German Pancakes

This morning I attempted to make German Pancakes (also known as Dutch Babies) and I think they turned out well! I'm looking forward to making them again now that I figured some things out. Here's the recipe, I think you will find that this is really easy. This works best with a 10" iron skillet or a pie pan. Any pan about 3 inches deep will work perfect.

3 eggs

1/2 C milk

1/2 C flour

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light & frothy; add milk, flour, vanilla & cinnamon; beat for 5 minutes. Place pan in the oven to heat until oven is preheated (about 7-10 min).

Remove pan from oven and add butter to coat the pan.

Pour the batter into the hot pan all at once and return to the oven. Bake about 15-20 min or until the pancake is golden brown and puffy.

Dust with powdered sugar and a spritz of lemon juice.

Makes about 2 servings.

German pancakes are also good when served with various fruit toppings or maple syrup.

Fresh Tomato, Sausage, and Pecorino Pasta

(photo courtesy Randy Mayor & cookinglight.com)

I've made this dish a few times now and I love it. It is simple yet delicious. I use turkey sausage and whole wheat pasta to make it a bit healthier but using the real stuff is just fine too. Also, I add some chicken broth so make the pasta less dry and I like it better that way.

Ingredients:

- 8 ounces uncooked penne
- 8 ounces sweet Italian sausage (I use turkey sausage)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 cup vertically sliced onion
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 1/4 pounds tomatoes, chopped (I used 2 large tomatos and it was enough)

- 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth (I added this)
- 6 tablespoons grated fresh pecorino Romano cheese, divided (you can also use parmesean, asiago, or romano cheese)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves

Preparation:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Remove casings from sausage. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add sausage and onion to pan; cook 4 minutes, stirring to crumble sausage. Add garlic; cook 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes; cook 2 minutes. Add chicken broth; cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in pasta, 2 tablespoons cheese, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese and basil.

Yield: 4 servings (2 cups pasta mixture, 1 tablespoon cheese, and 1 tablespoon basil)

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 389
Fat: 10.7g (sat 4g,mono 4.5g,poly 0.7g)
Protein: 21.6g
Carbohydrate: 53.5g
Fiber: 4.5g
Cholesterol: 27mg
Iron: 3.3mg
Sodium: 595mg
Calcium: 159mg

Pumpkin Pie Cake

This recipe is from my friend, Jaime Green. It's delicious and always a huge hit! Mike, who doesn't love pumpkin pie, LOVES this pumpkin pie cake. The picture doesn't do it justice. But it's super easy and super yummy!

Step 1
1 Box Yellow Cake Mix
1 Egg
1/2 stick of butter - melted
*Save 1 cup of the cake mix (to use later)

Mix remaining cake mix, egg and margarine. press into 9X13pan.

Step 2
1 Large Can of Pumpkin
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 tsp. Cinnamon
2/3 Cup Canned Evaporated Milk
3 Eggs
*Combine and pour over pressed cake mix.

Step 3
1 Cup reserved cake mix (from step 1)
1/4 stick butter - melted
3/4 Cup of sugar
*Mix and sprinkle over pumpkin mixture.

Bake approximately 55 minutes at 350 degrees.

Serve with whipped cream

Creamy Pumpkin Oatmeal

I got this recipe from an old friend of mine, Brittany, that I used to play soccer with in high school. She got it from Weight Watchers and it is SUPER yummy. It is extremely easy to prepare and makes a large batch of oatmeal that you can refrigerate then heat up in the morning and eat throughout the week. The recipe does not call for brown sugar and uses less pumpkin pie spice but it didn't have enough flavor so I added more. It is really up to you and your taste buds, feel free to add more depending on what you like. I also sprinkled cinnamon on top and that made it way better.

Also, this is made in a slow cooker and takes about 4 hours to make. I woke up at 5:30am on a Saturday, put it all in the crock pot, then went back to sleep and it was ready to eat by 9:30. But you can also make it ahead of time and just heat it up in the morning. Also, if it doesn't seem to be thickening up well, turn the slow cooker to high. I cooked mine for 3 hours on low and 1 hour on high and it was perfect.

Ingredients:

- 2 cups steel cut oats (make sure they are steal cut oats, do not use regular oats)

- 1 12 oz. can fat-free evaporated milk

- 1 15 oz. can pumpkin

- 5 1/2 cups water

- 3 T. pumpkin pie spice

- 2 T. brown sugar

- 1 T. cinnamon

Preparation:

1. Put it all the ingredients in a crock pot and mix until combined. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Add additional spice and sugar to taste. Sprinkle with cinnamon when served. And that's it!

2. For an apple version: substitute 2 cups applesauce for the pumpkin. Add one large chopped apple. Substitute 2 tablespoons cinnamon for the pumpkin pie spice.

Glazed Lemon Cookies

I found this cookie recipe (and the picture) on the Martha Stewart website, http://www.marthastewart.com/. I'm a big fan of lemon bars so I figured these would be delicious... and I was right. They are especially good with a cup of coffee by the way. Anyway the recipe has two parts. First the cookie, then the glaze.

Cookie Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons lemon juice (Martha says fresh squeezed... I say store bought)

1/2 cup butter room temperature (Martha says unsalted, but I used salted)

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla (Martha and Jennica say pure vanilla extract... I say imitation)

Glaze Ingredients:

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons lemon zest

1/3 cup lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar, butter, egg, vanilla, and lemon juice together in mixer. Beat in flour, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. Place 1 inch apart on baking sheet. I chose to use parchment paper to line my baking sheet, but Martha doesn't mention anything about parchment paper so I'm sure you are fine either way. Bake 15-20 minutes.

While cookies are in the oven, whisk the glaze ingredients together in a medium bowl. After the cookies have cooled for a few minutes spread the glaze over them and let set for about an hour.

Side note: If you don't have a zester to zest a lemon, I'm sure they will be just as amazing. I actually didn't use the full amount recommended because I only had one lemon and it was too small (oops). It was my first lemon zesting experience so I underestimated what I needed!

Molten Chocolate Cakes

I love, love, love getting molten chocolate cakes at restaurants. I love how the gooey chocolaty center spills out when you eat it and it is all warm and delicious. Mmm. I always thought that these must be really hard to make. I mean, how to do make the decadent "lava" that comes out of the cake? It just seemed way hard. I was a wrong. I came across the recipe in my Southern Living: Incredible Chocolate Recipes book, attempted to make them for a friend's birthday, and found out they were quite easy and way delicious. Wanna know the secret? The lava is batter that just didn't cook all the way. Pretty simple huh? But they are made with egg substitute so you don't have to worry about getting sick from uncooked eggs. My suggestion when cooking them is to really watch them in the oven. If you over cook them, they won't have much "lava" and if you under cook them, you won't be able to flip them over and keep the "lava" inside. I hope you enjoy the "explosion" of flavor!

Ingredients:

- 2 T. butter, melted

- 2 T, unsweetened cocoa

- 3/4 c. butter, cut into pieces

- 3 (4 oz) bars of premium chocolate (I used Ghiradelli)

- 1/2 c. whipping cream

- 1 1/4 c. egg substitute

- 2/4 c. granulated sugar

- 2/3 c. flour

- powdered sugar

Preparation:

1. Brush 16 muffin cups (I used silicone flower baking cups) with 2 T. melted butter. Sprinkle evenly with cocoa, shaking out excess. Place in refrigerator to firm butter.

2. Place 3/4 c. butter and chocolate in a large heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until butter and chocolate melt. Slowly whisk in cream; set aside.

3. Combine egg substitute and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer 5 to 7 minutes or until slightly thickened; add chocolate cream and flour, beating until blended. Pout batter into muffin cups, filling to within 1/4 inch from tops. Cover and chill at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

4. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 to 11 minutes or just until edges of cakes spring back when lightly touched but centers are still soft. Let stand 3 minutes before loosening edges with a knife. Quickly invert cakes onto a baking sheet. Transfer to dessert plates using a spatula being careful not to crack the bottoms and spill out the center. Sprinkle with powders sugar using flour sifter.

Yield: 16 cakes

Turkey Sausage-Gnocchi Soup

(photo couresty Oxmoor House & cooklinglight.com

This is the easiest soup I have ever made! It is very tasty too. I love gnocchi (potato pasta dumplings) so when I came across this recipe at cookinglight.com, I gave it a try. It was under 20 minutes to make. The hardest part was browning the sausage. I did make one change to the ingredients. I used mild ground Italian sausage instead of hot link sausage, personal preference. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients
- 1 (4.5 oz) link hot turkey Italian sausage
- 2 cups water
- 1 (16 oz) package vacuum-packed gnocchi (such as Bellino or Vigo)
- 1 (14 oz) can fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
- 1 (14 1/2 oz) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained and chopped
- 1/2 cup (2 oz) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation
1. Remove casings from sausage. Cook sausage in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until sausage is browned, stirring to crumble.

2. Add 2 cups water and next 3 ingredients to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 4 to 5 minutes or until gnocchi float to the top of pan. Ladle soup into bowls; sprinkle each serving evenly with cheese.

Yield: 7 servings ( 1 cup soup and about 1 tablespoon cheese)

Nutritional Information
Calories: 182 (21% from fat)
Fat: 4g (sat 1.7g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.0g)
Protein: 10.5g
Carbohydrate: 25.1g
Fiber: 0.5g
Cholesterol: 22mg
Iron: 0.7mg
Sodium: 809mg
Calcium: 134mg

Carrot-Ginger Soup

This is one of my favorite Fall soups & serves great as a first course or even as a main dish (it's much more filling than you anticipate). This also freezes well, so make a big batch & freeze the rest in mason jars. Of course, like all my best recipes, this one comes from my mom...

Ingredients

• 1 large onion (I prefer sweet onions)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 c chopped ginger root
• 3/4 c butter
• 7 c chicken broth
• 1 c dry white wine (such as a Sauvignon Blanc)
• 1 1/2 lbs carrots
• 1/2 of a lemon, juiced
• Salt & Pepper

Preparation

• Peel & cut carrots into 1/2 inch pieces...set aside
• Mince in a food processor: onion, garlic & ginger root
• Melt butter in a large pot, add onion, garlic, ginger & saute ~15 min
• Add chicken broth, wine & carrot pieces
• Heat to boil
• Reduce to simmer & simmer uncovered ~45 min
• Cover & simmer another 45 min
• Puree in blender until smooth (do this in small batches & keep top exposed to release steam)
• Season w/ lemon juice, salt & pepper

Tonight, I served the soup with a modified version of the Cooking Light Spinach & Pear Salad (link). The dressing is delicious! In addition to the pear & red onion, I add dried cranberries, feta cheese, candied almonds & grilled chicken to this sweet spinach salad. Enjoy!