Nun's Puffs

I made this because I was in the mood to cook but it was 8:30 and I didn’t feel like staying up too late. It was a miniature workout with as much beating and mixing by hand, but if you like the smell of melting butter as much as I do, it is all worth it. The taste is a lot like a popover, so if you like popovers, it is a recipe that you might like to try. Enjoy.

Grade: B+


Ingredients
½ cup butter
1 cup milk
¾ cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1 Tbs sugar
Honey Optional
1. Generously grease twelve 2.5 in muffin cups, including the edge and around the top of each cup; set aside. In a medium saucepan melt butter; add milk. Bring to boiling. Add flour all at once, stirring vigorously. Cook and stir until mixture forms a ball that does not separate. Remove from heat; cool for 5 minutes.
2. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating for 1 minute with a wooden spoon after each addition or until smooth. Divide dough evenly among prepared muffin cups, filling cups about two-thirds full; sprinkle with sugar.
3. Bake in a 375 degree oven about 30 minutes or until golden brown and puffy. Remove from pan. Serve immediately. If desired, serve with honey.

No pictures of the girls

Tortilla Crisps, Guacamole, Spanish Rice, and Cheese Quesadilla

Just realized that I did not take a picture of the food, sorry.

The homemade part of this dinner was small and wasn't the major aspect of the dish, but it was by far the best. I made the tortilla chips from a recipe I got in my cooking bible, Better Homes and Gardens. I was looking the recipe for guacamole that Jen wanted and this was on the same page. We initially intended to make this a few days earlier when one of my friends from work was coming over and our power went out during a storm. She ended up picking up pizza and this was postponed until tonight's dinner. The chips tasted good and they were perfect for dipping because they were strong. Jen commented that they were better than the baked tortilla chips that they sell. I thought they were good, but I am trying to figure out the best way to add salt and make it stick on the chip. Jen made the guacamole and we, not Anna, all ate and liked it. The quesadilla's were cooked on a regular pan and the Spanish rice was microwaved. Nothing special. Enjoy.

Grade B +

Tortilla Crisps

1. Cut each of twelve 7 or 8 inch flour tortillas into 8 wedges. Spread on-third of the wedges in a 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven 5 to 10 minutes or until dry and crisp; cool. Repeat with remaining wedges. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days or freeze up to 3 weeks.

Guacamole

Ingredients

2 rip avocados
1/2 small onion, cut up

1 clove garlic, minced

2/3 cup chopped tomato

Use a fork to mash up the avocado and mix in the additional ingredients.

Lucy before she started eating

Emily carefully scooping the guacamole

Sarah before the sour cream got all over her face.

You probably can tell from Anna's expression, but we almost banned her to the backyard during dinner.

Cheeseburgers for Dessert?

My wife saw this idea from some cooking blog and it wasn't too hard to make. The bun is a vanilla cupcake cut in half and the burger part is a brownie. Jen made cream cheese frosting and dyed it for the other parts of the burger. Needless to say, it was a hit.

Memorial Day Fun

This post is not really about the recipe that I made because on the menu was corn on the cob, hotdogs, baked beans (from a can) and shish kabobs. Jen made the dessert which is a separate post under Hamburgers for Dessert. Our neighbors came over with their two girls and we had a good time.

Anna taking the hotdog out of her bun because she didn't feel like the hotdog?

The neighbor girls

Chicken Mushroom Risotto

This recipe was super easy and so good. I made this when one of my friends from the school I work at was coming over for dinner. She had to work past the girls' dinner time, so they ate something else (I think macaroni and cheese). All three of us liked it. The next time I make it I would add some cheese to it, I am thinking some Swiss or white cheddar. Also, I added some extra pepper to it and Jen thought it had too big of a "kick" to it. However, ever since the triplets were born, her sensitivity to spice has been heightened.
Sorry...No pictures of the girls since they didn't take part in this meal.

Grade: A

3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 3/4 pound), cut into cubes
1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1 small carrot, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Healthy Request® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 3/4 cups Swanson® Chicken Stock
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup frozen peas

1. Cook the chicken in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until well browned, stirring often. Remove the chicken from the skillet.

2. Stir the onion, carrot and rice in the skillet and cook and stir until the rice is browned.

3. Stir in the soup, stock and black pepper and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.

4. Stir in the peas. Return the chicken to the skillet. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender.

Makes: 4 servings (about 1 1/2 cups each).

Mexican Pizza

Way better than Taco Bell's Mexican Pizza

I stumbled upon this recipe in the Campbells email and I decided to try it. It was amazing. I love the Mexican pizza from taco bell, but most of the time I am disappointed in the lack of ingredients and time the workers spent on slopping the pizza together. This was a pleasant surprised at both the ease of making it and the taste. Everyone liked it and Jen said that it was great and the next day she ate a piece cold and said that it was even better cold. I did not try it cold because I do not like pizza cold, but I will take her word on it. As you can see from the pictures, but triplets were very interested in the sour cream that was on their plate!

Grade: A


1/2 pound Italian pork sausage, casing removed
1 can (about 14.5 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes, drained and cut up
3/4 cup Pace® Picante Sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
4 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese (about 1 cup)
2 cups shredded lettuce
1 medium tomato, chopped (about 1 cup)
Sliced pitted ripe olives

1. Cook the sausage in a 10-inch skillet until it's well browned, stirring often to break up the meat. Pour off any fat.

2. Stir the canned tomatoes, picante sauce and cumin in the skillet and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes or until the sausage is cooked through.

3. Place the tortillas on a 14-inch pizza pan or large baking sheet, overlapping to form a 14-inch round. Spread the sausage mixture over the tortillas to within 1/2-inch of the edge. Bake at 350°F. for 25 minutes.

4. Top the sausage mixture with the cheese. Bake for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Top with the lettuce, chopped tomato and olives. Cut the tostada into 8 wedges. Serve with additional picante sauce, if desired.

Anna, probably singing/talking instead of eating


Lucy seeing how far the cheese will stretch!


Sarah loving the tomatoes!


Emily eating before the sour cream is introduced.

Meatloaf cupcakes with peas and carrots sprinkles

Cupcakes for Dinner!!!

It has been a long time since I have added any meals, recipes, and pictures, but I am back on board. I have been cooking almost as much but I will not be catching up on all of the meals that I missed. This post is one of the favorite meals that I have cooked. It was fun to make and the girls loved it. I am not going to post the recipe that I used because it was a while ago and I cannot remember what one I used.

What I did was make the meatloaf and put it in a muffin pan to cook. I made mashed potatoes to use as the frosting for the cupcake and frozen peas and carrots for the sprinkles. Enjoy.

Grade: A