November 29, 2009 by faithfulfoodie
Chai Tea Latte with Jan Hagels
What’s better on a cool winter night than something hot to drink? My version of a chai tea latte is perfect for such evenings!! I like to make my own rather than use a mix because I can make it just the way I want it. Commercial mixes are just too sweet for my taste and it’s hard to find caffeine free versions as well . . . I just can’t do caffeine at night anymore and still get a good nights sleep. It only takes a few minutes to make this and I can use decaf tea bags so I don’t lose any sleep and skim milk to save on calories!! This recipe makes 4 regular coffee cup size servings or two large mugs. I cut the recipe in half to make myself one large latte and it works out just fine as you can see from the picture.
I use a battery operated frother but you can simply use a wire whisk to achieve the same results and I prefer fresh grated nutmeg to ground nutmeg in a can. If your not as picky as I just use the ground variety in a can. A nutmeg grater is pictured with the frother in case you don’t know what one looks like.
Battery Operated Frother & Nutmeg Grater
Ingredients
2 C. water
4 tea bags (I use decaf)
2 C. milk (I use skim)
2 T. honey or more if you like it sweeter
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/8 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
1. Heat the water to boiling in a two-quart saucepan. Add the tea bags, reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove tea bags.
2. Stir the remaining ingredients into the tea. Heat to boiling.
Milk & Spices Added to Tea
3. Stir with a wire whisk or electric frother to foam the milk. Pour into mugs. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with additional mutmeg.
Frothed Chai Tea
Tags: cinnamon, Ginger, honey, milk, nutmeg
Posted in Beverages | Leave a Comment »
November 24, 2009 by faithfulfoodie
Chipotle Chili
I like a nice thick, spicy chili that can easily be fixed after I get home from work and tastes great. This recipe fits the bill with the ground chipotle pepper giving it a smoky, flavorful heat.
Ingredients
1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey
1 medium onion, diced
1 – 15 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
1 – 15 oz. can red beans, undrained
1 can condensed cream of tomato soup
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 T. chili powder
1/2 t. ground chipotle pepper (I used Penzeys)
Brown the ground meat and onions in a soup pot sprayed with Pam. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix to combine and simmer for as long as you have before it’s time to eat. Serves 4-6
Tags: chili powder, garlic powder, ground beef, ground chipotle pepper, ground turkey, red beans, tomato soup, tomatoes
Posted in Soup | Leave a Comment »
November 22, 2009 by faithfulfoodie
Fall Tablescape
The other evening we had friends over for dinner and since it is getting dark so early its fun to have a simple tablescape that includes a candle. We have a round table so we use as a base a round mirror with a wide wood frame and simply change the arrangement on top of it to go with the theme of the meal or the season. This one will stay on the table through Thanksgiving and we’ll replace it with a Christmas theme when we redecorate next weekend. This tablescape is simply a medium pumpkin, a miniature one, and the candle with some silk fall leaves and bittersweet.
Tags: candle, fall, harvest, pumpkins
Posted in Tablescapes | 3 Comments »
November 21, 2009 by faithfulfoodie
Caramel Apple Dip
Caramel and apples . . . the perfect combination! Add a layer of cream cheese and crushed Heath toffee bars and apple slices and ginger snaps for dipping and you have heaven!!! We have my sister-in-law, Connie, to thank for this fabulously easy recipe. I made this for the Ohio State – Iowa tailgate and it was a hit with the 50 or so people with whom we shared plenty of food and fun. Enjoy!
Ingredients
1 carton pre-made caramel dip (found in the produce section)
1 – 8 oz. package of cream cheese
1 bag Heath Bar topping or crushed Heath Bars
sliced apples
ginger snaps
Spread the cream cheese on the bottom of a pie plate. Spread the caramel dip on top of the cream cheese and top with the Heath Bar topping. Serve with sliced apples and ginger snaps.
Tags: apples, caramel, cream cheese, ginger snaps, Heath Bars, holiday, party
Posted in Appetizers, Dessert, Snacks | 1 Comment »
November 19, 2009 by faithfulfoodie
Sweet N' Spicy Sweet Potato Casserole
We celebrated an early Thanksgiving with my husband’s side of the family. We also got to tailgate together at the Ohio State-Iowa football game! We divided food prep for our Thanksgiving among all of us and I was assigned my banana bread and the sweet potato casserole. This sweet n’ spicy sweet potato casserole was a hit and everyone wanted the recipe (they already have the banana bread recipe in the family cookbook) so I thought I’d post it here in time for Thanksgiving.
For our large family gathering I doubled this recipe and for the small children I scooped part of the casserole into a separate dish before I added the cayennne pepper and left off the nuts. Sorry the picture looks a little out of focused in the corner but that’s the steam rising from the casserole!! This recipe is adapted from myrecipe.com.
Ingredients
3 pounds sweet potatoes
1/3 C. packed brown sugar
2 T. butter
2 T. orange juice concentrate
1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. cayenne pepper
1/2 t. salt
2 large eggs
1/4 C. chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pierce potatoes with a fork; arrange in a circle on paper towels in microwave oven. Microwave on high 16 minutes or until tender, rearranging potatoes after 8 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.
Cut each potato in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp into a large bowl. Discard skins. Add sugar and next six ingredients and beat until smooth.
Spoon mixture into a 1 1/2 quart baking dish; sprinkle with pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
Yield 8 – 1/2 Cup servings
Tags: brown sugar, cayenne, cinnamon, Eggs, orange juice concentrate, pecans, sweet potatoes, Thanksgiving, yams
Posted in Side dishes | 1 Comment »
November 18, 2009 by faithfulfoodie
Bran Muffins
These muffins are delicious and the recipe makes batter for two dozen muffins that can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks. Just bake up what you need and keep the rest until you need it. The first batch of these didn’t turn out well because I filled the muffins cups too full and they overflowed! I got the amount right in these. Don’t fill the cups more than 3/4 full! I used silicone muffin cups that I purchased at Marshall’s for $12.99. They are naturally nonstick and can be used over and over again. I highly recommend them if you bake muffins or cupcakes regularly.
This recipe is nice because you can easily do variations on the basic recipe. I love them for breakfast or with soup for dinner. For the muffins shown, I added 1/2 cup of dried cherries to half of the finished batter to make cherry bran muffins and then refrigerated the rest of the batter to use another day. I’ll list the variations at the end of the recipe. This recipe is adapted from the one on the back of the Hodgson Mill Wheat Bran box.
Ingredients
3 C. unprocessed wheat bran (I used Hodgson Mill brand)
1 C. boiling water
1 C. packed brown sugar
1/2 C. butter, softened
2 1/2 C. unbleached white flour
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 C. buttermilk
Mix 1 C. wheat bran with 1 C. boiling water; stir and let water absorb into bran. In a separate bowl blend sugar and butter. Mix in the salt and baking soda until well combined. Combine the moist bran with beaten eggs, the remaining two cups of bran, and buttermilk. Alternate adding this egg mixture and the flour to the sugar and butter mixture until everything is well combined.
Place in the refrigerator for future use, or bake immediately. If baking immediately, bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. If you don’t wish to use all the batter at once, store the unused batter in an airtight container for 2 to 4 weeks. Stir the batter well before spooning into prepared muffin cups. Yield: 2 dozen muffins.
Variations: For banana bran muffins add 1 large mashed banana to 1/2 of the batter. Yield will be 14 muffins. For cinnamon bran muffins add 2 t. of cinnamon to the whole recipe to yield 24 muffins. For raisin or cranberry bran muffins, add 1 C. of raisins or dried cranberries to the batter to yield 26-28 muffins. For banana bran muffins add 1 mashed banana to half the batter before putting in baking cups.
Tags: bananas, bran, buttermilk, cinnamon, dried cranberries, raisin
Posted in Breakfast, Muffins | Leave a Comment »
November 16, 2009 by faithfulfoodie
Italian Sausage Potato Soup
This soup is my replication of the Zuppa Toscana soup from Olive Garden restaurant. I love the flavor the Italian sausage adds to the mixture of spinach and potatoes in this lightly creamy soup. For additional zip I add some crushed red pepper and to lower the calorie count I use turkey Italian sausage.
Ingredients
6 C. chicken stock
1 large shallot, minced
1/2 C. half & half
2 medium russet potatoes
3 C. frozen leaf spinach
20 oz. package of Honey Suckle White sweet Italian sausage
1/2 t. crushed red pepper
1. Heat a large soup pot sprayed with Pam over medium-high heat. Meanwhile squeeze the sausage from the casings and add to the pot with the minced shallot. Stir to break up the sausage into bite size pieces and cook until done. Add the broth and bring to a boil.
2. Quarter the unpeeled potato length-wise and then slice into 1/4 inch slices. Add the potato, spinach, and red pepper flakes to the broth and sausage.
3. Simmer until potatoes are done. Remove from heat and stir in the 1/2 & 1/2.
Serves 6
Tags: chicken stock, half & half, Italian sausage, red pepper flakes, shallots, spinach
Posted in Soup | Leave a Comment »
November 14, 2009 by faithfulfoodie
Olive Tapenade Roll ready to eat!
This is one of those easy recipes that can be adapted to what you have on hand. I was needing something to serve with leftover stuffed pepper crockpot soup and came up with this based on what I had available. You can use pizza or spaghetti sauce, pepperoni, and cheese for the filling if that’s what you have around or pesto, sliced tomatoes, and cheese would be another delicious combo. Experiment with this basic concept and see what you can come up with!
Ingredients
1 – 11 oz. can of Pillsbury Thin Crust pizza dough
Part of a jar of olive tapenade (I used Trader Joe’s)
2 small tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 C. shredded mozzarella cheese (I used fresh)
1 t. dried basil
Unroll the pizza dough onto a greased jelly roll pan or cookie sheet and spread with a thin layer of the olive tapenade.
Pizza dough spread with olive tapenade
Place two rows of thinly sliced tomato down the center of the dough lengthwise. Sprinkle the shredded cheese and basil over the top of everything.
Dough w/olive tapenade, sliced tomatoes, grated fresh mozzarella
Roll up along the long edge and seal the seam and ends by pressing the dough together.
Unbaked Roll
Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for five minutes before slicing. Serves 4.
Tags: Basil, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, Pillsbury Pizza Dough, olive tapenade
Posted in sandwich | Leave a Comment »
November 10, 2009 by faithfulfoodie
Easy Oriental Broccoli Slaw
I’m always interested in quick and easy recipes that can be thrown together after work and served up quickly with some grilled meat and fruit for a nutritious meal. This recipe includes the fruit right in the slaw so eliminates an extra side dish in my opinion. While for most folks (meat eaters that is) this would be a side dish, because it contains toasted slivered almonds, I think it would qualify as a vegetarian main dish especially if a little tofu or feta cheese is thrown in. For meat eaters who would like to make this a main dish, simply add some diced chicken and increase the salad dressing a little. This recipe is adapted from Hungry Girl 200 Under 200 cookbook by Lisa Lillien. It’s a great little cookbook with 200 recipes under 200 calories. This recipe weighs in at 111 calories for a 1 cup serving!
Ingredients
One 16-ounce package of dry broccoli slaw mix
1 can of diced water chestnuts, drained and chopped a little more
1 12-ounce can of mandarin oranges, drained
1 C. chopped green onions
2/3 C. Newman’s Own Lighten Up! Low Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing
1 packet of Splenda
1/4 C. slivered almonds
Place the slivered almonds on a small plate and microwave on high for 1 minute 30 seconds to toast. If they need toasted a little more, toast for 10 second increments until done. Set aside. Pour the broccoli slaw into a large serving dish. In a smaller bowl, mix together the salad dressing and packet of Splenda. Add the onion and mandarin oranges and toss to mix. Pour the dressing mixture over the broccoli slaw and sprinkle with the toasted almonds. Toss everything to combine.
Tags: broccoli, broccoli slaw, green onions, mandarin oranges, Newman's Own Lighten Up! Low Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing, toasted almonds, water chestnuts
Posted in Salad, Vegetarian | Leave a Comment »
November 8, 2009 by faithfulfoodie
This is another of my son, Matt’s, recipes. The jerk sauce is made ahead so the chicken can be marinaded. I marinaded the chicken tenders all afternoon but you can leave them overnight if you wish. Matt likes to use boneless chicken thighs with this sauce. When you taste the sauce by itself it tastes pretty hot. The chicken doesn’t come out nearly that hot but you do get a slow build up of heat as you eat them. If you like a lot of heat, save some of the marinade out and use it as a dipping sauce. That’s what my hubby, Ken, did. I liked them as they were off the grill.
Ingredients
3 hot peppers, stems removed (I used jalapenos with the seeds left in them)
1 T. dried thyme
1 T. ground allspice
1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
5-6 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 1/2 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped
1 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground pepper
1/4 C. olive oil
1/4 C. soy sauce
1/2 C. orange juice
1/2 C. cider vinegar
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Save some of the marinade for a dipping sauce. Marinate your meat (boneless pork loin works well, too)for at least a few hours but preferably over night. This makes enough marinade for up to five pounds of meat.
Jamaican Jerk Sauce & Marinade
Grill the meat over medium heat until done.
Grilled Jamaican Jerk Chicken Tenders
Posted in Chicken, Marinades & Condiments | Leave a Comment »
