Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Toasted parmesan tomato on a bed of pasta!


Preheat oven to 450 degrees

What you will need:
 
1-2 tomatoes (depending on how many you want to make)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 TBL olive oil
pasta

*Cut the tomatoes into slices.

*Place the slices on a baking sheet. 

*Sprinkle all the spices on the tomatoes. 

*Top each one with Parmesan cheese.

*Drizzle the olive oil over all of the tomatoes.

*Bake the tomatoes in the oven for 15 minutes.

*Eat with pasta!


Pizza Bites


Preheat oven to 400 degrees 

What you will need:

Pizza dough (You can use this dough recipe HERE!
Mozzarella cheese
pepperoni
olives
mushrooms

olive oil
Parmesan cheese
garlic salt
Italian seasonings


*First make the dough, or use a bought dough.


*Then cut up all of the vegetables/ fillings that you are going to use. 
(I used cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms and olives.)


*Then take a section of the dough and form it into a flat round shape. 


*Fill the dough with the things that you want to put inside.


*Then pull the corners of all the sides up to the center and pinch off. 


*Place the dough in a greased pie pan.
*Continue until the whole pan is full.

*Lightly brush olive oil over all of the dough bites.

*Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, garlic salt, and Italian seasoning.

Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes.

Serve with dipping sauce!

After Dinner Peppermints


What you will need:

1/4 cup cream cheese
1 tsp peppermint/mint flavoring
4-41/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup sugar
melting chocolate (Optional)

*Mix together the cream cheese and peppermint flavoring for about 2 minutes. 
The cream cheese should be fluffy.
 
*Then pour in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Keep adding until the mixture becomes stiff.
 
*Put the sugar in a bowl.
*Take a tsp size of the mixture and then roll the mixture into a ball.

*Dip the ball in the sugar and roll around so that the whole thing is coated in sugar. 

*Then press the circle down either with your fingers or with a fork.
(You could leave the mints in the circle if you wanted for a different shape!)

*If you are going to dip your mints in chocolate then you will need to melt your chocolate using a double broiler. (If you don't know what that is you can ask me and I'll tell you how to do it!)

*Dip the whole mint into the chocolate so that it is completely covered. Pick the chocolate up with a fork. (The prongs of the fork should be on the bottom of the mint.)

*Tap the fork against the side of the pan so that the excess chocolate comes off and there is just a thin layer of chocolate coating the mint. 

*Place mints on a plate and let dry for a couple of minutes. 

*You can either place the mints in the fridge or you can freeze them!

Greek Salad with Greek Chicken


Salad

What you will need:

1-2 tomatoes 
1 English cucumber
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1/4-1/2 cup kalamata olives-make sure you pit these!
 1/4-1/2 cup garlic olives
1 red onion (I did not use this since I do not like onions but you can!)
3/4 cup feta cheese
1 head of lettuce

*Chop the tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, olives, and onions (if using) into small pieces.

*Mix all of the vegetables together in a bowl.

*Add feta cheese.

*Pour salad dressing over the top and stir so that everything is coated. (Dressing recipe below)

*Place vegetables over a bed of lettuce.

Greek Salad Dressing
What you will need:

1/2 cup olive oil
1 TBL oregano
1 TBL basil 
salt
pepper
2 TBL Dijon mustard 
1/4 red wine vinegar 

(Italian seasoning works just the same if you don't have oregano or basil!)
*Mix all ingredients together and pour over salad! 

Greek Chicken
Preheat oven to 400
 
What you will need:

4 pieces of boneless, skinless chicken
1 serving of the Greek Salad Dressing mixture. 
1/2 cup water

*Place chicken in a glass 8x8 inch baking pan.
*Mix the salad dressing mixture and water together. 

*Pour the salad dressing mixture over all of the chicken evenly as possible. 

*Bake in oven for 20 minutes.
*Flip chicken over.
*Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

(check to make sure there is no pink in the center of the chicken before you serve it!)

ENJOY!


Apple spice cupcakes topped with homemade dehydrated spiced apples!

Cupcakes

What you will need:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups apples-chopped
1/4 cup raisins (optional)

*In a bowl mix together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

*Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. (This usually takes about 5 minutes)

*Add the eggs and vanilla to the butter mixture and continue to mix until mixed thoroughly.

*Turn the mixing level to low and add in the apples and raisins (if using).

*Slowly add in the flour mixture until everything is combined. 

*Use an ice cream scoop to pour batter into cupcake liners. 
(Using an ice cream scoop helps you to get even cupcakes for the whole batch)

*Bake in oven for 18-20 minutes.

*Remove from cupcake tins and let cool. 

Cupcake Drizzle

What you will need:

1/4 cup of cream cheese
2 TBL milk
2 tsp vanilla
3-4 cups powdered sugar
dash of cinnamon (nutmeg or all spice would work as well)

*Mix the cream cheese, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon together until fluffy. 

*Then add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. 

Most frosting for cupcakes are stiff so that you can decorate the tops, but to get the drizzle look you need to make sure that it is thin. 

*Place frosting in a zip lock bag. Cut a small corner off one side of the zip lock bag. 

*Press the frosting out of the bag and drizzle the frosting back and forth over the cupcake.

Dehydrated Apples

Preheat oven to 170 degrees

What you will need:

1-2 apples (depending on how many you want to make)
1/2 tsp cinnamon 
1 TBL sugar

*Cut the apples into thin pieces.

*Place the apples on a baking sheet.

*Mix the cinnamon and sugar together in a bowl.

 *Sprinkle all of the apples with the cinnamon and sugar mix.

*Place in oven and bake for 1 hour.

*Flip apples over and sprinkle that side with the cinnamon and sugar mix.

*Place back in oven and bake for another hour.

*Take out and enjoy!

(If you want your apples to be more crispy then leave them in longer!)