Easy Corn Chowder

Corn Chowder is one of the those types of meals you can throw together really fast and it has tons of flavor! Start by peeling up 3-4 potatoes and get them cubed and boiled up. Once they are cooked, drain the water then add a can of evaporated milk (fat free), a can of cream style corn (I also added some frozen whole corn too), a can of water, a chicken bouillon cube (or any other chicken stock seasoning), 2-3 tablespoons of margarine, onion powder (about a tablespoon), some thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, and bring it up to medium heat for a few minutes and then take it to a simmer. To this corn chowder, I also added a clove of roasted garlic minced up and four breakfast apple sausages cut up which I cooked while the potatoes were boiling. You could also do bacon or any other type of sausage for lots of flavor.  Enjoy some corn chowder and make it your own!

Cake Pops!!!

In honor of my 31st Birthday, I took the plunge and made cake pops for the first time. I did lots of research and watched lots of youtube videos on how to make them and I think they turned out great! It was quite the process so let me begin on how I did them.

I started with the essentials: a cake mix, tub of icing, chocolate melting wafers, and sticks. I only used one 8" pan and used half the batter and for the other half of the batter I made cupcakes. I just didn't want to be doing this all night so this was the best idea.

Once the cake was baked, I crumbled it up in a bowl and put it in the fridge to cool for about a half hour and decorated my cupcakes while that all cooled. Then to the crumbs I added half of the tub of icing and mixed it up with the mixer until it turned 'fudgey'. After that, I took a tablespoon and formed them into balls and laid them on wax paper on a baking sheet. Now, your hands are going to get quite sticky after making a few so you will have to wash your hands every 3-4 balls. Once the balls were made, they were put in the fridge for another 10 minutes or so just to settle and get tight.

In the meantime, I melted up the chocolate wafers. I found these pastel colored wafers at Homesense for $3.99 a bag and just used one bag for this project. I took the balls from the fridge and dipped my stick into the melted chocolate at the ends and then stuck it into the balls and then back down to the wax paper.

Back into the fridge they went for another 10 minutes and back out they came for the dipping! You may need to reheat your chocolate. Dip the balls in and use a spoon to cover around the tops of the balls and twirl to get off the access chocolate. Keep twirling them until they seem dry and not drippy. Then add your sprinkles and you're done!

They are quite the long process but are super fun to make! Looking forward to making more of these with other colors and sprinkles!

Google 'how to make cake pops' and try them for yourself! They are really delicious and they are cute looking!

Chicken Pot Pie w/ biscuits on top

This recipe is super easy, inexpensive, quick, and a real crowd pleaser! I'm all about quick and easy so trust me when I say that it is. Everyone does their own chicken pie filling differently but here is how I made my own. First, I took an already cooked up roasted chicken and removed all the meat and put it in the fridge until needed. I took a couple of carrots, shaved them, then cut them up and added them to some boiling water and cooked them until soft. Just before they were done I added some frozen peas and corn. In a sauce pan, I opened up two cans of (half the fat) cream of chicken soup with about a cup of milk and whisked it up over medium heat. As for seasonings, I added some onion powder, oregano, thyme, parsley, pepper, and poultry seasoning to the mix. After the sauce has thickened up, in went the veggies and cubed up chicken. I added the mixture to a 9" x 13" glass baking dish. For the biscuit topping, I used two packages of Pillsbury Country Biscuits. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees (or 350 works as well since my oven gets super hot) for about 15 minutes. Out pops this wonderful casserole that tastes and looks great!

I give credit to my sister for introducing me to this recipe which we enjoyed at her house a couple weeks back. The one thing I didn't do which she said to do is cut up the biscuits into four pieces before adding to the top so that the biscuits cook evenly. I did find that some of the biscuits in the middle were a bit gooey so best to take the advice which I will for next time.

For dessert, we enjoyed a banana cream pie! This was a request from my hubby and was also my first time making one but I think it turned out pretty good and was easy to do as well. I used a Pillsbury pie crust then cooked it as directed. From there made the banana cream filling which is just Jello's Banana Cream pie filling. I did one layer of sliced up bananas after the crust was cooked and cooled then added the pie filling and put it in the fridge overnight. Added some whip cream and toasted coconut for garnish!

Sneaky Wrappers

I decided to wrap up our last challenge of 'how to get your kids to eat more fruits and veggies' with these really easy won ton wrappers filled with corn, black beans, chicken, and shredded cheese. Fill these wrappers up with all kinds of different goodies. When you are finished setting down your toppings, brush around the outside with some egg wash, then fold all corners into the center. Get your frying pan on medium heat with some olive oil and fry them for about 30 seconds on each side until golden brown. Cool them on some papertowel.

Since my toddler enjoys dipping his food, I made a side of guacamole on the side with half a ripe avocado, bit of lemon juice, and some low fat sour cream.

This recipe can be found in The Sneaky Chef except it's with a different filling. These wrappers were a great idea and really didn't take much effort.

For dessert, I cut up some of my little guy's favorite fruit with some Greek yogurt mix with Epicure's fruit dip mix for dipping and a Bear Paw cookie. I really enjoyed this week's challenge and learned a lot about feeding my ever growing toddler! Hope you enjoyed the 4 week challenges too!

Banana Bread

Banana Bread w/ Peanut Butter Frosting

Nothing beats the smell of hot banana bread fresh from the oven. I still consider myself to be a 'baking' newbie so I have to admit this was my first bread. I bought two bread pans today and I'm looking forward to many more breads. I searched allrecipes.com and found this easy banana bread recipe which made one loaf. My mom used to put a peanut butter frosting on her banana breads once in awhile so I figured it would be a great addition and found another recipe for a peanut butter glaze. I made my icing more thick without adding too much water but if you want it to have a glaze then just water it down more. I also only had crunchy peanut butter on hand but I think it made it that much better! Here are the recipes:

Banana 'banana' Bread

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Icing

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons water
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter

Directions

1. Stir together the water, sugar, and peanut butter until smooth.

Sneaky Leftover Potato Cakes

Leftover Potato Cakes w/Salmon

For supper yesterday, I was able to use up some leftovers from our supper the night previous into a recipe found in The Sneaky Chef called 'Leftover Potato Cakes'. They were pretty similar to the Salmon Potato Patties I had made before but these didn't have a bread crumb on the outside. I had some mashed up potatoes and leftover salmon to use up so I decided to make this recipe from the sneaky chef and just add in some salmon as well as some shredded cheese, onion powder, oregano, and parsley. I made the cakes small like the pancakes. Now, my little guy didn't eat his mashed potatoes the other night but when I gave him one of these little cakes, boy did he ever enjoy it! I think this is where food needs to look really appealing for kids to want to try new things. I also made a dill sauce with some dill, a touch a lemon juice, and sour cream. I was elated to be able to use up my leftovers. Try it with your own potato leftovers!

Nutrition Highlights: whole grains

Rich in vitamins B6, C, E, iron, potassium, folic acid, manganese, fiber and protein. 

Makes 8 small pancakes

1 cup leftover mashed potatoes

1 to 2 teaspoons whole wheat flour

2 to 4 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup wheat germ, unsweetened

2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon salt

Optional dips: applesauce or low fat sour cream

Mix 1 teaspoon of flour into cold, leftover mashed potatoes. If still too wet, add the other teaspoon of flour. Pinch off tablespoon sizes of the mashed potatoes and use your hands to form about 8 balls. Add the oil to a large skillet and heat over medium high heat. Turn down to medium if oil starts to smoke.

Mix the wheat germ with the parmesan cheese and salt on a plate. Roll the balls in the wheat germ mixture, covering completely. Add 4 potato cakes to the hot skillet, flatten gently with a spatula and cook until they have browned on one side, about 1 to 2 minutes. Turns cakes over with a spatula and cook the other side until golden brown, another 1 to 2 minutes. Repeat with next 4 cakes, adding more oil to the pan as needed.

Place cooked potato cakes on a plate lined with paper towels to blot excess oil.

Sneaky Blueberry Pancakes

Blueberry Pancakes

My little guy really enjoyed his Peanut Butter and Jelly muffin for breakfast yesterday and I decided to make him some pancakes for lunch... the sneaky kind of course! This challenge has been so much fun and is actually giving me more of a variety of what to feed my toddler. It has also taught me that kids eat first by what they see not what they taste, so if it doesn't look fun on the plate then chances are it will end up on the floor even if it's a food he might normally like. All kids have their fussy days, right? I knew the pancakes would go over well and there wasn't anything all that 'sneaky' into the recipe anyways. The thing about these recipes for kids is that you don't have to be exact at everything that it calls for. Just use what you have! I didn't have any almonds so I omitted those and I didn't have any eggs but the pancakes still turned out great! I made them small and added some strawberry jam, banana slices, and whip cream as garnish. It made about 15 and I froze the rest!

Makes about 18 pancakes

3/4 cups Flour Blend (see Make-Ahead Recipe #13)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup blanched, slivered almonds, finely ground in a food processor (omit if allergies)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (or grated fresh apple)
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons honey or pure maple syrup 
1/4 cup chocolate chips 
Butter or cooking spray, for greasing skillet
Optional Extra Boost: 1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Mix together Flour Blend, baking powder, salt and ground almonds (optional). Set aside, if using immediately. (To store for later use, triple the dry ingredients and keep in a sealed, labeled plastic bag. You’ll have instant pancake mix anytime you want it.)

In another bowl, whisk together the applesauce, yogurt, vanilla, milk, egg, and honey (or maple syrup) and optional blueberries, if desired. (If using frozen berries, don’t thaw them before adding; this will prevent bleeding). Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones until just blended. If the batter is too thick, add a little more milk. Add the chocolate chips and mix lightly.

Butter or spray a large skillet over medium heat. Test the pan to see if it’s hot enough by tossing a few drops of water in — it should sizzle. The skillet will grow hotter over time, so turn it down if it starts to smoke.

Drop tablespoons or small ladles of batter onto the skillet in batches. Try to get chocolate chips in with each pancake. When bubbles begin to set around the edges of the pancake and the skillet-side is golden (peek under), gently flip them over. Continue to cook 2 to 3 minutes or until the pancake is set. 

Serve stacked high drizzled with warm maple syrup or, for an extra boost of fruit, Homemade Berry Syrup.