recipe

Slow-Down Sunday and an Unexpected Macaroni Grill Copycat

After several hectic weeks, and an unfortunate tendency to overbook, overdo and overanalyze everything, we slowed things down around our house this weekend. I always seem to forget how fine the line is between “active” and “overwhelmed,” until I’ve jumped past it into the land of Stressville.

Yesterday started with a marathon canning session, because our garden is producing food faster than we can eat it. My husband has managed to keep the garden healthy despite the continuing drought, and I’ve kept my green-thumb-of-death far away from it. The tomatoes, eggplant and cantaloupe aren’t quite ready yet, but we have jalapenos and cucumbers coming out of our ears. After five more jars of jalapeno jelly, I tried my hand at sweet pickles:

That was certainly an adventure, because as a pickling virgin, I was unprepared for the otherwise predictable fact that cucumbers float. How in the heck do people keep them from popping above the rim and contaminating the lip of the jar before they can get the lid on? Am I missing something here? Anyway, these jars will have to cure about four to six weeks before I can taste- test them to see whether my first foray into pickles was epic success or depressing failure. As a relative canning newbie, the odds are split pretty evenly between these possibilities. Meanwhile during my canning sprint, the heathens goofed off, as they are wont to do:

Yes, that was my child wearing gloves, when the temperature outside was roughly 98 degrees. Furthermore, you should note that he cut all the fingers of said gloves off, which apparently occurred WITH MY HUSBAND’S BLESSING. My oldest has since been notified that he should run all scissor-generated wardrobe modifications by ME, before undertaking them…sigh. His brother managed to contain his amusement:

Probably because he was thinking, “better you than me!”

We watched a rare late afternoon storm from the shelter of our front porch:

And then headed inside for dinner.

Perhaps the best part of the day was my surprisingly successful bread experiment. In last month’s Food Network Magazine, I saw a recipe for something similar to Macaroni Grill’s bread. Since my youngest heathen loves this bread and can eat his weight in it, I decided this copycat recipe was worth a try. After all, I was in the need for some cool mom points to start my week off right. I mixed up the dough in my stand mixer, and let it rise in our laundry room, since the heat in humidity in that room cuts our rising time in half:

Forming the loaves was easy, because this dough was very forgiving and not at all sticky:

The finished product was perfect:

So, yes, I did in fact rack up some cool mom credit. The only way I deviated from the recipe was by omitting the additional sprinkling of rosemary over the top of the loaves. Rosemary is a strong enough herb in this recipe that the flavor already comes through well enough, and the additional rosemary garnish probably would have freaked the heathens out anyway. Want to try it? Here’s the recipe I found at Food Network:

Almost Famous Rosemary Bread

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Ingredients
  • 1 1/4-ounce packet active dry yeast
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing and serving
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 2 tablespoons dried rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt Freshly ground pepper
Directions
Stir the yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup warm water in a large bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer). Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.
Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, the flour, 1 1/2 tablespoons rosemary, the fine salt and 3/4 cup warm water; stir with a wooden spoon (or with the dough hook if using a mixer) until a dough forms.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting lightly with flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. (Or knead with the dough hook on medium-high speed, adding a little flour if the dough sticks to the bowl, about 8 minutes.)
Brush a large bowl with olive oil. Add the dough, cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until more than doubled, about 2 hours.
Brush 2 baking sheets with olive oil. Generously flour a work surface; turn the dough out onto the flour and divide into 4 pieces. Working with one piece at a time, sprinkle some flour on the dough, then fold the top and bottom portions into the middle. Fold in the sides to make a free-form square. Use a spatula to turn the dough over, then tuck the corners under to form a ball. Place seam-side down on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, putting 2 balls on each baking sheet. Let stand, uncovered, until more than doubled, about 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake the loaves 10 minutes; brush with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with the kosher salt and the remaining 1/2 tablespoon rosemary. Continue baking until golden brown, about 10 more minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. Serve with olive oil seasoned with pepper.
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Big Mamou for Jeanne!

A while back, Jeanne asked me for J’s “Big Mamou over Pasta” recipe. I asked J to cough it up, and she lent me her battered copy of Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen. In true Southern Girl fashion, I didn’t need to check the index; I simply opened the book to the most stained, wrinkly page, and there it was. The recipe is somewhat long and involved, but the flavor is absolutely amazing and authentic. Here ya go Jeanne:

Big Mamou

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Ingredients
PASTA
6 qt Hot water
3 T Salt
1/4 c Vegetable oil
1 1/2 lb Fresh spaghetti (1 lb dry)
SEASONING MIX
2 t Dried thyme leaves
3/4 t Black pepper
1 1/4 t Ground cayenne pepper
1/2 t Dried sweet basil leaves
1 t White pepper
SAUCE
1 lb Unsalted butter plus
2 T Worcestershire sauce
4 T Unsalted butter
1 T Tabasco sauce + 1 teaspoon
1 c Onions, chopped very fine
2 cans Tomato sauce (16 oz)
4 Med. garlic cloves, peeled
2 T Sugar
2 t Minced garlic
2 c Green onions, chopped very fine
3 1/4 c RICH chicken stock (this is basic chicken stock simmered until its' volume is reduced by half)
CHICKEN SEASONING MIX
1 1/2 T salt
1 t Black pepper
1 1/2 t White pepper
1 t Cumin (optional)
1 1/2 t Garlic powder
1/2 t Dried sweet basil leaves
1 1/4 t Ground cayenne pepper
2 lb Boneless chicken, light and dark meat, cut into ½-inch cubes
Preparation
Bring hot water, oil and salt in a large pot to a boil. Add spaghetti to the pot, Return to boiling and cook to al dente stage. Do not
overcook. Drain spaghetti into a colander; run cold water over strands. (If you used dry spaghetti, first rinse with hot water to wash off starch.) After the pasta has cooled pour a liberal amount of vegetable oil in your hands and toss spaghetti. Set aside. Meanwhile, combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
In a 4-quart saucepan, combine 1-1/2 sticks of the butter, onions and garlic cloves; sauté over medium heat 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the minced garlic and seasoning mix; continue cooking over medium heat until onions are dark brown, but not burned, about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often. Add 2-1/2 cups of the stock, the Worcestershire and Tabasco; bring to a fast simmer and cook about 8 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the tomato sauce and bring mixture to a boil. Then stir in the sugar and 1 cup of the green onions; gently simmer uncovered about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Heat the serving plates in a 250F oven. Combine the ingredients of the chicken seasoning mix in a small bowl; mix well. Sprinkle over the chicken, rubbing it in with your hands. In a large skillet melt 1-1/2 sticks of the butter over medium heat. Add the remaining 1 cup green onions and sauté over high heat about 3 minutes. Add the chicken and continue cooking 10 minutes, stirring frequently. When the tomato sauce has simmered about 40 minutes, stir in the chicken
mixture and heat through.
To finish the dish, for each serving melt 2 T butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add one-sixth of the cooked spaghetti (a bit less than a 2 cup measure); heat spaghetti 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add 1-1/4 c chicken and sauce and 2 T of remaining stock; heat thoroughly, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Place spaghetti onto a heated serving plate. Repeat process for remaining servings.
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Sneaky Mom Tricks Family, Overeats and Laments Margarita Shortage

In my supremely naïve effort to sneak ANY moderately healthy food into my family, I decided to try a new, yet bizarre recipe that I found on Southern Living’s website. This Hearty Tex-Mex casserole contains many ingredients that my husband actually likes, such as chicken, cheese, sour cream, salsa and tortillas. However, the recipe also sneaks in a substantial portion of squash and spinach, which I have to say, was pretty well concealed in the final product. While Mr. “I-have-X-Ray-Vision” spotted the healthy stuff right off, he eventually gave this casserole a fair try (after much melodramatic protest), and lo and behold, he liked it! The heathens ate a decent amount of this as well, and frankly, I thought it was dang tasty.

Hearty Tex-Mex Casserole

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Ingredients
  • 1  (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
  • 3  medium-size yellow squash, thinly sliced
  • 1  large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1  yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • 2  tablespoons  peanut oil
  • 3  cups  shredded cooked chicken or turkey
  • 12  (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1  (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of celery soup, undiluted
  • 1  (8-ounce) container sour cream
  • 1  (8-ounce) jar picante sauce or salsa
  • 1  (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, undrained
  • 1  (1.4-ounce) envelope fajita seasoning
  • 2  cups  (8 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
Preparation
Drain chopped spinach well, pressing between paper towels to remove excess moisture.
Sauté squash, bell pepper, and onion in hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat 6 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat. Stir in spinach, chicken, next 6 ingredients, and 1 1/2 cups cheese. Spoon into a lightly greased 13- x9-inch baking dish. At this point, I worried I screwed it up, because the mixture was VERY thick. However, as it cooked, it loosened up and the consistency was right on.
Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/2 cup cheese, and bake 5 more minutes.
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____________________________________________________________________________________________

While making this recipe, I also stumbled onto something awesome. I am not a fan of most store-bought salsas. They always seem to taste too sour, vinegary or overall weird. While at the Wally-world, I grabbed a jar of this stuff to use in my casserole prep:

Hands down, this was perhaps the best store-bought salsa I’ve ever had. I liked it so much, I ate the other half of the jar yesterday with a handful to tortilla chips…although I DID let my mom have a bite or two, so quit looking at me like that. All that was missing was a margarita, but I had enough wine to make up for it.

So, if you’re brave enough to sneak your own vegetables-of-doom into your family, give this recipe a try.

But if your husband has X-Ray vision too, you’re on your own, sister.

Fridays, Lent and Dinner-time Anarchy

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, and while I made it to Mass, the rest of my family was far too sick to go. On the bright side for them, they were so sick they didn’t even have to worry about that whole “day of fasting and abstinence” thing. While I got out of cooking a meatless meal yesterday, I’ll still have plenty of opportunities for family-meal anarchy this Lent.

Lenten Fridays are always a challenge for me, because I have two heathens who are not really fans of seafood (unless it’s the oh-so-not-healthy fish sticks), and a husband who acts like he is suffering the tortures of the dammed if his meal isn’t a protein-fest. Every once in a while, I throw my hands up and force them to eat grilled shrimp or salmon croquettes, but I usually try to keep the peace by making dishes that will not result in theatrical dinner-time protests, or suspicious food-autopsies in search of green onions.

French toast and cheese tortellini Alfredo are most often my Lenten Friday go-to’s, but I’ve also tried to find recipes that actually contain some semblance of nutritional value…or at least more nutritional value than French Toast. I found this recipe in Southern Living, and not only is it pretty tasty, but it also sneaks a sizeable spinach portion into my husband and kids. Even better, the spinach is well-hidden, so with careful presentation, the boogers have ingested some before they wise up to it.


Spinach-Ravioli Lasagna

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Ingredients
  • 1  (6-oz.) package fresh baby spinach, thoroughly washed
  • 1/3  cup  pesto sauce
  • 1  (15-oz.) jar Alfredo sauce
  • 1/4  cup  vegetable broth (or white wine, if you're a lush like me)
  • 1  (25-oz.) package frozen cheese-filled ravioli (do not thaw)
  • 1  cup  (4 oz.) shredded Italian six-cheese blend
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 375°. Chop spinach, and toss with pesto in a medium bowl.
2. Combine Alfredo sauce and vegetable broth. Spoon one-third of Alfredo sauce mixture (about 1/2 cup) into a lightly greased 2.2-qt. or 11- x 7-inch baking dish. Top with half of spinach mixture. Arrange half of ravioli in a single layer over spinach mixture. Repeat layers once. Top with remaining Alfredo sauce.
3. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake 5 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Garnish with paprika and fresh basil, if desired.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

I serve it with garlic bread and some other vegetable on the side if I am feeling particularly ambitious.

So, if you need a meatless option that has a chance of satisfying picky eaters, give this recipe a try.

Or, you could always stick with the French toast.

Bacon-Cheese Mini Meatloaves…For Weeknight Meatloaf Happiness

Though dinner continues to be a source of debate around my house, I’ve had another victory this week in making a meal that the picky heathens actually like.

As a working mom, I have limited time on a week-night to get dinner on the table. I’ve tried making meatloaf by assembling it the night before, but most meatloaf still has a cooking time of at least an hour; not a good thing when you have a kitchen full of hungry boys hounding you to death. By splitting my favorite meatloaf into smaller portions, I cut the cooking time in half. I promise this is your best bet for enticing picky eaters into the land of meatloaf and maintain your week-night sanity.

Here’s what you need:

Mini Bacon-Cheeseburger Meatloaves

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  • 4 strips of bacon
  • ¼ cup Red Bell Pepper, Finely Chopped
  • ¼ cup Onion, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped
  • 2 pounds Lean Ground Beef
  • 1-½ cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
  • ½ cup Oats
  • ½ cup Light Brown Sugar, Divided
  • ½ cup Yellow Mustard, Divided
  • ½ cup Ketchup, Divided
First things first. I needed to cook the bacon, and use some of the bacon drippings to sauté my veggies, However, I HATE cooking bacon on the stovetop. It pops, it sizzles, it burns me and it makes a mess that is a pain in the rear to clean up. I'm lucky enough to wash the dishes on a given night; scrubbing bacon grease off my backsplash is not going to happen. I solved this problem by cooking the bacon on a foil-lined baking sheet. I just popped it under the broiler for a few minutes, turning it once. I had watch it carefully, so it wouldn't burn.
Once the bacon was cooked, I removed it to some paper towels to cool, and carefully poured the drippings into a small skillet. Because my baking sheet was covered with foil, I got to throw the mess away and save time on dishes. While the bacon was still cooking, I chopped my bell pepper:
as well as the onion and garlic:
Once the bacon was cooked and my drippings were in my skillet, I turned on the heat to med-high, and added my bell pepper, onion and garlic to the skillet:
While the vegetables were sautéing, I chopped up my cooled bacon:
And grated my cheese:
At this point, my vegetables were nice and soft, so I removed the skillet from the stove and let the vegetable mixture cool down for a bit:
Once I was fairly certain that I was not in danger of burning myself, I began the meatloaf assembly. In a large bowl, I combined the beef:
Cooled vegetable mixture:
Cheese:
Chopped bacon:
Oats:
As well as ¼ cup ketchup, ¼ cup mustard and ¼ cup brown sugar. I reserved the remaining ketchup, mustard and brown sugar to make the sauce later:
Using my (relatively clean) hands, I combined all these ingredients until the mixture looked fairly uniform:
I divided the meat mixture into 12 portions (kinda like I was making 12 big meatballs), and placed it into a muffin pan that I liberally sprayed with non-stick spray. At this point, I covered it up and tossed it in the fridge until the next day, but if you aren't making this ahead of time like I was, just carry on:
When I got home from work the next day, I popped the meatloaves into a 375 degree oven and baked them for 30 minutes. Because I wanted them to brown well, I removed the meatloaves from the oven after about 20 minutes, and VERY CAREFULLY, I tipped the muffin pan gently over the sink to drain off any excess grease. I retuned the meatloaves to the oven to bake for the remaining 10 minutes. Meanwhile, I combined the remaining ¼ cup ketchup, ¼ cup mustard and ¼ cup brown sugar in a small bowl:
After the meatloaves baked for the full 30 minutes (with that brief break to drain the grease at the 20-minute-mark), I removed them from the oven and topped them with my sauce mixture:
I then returned the meatloaves to the oven, and baked them an additional 10 minutes, or until they looked dang tasty:
I let the meatloaves cool about 5 minutes, then I plated it up and basked in a week-night meatloaf success:
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

As you can see, I served it with a double helping of vegetables to compensate for that whole bacon-cheese factor.

Because in my mind, that made perfect sense.

Spaghetti Casserole for a Faux Snow Day

Today is yet another Louisiana “snow day.” Unlike last week, when we had an actual real snow day, today was once again a day when school was cancelled under a threat of mythical snow that never materialized. I guess the real snow we had on Friday made everyone a little overly optimistic. I am not complaining, however. I’ve managed to tackle my sentient laundry pile, bake some bread and brownies from scratch, and talk to my mom for longer than five minutes at a time.

Work has been so busy lately that our meals, though homemade, have been the thrown-together variety. Yes, I am the mom who served her family French toast and sausage for dinner last night…sue me.

When I do actually have longer than thirty minutes to feed the heathens, I try and make food we all can agree on, and Spaghetti Casserole certainly fits the bill. Want to satisfy three hungry, excessively picky guys? Here’s what you need:

Spaghetti Casserole

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-1 pound lean ground beef
-1-1/2 cups of your favorite pasta/spaghetti sauce
-a small onion
-8 ounces of spaghetti noodles
-1 can cream of mushroom soup
-2 cloves garlic
-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (yes, I cheated and used the Velveeta crumbles…I was feeling especially lazy)
-1/2 cup water
-2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
-wine of your choice
To get started, pour yourself a glass of wine…and celebrate the fact that it's Tuesday, five o-clock, sunny outside, the Mardi Gras season or whatever other reason you can think up:
While you are at it, get a large pot of water boiling to cook the spaghetti noodles in. Next, chop up the onion:
In a large skillet over med-high heat, brown the ground beef and onion together, stirring occasionally:
While the meat is browning, chop up the garlic cloves, have a sip of wine, and crank up the music:
Once the ground beef is browned, add the garlic to the skillet and cook for a minute or two:
In the meantime, cook the spaghetti noodles according to the package directions:
While the noodles are cooking, add the cream of mushroom soup, ½ cup of water and 1-1/2 cups of the pasta sauce to meat mixture:
Reduce the heat to low, stir and simmer until the beef mixture is well-combined and looks like this:
By now, the spaghetti noodles should be about done. Drain them and add them to the skillet with the beef mixture, stirring gently to combine:
Pour the spaghetti mixture into a lightly greased 9x13-inch casserole dish, and spread it around evenly. Sprinkle casserole with both the cheddar and parmesan cheeses:
Bake the casserole at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until bubbly.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
As you can see from the top picture, I just served it with green beans, garlic bread and called it a done deal. Sure, the heathens complained about the green beans, but I did get super-mom credit for the casserole.

That’s about all a girl can ask for, I guess.

The Heathens’ Favorite Cookies…Or An Excuse to Play Off Laziness as Mental Illness

My picky eaters are picky about everything, including their cookies…the freaks. But, even as they beg me for Happy Meals instead of nice, home-cooked dinners, they still think I am Super-Mom when I make their favorite cookies. These cookies are unusual, because they have an almost cake-like texture. When I’m asked to bring a snack to school, this is what the boys clamor for.

 I like them, because they only require one bowl, and practically no work or measuring.

Yes, I am so lazy, sometimes even the thought of washing the extra measuring cup is enough to send me screaming from the kitchen.

We’ll call that Working Moms’ Schizophrenia.

Chocolate Cake Cookies

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  • 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 stick butter, room temperature
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (the real stuff, don’t even buy the imitation stuff…you’re better than that)
  • 1 (18-ounce) box devil’s food cake mix
  • Powdered sugar
Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla extract, beating until well-combined. Beat in the cake mix.
3) Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in powdered sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. The cookies will remain soft, and have a cake/brownie type of texture. Cool completely on wire racks.
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Just avoid those guys with the butterfly nets.

Husband-Friendly Soup…I Promise

My husband has some pretty definitive ideas about what makes a meal. I often say he eats like a hobbit…lunch, elevensies, dinner, second-dinner and so on.

Well, not really, but when he does eat a meal, he wants a full, substantial meal, or he will be rummaging in the kitchen shortly thereafter. I don’t know why that annoys me, but it sure does…blame the OCD, I guess.

As a working girl, a mom and a sane person, I sometimes just don’t have it in me to dirty up every dang dish in my kitchen on a weeknight meal. That’s when my fall-back one-pot meals come in handy. This recipe is just one of those…it’s technically soup and a one-pot meal, but trust me, it’s hearty enough that even my hobbit considers it a full-on meal, and not just an appetizer to his later pantry-scavenging.

Chicken Fajita Chowder

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  • 3 T. all-purpose flour
  • 1 envelope fajita seasoning, divided
  • 3 or 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
  • 4 T. olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 15-1/4 oz. can Fiesta Corn
  • 15-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 14-1/2 oz. can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes, undrained
  • 4-1/2 oz. can chopped green chiles
  • 3 c. chicken broth
  • 1 c. instant brown rice, uncooked
  • 10-3/4 oz. nacho cheese soup
Garnish: sour cream, shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, green onions
1) Combine flour and 2 tablespoons of the fajita seasoning in a large zip-loc bag:
2) Add cubed chicken, seal bag and shake to coat:
3) Heat oil in a large pot over med-high heat. Add chicken and cook about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the outside of the chicken turns golden brown. At this point, you will have all kinds of good browned bits of chicken and seasoning sticking to the bottom of your pan. Don't panic! We'll fix that in a second:
4) Toss in the onion and garlic, and sauté 4 to 5 minutes, or until onions appear to soften:
5) Add the chicken broth to the pot. Turn the heat up to high if necessary, and start scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon or spatula to loosen all those yummy browned bits. If you are fancy-schmancy, we'll call this deglazing. Once you've scraped as best you can, turn the heat back down to med-high, and it should look like this:
6) Add the remaining fajita seasoning, fiesta corn, black beans, green chiles, stewed tomatoes and brown rice. I try to cut the stewed tomatoes with the kitchen shears before adding them to the pot, because too-large tomato pieces would scare the heathens away:
7) Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to med-low, cover and simmer 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, get your toppings set up. My husband is morally opposed to green onions, so we only had some shredded pepper jack, crushed tortilla chips and sour cream:
8) Once the soup is done, it will look like this:
9) Dish it up,  top chowder as desired:
And bask in the fact that your kitchen has not been demolished in a dirty-pan siege. Besides, the troops are much more inclined to do the dishes when there are less dishes to do.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

It’s Machiavelli…Mom-style!

Lunch…Or How to Turn Healthy Vegetables into Only Moderately Fattening Tastiness

When I first moved back to Louisiana, we had an overly ambitious bagel shop in the middle of my hometown. This bagel shop not only offered a plethora of fresh bagels for its patrons, but it also served several bagel-sandwich options for lunch. The lunch-hour business was an essential market for this part of town, though the local college did contribute to eateries in its’ immediate vicinity.

My sister and I loved the veggie bagel, which was basically a bagel of your choice piled high with vegetable-laden cream cheese. Considering that we were two high school girls who avoided vegetables like the plague, our love of the veggie bagel was indicative of how good it was.

Unfortunately, a bagel shop was too ambitious for both the city and the time in which we lived. This was Louisiana, after all.

Bagels?? Um, can we say Yankee much?

Bagels were far outside of our cultural influence, but more so, the bagel shop existed long before riverboat gaming, economic growth and national restaurant chains helped broaden our community’s perceptions and economy. Though we lost our one and only bagel shop, I never got over my craving for their veggie bagel. A few years ago, I stumbled across this recipe for Roasted Vegetable Cream Cheese:

Well, not only does this recipe conjure my memories of our long-lost bagel shop, but it also acts as a flavorful bagel spread, dip and overall appetizer for any event I’ve hosted. This recipe is an awesome way to sneak vegetables into the unsuspecting masses, or to wow unknowing guests. While I prefer to serve it on bagels for me, or on mini-bagels for guests, you could still serve it as a spread with crackers if you were so inclined.

Roasted Vegetable Cream Cheese

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  • 1 red bell pepper, sliced into rings
  • 1 medium onion, sliced into rings
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 small zucchini, sliced
  • 1 Tbs olive oil
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place the bell pepper, onion, garlic, zucchini, and olive oil in a medium mixing bowl and toss until the vegetables are coated. Spread the vegetables evenly on sheet pan lined with foil and place to the oven. Roast, tossing occasionally, until they are soft and are beginning to turn brown around the edges, approximately 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
3. Place the vegetables in the bowl of a food processor along with the cream cheese and process until well combined and spreadable; do not process until completely smooth.
4. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
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Just ignore that whole cream cheese part. You get the cool points for eating the zucchini, and that’s all that matters…

Yummers.

Get ready for “Diet Killer–Part 2.”

A couple of weeks ago, I made a new recipe called Pumpkin Spice Bars.

One bite of these, and I knew I had to immediately get them out of my house, lest I eat the entire pan, gain a jeans size, and free-fall into an orgy of Ben and Jerry’s, Fruity Pebbles and Blueberry Poptarts. These bars were so good, that they instantly became my personal Kryptonite.

In an effort to save myself, I sent the pan to my husband’s office. I was unsure what the reception would be, because I’ve been known to have the taste buds of a schizophrenic sometimes.

By the end of the day, the empty pan was returned to my husband, already washed, and with a note that said, “Thanks—More Please.”

I suggest you make these soon, and bask in your newfound popularity.

Pumpkin Spice Bars

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  • 1 package spice cake mix
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
  • 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract (the good stuff, no imitation!)
  • 1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened
  • 1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract (use the imitation, and I'll haunt you)
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped white chocolate, or white chocolate chips
  • 1 Tbsp. butter, melted
  • 1/3 cup regular uncooked oats
  • powdered sugar for garnish
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first 4 ingredients, mixing well with a fork. Reserve 1 cup of this crumb mixture to make the topping later; place these crumbs in a separate bowl, because you will be adding stuff to it. Press remaining crumbs into a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 13 to 15 minutes, or until puffy and set. Cool pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. It should look something like this:
2) Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer for 30 seconds, or until creamy. Add brown sugar, egg, pumpkin, 1 tsp. vanilla extract; beat until blended. It should look like this:
Pour filling over baked crust.
3) Stir white chocolate, 1 Tbsp. melted butter and oats into the 1 cup of crumbs that you reserved earlier when making the crust:
(clearly, I may have gone overboard on the white chocolate...I'm a freak like that) Sprinkle this mixture over the filling:
4) Bake the bars at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until edges begin to brown and center is set. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. At this point, I like to chill the bars, because it makes them easier to cut into pretty portions, and I think the taste and texture is a little better if they are served on the cool (but not cold) side; After they've been refrigerated, I let them sit out about 20-30 minutes before serving. Garnish with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, if you are so inclined:
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Make these, and I bet you have a new BFF by the end of the day.