Author Archives: Katherine

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Whether you serve this melty, creamy spinach-artichoke dip with slices of toasted french bread or crispy, crunchy fried wonton chips, you can be sure there won’t be any left by the end of the night. Just try some for yourself, and you’ll see how perfect the combination of savory-tart artichoke hearts are with smooth jack cheese. Irresistible and delicious!

INGREDIENTS

14 ozs artichoke hearts (drained and chopped)
10 ozs spinach (frozen chopped, thawed and drained)
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 1/2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 1 quart baking dish.
In a medium bowl, mix together artichoke hearts, spinach, mayonnaise, Parmesan and 2 cups of jack cheese. Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish, and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of jack cheese.
Bake in the center of the preheated oven until the cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.

Vegan Indian Dishes to Spice up Your Day

Who says vegan food is boring? The smoky, spicy fragrances of these delicious Indian dishes will make everyone’s stomach (carnivore or otherwise) grumble in anticipation. There’s a whole range of delicious options, from tasty finger foods like potato stuffed flat breads to rich chick pea curries. Pair these with a fluffy, steamy batch of white rice or naan and enjoy!

Aloo Mutter Masala (Potatoes and Green Peas in Gravy) from Jeyashri’s Kitchen

Vegan Dosa with Spicy Chickpeas and Coconut Curry Sauce from Andrea Meyers

Lettuce Wraps with Curried Tofu and Coconut Basil Chutney from The ABCDs of Cooking

Palak Kofta Curry from 4th Sense Cooking

Dum Aloo (Baby Potatoes in a Spicy Gravy) from Food Paradise!

Gobi Masala (Cauliflower Curry) from Holy Cow! Vegan Recipes

Aloo Paratha (Potato Stuffed Flat Breads) from Zaika Zabardast

Vegetable Korma from Vegan Belle

Potato and Pea Samosas from Quick Asian Recipes

Tempeh Tikka Masala with Kale from Vegan Richa

Homemade Funfetti Cake for the Kid in Everyone

Who doesn’t love confetti cake? There’s a good chance you encountered this cake at least once at a birthday party or two growing up. The easy box mix made this cake extremely popular, and it’s no wonder why. Just look at it! It’s exploding with so much color, it’s perfect for any kind of celebration. And now that you’re all grown up, you can ditch the box mix and make it yourself from scratch!

Cake Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups cake flour
4 tsps baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
4 egg whites
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup butter (or margarine)
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1/3 cup sprinkles*
*Note: The long, thin sprinkles (jimmies) usually get the best results, but you can use any sprinkles you like! Heck, you can even make your own sprinkles with these easy tutorials from Brave Tart and I am baker.

Directions:

Measure flour, baking powder, and salt; sift together three times.
In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add 1/2 cup sugar gradually, and continue beating only until the meringue holds soft peaks.
Cream butter or margarine. Gradually add remaining 1 cup sugar, and beat until light and fluffy. Add your flour mixture alternately with milk in 3 rotations, beating after each addition until smooth. Mix in your vanilla and almond extract.
Fold the egg white meringue into the mixture until combined. Add your sprinkles, and fold them in gently. Spread batter into a parchment-lined pan or pans.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 35 minutes (depending on what kind of pans you used). Cool cake in pan 10 minutes, then remove from pan and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

You can frost it with whatever you like! Buttercream frosting is an excellent option for starters, but feel free to experiment.

Photo Credit: Burn Me Not

Make Your Own Cream Cheese!

Did you know that you only need one ingredient to make your own homemade cream cheese? All you need is 1 quart of whole milk (or low fat) yogurt, a large cheesecloth, a strainer or colander, and a big bowl! It’s incredibly simple to do for yourself, and the only frustrating part will be having to wait to try it out!

Ingredients:

1 quart whole milk yogurt*
*Note: You can use low-fat yogurt, but the final result will be a bit less creamy.

Directions:
The basic idea of this process is that you will be draining the liquid from the yogurt. You will need to put your yogurt in a cloth thick enough for liquid to permeate (but not the yogurt itself) over a bowl that can catch the liquid.

Fold a large piece of cheesecloth over three or four times and line a colander with it. Place the colander inside of a larger bowl; the colander should be raised from the bowl, since you don’t want the drained liquid to touch the cloth and be re-absorbed.
Pour your yogurt into the lined colander and cover it with a towel or cloth. Put the whole set-up into the refrigerator and let it drain for 5 hours!* The longer you wait, the thicker the cream cheese is likely to be.
When it’s ready, store your cream cheese in an airtight container and enjoy! Feel free to mix in whatever flavorings you like, whether it be chives, sun-dried tomatoes, or strawberry jam. Your homemade cream cheese should last about a month.
*Note: It’s good to check up on the draining process to make sure that the liquid has not gotten high enough to touch the colander and cloth.

Here are a more Yummly cream cheese spreads to inspire your own creations!

Tuscan Cream Cheese Spread

Herb Cheese Spread

Salmon Cream Cheese Spread

Photo Credits: Yoga Body Nutrition, Outside Inn, The Culinary Review

Pizza Pockets and Other Perfect Lunchbox Treats!

Creative, fun meals, like pizza pockets and cookie-cutter sandwiches, are a great way to add a special touch to your kid’s daily routine. Since you pick all the ingredients, you can make sure only the best is going into it, and your kids will have fun helping you prepare everything too! Add some pizzazz to their everyday lunch by preparing some of these great treats this week.

Pizza Pockets

Ingredients

2 cups flour (or 1/2 white 1/2 wheat flour)
4 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsps shortening
1 cup milk
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup pepperoni (sliced)*
1/2 cup onion (diced)*
1/2 cup mushrooms (sliced)*
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese*
1/2 tsp oregano*

*Note: Feel free to use any of your favorite pizza ingredients. These are just good proportions for the amount of dough you’re making.

Directions

For the dough: Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the shortening and add milk slowly, stirring constantly to form a soft dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly. Roll out to 1/4 inch thick and cut into 4 inch circles. Place circles on a plate and cover with a damp cloth.
For the fillings: Sauté your onions and mushrooms together. Then, in a medium bowl, mix them up well with your tomato sauce, pepperoni, cheese, and oregano.
Place 2 tablespoons of filling in the center of each circle. Fold dough over to make a half circle and press the edges together. Pinch edges with a fork to completely seal.
At this point, you can freeze them to bake whenever you’re ready, or just bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes on a greased baking sheet and enjoy immediately!

These pizza pockets are a great recipe for prepare lunches ahead of time so you’re not in such a rush in the morning, and they’re unique enough to make your kid’s lunch the envy of everyone else in class!

More Tips and Tricks

Have fun with cookie-cutters! With a few fun, cute shapes, you can make any meal a little more exciting for a kid to dive into. Turn these pizza pockets into pizza pocket hearts. Cut your sandwiches into stars!
Switch up your presentation by putting it on a stick! Instead of pizza pockets, try making french bread pizza squares or pizza rolls on a stick.
Wrap it up! There’s a dozen different ways to serve a sandwich. Try serving up your sandwich ingredients wrapped up in a flour tortilla or a big, crunchy leaf of lettuce.
Give them choices! Chips and salsa, hummus and veggies, mozzarella and tomato–all healthier (and more fun) and a bag of potato chips.

Here are a few more recipes that’ll add excitement to your kid’s meal!

Bento Style Sandwiches from Adventures in Bento Making

Grilled Chicken Lettuce Wraps from Let’s Talk Fitness

Peanut Butter Jelly Pie Sticks from Spoon Fork Bacon

Photo Credits: Recipes for Roger

Wow the Crowd with a Deep Seven Layer Dip

When game day rolls around, will you be ready? As you watch your favorite teams battle for every inch on the field, you and your guests will be vying to get your chips in every layer of this phenomenal dip! With 7 layers of awesome all piled up on top of each other like this, the only thing you’ll have to worry about is whether you have something sturdy enough to dip with it.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
16 ozs refried beans
4 cups shredded cheddar
8 ozs sour cream
1 cup guacamole
1 cup salsa
2 1/4 ozs black olives (chopped)
1/2 cup tomatoes (chopped)

Directions:

In a large skillet, brown ground beef. Set aside to drain and cool to room temperature.
Spread the beans into the bottom of your serving dish. Sprinkle 2 cups of shredded cheese on top of beans. Sprinkle beef on top of cheese. Spread sour cream very slowly on top of beef. Spread guacamole on top of sour cream. Pour salsa over guacamole and spread evenly. Sprinkle remaining shredded cheese. Sprinkle black olives, and tomatoes on top.
Serve this dish immediately, or refrigerate it over night and serve cold.

If you’re interested in making a more homemade variation of this tasty dip (or serving each layer independently of each other), here are great Yummly recipes for salsa, guacamole, and re-fried beans too!

Easy Guacamole

Fresh Salsa

Refried Beans

Photo Credits: The HollyDay Lifestyle

Make Your Own “McRib” Sandwiches!

Sad news for all fans of McDonalds fabled “McRib” sandwich: while it usually hits store shelves around October, the date has been pushed back to December this year! You’ll have to wait two months longer to have a real, authentic McRib in your hands. However, if you just can’t wait that long, why not try to make your own?! Here’s a fantastic recipe for a copycat McRib – the “mock-rib,” so to speak.

Ingredients

16 ozs ground pork
3 tbsps water
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 deli rolls
1 cup barbecue sauce (or to taste)
8 slices of dill pickle (optional)
1/2 cup chopped onions (optional)

Directions

DO AHEAD: Season ground pork with salt and sugar, and mix in water. Form meat into four patties just a little larger than the buns on a lined baking sheet. Cover it with a sheet of non-stick foil or parchment and press it gently down on the patties. Pop the whole tray into the freezer until the pork is frozen.
When you’re ready to make your sandwiches, warm up a skillet over medium heat. Slice your sandwich rolls in half and brown each center side on the pan. Set your rolls aside.
Pop your frozen patties on the heated pan for about 3-4 minutes on each side (or until it’s properly browned). Let them cool for a few minutes after cooking.
While your pork is cooling, pour 1 cup of barbecue sauce into a shallow bowl. Dip each patty into the sauce so that it’s completely covered (tongs can help). Place the patty on the bottom half of the sandwich roll.Top each patty with 2 slices of pickle and as much chopped onion as you’d like. Put the second half of bread on top, and marvel at your delicious, homemade sandwich!

Tips and Tricks

For a more “authentic” experience, if you microwave the sandwich for 15 more seconds on the highest settings, it’ll warm up the bread just as if it had been wrapped in paper!
To best approximate the McDonald’s taste, you may want to use Hunt’s Original BBQ Sauce and Sara Lee deli rolls, as these are very close to the original.

Photo Credits: Mobile App Testing, Paul J. Richards at Getty Images via NPR

Homemade Cheddar Crackers (aka Goldfish!)

Goldfish are beloved by adults and kids alike. Those irresistible cheddar crackers are just as cute as they are delicious, and with this fantastic, shockingly easy recipe, you can make these crisps in your own kitchen! You only need 5 ingredients, a food processor, and an oven, so there’s no reason not to try it for yourself (especially if you already harbor a love for the Pepperidge Farm favorite)!

Ingredients

8 oz, sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
4 tbs butter, cubed
1 cup flour
3/4 tsp salt
2 tbs cold water

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Pour the shredded cheddar, butter cubes, flour, and salt into a food processor. Pulse it together until the mixture is a coarse grain.
Add 1 tablespoon of cold water to the mixture and pulse. Repeat.
Remove dough from the processor, wrap it in plastic, and chill it for 20 minutes.
Roll out the dough (the thinner, the crispier it will be) and cut into desired shapes. Place your crackers on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until crisp!

Make your own goldfish cookie cutter out of an aluminum can:

DIY Goldfish Cutout from Making Do with the Not So New

Photo Credits: Miss Anthropist’s Kitchen via B for Bel

Bacon Swiss Macaroni and Cheese

Macaroni and cheese is comfort food at it’s best. It’s creamy, rich, cheesy, and any number of other tantalizing adjectives. Unfortunately, those words often coincide with unhealthy dishes that aren’t the best for your health, either. This macaroni and cheese is an indulgent dish that you won’t have you mentally counting how many jumping jacks you’ll need to do with every bite you take. With low-fat ingredients, whole wheat penne, and turkey bacon, you can feel better about your mac!

INGREDIENTS

1 lb whole wheat pasta
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
2 tbsps whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups low-fat swiss cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried basil
2 slices turkey bacon (chopped)

DIRECTIONS

In a large pot boil salted water and cook pasta for 8 minutes then drain and set aside.
In a bowl mix the milk, broth and flour and whisk until flour is dissolved. Then pour the milk mixture, garlic powder, basil, thyme, and a pinch of salt and pepper into a sauce pan sprayed with cooking spray and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes or until milk begins to thicken. Then add the swiss cheese, and parmesan cheese and continue to stir until cheese is melted (around 3 minutes).
In a small pan sprayed with cooking spray cook the bacon pieces over medium heat for 3-4 minutes or until crispy. Then set bacon aside on a plate lined with a paper towel.
Combine the pasta and cheese sauce and toss well. Then top with bacon pieces and serve.

Cheeseburgers in Paradise!

When you’re hungry and tired after a long day, few pleasure compare to biting into a juicy, homemade burger. With the crunch of the golden brown toasted bun, the perfectly crisp cut of bacon, the oozy, melty cheese, and the juiciness of the fresh tomato and lettuce, there really isn’t much more sensory awesomeness food could give you! Dive into one of these burgers tonight and enjoy.