Lemon Scones

These scones are very moist and very delicious! The original recipe calls for Meyer lemons, which is probably even better, but they're also more expensive so I just used regular-joe lemons and it tasted great. It also mixed in a cup of diced strawberries, but Jeremy doesn't like fruit chunks so I just served sliced strawberries on the side. Yum!


Lemon Scones

from Goodlifeeats.com

For the scones:
4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
Zest of 2 medium-large lemons
1 cup cold butter
2 large eggs
1/3 cup lemon juice - about 3 lemons
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Zest the lemons and combine with the sugar in a small bowl. Using your fingers, rub the sugar and zest together to combine. This will help release the oils and aroma of the lemons.

Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar (combined with zest), and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse sand. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, lemon juice, buttermilk, and vanilla together.

Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture until the dough is moist, but do not over mix. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead a couple of times until the texture is more uniform and the dry bits have been incorporated.

Divide dough into two equal balls. Pat each ball into an 8 inch circle. Place each ball onto a greased cookie sheet. Score each circle with a knife into 6 wedges.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15-20 (for small individual circle scones) or 30-40 minutes (for the 8 inch circles), or until done and very lightly golden. Allow the scones to cool completely.

Meanwhile, stir powdered sugar, milk, and lemon juice together. Drizzle over cooled scones.

Serve with sliced strawberries!

Seven Layer Tortilla Pie

Not beautiful to photograph but quite tasty!

2 (15 ounce) cans pinto beans, drained
1 cup salsa, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
7 flour tortillas
2 cups shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, mash pinto beans. Stir in 3/4 cup salsa and garlic.

In a separate bowl, mix together 1/4 cup salsa, cilantro, black beans and tomatoes.

Place 1 tortilla in a 9 inch round cake pan. Spread 3/4 cup pinto bean mixture over tortilla to within 1/2 inch of edge. Top with 1/4 cup cheese, and cover with another tortilla. Spread with 2/3 cup black bean mixture, and top with 1/4 cup cheese. Repeat layering twice. Cover with remaining tortilla, and spread with remaining pinto bean mixture and cheese.

Cover with foil, and bake in a preheated oven for about 40 minutes. Cut into wedges, and serve with salsa and sour cream.

Serves 6

Note: Carrie and I thought this would be a great way to use left over "Refrieds Without the Refry" beans and skip using the 2 cans of pinto beans.
Another note: Don't leave the cilantro out! It really adds wonderful flavor!

From allrecipes.com

Avocado Quesadillas with Black Beans and Cheddar

I've finally been trying some of the recipes from Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook. One of them is the Avocado Spread in this recipe. She mentioned that her daughter has it in her quesadillas and that gave me the idea for these. You could add tomatoes, sour cream (Ava liked to eat these dipped in sour cream) or whatever else you wanted. We all loved them though!

Avocado Quesadillas with Black Beans and Cheddar

6 inch tortillas
avocado spread
refried black beans
shredded cheddar cheese

Avocado Spread:
1 cup pureed avocado
½ cup plain yogurt
1 Tbsp lowfat mayo
1 Tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder

Combine all ingredients for avocado spread until well mixed.

To assemble quesadillas, sprinkle cheddar on one half of the quesadilla (the half already down in the skillet). On the other half, spread about 3 Tbsp refried black beans, followed by about the same amount of avocado spread. Place face down on top of the cheese layer and cook over medium heat until cheese is melted and tortilla is golden brown.

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

I have actually wanted to try making these for a few months but lost the recipe so I was glad to see it on Our Best Bites today. Normally I don't really like chickpeas, but when they're cooked this way they get crispy and highly munchable. My kids were even eating them. In fact Cameron took the bowl for himself and told me not to get his balls and that he's not going to let me have any. (Fine with me kiddo! You eat all the chickpeas you want since you're potty trained now! Ha ha!) He's keeping his water bottle nearby because they do have a little spice to them, but it must not bother him too much! You can alter the spiciness to your tastes. I used 1/8 tsp rather than 1/4 tsp of the cayenne.

The original recipe actually comes from a site called What's Gaby Cooking. I've included her original spices as a variation. (I haven't tried that combo yet).

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas
1 15-oz can chickpeas
1 1/2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. cumin

Preheat oven to 400. Drain and rinse chickpeas and pat dry with paper towels. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the oil and spices. Toss the chickpeas in the spice mixture and spread the seasoned chickpeas over a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes and then use a spatula to stir the chickpeas around a bit. Return to the oven and cook for another 15-20 minutes or until browned (but not burned) and crispy. Allow to cool.

Spice Variation:
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. paprika

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Supreme

I really like chocolate chip cookies with oatmeal. As a kid, I always got the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie for my free cookie from the grocery store. Oddly enough, I've had this recipe since we got married and I've never tried it until this week. Duh! Probably because it takes more ingredients than I typically put into a chocolate chip cookie - it has a grated chocolate bar as well as chocolate chips. But, that being said, I think these would still be good without the grated chocolate bar.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Supreme

1 c. butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
2 1/2 c. oats (measure it then blend dry in a blender to look like a flour)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 bag (12 oz) chocolate chips
1 8-oz Hershey or Symphony bar, grated, optional
1 1/2 c. chopped nuts, optional

Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Add chocolate chips, grated chocolate and nuts, if using. Roll into balls. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

Yield: About 100 cookies, depending on the size you roll.

Spring-form Fiasco

Becky spent a lot of time making a lemon tart thing in the spring-form pan. While we were eating dinner the timer alerted us that the tart was finished baking. I told Becky that I'd get it out of the oven and show it to her so she could make sure it was done. With both hands in oven mitts I picked up the pan. Left hand holding the pan and right hand under the pan apparently applying too much pressure on the bottom of the pan. The bottom of the pan tipped up, the tart spilled out all over the bottom of the oven. The same oven I'd just cleaned a week ago.
I gasped! The oven sizzled as the filling poured out all over! I cried "Oh no!" Everyone wanted to know what happened. I showed them what was left of the tart and admitted that perhaps I didn't actually know how to pick up a spring-form pan properly. However, I do think it might be a good idea to place a spring-form pan on a cookie sheet in the oven. Just sayin'.


We did try what was left of the tart and Becky will be posting the recipe soon......

All that filling burning onto my clean oven. How sad.

The next day, Alan cleaned all the sticky mess out of the bottom of the oven. At least he thought he got it all. Apparently it leaked over the sides of that bottom piece and onto the elements. Late that night, J turned on the oven to make a pizza and smoke began to pour out of the oven and then flames erupted! He ran upstairs and pounded on our door and Alan went down and they put the fire out and J had to throw the pizza away :( The house STILL smells like smoke - Gag! I opened two windows and turned on the attic fan and the temperature outside was a chilly 22 degrees. I would say this little spill has earned the title - Fiasco!

Roasted Tomato Soup

This is absolutely the best tomato soup I've ever had. Jeremy really doesn't like tomato soup (he was so excited to see this on the menu!) but he even admitted that this is pretty darn good.

Roasted Tomato Soup

1 1/4 lb. Ripe Tomatoes (about 4 Large Tomatoes)
1/3 Medium Yellow Onion
4 Garlic Cloves
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 tsp. Salt
Pepper
1 1/2 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1 Tbsp. Tomato Paste
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream or Half and Half, optional


1. Preheat the oven to 350′. Cut the tomatoes and onion into wedges. Spread them on a rimmed baking sheet – don't separate onion pieces too much or the thin pieces will burn. Drizzle with the olive oil (I didn't measure this, I just drizzled some from the bottle) and sprinkle the salt and a generous amount of pepper on top. Tuck the garlic cloves somewhere in a tomato, so they don’t burn. Roast on the middle rack for 30-40 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down and everything is looking roasted. Remove and cool slightly.
2. Warm the broth and stir in the tomato paste to dissolve. Add the all of the ingredients from the roasting pan into the broth and let it gently simmer for 5-10 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the pan – if you pour the soup into a regular blender, hold the lid on very tight when you start to blend because the steam will force the soup up and it will splatter everywhere! The soup should be smooth, with a tiny bit of texture. Return it back to the pot, and add the cream to taste (I didn't use this), if using. Taste for salt and pepper.
3. Serve with some garlic bread or broil a few slices with a piece of mozzarella on top.

**I didn't use the cream and I didn't miss it.