Cheesecake Stuffed Churros - total time 20 minutes

I don't know what rock I have been living under for so long... but I had never heard of churros until last year.  I love cinnamon sugar, how could I have never heard of these delicious treats?!  And there is a super easy way to make them, well, something very similar.  Add some cheesecake filling and you're in heaven.

1 cup cream cheese
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 pkg puff pastry
.5 cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
3 tbsp butter, melted

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine cream cheese, egg, and vanilla and beat together.  Roll out pastry dough and cut each sheet into 6 sections. 
2.  Scoop a little over a tablespoon of cheesecake mixture on top of the pastry.  Fold pastry and press closed with a fork.  Bake for 10 minutes.  While baking, combine sugar and cinnamon.
3.  Brush pastry with melted butter and coat with cinnamon sugar mixture.

Vegetarian Hot Pockets - total time 30 minutes

Eggs are not just for breakfast and baking.  They are a great source of protein in a vegetarian diet.  Quiches, souffles, stratas, frittatas, or poached on a sandwich or in soup are all great ways to incorporate eggs into meals after noon.  Some day I want to have a few chickens and we could have eggs every day... 

Any way, this recipe is kind of like a Hot Pocket... well, only in that it is hot and a pocket of food.  Quality and taste are way better than any Hot Pocket.  But you get the point.  The puff pastry is buttery, flaky, and tender.  The filling tastes fresh and a little spicy.  Really you could put pretty much anything inside these pockets, like ham and cheese or broccoli and cheese or something else and cheese (guess I really want a cheesy pocket).  As long as it is fresh ingredients, it will be good!

1 pkg puff pastry, thawed
5 eggs, divided
4 oz. cheese
1 avocado
.5 cup salsa
chives
salt and pepper

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Scramble four eggs with salt and pepper.  Roll out puff pastry and cut into six sections.  Lay puff pastry on parchment paper lined baking sheet.
2.  Layer eggs, cheese, smashed avocado, salsa, and chives on half of the dough.  Fold dough over top of the filling.  Press edge close with fork.
3.  With remaining egg, brush a thin layer of egg over each dough pocket.  Bake for 18 minutes or until crust turns golden and flaky.  

Weekly Menu

Last week we kicked off the 40 Day Vegetarian Challenge with mostly some tried and true recipes with Tortellini Soup and Baked Ravioli as well as a new recipe that I will post this week.  We went out to eat for Valentine's Day where I had Tofu Lettuce Wraps and Seaweed Salad which were both delicious and I will try an replicate after the 40 day challenge (since I would be repeating a meal).

This week's menu includes several 30 minute meals because some of the "from scratch" stuff is already made.  This helps get dinner on the table faster after a long day at work, which help prevent drive thru meals (pink slime and grease, no thanks!).

Veggie Burgers with Stuffed Potatoes (black and bleu burger for him)
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Tomato Parm Soup
Broccoli Avocado Pasta
Pesto Stuffed Shells for me and Pesto Shrimp Bowties for him
Baked Potato Soup
Purple Baked Gnocchi

And for a protein snack a couple times this week will be Avocado Hummus.

Peppermint Patty Brownies - total time 1 hour

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope everyone had a great day celebrating with the loved ones in your life.  We don't really do a lot for V-day, but I did want to acknowledge the holiday with a little chocolate!  

Confession, I have never made brownies from scratch.  I have always bought the box mix, added the eggs and oil, and that was pretty much it.  So when I was looking through different brownie recipes to come up with this one I was surprised at how different the process was from making cake.  I figured it would be pretty similar since a brownie seems like a dense cake.  It is not that it is necessarily hard or time consuming, just different than expected.  

Any way, I love peppermint patties, and chocolate and mint go together almost as well as chocolate and peanut butter.  So I topped these fudgy brownies with a peppermint filling and a layer of dark chocolate for a brownie oh so decadent!  I colored the mint filling pink and used some heart sprinkles since it is Valentine's Day, but green, blue, or red coloring would work too for other holidays.

1.75 cup dark chocolate chips, divided
.5 cup butter (1 stick)
.333 cup brown sugar
.666 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
.75 cup flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
.5 tsp salt

Peppermint Filling
2 tbsp cream
1 tbsp butter
1.5 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp peppermint extract
2 drops food coloring (pink, red, or green)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt .75 cup chocolate chips, butter, and brown sugar in double boiler.  Once melted, add sugar and combine.
2.  Transfer chocolate to mixing bowl and allow to cool (10 minutes).  Add eggs and vanilla and whisk together.  Fold in salt, cocoa powder, and flour.  Transfer to baking dish lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 15 minutes.
3.  While brownie is baking, combine cream, tbsp butter, peppermint extract, and powdered sugar together. Once to desire consistency, add food coloring.  Flatten minty layer with rolling pin.
4.  Allow brownie to cool.  Once cooled, add layer of minty filling, then top with melted chocolate.  Add sprinkles if desired and then cool in fridge to set chocolate.

40 Day Vegetarian Challenge

Yesterday was Mardi Gras, which means today is Ash Wednesday the start of Lenten season.  It is customary to give up something or even fast for the 40 day period prior to Easter Sunday.  I am giving up meat again this year.  

So here'e the 40 day vegetarian challenge!  Not only am I going vegetarian, but I am doing a different meal for dinner all 40 nights.  There is a common misconception that there isn't a lot of variety in vegetarian meal planning, but that is not true at all.  It is even easier to be vegetarian in the summer when so many vegetables are in season.  So I have started compiling my list of recipes for my challenge which include 16 or my favorite (links below) as well as 16 I have been meaning to make (list below the links).  That only leave 8 recipes I still need to think about!

I hope you'll join me in this challenge or at least try out some of these recipes!

Baked Ravioli

Baked Ziti

Cheese Guac Tomato Toasts

Zucchini Enchiladas

Baked Potato Soup

Broccoli Rice Cups w/ Creme Sauce

Broccoli Alfredo Bake

Spin Dip Pizza

Butternut Squash Corn Chowder
Grilled Cheese

Spinach and Artichoke Lasagna
Cheesy Quinoa

Spinach Enchiladas

Red Pepper Latkes
Tortellini Soup
Stuffed Shells

Other vegetarian recipes I plan to try...
Breakfast Hot Pockets
Vegetarian Lasagna Roll Ups
Tomato Parm Soup
Veggie Fajita Quesadillas
Baked Mac and Cheese
Pesto Baked Spaghetti
Homemade Gnocchi
Vegetarian Burritos
Spinach and Cheese Manicotti
Carrot Soup
Veggie Burgers
Avocado Hummus with Homemade Pita Bread
Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers
Egg Curry with Rice
Root Vegetable Gratin
Asparagus Soup with Poached Egg
Broccoli and Goat Cheese Souffle

Pepper Seared Steak - total time 15 minutes

When I make all vegetarian meal plans, I occasionally make things for my husband that he enjoys, but I do not.  One of those things is steak.  Since I don't like steak, I don't make it... so on the rare occasion that I do, I have to look up how to cook it.  I would think there would be endless recipes and instructions online, maybe it is just so simple or people make it so often that they don't need instructions.  But for my benefit, I am posting the directions so in six months I can make it again.  Hopefully it will be helpful to you too!

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat pan to medium high.
2.  Cover each side of steak with 1.5 tablespoons of cracked pepper and 1 teaspoon of salt.  Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in pan (it will smoke at the high heat).
3.  Sear each side of steak for 3 minutes.  Finish cooking the steak in the oven for 5 minutes.  Let rest for 5 minutes.

Cheesy Chard Biscuit Poppers- total time 45 minutes

Weekend mornings are the best!  You get to sleep in and everything is at your pace, so I can make whatever I want for breakfast and not be worried about time.  Pancakes, eggs, bacon, french toast, breakfast sandwiches... mmm, I love breakfast foods.  Lately even weekend mornings seem a bit rushed, so this morning I took full advantage of my laid back schedule and made some cheesy chard biscuit poppers.  The remind me a little of the biscuits you get at Red Lobster (I assume they still have those, I haven't been to Red Lobster in years).  It is really hard to stop popping them in your mouth... yum!

2 cups swiss chard, chopped and steamed
2 eggs, remove one yolk
1 cup creme fraiche
1 cup flour
2 tbsp parm, shredded
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 oz. brie
salt and pepper

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Chop chard and steam stems for four minutes.  Add chopped chard leaves and steam an additional four minutes.  Lay chard out on kitchen towel to absorb moisture.
2.  Beat eggs together, add creme fraiche, and melted butter combine.  Mix in flour, salt, pepper, and parm.
3.  Fold in chard and brie.  Spray muffin cups with olive oil.  Divide dough among cups.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Chocolate Covered Banana Cupcakes - total time 1 hour

It seems like every time I buy bananas I always end up forgetting about them and baking (I submit chocolate chip banana cookies, cinnamon swirl banana muffins, and banana PB muffins as evidence).  Considering how much I put bananas into my baking, I am always surprised to find out how many people don't like bananas.  I think I found the trick though.  Staining the mashed bananas gives the baked good a lighter banana flavor and keeps the cake a pretty yellow (instead of the speckled brown like banana bread).  It takes a little longer and it is a bit messy... but is definitely worth doing... at least once in a while.

Cupcake
1 cup ripe bananas, mashed and strained
.5 cup butter
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup cream
.5 cup creme fraiche
1 tbsp vanilla
.25 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking soda

Chocolate Buttercream
2.5 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter
splash of cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp cocoa

Ganache
1 cup chocolate chips
splash of milk

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mash banana, then push through strainer to remove all lumps.
2.  Whip butter and sugar in mixer.  Add eggs and blend well.  Add salt, vanilla, and baking soda.  Add one cup of flour, blend well, then a half cup of cream.  Add another cup of flour, blend, then a half cup of creme fraiche.  Add the final cup of flour, blend well, then the last half cup of cream.
3. Add in the strained bananas and pour batter into lined muffin cups and bake for 12 minutes.
4.  Whip butter in mixer.  Add vanilla, cream, and cocoa.  Add a small amount of powdered sugar at a time until combined.  Add until you get desired frosting consistency.
5.  Either in a double boiler or microwave, melt one cup of chocolate.  Add a splash of cream and stir.  Spread ganache on top pf each cupcake creating a barrier between the cake and frosting.  Pipe frosting on top of each cupcake and enjoy!

Chicken & Spinach Baked Taquitos - total time 45 minutes

With as much Mexican food that I eat, how could I have lived so long without knowing about taquitos?  They are pretty easy to make.  Pretty much like a sauce-less enchilada, although I believe taquitos are supposed to be fried... they still get a nice crispy shell in to oven.  These make great appetizers with some salsa, guacamole and sour cream for dipping.  Or serve them as a meal with corn and spanish rice.

8 small tortillas
1 lb chicken, shredded
.5 can of beer
1 cup queso cheese, shredded
1 medium onion
2 cups spinach, chopped
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 green onion

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sear chicken in pot, pour beer over chicken and continue to cook for about 8 minutes.  Once cooked, shred chicken with two forks.  While shredding chicken, cook onions and spinach in pot until spinach is wilted.
2.  Combine shredded chicken, spinach, onion, chili powder, red pepper flakes, and shredded cheese in miking bowl. 
3.  Scoop about two tablespoons of mixture into tortillas and roll closed tightly.  Place in casserole dish and bake for 15 minutes.  Turn taquitos and bake for additional 10 minutes

Weekly Menu

We were one of the many millions of people watching the Super Bowl yesterday.  I am really not a football fan (despite getting surprisingly involved in fantasy football this season), I am totally in it for the commercials (its the Marketing geek in me).  While it was a relatively unimpressive year for these big budget advertisements, there were still two that stood out to me.  And neither commercial was funny, which is what normally grabs my attention.  The first was the Budweiser clydesdale story.  Those always rank in my top three... so symbolic and sentimental.  The other was the Ram truck spot with Paul Harvey's "So God Made a Farmer".  Beautiful photography and captivating words... made me want to get my hands dirty and grow something.

Any way, we're getting ready to work in a lot of vegetarian meals.  But before that starts, I had my husband pick out a couple of his favorites for this week's menu.

Sour Cream Enchiladas
Pretzel Chicken with Brussel Sprout Gratin (I picked the brussel sprouts)
Homemade Breakfast Hot Pocket
Baked Ravioli with salad
Homemade Pizza