Grilled Romaine with Marinated Cherry Tomatoes and Feta

I haven't been doing Recipe Wednesday lately because the recipes that I've been cooking are mostly from eMeals and I don't feel like it would be right to share those recipes online.  But last weekend my parents had us over for a Memorial Day cookout and in addition to the rest of the wonderful meal they made a grilled salad that was amazing!  I took some pictures before we served it and wanted to share the recipe because it truly was maybe one of the best salads that I've ever had!

Grilled Romaine with Marinated Cherry Tomatoes and Feta

Yields 6 servings

1 pint Cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise

1/2 teaspoon Coarse salt

3 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

1 teaspoon Sugar

1/3 cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, plus more for Romaine

Coarse Salt and Ground Pepper

1/3 cup Shaved Red Onion

3 hearts Romain, halved lengthwise, left attached at the stem end

15 mint leaves, sliced

4 ounces Feta, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1. In a nonreactive bowl, toss tomatoes with 1/2 teaspoon salt; let sit 15 minutes.  In a small bowl, combine vinegar and sugar; whisk in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Add vinaigrette to tomatoes, stir in red onion and refrigerate.

2. Heat a charcoal or gas grille to medium-high.  Brush cut sides of lettuce with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place lettuce on grille, cut side down, and allow to char lightly, 3 minutes per side.  Remove lettuce to a platter.

3. Fold mint and feta into tomato mixture.  Spoon tomato mixture over romaine and drizzle some of the marinade over the dish.  Serve immediately.

*Recipe via iVillage

Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole

This month is turning into the month of breakfast recipes!  This is another one from our Christmas morning brunch.  It was good to feed a crowd.  I felt like it could have used a little more salt and pepper but it was still great the way it was.

Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole

8-10 servings

6-8 Strips of Bacon

1 Onion, peeled and chopped

1 clove Garlic, peeled and minced

1 Red or Green Pepper, seeded and chopped

1 2 lb bag frozen Hash Browns

1 1/2 cups Shredded Cheese

12 Eggs

1 cup Whole Milk

1 teaspoon Dried Dill

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

1. Spray crock pot with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Cook bacon until crisp, cool, then chop into 1/2 inch pieces.  Set aside.

3. Saute onion, garlic, and bell pepper for 5 minutes.

4. Place 1/3 of frozen hash browns in the bottom of the crock pot.

5. Add 1/3 bacon, 1/3 of the onion mixture, and 1/3 of the cheese.

6. Repeat layers, ending with cheese.

7. In a large bowl mix eggs, milk, dill, salt, and pepper. 

8. Pour over ingredients.

9. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. 

From A Latte' with Ott, A via Pinterest

Peanut Butter Chocolate Delight

If you're in need of an easy dessert that you might be able to make just from what's in your fridge and pantry this is a good one.  It's something that Jason and I whip up on night's when we need a little pick me up or want to celebrate a little.  This is a single serving dessert so don't expect to make it for a crowd but it sure is the thing to satisfy your sweet tooth!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Delight

Serves 1

1 sheet of Graham Crackers

1/4 cup Reese's peanut butter chips

Instant chocolate pudding

Cool Whip

Graham Cracker Crumbs

Milk

1. Mix up pudding with milk as instructed on package and let chill.

2. Microwave peanut butter chips in 30 second intervals until it is melted, stirring between each interval.

3. Crush up a few graham crackers to make crumbs.  I keep these in my pantry.

4. Lay out one graham cracker sheet.

5. Spread melted peanut butter chips over the graham cracker.

6. Spoon and spread pudding over the peanut butter.  Let chill for 5 minutes or as long as you can stand.

7. Top with Cool Whip.

8. Garnish with graham cracker crumbs.

Baby Food: Peas, Carrots, and Sweet Potatoes

When I had Charlotte people would mention making my own baby food and I would almost convulse at the thought of it.  So Charlotte ate 100% store bought baby food and while I did try to buy organic most of the times, often they didn't have as good a variety of combinations in the organic section so I would get non-organic.

But for some reason I had an itch to make my own baby food for James.  I'm not sure why since I have four times less time as I did when I had Charlotte but, regardless, I decided to try it.  A well meaning family friend gave me The Baby and Toddler Cookbook when James was born and I finally put it to good use once James turned six months old.

On my first baby food outing I made sweet pea's and carrots.  Then, over the weekend I made sweet potatoes.  Not the most fun baby food but they have to start with the basics.  I did make a run to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to get some needed items -- namely a steamer basket and ice cube trays -- but other than that I already had everything that I needed.

I think the cookbook will come in more handy when I'm trying to think of new things to feed James but since this was pretty basic I just needed to know how long I needed to steam this stuff since I had never steamed anything before.

I was very happy with the end product (even though James still isn't a fan of the pea's) and especially with how easy it was.  It took me less than an hour to make both of these batches and I got 24 cubes of baby food out of it.  I'm sure that it will take less time when I'm more confident with what I'm doing and don't want to do one step, slowly, at a time to make sure I'm doing everything right!

And as far as storage goes, the cookbook that I have says that homemade food can be kept in the fridge for 3 days in an airtight container and in the freezer for 3 months.  If you are defrosting frozen food defrost in the fridge and not on the counter.

I am going to try and share recipes as I come across them but I also started a Pinterest board for it too in case you're interested and want to check it out.  Before you start cooking I'd check out the "Dirty Dozen" list to make sure you buy organic produce that's listed on the dirty dozen.

Baby Food: Sweet Pea's

1 package frozen pea's

1. Fill pan with 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil.

2. Place steamer into boiling water and pour pea's into steamer.

3. Let pea's steam for about 5 minutes, or until they are bright green and easily smash-able with a fork.

4. Run pea's under cold water to stop them cooking.  Reserve cooking liquid.

5. Pour pea's into a food processor (or blender).  Puree until they are the desired consistency, adding cooking liquid/milk to help thin out the mixture.

6. Pour into ice cube trays and cool until they are room temperature.  Cover with saran wrap to seal them.  After they are frozen you can transfer the cubes into a plastic bag.

Baby Food: Carrots

1 bushel organic carrots

1. Fill pan with 1 inch of water.  Bring to a boil.

2. Place steamer into boiling water and pour carrot's into steamer.

3. Let steam for 6-8 minutes or until they are tender.

4. Remove carrots and run under cold water.  DO NOT reserve cooking liquid.

5. Pour carrots into a food processor.  Puree until they are the desired consistency, adding fresh water/milk to help thin out the mixture.

6. Pour into ice cube trays and cool until they are room temperature.  Cover with saran wrap to seal them.  After they are frozen you can transfer the cubes into a plastic bag.

Baby Food: Sweet Potatoes

2 sweet potatoes

1. Scrub the sweet potatoes clean.

2. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 - 60 minutes or until they are soft when you prick with a fork.

3. Scrape the insides into a food processor or blender.

4. Blend until you reach your desired consistency, adding water/milk as needed to help thin out the potatoes.

5. Pour into ice cube trays and cool until they are room temperature.  Cover with saran wrap to seal them.  After they are frozen you can transfer the cubes into a plastic bag.

(Step 5)

Even though James wasn't the biggest fan the first time he tried them, he ate the peas better than cereal!

Blueberry Crumb Bars

On Christmas morning we invited our parents and siblings over for brunch to see Charlotte's toys and so that we got to see everyone on Christmas day.  I made a few things and one of them were these Blueberry Crumb Bars.  They were very easy and so wonderfully good!  I made them the day before and served them cold and they were great!  The longer they sit the more sour the blueberries get so I wouldn't make them too far ahead of time but the day before was perfect.

Blueberry Crumb Bars

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup shortening

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

1 pinch ground cinnamon (optional)

4 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar

3 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and cinnamon, if desired. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the shortening and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

From Jam Hands via Pinterest

White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

One of my parents friends makes these cookies and I think they're wonderful.  I felt better about eating more than one of them when she (who is a trainer) said that there wasn't any white sugar in them so they were sort-of healthy.  I later saw the recipe and there's lots of brown sugar, butter, and chocolate in them but they are divine!  If you don't like "stuff" in your cookies these probably aren't for you, but then again, I don't typically like "stuff" and I love these.  Try them and see if you love them as much as we do!

White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

2 2/3 cups old fashioned oats

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup dried cranberries

6 oz white chocolate broken into pieces

1/2 cup walnut halves finely chopped (optional)

1 cup unsalted butter

1 1/3 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper (or use my favorite new cookie sheets!).

2. Whisk oats, flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in cranberries, chocolate and nuts.

3. Melt butter for 4 minutes until brown. Pour butter into large bowl and whisk in brown sugar until combines. Whisk in cinnamon, then eggs and vanilla, beating well after each. Add dry mixture and stir. 

4. Shape into ping-pong ball size. Bake 16 minutes. Cool on rack.

Ham and Chicken Croissants

After eating the French Dip Croissants that my mom made recently I thought I'd try the same concept with what I had on hand.  I have always loved Chicken Cordon Bleu so I tried a very simple version.  It's, obviously, different than a traditional Chicken Cordon Bleu but I loved the taste.  And you could use this concept with whatever meat or cheese you have in the fridge.  I didn't put any condiments on these before I baked them but I bet they'd be divine with some honey mustard if, unlike me, your husband likes honey mustard.

Ham and Chicken Croissants

16 slices of deli Chicken (sliced thick)

16 slices of deli Ham (sliced thin)

16 slices of Swiss Cheese

2 rolls of Croissants

1. Unroll croissants and stack ham, chicken, and cheese on them. 

2. Roll back up and place on a cookie sheet.

3. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or until the rolls are golden.