Au Gratin Potatoes

Jeff loves Au Gratin Potatoes so I decided to make them from scratch for his b-day dinner.  Everyone who would try them loved them...i.e. me, Jeff and Amelia.  : )  And they're really not hard to make. 
The original recipe calls for sliced onions to be layered with the potatoes, but I just used a little onion powder in the sauce instead, since Jeff would not have eaten these otherwise.  : )

Creamy Au Gratin Potatoes

4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4" slices
1 onion, sliced into thin rings (or about 1/4 tsp. onion powder)
salt and pepper to taste
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 C. milk
1 1/2 C. shredded Cheddar cheese *

Preheat the oven to 400°.  Butter a 2-quart casserole dish.
Layer 1/2 of the potatoes into the bottom of the prepared dish.  Top with the onion slices, if using, and add the remaining potatoes on top of the onions. 
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
In a medium size saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Mix in the flour and salt, and stir constantly with a whisk for one minute.  Stir in milk.  Cook until mixture has thickened.  Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about 30 to 60 seconds.  Pour cheese over the potatoes, and cover the dish with aluminum foil.
Bake 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven, or until potatoes are done.

(To speed it up a bit, I pre-cooked the potatoes in the microwave for about 10 minutes and then sliced them up.  Then I only had to bake this for about 30-40 minutes in the oven.)

Serves 4

Recipe from allrecipes.com

Maple Fudge

This fudge is just divine.  It might be easy to eat the whole pan without even thinking about it so it's one of those recipes to share. :)  I used fat-free evaporated milk (which is just made with skim milk) and it worked great.  Nothing better than healthy fudge!  haha.

Maple Fudge

1 C butter, cubed
2 C packed brown sugar
1 can (5oz) evaporated milk
1 tsp maple flavoring (such as Mapleine)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
2 C powdered sugar

Line an 8-in square pan with foil; spray foil with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar and milk.  Bring to a full boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat.

Stir in maple flavoring, vanilla and salt.  Add powdered sugar; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes or until smooth.  Immediately spread into prepared pan.  Cool completely.

Using foil, lift fudge out of pan.  Remove foil; cut** into small squares.  Store in an airtight container.

Yield: 1 3/4 pounds

**It's easiest to use a really long knife and make one cut straight down otherwise the fudge will crumble into non-square but still delicious pieces.


From Taste of Home

I really don't like corn dogs from the store or fast food joints, but these are super tasty.  Jeremy loves corn dogs and I tried baking corn dogs to make them a bit healthier, but that didn't work so I gave up and tried these.  They're yummy!

Corn Dogs

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2003

Prep Time: 20 min

Inactive Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 5 min

Serves: 8 corn dogs

Ingredients

• 1 gallon oil
• 1 to 1 ¾ cups yellow cornmeal (enough to make a fairly thick batter)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons (approximately 1 large) jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely minced (optional)
• 1 (8.5-ounce) can cream-style corn
• 1/3 cup finely grated onion
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 4 tablespoons cornstarch, for dredging
• 2 packages hot dogs
  

Directions

Special equipment: 8 sets chopsticks, not separated
Pour oil into a large heavy pot and heat to 375 degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cayenne pepper. In a separate bowl, combine the jalapeno, corn, onion, and buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients all at once, and stir only enough times to bring the batter together; there should be lumps. Set batter aside and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Scatter the cornstarch into a dry pie pan. Roll each hot dog in the cornstarch and tap well to remove any excess.
Transfer enough batter to almost fill a large drinking glass. Refill the glass as needed. Place each hot dog on skewer, and quickly dip in and out of the batter. Immediately and carefully place each hot dog into the oil, and cook until coating is golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. With tongs, remove to cooling rack, and allow to drain for 3 to 5 minutes.

Browned Butter Snickerdoodles

These are scrumptious!

Browned Butter Snickerdoodle Cookies

by Monique of Ambitious Kitchen

Prep Time 40 Minutes Cook Time 10 Minutes

Servings 20

Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

• FOR THE COOKIES:
• 2-½ cups All-purpose Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoons Cream Of Tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoons Cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 2 sticks Unsalted Butter
• 1-¼ cup Dark Brown Sugar
• ½ cups Granulated Sugar
• 1  Egg
• 1  Egg Yolk
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla Yogurt
• FOR THE ROLLING MIXTURE
• ¼ cups Granulated Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
  

Preparation Instructions

For the cookies:
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl and set aside. NOTE: Make sure your baking soda and cream of tartar are fresh!
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. The butter will begin to foam. Make sure you whisk consistently during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan; continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer the butter to a bowl to prevent burning. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
With an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, vanilla, and yogurt until combined. Add the dry ingredients slowly and beat on low speed just until combined.
Chill your dough in the refrigerator (important!) until the dough is cold about 30-60 minutes. If you desire a puffier cookie, keep the dough in the fridge overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Once dough is chilled, measure about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Meanwhile, mix the rolling mixture ingredients in a bowl. Roll balls in the cinnamon-sugar rolling mixture. Place dough balls on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. If you desire a thinner cookie, flatten the tops of the cookies a tiny bit (very tiny) with your hand.
Bake the cookies 7-9 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. They will look a bit underdone in the middle but will continue to cook once out of the oven. Cool the cookies on the sheets at least 2 minutes. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets after a few minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Fiesta Chicken Burritos

This makes for a simple dinner that cooks while you're away - yay!  I did not make it as spicy as the original recipe says but you can play with the spice level if you prefer hotter food.  I also used fat free cream cheese and that worked fine.  I'm taking a burrito in my lunch today - yum.  And easy - hooray.  Maybe next time I'll see how it freezes but cream cheese doesn't always freeze well so...we'll see.

Fiesta Chicken Burritos

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (10oz) diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp pepper
Dash cayenne pepper
8 oz reduced fat cream cheese

Flour tortillas
Shredded lettuce
Sliced olives
Shredded cheddar cheese
Chopped tomatoes
Salsa

Place chicken in a 4-qt slow cooker.  In a large bowl combine corn, beans, tomatoes, and seasonings; pour over chicken.  Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours.

Remove chicken and shred; return to slow cooker.  Cut cream cheese into small squares and stir into chicken mixture.  Cover and cook 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and warmed through.  Stir well to combine.

Fill tortillas with chicken mixture and whatever toppings you like.

Serves 8.

**You can also add a dash of red pepper flakes and 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped with the corn mixture.  


Altered from a recipe in Taste of Home I think.  

Explosive Cooking!

I was getting dinner out of the crock pot the other night and I set the lid on the stove. The stove was not on, by the way, nor had it been on for a long time. After a minute or two there was a loud pop and crash and I looked over to see this:

This is the second glass kitchen item I have had explode on me! What the heck?! Good thing it's Black Friday sale time. And I'm, of course, really glad it didn't explode on our dinner and that I wasn't holding it either. Sheesh!

Double Spaghetti Squash

Back in the days of fast metabolisms, Becky and I really liked to cook a spaghetti squash with lots of butter and each eat half of it for a meal. Yum! This recipe is so good it was tempting me to eat that much again, but now my waistline isn't so forgiving so I used some self-control. And then I got to have the leftovers the next day!
I really like spaghetti squash that isn't cooked to mushiness. I prefer cooking it uncovered with a little butter, salt and pepper. If you like it softer, you can cover it while it cooks and probably get away without the butter in the first step.

Double Spaghetti Squash
1 medium spaghetti squash (about 3 lbs)
butter to taste, optional
4 oz uncooked spaghetti, broken in half
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley (or some dried)
2 T. grated Parmesan
1 T. butter, melted
1 T. chopped fresh oregano or 1 tsp. dried -( fresh is WAY better)
1/2 tsp garlic salt

Heat oven to 350. Cut squash in half and remove the seeds (you can roast them if you want). Put about an inch or two of water in the pan you are going to use to cook the squash. Put the squash in the pan, cut side up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Put some butter in the squash. Cook about 45 minutes or until the squash is as tender as you like it. Reserve one half for dinner tomorrow night.
Cook and drain the spaghetti.
With a fork, scrape the squash strands out and add to the spaghetti noodles, along with the remaining ingredients; toss to combine. Return spaghetti mixture to the shell if desired and serve.

Recipe altered slightly from Betty Crocker. I think. I'm pretty sure.