Food Confessional: Eggo Thick and Fluffy Waffles

Click Picture to Link to Official Site.

 

So, this is not my typical recipe post.  This is purely confessional.  Sometimes, bad food happens to good people. And these waffles, my friends, are what happened to me.  I’m not sure how I happened upon these, probably wandering around Target out of boredom one day.  I love a good waffle.  Preferably a buttermilk waffle.  Or a yeast waffle.  And definitely HOMEMADE, not from a toaster!  Insert these Eggo Thick and Fluffy Waffles.  I can’t explain why I love these so much.  They are the perfect balance of crunchy and soft.  Just reading the nutritional information alone should turn me off.  160 calories per waffle.  Just one?  I can’t eat just one.  Don’t judge me.  Okay, go ahead, judge me.  I’ll be in the corner with my box of waffles.

 

Very Pinteresting…Recipes I’ve Actually Tried

Unless you are being held prisoner in a basement or something, I’m sure you have either heard of Pinterest or have already started pinning your heart out.  I admit it, I’m a serial pinner.  Like a pin hoarder.  But, I am happy to report that I have actually made some things I’ve seen on there.  I’m even happier to report that I’ve only had one REALLY EPIC FAIL:  dehydrated strawberries in the oven.  Don’t believe the pictures, people!  Anyway, I thought I’d share a few of the ones I have tried and liked.  I’ve linked to the pin on my board so you can check out the recipes if you like.

LEMON BROWNIES

We really liked these.  Mr. Foodie doesn’t like brownies (I know, right?) so these really worked for him.  They are really heavy and rich, which, in this case, is a good, good thing…

MONKEY BARS

Let me just say that I’m ALWAYS on the hunt for the best banana bar/cake.  I think this is my favorite banana anything recipe.  I loved this and if you like banana stuff, you will too!  Try it, it’s a keeper!

EGG CREAM

Pictured is a strawberry egg cream I made for Mr. Foodie, which he loved.  I made a chocolate one for myself.  I personally think they are kind of weird.  It’s not that they taste bad or anything, it’s just a weird mouth experience to me.  I’m expecting creamy, milky goodness and am met with sparkly, carbonation.  It’s unexpected so I’m not sure how I feel about Egg Creams.  Mr. Foodie is sold on them, however, so they will be making appearances in the house!

GRANDS DONUTS

Donuts out of canned biscuits?  Say it ain’t so?  Oh, it is.  And they are really good!  We tried some dipped in sugar and some in cinnamon sugar.  We much preferred the ones dipped in plain sugar.  These make some tasty, light donuts.  Foodie Jr. and I gobbled them up.  They are a little reminiscent of malasadas to me, a Portuguese donut.

I’m sure I’ll be posting about more winning Pinterest finds in the future, I just wanted to share a few with you today.  Head on over and follow me – I’m on there as Foodie Interrupted!

Lemon Oatmeal Cookies – The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap!

A little bit about ‘The Swap”…

I was hanging out on Twitter late one night when I happened upon Love and Olive Oil and The Little Kitchen‘s tweets about their Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.  I was in luck as it wasn’t too late to sign up, which I immediately did.  I used to attend a local mother’s group cookie swap every year and it was a lot of fun.  I am no longer a member of that club and while I still participate in smaller swaps, I wanted to do a bigger one.  At the time I had signed up, they had about 550 bloggers from around the world signed up to swap cookies.  I thought that was pretty darn cool and it was fun being a part of it.  I got to exchange 3 dozen of my cookies with 3 other bloggers, blogs I had never read before!  They estimate that over 22.000 cookies were swapped across this big ole world!  That’s a lot of cookies and I’m happy I got to be a part of it!  If you missed it this year and would like information on how to participate in the next one, sign up here.

A little bit about the cookies I received…

1.  Sisters’ Snacktime ( AJ & Jas Hwang) provided me with my first cookies.  They sent me two kinds (!) –  Peach and Crisp Salted Oatmeal with White/Dark Chocolate.

2.  I got my second set of cookies from Lana Watkins at Bibberche.  They were called Roses and were Serbian recipe from her Grandmother.

3.  My final set of cookies arrived from Chrissy and Dana Marie DeCapite at Sorelle e Cibo.  They were a really yummy white chocolate macadamia and cranberry cookie.  (Mr. Foodie ate them all.)

Thank you to all of my Cookie Swappers!  I enjoyed the different cookies and stories.

A little bit about the cookies I swapped…

I wanted to make a cookie I had never made before and I wanted it to be a little bit different.  Don’t get me wrong, I love your standards like chocolate chip or peanut butter, but I definitely wanted to go in another direction.  When I was pregnant with Foodie Jr., I became part of an internet message board for moms delivering in the same month and year.  I immediately made friends with a gal named Jen and we’ve been friends ever since.  And although we haven’t even met in person, I still consider her one of my best, dearest friends.  One thing we have in common is a love of food.  I sooooooooo trust her taste in food and have not disliked any recipe she has ever passed along.  She gave me this recipe for her favorite cookie a few years back and I’ve never gotten around to trying it.  I have no idea why I waited so long because these are definitely on MY list of favorite cookies now!  This recipe came from her father’s mother and I just love that – recipes that are passed down from one generation to the next.  These cookies are pretty simple to make and generally are things you would normally (well, I would) have on hand.  These cookies can be made chewy or crunchy.  While I think everyone here preferred them on the chewier side (my friend Jen included) the crunchy ones are good too and great for having with coffee or tea.  I adore this recipe and am going to make it several more times this holiday season – my new go-to cookie.  These would be great iced too so I might have to try that!

LEMON OATMEAL COOKIES

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Shortening

1/2 Cup White Sugar

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Egg

1 1/2 Tsp Grated Lemon Rind (I used the rind of an entire lemon)

1 1/2 TBS Molasses

1/2 Tsp Vanilla

3/4 Cup plus 2 TBS Flour

1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

1/2 Tsp Salt

1 1/2 Cups Rolled Oats

Directions:

1.  Preheat Oven to 400 Degrees (once dough is done chilling.)

2.  Mix the first seven ingredients (shortening, white sugar, brown sugar, egg, lemon rind, molasses and vanilla) thoroughly.

3.  Sift together the next three ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt) and add to the first mixture.

4.  Stir in rolled oats and mix thoroughly by hand.

5.  Press and mold into a long smooth roll about 2 1/2′ diameter.  Wrap in wax paper and chill until stiff (several hours or overnight.)

6.  With a thin, sharp knife cut into thin slices 1/8′ thick.  Place slices on an ungreased cookies sheet and bake until lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes.

A few notes:  These overcook really quickly so if you prefer them on the chewy side, they won’t look quite ‘done’ when you take them out.  Just let them sit on the sheet for another 5 minutes before moving to a rack to cool.  Also, this recipe doesn’t double well, so make each batch individually.

Flipped Sausage and Apple Cornbread

I was given this recipe a long time ago from a friend and with the abundance of
apples I have, I thought I would try it out again.  I think it is a good brunch recipe.  It is not too sweet and the cornmeal definitely gives it its own texture which got mixed review from my crowd.  I love the idea of this recipe and will definitely play with it in the future to give it a more smooth, cake-like texture as I think that would go better overall with the balance of savory and sweet.  Having said that, I think the recipe stands alone just fine, I would just be tweaking it for my own personal taste.  I do love the combination of apples and sausage though – definitely high on the yum factor scale!  If you are looking for a good holiday recipe or simply went apple picking and find yourself saying, “What am I going to do with all these apples?” you might want to give this one a try!

FLIPPED  SAUSAGE AND APPLE CORNBREAD

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. Sausage Links (pork or turkey is fine)

4 TBS Butter

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

4 Small Apples (of your choice) – peeled, cored and sliced

1 Cup of Flour

3/4 Cup Yellow Cornmeal

3 TBS Brown Sugar

1 TBS Baking Powder

1 Tsp Salt

1 Egg, beaten

4 TBS Melted Butter

1 Cup Milk

Directions:

1.  Grease 9 inch round cake pan and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Brown sausage in skillet over medium heat, remove from pan once done, leaving about 1-2 TBS drippings in skillet.  Cut links into small pieces and set aside.

3.  Add butter and brown sugar and stir until sugar melts.

4.  Add apples and saute until soft, about 10-12 minutes.

5.  Add sausage pieces and apples slices in a single layer to prepared baking pan and pour skillet juices over the top evenly.

6.  Let apple-sausage mixture sit until room temperature while you prepare the rest of the recipe.

7.  In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.

8.  Add egg, melted butter and milk and stir until well combined.

9.  Pour batter over apple sausage mixture, smoothing out to cover entire pan.

10.  Bake for 25 minutes, or until your cake tester comes out clean.

11.  Remove from oven and immediately invert onto serving dish.

New Belgium Mighty Arrow Beer Bread Monte Cristo

I was recently selected to be a part of the FoodBuzz Tastemaker Program for New Belgium Brewing Company.  I was excited to create a recipe using one of their brews – many thanks to FoodBuzz and New Belgium Brewing Company for the opportunity!

I decided to make a Monte Cristo Sandwich using beer bread I made with their Mighty Arrow Pale Ale.  This product appealed to me because of its honey malt base (and who can resist a beer made in tribute to a dog?!?!?)  I knew the slight sweetness of the brew would go well with the sweet-savory combo that the Monte Cristo offers.

Both Mr. Foodie and I were pleased with the results.  The Mighty Arrow gave the beer bread a slightly sweet flavor and a nice, dense texture that held up well to the batter and pan frying. A winner for us!

NEW BELGIUM MIGHTY ARROW BEER BREAD MONTE CRISTO

Ingredients for Beer Bread:

3 Cups All Purpose Flour

4 TBS Granulated Sugar

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Bottle of New Belgium Mighty Arrow Pale Ale

1/4 Cup Butter, melted

Directions for beer bread:

1.  Grease a standard size loaf pan and pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except melted butter.

3.  Pour batter into greased loaf pan and top evenly with 1/8 cup of melted butter.

4.  Bake for 45 minutes, baste with remaining butter and bake an additional 10-15 minutes.

5.  Remove loaf from pan and let cool completely on wire rack before slicing fairly thin to assemble sandwiches.

Ingredients for Sandwich:

2 Thin Slices of Beer Bread

1 Tsp Mayonaise

2 Thin Slices of either Black Forest Ham or Turkey (I made sandwiches with both, Turkey is pictured above.)

1 Slice of Havarti Cheese

3 Eggs

1/3 Cup Milk

3 TBS Butter

Mascarpone Cheese

Strawberries, slices thin

Powdered Sugar

Directions for sandwich:

1.  Spread each slice of beer bread lightly with mayonaise.  Layer ham (or turkey) and Havarti in between the two slices.

2.  Heat and melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.

3.  In a small bowl, beat eggs with milk.

4.  Dip assembled sandwich into the egg mixture.

5.  Fry dipped sandwich in butter until golden brown on both sides.

6.  Remove sandwich to plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Add a dollop of mascarpone cheese and sliced strawberries and serve.

Baked Red Pepper Eggs

I needed to bring a hot dish to a gathering recently and was in a pinch for time.  No time to run to the store, so I had to make due with what I had on hand.  This was really easy and came out tasty.  Great way to use up my extra eggs before they expired too!  (Darn those buy one get one free 18 pack sales!)  You could easily use the base ingredients for this and add anything – a different vegetable, a breakfast meat, change the spices..  Very versatile!

BAKED RED PEPPER EGGS

Ingredients:

1 Dozen Large Eggs

1 Large Red Bell Pepper (or 2 small), seeded and diced

1 Can of Evaporated Milk (Small, 15 0z.)

1 Tsp Salt (you can alter to your taste)

1 Tsp Brown Mustard

1 Tsp Black Pepper (you can alter to your taste)

1 TBS Dried Parsley

1 1/2 Cup Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

Directions:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees and spray 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray.

2.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, evaporated mil, salt, pepper and mustard.  Stir in red peppers.

3.  Spread cheese to cover the bottom of the baking dish.

4.  Pour egg mixture over the cheese and then sprinkle with parsley.

5.  Bake about 45-50 minutes until eggs are set (ovens will vary.)

Cream Biscuits

This recipe was given to me several years ago by a fellow mom – I believe that it was originally a Williams Sonoma recipe.  I love a good biscuit and these are my absolute favorite.  They are super simple to make but taste so good!  The heavy cream provides such a nice texture.  We recently had them as part of our biscuits and gravy but they are great just plain too.  Foodie Jr. likes to slather them in butter (much like he does any other kind of bread) but I find that they don’t even need anything, I love to eat them plain, fresh out of the oven.  They are a great addition to a holiday meal and I have even used them in Thanksgiving dressing before!

CREAM BISCUITS

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour

1 TBS Baking Powder

1 Tsp Salt

2 TBS Sugar

2 1/2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream

Directions:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

2.  In a bowl, stir together all dry ingredients.

3.  Add the cream and stir until no longer lumpy.

4.  Drop a 1/4 Cup or so of batter onto an ungreased baking sheet, spacing the biscuits apart about an inch.

5.  Bake until golden brown about 15 minutes, depending on your oven.  This recipe should yield about a dozen biscuits.

Kiss My (Shrimp and Chorizo) Grits

I love good old, down home, comfort food.  For me, grits fits right into that category.  Grits, popular in the Southern part of our great nation, were actually a Native American food – basically, a coarsely ground corn.  Generally, I eat grits for breakfast – either with butter (and milk) or with eggs.  I believe shrimp and grits are popular in what they call the Low Country area of South Carolina.  While it seems to be a breakfast dish there, I prefer to eat it for dinner.  Being so plain makes grits very versatile.  In this recipe, I made white cheddar grits to go along with my shrimp and chorizo mixture.  I make a large portion of the grits so that I have leftovers for different meals and I find that they freeze pretty well.

CHEDDAR GRITS WITH SHRIMP & CHORIZO

For the Grits:

6 Cups Water

2 Cups Half-n-Half (you can also just use milk)

2-3 Tsp Salt (depending on your taste)

1/2 Tsp Pepper

2 Cups Quick Cooking Grits

1 – 1 1/2 Cups of White Cheddar Cheese, shredded

5 TBS Butter (you can use unsalted)

Directions:

1.  Bring first four ingredients to a boil in a medium saucepan.

2.  Add the dry grits and whisk continuously.

3.  Reduce heat to low and continue to whisk until well blended and creamy.

4.  Add the cheese and whisk until melted and smooth.

5.  Remove from heat and let stand.  Once thickened but still hot, add butter and stir until smooth.

For the Shrimp & Chorizo Mixture:

1 lb. Shrimp (medium sized)

3 medium links of Chorizo (I prefer Marca El Rey Brand), diced small

2-3 Cloves of Garlic, minced

1 TBS Butter

Directions:

1.  Brown chorizo in a skillet over medium heat, about 3-4 minutes.  The chorizo will create quite a bit of orangish oil.

2.  Remove chorizo from pan and drain most of oil, leaving a good layer to coat your shrimp.  Add butter until melted and then add shrimp.  Cook shrimp until pink, about 3 minutes or so.

3.  Add chorizo back to pan.  Add fresh garlic and stir until fragrant.  At this point everything is cooked through, so only toss for less than a minute so as to avoid the garlic burning and turning bitter.

4.  Divide grits into serving bowls and top each helping with the shrimp and chorizo mixture.  Serve immediately.

 

 

Chicken Apple Sausage, Spinach and Egg White Frittata

It’s no secret that I am pregnant.  Not just because of the watermelon sized bump in my tummy but because I have mentioned it here before.  I spent the greater part of this pregnancy sick and then when I finally got to a point where food sounded good again and wanted to eat something with substance, gestational diabetes entered the picture.  Baby Foodie is doing quite a number on this Mama!  I can’t just go willy-nilly eating everything in sight and indulging in carb-rich delights like I really want to, so I created this recipe the other night for dinner.  It was actually very filling and satisfying, more importantly, it tasted good.  Mr. Foodie thought it was a keeper, he even ate it cut up in a whole wheat tortilla the next morning as a pseudo breakfast burrito.

CHICKEN APPLE SAUSAGE, SPINACH AND EGG WHITE FRITTATA

Ingredients:

1 TBS Butter

4 Chicken Apple Sausage links (I used the Aidell’s brand)

3 Cups fresh baby spinach, washed and torn

1 TBS Dried Minced Onion

1 TBS Course Black Pepper

1 TBS Salt

¾ Cup Gruyere Cheese

2 Cup Egg Whites

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 350.

2.  In an oven safe skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.

3.  Saute sausage until brown.

4.  Add minced onion and spinach and sauté until spinach is wilted.

5.  Remove from heat.

6.  Add Egg whites.

7.  Season with Salt and Pepper, mix in cheese.

8.  Bake in oven for 10 minutes, or until egg whites are set.

9.  Let cool slightly, about 5 minutes and serve.