Cheesy Mashed Potato Cakes

Potatoes are a favorite side dish but it's also an ingredient that can be pretty versatile. Take for example, mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes can be pretty plain unless you get adventurous and throw in some additional ingredients for more flavor and texture. To take it a step further, why not make potato cakes out of leftover mashed potatoes? These Cheesy Mashed Potato Cakes gives plain old mashed potatoes a whole new delicious style. Made with your favorite creamy mashed potatoes with some fresh green onions or chives mixed in and a little shredded cheese, this side dish will have you making mashed potatoes a whole different way...

Spinach, Leek & Garlic Rice

I hope you all had a wonderful {and delicious!} Christmas with loved ones, for all those that celebrated. This week I'll be focused on some side dishes we enjoyed during our holiday meals which could easily be made for everyday meals all throughout the year. In our house, it's not a meal unless rice is involved. That's pretty much the standard in our house at least. There's something about rice that just completes the meal and gives us that satisfying feeling. So when we had a traditional glazed ham dinner for Christmas, I knew rice had to be on the menu. This Spinach, Leek & Garlic Rice fit the bill since the rice was perfectly flavored with spinach, leeks and garlic. It accompanied the ham deliciously and is a great side dish that's gluten free...

Apple-Maple Glazed Chicken

Do you ever get into a cooking rut or find yourself preparing the same meals in a predictable rotation? I do. It tends to happen more often when I'm caught up with the daily grind and haven't had a chance to relax and plan out recipes I've been meaning to try. Well, I had a little bit of free time recently (which is so rare these days) and was reminded of this recipe for Apple-Maple Glazed Chicken. It's a little sweet, a little savory and the glaze does something magical to plain old chicken...

Baby Back Ribs

I want my baby back, baby back, baby back, baby back ribs... We all know the jingle. Chili's Restaurant certainly had us singing their tune whenever we caught their commercial. And before you know it, you may have found yourself craving some baby back ribs shortly thereafter. It's been awhile since I've made baby back ribs so when there was a sale on baby back ribs at a local grocery store, it was easy to figure out what to have for dinner. More than anything, I just wanted lip-smacking, finger-licking good ribs, just like the Chili's commercial... only better. And thanks to Alton Brown, we got just that. These Baby Back Ribs will have you singing in no time!

6 Eggs-tra Special Breakfasts

Continuing on with my love of breakfast dishes to inspire you for the upcoming Christmas and New Year's Day holiday mornings (as well as mornings throughout the year), eggs are a definite must on any breakfast menu! Aside from preparing them the usual way (scrambled, sunny side up, over easy, etc), at our house, we love using eggs to make omelets, frittatas, or quiche... especially when we have random ingredients to use up. Omelets, frittatas and quiche serve as the perfect vehicle to gather up vegetables, cheeses and meats you have on hand. Here are some of our favorite omelet and quiche recipes that are make for 6 Eggs-tra Special Breakfasts...

Denver Omelette

Diner Style Omelette

Smoked Salmon Frittata

Vegetable Frittata

Spinach & Mushroom Quiche

Bacon Brie & Artichoke Quiche

Leek & Sausage Stuffed 'Shrooms

If at first you don't succeed, try try again. This is one saying that needs to be up on my kitchen walls as a constant reminder. Sometimes when I try a new recipe, I'll get so psyched with great expectations... only to have a complete bummer on the plate. The most recent 'bummer' I had was a stuffing I made for Thanksgiving. I was leery about trying it again for another holiday dinner but thankfully it came out much better the second time around - if not better than I hoped.  I don't know if it was the toasted {gluten free} bread, savory sausage, leeks or even the portabello mushrooms the stuffing sat upon... but whatever I did, these Leek & Sausage Stuffed 'Shrooms made me a believer of {gluten free} stuffing once again!

Four French Toast Favorites...

What's your breakfast of champions? If you're like me, there are just too many great breakfast foods to pick just one. So far we've covered pancakes and cinnamon rolls. How about french toast to add to the list? Before being gluten free, I would stock up on various breads during the week and use them for french toast on the weekends. Making both sweet and even savory versions were a great way to use up the bread we had. A simple dip in egg and milk custard wash and a gentle pan fry in a touch of butter was all it took for these to put a smile on our breakfast table. Here are Four of our French Toast Favorites that are wonderful for the holidays and all year round...

Cinnamon French Toast with Cinnamon Syrup

Raspberries & Cream Stuffed French Toast

Cinnamon Roll French Toast

Savory Rosemary Garlic & Sundried Tomato French Toast

5 Cinnamony Rolls to Wake Up To...

Thank goodness for the weekends. This is the busy time at work so I yearn for the weekends to just relax with my family and get my kitchen therapy in. Since I'm embracing everything the weekend offers, I'm sleeping in, enjoying lazy mornings and lately, breakfast has been my favorite meal. In the minimal time I have to check out my favorite food blogs and food sites these days, there are so many delicious posts on holiday meals, appetizers and desserts that I wonder what happened to the breakfast love?! I posted last week about some make ahead morning ideas but this week, I'm going to feature some other breakfast favorites. Besides, after all these wonderful holiday mornings, I know I'm going to need some tasty reasons to wake up to as we get back to the post-holiday daily grind!

Cinnamon rolls used to be something I either purchased from the bakery or rolled out of a cardboard tube before I felt comfortable using yeast. Now I wonder why I was even intimidated by yeast at all! Soon enough, I was making homemade cinnamon rolls and they are so much better than what I had before. They're not only delicious but great to make in various ways and incorporating different flavors. Here are 5 of my favorite cinnamon rolls recipes, which will make it easier to wake up in the morning... I promise!

Orange Cinnamon Rolls

Overnight Banana Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls

Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

Brioche Mini Brioche Cinnamon Buns

Cinnamon Rolls with Fondant Glaze

Chocolate Peppermint Snowflakes

It's snowing a sweet storm of chocolates in my corner of the world! I've been enjoying this holiday season by squeezing in some kitchen time and I recently made these Chocolate Peppermint Snowflakes for coworkers. (They're getting quite spoiled by me these past few weeks!) It's all about the presentation since the ever popular holiday treat, peppermint bark gets a creative look. When you bite into these snowflakes, you'll get a layer of rich chocolate topped with white chocolate with bits of crushed candy canes floating about. I seriously need to make more because they're super addicting, aside from being super cute...

Sticky Wings

Appetizers are one of my weaknesses. I can easily make a meal out of appetizers and after a long day, sometimes enjoying various appetizers are just as enjoyable as a traditional dinner. Hands down, chicken wings are my favorite appetizer and I don't think I can ever get sick of them. Besides, with so many ways to prepare chicken wings, it's easy to try new recipes. The most recent one I've tried are for these Sticky Wings. Chicken wings are coated and slow cooked with a sweet and savory sauce before getting broiled for a nice texture. These are definitely finger-licking good!...

Make Ahead Holiday Mornings

While many folks are thinking about what to serve for the holiday dinners coming up, let's not forget about the mornings! Growing up, our Christmas mornings usually consisted of leftovers of our Noche Buena, a feast of dishes served just after midnight mass on Christmas Eve. As much as I loved our Noche Buenas leftovers as a child, I've looked forward to more traditional American breakfast favorites on Christmas morning. Rather than getting up at the crack of dawn to prepare breakfast favorites, I'm all about making things ahead of time so I can sleep in and ease into the day. But the question is, what are some make ahead breakfast options? This is what a reader recently asked that sparked this post. So here are some sweet and savory Make Ahead Holiday Mornings ideas so you can get some extra sleep,  have less stress and enjoy a lot more time with loved ones...

Muffins & Scones make great make ahead pastries because you can bake them up, cool, wrap and freeze ahead of time. To freeze, you can place them in a gallon sized freezer bag or individually wrap each muffin/scone with plastic wrap before placing them in a freezer bag. The night before you plan on serving them, just take them out of the freezer and set them out on the counter to come to room temperature. By morning, they'll be ready as is or a quick warm up in the oven. Aside from the link above, here's an additional 10 Muffin Recipes to Wake Up To...

One of my son's favorite breakfasts is pancakes. The beauty about pancakes is that they can also be made ahead, frozen and heated up quickly to serve up. At our house, I tend to have more pancake batter than I expect when making a recipe so there's always plenty to make and freeze to enjoy later. Have fun jazzing up the batter or including some add-ins like fresh fruit, sweet spices, chopped nuts, or even chocolate. Prepare the pancakes as you normally would and cool completely. You can then transfer the cooled pancakes onto a baking sheet in a single layer and freeze until firm... or stack them with parchment or wax paper in between each pancake before placing them in a freezer bag. You can either toast them in the morning straight out of the freezer or defrost the night. Here are 5 Pancake Recipes for Christmas Morning...

Southwestern Breakfast Burritos

After my son was born, we lived on these burritos every morning. I made a large batch using up a full package of burrito sized tortillas, wrapped each one up in foil and froze. In the mornings, we'd remove the burrito from the foil wrapper, wrap it in a damp paper towel and popped it in the microwave for a few minutes until warm. Heaven in a tortilla! In fact, I should make some more soon because it's been awhile since I've had these. (Which, by the way, are much better than any breakfast burrito from a fast food chain!)

Bagels & Garden Veggie Cream Cheese

If you don't want to fuss with the oven or stovetop, this recipe is for you. Forget buying those flavored cream cheeses at the store and make it yourself. Chop up fresh, colorful veggies and combine with softened cream cheese, fresh herbs and seasonings for a delicious spread on bagels!

Chicken & Apple Breakfast Patties

Those fancy, 'gourmet' breakfast sausages can be pricey but did you know you can make them yourself at home for a fraction of the cost? Try these chicken and apple breakfast patties which you can prepare in advance and freeze. They're versatile too in that you can form them into meatballs, crumble in other dishes or just make patties to enjoy for breakfast! Some other sausage ideas include these Spicy Pork Breakfast Sausage Patties,

Apple Cinnamon Monkey Bread

Consider this monkey bread that you'll go ape for. Packed with fresh chopped apples seasoned with cinnamon sugar and glazed with a brown sugar and butter sauce, who could say no to a piece? This breakfast treat is one you can prep the day (or two) before and bake up as you're getting ready. Paired with a cup of coffee, you're good to go!

Ham & Gruyere Crescent Rolls

These crescent rolls are so easy to prepare and even tastier to fill! As a ham & cheese sandwich lover, it's no surprise that's what I filled these with first. After that went deliciously well, I plan on playing with other savory fillings. Another reason why I love this recipe is that once baked, the rolls freeze beautifully and can be heated in the oven, toaster oven or even the microwave. Once heated up, they're as delicious as they were fresh out of the oven the first time. So if you're looking for a make ahead sandwich that can even be frozen, this is it!

Christmas Cookie Truffles

If you've grown tired of cookies with all the many cookie swaps taking place this time of year, you're not alone. About this time, I'm pretty much cookie'd out from baking, swapping and eating! But what do you do if you have way too many cookies and everyone around you are sick of them? Here's an idea. Make some Christmas Cookie Truffles using leftover cookies or whatever cookies you like. These are a great way to enjoy those holiday cookies without having them go to waste. Besides, anything dipped in chocolate has to be good, right?!...

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011!

It's raining cookies up in my kitchen! This holiday season has been quite a delicious one with all the various cookie swaps I participated in. The most recent was the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. Hosted by the lovely ladies from Love and Olive Oil and The Little Kitchen, they coordinated quite a sweet feat of pairing each participating food blogger with 3 others to swap cookies. Everyone received one dozen cookies from each person they were paired with and today is the big reveal of our stash and recipes!

I received the following cookies from some wonderful food bloggers. I should have indicated that I was gluten free when I signed up, but I was so eager to participate, it didn't matter. There's never a problem finding folks to eat up cookies around here! Of the three kinds of cookies I received, I was thrilled one was gluten free. As for the others, I snuck in a little nibble before sharing them with my husband. Below are the cookies I received along with the amazing bloggers who sent them. Please click on their blog links for their cookie recipes!

Cranberry Chocolate Almond Biscotti
from Lisa of The Splattered Apron
I had a small piece which I dipped into some coffee. I loved how the chocolate melted slightly and how all the flavored worked so well! Thank you Lisa for such a delicious start to my day!

Molasses Ginger Cookies

from Rachel of Little Chef Big Appetite
These cookies had a lovely, soft texture with a perfect balance of sweet molasses and spicy ginger. These were especially delicious with a hot cup of earl gray tea. Thank you Rachel for these tasty cookies!

Zimsterne
from Kelly of The Culinary Enthusiast
These cookies were gluten free and I didn't hesitate eating one right away. Made with almond meal, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and honey, these were wonderful. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of these cookies because once I opened up the package, my family and I ate these up. Thank you Kelly for these gluten free treats!

So now that I covered what I received, here's what I sent to fellow food bloggers. I jumped the gun and actually posted the recipe last week but I'll post them again. I made my holiday favorite, Crinkle Cookies. (You can read the personal background about these cookies in the link...). As for who I made them for, I was assigned the following food bloggers for the swap, who received an assortment of Crinkle Cookies I made:

Sarah of Daily Nibbles

Bonnie of Bonnie the Baker

Phyl of Of Cabbages and King Cakes

This year I made 4 kinds of crinkle cookies using 4 different cake mixes - Devil's Food, Caramel, Apple Spice and Carrot Cake. Each one came out beautifully and friends loved them. I'm pretty sure my co-workers will enjoy them too! Feel free to use whatever cake mix flavor you prefer... but Devil's Food is definitely my favorite. I haven't tried this recipe using any gluten free cake mixes but I plan to. If you happen to give it a try with a gluten free cake mix, please let me know how they came out!

Crinkle Cookies

recipe adapted from Betty Crocker

1 box cake mix of your choice
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1/4 cup powdered sugar for dusting


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the dry cake mix, oil and eggs. Mix together with a wooden spoon until fully combined.

Shape dough into 24 evenly sized balls.

Place the powdered sugar in a small bowl and roll the dough balls in the sugar to coat.

Place the powdered balls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes to set.

Remove from oven and allow to rest for 1 minute on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

Slow Cooked Chicken with White Wine Mushroom Sauce

If there's one small kitchen appliance I'm in love with right now, it's my slow cooker. It's helped make my weeknight dinners easier by having things hot and ready by the time I get home. Now as much as I love my slow cooker, there is one ingredient that I will never, if not rarely, put into my slow cooker. That ingredient? Well, that would be canned condensed cream soups. Often times, they are used in slow cooker recipes and it just isn't an ingredient I keep in my kitchen. And for those that associate slow cooker recipes with cream soups, there are recipes out there that don't need the extra sodium from those cans! This Slow Cooked Chicken with White Wine Mushroom Sauce is a dish that has no canned cream soup involved and it's every bit delicious. Bone in chicken breasts are seared to a nice brown before being nestled into a bed of carrots and a flavorful sauce of white wine, chicken broth, garlic, onions and caramelized mushrooms. It cooks up in a few hours until the chicken is super tender and moist...

Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

Oh how I love chocolate and peppermint together this time of year! Once December hits, I'm all about hot chocolate with a hint of peppermint. So it's no wonder that combining the two in cupcake form would be something only fitting for the holidays. These Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes have the perfect balance of chocolate and peppermint, topped with a creamy peppermint buttercream frosting and garnished with crushed peppermint candies. It's beginning to taste a lot like Christmas....

Pesto Meat Sauce

 

No need to adjust the color on your screen. If you automatically read 'Pesto' in the title of this post and expected something green on a plate, you're not alone. My husband gave me a strange look when I told him we were having spaghetti with a Pesto Meat Sauce and this was served. So where's the bright, vibrant basil green pesto? It's in the sauce, my friends... it's in the sauce! This pasta sauce involves seasoning ground beef with homemade pesto and slow cooking over hours for deep, rich flavor....

Salsa Verde Chicken Chilaquiles

If there's an ingredient I have completely embraced, it's corn tortillas. Who knew how important this versatile ingredient could be for me?! Since being gluten free, I've grown more in love with Mexican cuisine and dishes inspired by common Mexican ingredients. Take for example these Salsa Verde Chicken Chilaquiles. This dish is full of flavor and texture where seasoned chicken breast is tossed with crisp tortilla strips, creamy Colby and Jack cheeses, and salsa verde. The dish is baked until golden brown and served with cool sour cream and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro. It's slightly crunchy, slightly creamy and a whole lot of yummy...

Kamayan Citrus Shrimp

I'm a lazy eater... at least when it comes to seafood. I just don't feel like putting the energy trying to crack open steamed crab legs, shuck fresh oysters, suck up crawfish or even peel shell-on steamed shrimp. Thank goodness for shortcuts like 'E-Z' peel shrimp where the shells have been partially cut for you, hence, making it easy to peel. That's probably as much effort I'll put in for seafood lol. But trust me, you don't want to wait longer than you have to when it comes to this Kamayan Citrus Shrimp. Plump shrimp are seasoned and quickly fried before tossing in a citrus sauce. If you're a fan of shrimp, this is definitely for you...

Crinkle Cookies

Every year without fail since high school, I make Chocolate Crinkle Cookies during the holidays. It isn't exactly a cookie that is specifically a holiday cookie, but it conjures up some fun memories around Christmastime for me. One year, I decided to make a ridiculous amount to give co-workers (all 125 of my fellow team members) when everyone received a dozen all packaged up. Another year, I made another crazy amount to give to the lovely folks who resided at Lambs Farm, a community dedicated to developmentally challenged adults, since I worked there part time for a few years. It seems as most of the memories I have involved making these cookies to give and share. This year is no exception. I started working back in the corporate world a few weeks ago and decided to make my fellow co-workers my beloved chocolate crinkle cookies along with other variations...

Ultimate Sunday Fun Day Holiday Giveaway Winner!

Happy Sunday! It's been an extremely long week for me as I'm still transitioning and getting used to working full time again. If anything, it's got me really focused on meal planning for the week and applying some tricks to prep a lot of our weekly meals in advance. Sundays have now been designated as my day in the kitchen to do all my meal prep so that I spend the least amount of time in the kitchen during the week after a long day in the office. So far, so good and I'm looking forward to sharing some of our weeknight meals here! On top of that, I spent a whole lot of time this afternoon on some holiday baking. Hopefully all the folks that I'll be giving out the sweet treats will enjoy them! Are you doing any holiday baking this year? If so, what's on your baking plan?

Last week, several of my friends at various companies sponsored the giveaway. This ultimate Sunday Fun Day Holiday Giveaway includes 10 items all bundled up into one for a lucky reader. With 4 amazing cookbooks, 3 fun food inspired games, 2 essential kitchen tools and 1 set of gourmet spices, this giveaway will surely make a foodie pretty happy. Here's a big Congratulations to the winner of this past week's giveaway! Please shoot me an email at itsjoelen@gmail.com to claim your prize...

Ultimate Sunday Fun Day Holiday Giveaway!

Winner: Comment #38!

Thank you to all those that responded! You've given me some new foodie items to covet and put on my own holiday wish list. There's no giveaway this week but I'll have one last giveaway to finish off the end of the year so stay tuned... it just might be one of the items you've got on your wish list!

Holiday Cookie Swap 2011: Mint Brownie Biscotti

It's been quite a tradition to participate in an annual cookie exchange/swap during the first weekend of December and this year is no exception! This weekend, I'm participating in 3 different swaps - one with girlfriends, another with fellow foodies around Chicagoland and lastly, one with fellow food bloggers around the country. Talk about a lot of cookies going 'round! Although I'm gluten free, I'm not going to let that stop me from participating. Besides, for me, cookie exchanges are all about making and sharing. I plan on sharing the gluten laden cookies I receive to those who can enjoy them!

But first, I have to thank the wonderful folks at Glad and FoodBuzz who helped making my holiday baking even more meaningful this year. Together, Glad and FoodBuzz teamed up to offer me the opportunity to participate in the Glad to Give campaign through a holiday cookie exchange. This campaign is a non-profit that raises funds to support pediatric cancer research for Cookies for Kids' Cancer. In fact, if you host a Cookie Exchange or Bake Sale to benefit Cookies for Kids' Cancer, Glad will donate $.10 for each cookie exchanged or sold this November-December, up to $100,000! Please visit Cookies for Kids' Cancer to register your event and share your success...

When it comes to cookie exchanges, my go-to cookie to make are biscotti. They're wonderful with coffee or tea, can keep longer than most cookies and are sturdy to withstand mailing too! I also love making them in all sorts of flavors so they're quite versatile as well. So for my cookie swaps this weekend, I prepared several types of biscotti to exchange, swap and ship to friends for the holiday. One kind I made were these Mint Brownie Biscotti. It's a delicious combination of brownie and biscotti studded with mint chips throughout... making it the perfect accompaniment with coffee, tea and hot chocolate!

Mint Brownie Biscotti
recipe adapted from AllRecipes

1/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour {or gluten free flour blend}
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup Andes mint chips
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease baking sheets, or line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa and baking powder; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. Dough will be stiff, so mix in the last bit by hand. Mix in the mint chips.

Shape the dough into an 9x4x1 inch loaf and place onto baking sheet. Brush with mixture of water and yolk.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm. Cool on baking sheet for 30 minutes.

Using a serrated knife, slice the loaves diagonally into 1 inch slices. Return the slices to the baking sheet, placing them on their sides. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes on each side, or until dry. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program,
I received a holiday baking kit and stipend from Glad..