Holiday Brie Bites

We ended up making another recipe from Lauren Miyashiro on the delish.com.  This recipe was requested by my sister-in-law and we used the recipe for Cranberry Brie Bites as an inspiration.  These are super easy to make and taste fantastic.  You can adjust the recipe a great deal and I am sure that it will come out well.  These are really nice and look pretty on a tray.

Ingredients (makes 24 brie bites)
Cooking spray, for pan & parchment paper
1 (8-oz.) tube crescent dough (low fat works fine here)
1/2 (8-oz.) wheel of brie or slicing brie (around 4 oz)
1/2 cup Cranberry sauce, whole berry (24 tsp)
1/2 cup Nuts, chopped (can mix or match - I used pecans and almonds)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375° and grease a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. On parchment paper, roll out crescent dough, and pinch together seams. Cut into 24 squares. Place squares into muffin tin slots.
3. Cut brie into equal sized pieces (around the size of a quarter and a 1/4" thick) and place in the muffin tins.
4. Top each piece of brie with 1 tsp of cranberry sauce and around 1 tsp chopped nuts (almonds or pecans).
5. Bake until the crescent pastry is golden, about 13-15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Holiday Antipasto Sandwiches

Pam found this great recipe from Lauren Miyashiro from the delish.com website for Antipasto Squares.  We were cooking for our big holiday party and we were looking for an easy crowd pleaser  So we tried these and they were a hit.  We played with the recipe and used a lower-fat crescent roll (so it was a bit better).  Not only did they heat up well for leftovers, but they were great cold.  We will definitely make these again.  The recipe is fairly flexible, so you can add or subtract items as you see fit.  Or more appropriately, if it fits within the sandwich.  We made it in half-portions than were originally called for - and it worked out well. 

Ingredients (each recipe makes one set of 8 sandwiches)
Parchment paper
1 (8-oz.) tube Crescent dough (can be low-calorie)
4 thin slices Ham (from the deli)
10-15 thin slices Pepperoni (or turkey pepperoni)
2-3 thin slices Turkey (from the deli)
2 slices, Provolone cheese
2 slices or 1/4 lbs shredded, Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Pepperoncini, sliced and drained (adjust to taste)
Olive oil spray
1 tbs Grated Parmesan
1 tsp Oregano, dried

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place one unrolled can of crescents on prepared baking sheet and pinch together seams. Layer ingredients on one half of the crescent roll (below the center seam).  Layer ham, half the pepperoni, turkey, the other half of pepperoni, provolone cheese, mozzarella cheese, and the drained pepperoncini.
3. Fold the top half (without ingredients) down towards the bottom to make the contents covered with dough.  Pinch the seal at the edges of to make a good seal (it does not have to be perfect).
4. Lightly spray the top with olive oil (or brush).  Then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and oregano.
5. Bake for 32-35 minutes (until dough is golden and cooked through).  Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing into 8 squares.  A pizza cutter here works well.

Enjoy with marinara sauce for dipping the edges.

Christmas Quiche

If you have a bunch that you need to bring a dish to - I think I have a good suggestion!  I adapted this recipe from my Spinach and Mushroom Quiche that I have been making for a while.  We wanted something else for a holiday gathering and with Jeremy's help, we came up with this new quiche.  It was going to be called a Western Quiche based on the fact that it was similar to a Western Omelette.  But in the end, I think I will call it as Christmas Quiche, because it has green and red peppers.  This naming comes from Mexican cooking (I think) as it has both red and green peppers in it.  Regardless of how it is named, it is really nice to have another quiche to cook.  This is great for brunch or any meal and we will definitely make it again.

Ingredients (serves 4-5)
1 Frozen deep dish pie crust
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 cup Green pepper, diced
1 cup Red pepper, diced
1 small Yellow onion, diced
8 oz Ham, diced
1 1/4 cup Skim milk
6 Large eggs
1 1/4 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 tsp Black pepper
1/2 tsp Kosher salt

Directions
1. Bake pie crust per directions.  Then change the temperature to 400°F for the quiche.
2. In non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoon olive oil and cook peppers and onions for around 5 minutes.  Add ham to saute pan and cook an additional 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, add ham mixture with skim milk, eggs, cheese, black pepper and salt until well blended.
4. Place the pie crust on a Jelly Roll pan.  Pour vegetable mixture into deep dish pie crust.  Bake quiche 45-50 minutes until filling and crust are golden and knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Let sit 5 minutes and then serve.

Enjoy!

Almond Joy Cookies

When you see someone of facebook sharing a cookie recipe - it is typically one of the easy ones.  In fact, the lasted trend are the video recipes - making a good looking dish super easy to make.  Thus is the case for these really easy and tasty cookies that we are calling Almond Joy cookies.  There are a bunch of variations on the web for these Macaroon-like cookies.  They make a great addition to any holiday tray - or for a cold winter's day when you do not want to leave the house.  They are super easy, super tasty and super....well, maybe not super healthy.  I guess just don't have them as a meal replacement!

We made these a bit big - but just as tasty!

Ingredients (makes around 20-24 cookies)
14 oz bag Sweetened coconut flakes
2 cups (or 12 oz bag) Semi-sweet chocolate chios
3/4 cup Slivered almonds
1/4 tsp Sea salt
14 oz can Sweetened condensed milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325°.
2. Place parchment paper on two cookie sheets
3. Combined all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
4. Using a small cookie scoop or large spoon, place balls of the mixture on the parchment paper.  They should be around 1 1/2-2 inches round (or 4-5cm).
5. Bake for 12-14 minutes until brown.
6. Cool on the baking sheets.

Enjoy!

Sauteed Carrots with Sage

Sauteed Carrots with Sage

   

 This is another side that I am going to make a staple in our Thanksgiving dinner. This is a very easy side, but very tasty. It works great for any big meal, like Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter. This was adapted from a recipe from Cooking Light.

Ingredients (for 8 servings)
2 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp Olive oil
2 cups Carrot, sliced diagonally (or baby cut carrots cut in half longwise)
4 tbsp Water
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp Black pepper
1/2 tsp Sage, dried

Directions
1. Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. 
2. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Then add carrots and water. Partially cover pan and cook 10 minutes or until carrots are almost tender. 
3. Add kosher salt, black pepper and dried sage to the pan.  Increase the heat to medium-high and cook 4-6 additional minutes or until carrots are tender and lightly browned, stirring frequently.

Enjoy as a great side with meals.

Scalloped Potatoes

Adapted from a very cryptic recipe from my mother-in-law and the recipe for Campbell's Scalloped Potatoes found at Food.com. These are a great non-fussy recipe that seems to happily cook longer than listed if you need some time for other other dishes to catch up. Note the picture is a triple batch!

Ingredients
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can Campbell's condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup Skim milk
1 tbsp Dried parsley
salt and pepper (to taste)
4 cups peeled and thinly sliced White potatoes (used a mandolin set to 3/16" - about a pound and a half)
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp Paprika
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top (no need to multiply if you increase the recipe).

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Combine soup, milk, parsley, salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. In 1 1/2 quart casserole, arrange alternate layers of potatoes, onions and soup mixture. Top layer should be soup mixture.
4. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and then a dash a paprika.
5. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Uncover & bake for 20 more minutes or until potatoes are done.

Enjoy with almost entree!

NOTE: This will often cook with other entrees - so you might need to tweak the temperature.  Here are some alternative temperatures and timing:

325 degrees - Cook for 1 hour 45 minutes with cover & 40 minutes uncovered.