

Guilt-Free Spinach and Artichoke Dip

For my niece’s birthday party last weekend, I made a Guilt-Free Spinach and Artichoke Dip from Bethenny Frankle’s book Skinnygirl Dish. This dip was a big success, and I think almost everyone loved it. I modified it slightly for the ingredients I had available, but you can find the original recipe on Bethenny’s website.

Image from Bethenny's website

Ingredients:
-- 1 can of artichokes (about 9 ounces) well drained
-- 1 box spinach (about 9 ounces), defrosted and liquid drained
-- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
-- 1/4 cup part skim ricotta cheese
-- 1/4 container (8 ounces) reduced fat cream cheese
-- 2 tablespoons lowfat mayonnaise
-- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
-- 1 clove garlic, minced
-- 3/4 teaspoon salt
-- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
-- 2 dashes of Tabasco sauce (or more if you like it hot)

Directions:
Defrost the spinach in the refrigerator overnight (or in the microwave like I did), then drain in a colander in the sink or over a bowl. After drained, press with paper towels to get rid of any extra moisture that would dilute the dip’s flavor.

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine all the ingredients except 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese into a large bowl or into a food processor (I used the food processor). Blend or pulse until mostly smooth but leave some artichoke chunks for texture.

Pour the mixture into an oven-proof dish or casserole. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until heated through and just starting to bubble.

Remove from the oven and let it cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve hot or warm with thin slices of baguette, raw vegetables, baked tortilla chips, crackers or pretzel sticks.

Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables

This is the first recipe that I tried that started my love of cooking. I saw this recipe on Giada at Home and thought, "this looks pretty easy." It was about this time last year, and there was an abundance of zucchini and squash at the store, so it was a great meal to make. I have modified it slightly, so if you want to see the original recipe, you can find it here.

Ingredients:

-- 2 red peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch wide strips

-- 2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes

-- 2 summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes

-- 1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced into 1-inch strips

-- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

-- 1 teaspoon salt, divided

-- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

-- 1 tablespoon dried Italian herb mix or herbs de Provence

-- 1 pound penne pasta

-- 3 cups marinara sauce (store bought or homemade)

-- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella

-- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/3 cup for topping

-- 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

On a baking sheet, toss the peppers, zucchini, squash, and onions with olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and dried herbs. Roast until tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, you want to make sure the inside is still hard. Drain in a colander.

In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta with the roasted vegetables, marinara sauce, cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix, until all the pasta is coated with the sauce and the ingredients are combined.

Pour the pasta into a greased 9 by 13-inch pan. Top with the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan and butter pieces. Bake until top is golden and cheese melts, about 25 minutes.

By the way, this makes a lot, so I typically halve this recipe and it makes about 4 or 5 small servings which is what I typically eat. If you are making for a large family, I would suggest making the recipe as it is above.

Welcome to My Cooking Journey

Welcome to my Cooking Blog. I am starting this blog for a couple of reasons. The first is to be able to document and share some of my favorite recipes. The second is to document this culinary journey of learning how to cook and trying out new types of food and new cuisines.

To take you back, I have always been very skeptical about cooking. I never really enjoyed it but I think that was because I was intimidated about cooking. I was really good at baking, and always heard the saying you can usually either cook or bake, but not both. I think the reason I was really good at baking is because it is very precise and if you follow the recipe exactly, you typically get the results you are looking for. Cooking sometimes is to taste, and a lot of cooks don’t measure, so it’s hard to replicate what they did.

About 2 years ago I started watching various shows on the Food Network. I was also really into watching the Rachael Ray Show on ABC. I began joking that I was learning to cook through osmosis. For about a year I did nothing but watch the shows, and every once in a while, if I had friends over, I would try out a very simple recipe that I saw on tv. I was also obsessed with collecting recipes online. I would watch the shows and then print off the ones that looked good. I soon had a huge stack of recipes which I eventually organized into binders.

Finally about a year ago, I decided to start trying out new recipes each week. I think the first recipe I ever tried was from Giada at Home. I’ll have to post it so I can share. I then continued trying new recipes from Sandra Lee’s Semi-homemade show and from Giada. I would try one recipe a week and I would typically make it on Sunday so I would have left-overs to eat throughout the week.

Over time my confidence in cooking has grown, and now I love to cook. I am also addicted to the Food Network and love shows such as Down Home with the Neelys, Paula’s Home Cooking and of course Giada at Home.

My goal with this blog is to share my cooking journey and to possibly build friendships where we can share our favorite recipes. I’ll share the good, the bad and the just disastrous.