Category: OKK MEMES & PRIOR CONTRIBUTORS

Grandma’s Old Fashioned Brownies ~ What did You bake Today?

GRANDMA’S OLD FASHIONED BROWNIES

  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon espresso powder
  • 2 JUMBO eggs, room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 6 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
  • Butter an 8×8 baking pan, heavily dust the inside of the pan with cocoa and tap out the excess. Place the pan on a baking sheet.
  • Whisk the flour, cinnamon and salt together.
  • Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. When the butter is melted, add the chopped chocolate and sift the cocoa and espresso powder over it. Continue to cook, constantly stirring, until the butter is melted and the cocoa and espresso powder are well blended. Remove from the heat and cool several minutes.
  • Whisk eggs into the saucepan one at a time. Next, stir in the sugar and vanilla. Don’t beat anything too vigorously or you’ll add air bubbles to your batter. Followed with the dry ingredients and nuts. Scrape the batter into the pan.
  • Bake for 30 minutes, at which point the brownies will still be gooey but done to the toiuch on top. Let the brownies cool for at least 30 minutes.
  • Turn the brownies out onto a rack and then invert onto a cutting board.
  • Cool completely before cutting into squares.
  • Frost if you like or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

    • Healthy Helpings – Stuffed Chicken with Vegetables and Lemon Basil Pasta

    I tried this recipe last week, and it got a thumbs up from my mom and my 12 year old. Tara had her pasta the “normal” way, but she loved the stuffed chicken.

    Stuffed Chicken with Vegetables and Lemon Basil Pasta
    From Clean Eating
    Serves 4, Hands on Time: 20 min, Total Time – 1 hour

    Ingredients

    • Olive oil cooking spray
    • 1/2 c onion, chopped
    • 1 c loosely packed spinach, chopped
    • 3 cloves garlic, minced, divided
    • 3 Roma tomatoes, seeded, cored & diced, divided
    • 2 tbps bread crumbs
    • 1/2 pkg whole wheat spagetti (I used Barilla Plus Angel Hair)
    • 4 4 oz boneless chicken breasts, pounded thin
    • 4 tbps fresh basil, finely minced
    • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 lemon, juice and zest
    • 1 1/2 tbsp parm cheese grated
    • Salt and pepper to taste… I found it needed salt when I served.

    Instructions
    Heat a large non stick or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Mist with cooking spary and add onion, spinach ONE garlic clove and ONE tomato. Saute for 5 min or until just cooked. Remove from heat, mix in bread crumbs, set aside.

    Bring a pot of water to boil over high heat and cook pasta according to package directions.

    To stuff chicken, place 1 1/2 to 2 tbsp vegetable-bread crumb mixture in the middle of each piece of chicken. Fold chicken over filling and secure with toothpicks.

    Heat a large nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium high heat for 2 min. Mist with cooking spray. Place stuffed chicken into pan and cook until golden brown on each side (about 3-4 min per side)

    Drain pasta when finished cooking, then put back in the pot and toss with basil, oil, lemon juice and zest, add remaining 3 cloves of garlic.

    To serve garnish pasta with remaining tomatoes and parmesean cheese.

    (my rolls are a little “messy”, I had picked up chicken tenders instead of breasts, so I was working with small pieces of chicken!)

    Do you have a healthy recipe to share? Post it to your blog, and be sure to come back here and add it to Mcklinky! Thanks for stopping by!

    There’s another new meme in town…

    We are pleased to announce another new meme, What did you bake Today? which will be hosted by our contributor, Kristen from Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker on Fridays.

    Kristen told me, “I am excited to host a dessert meme. I come from a family where dessert was often served for all three meals (if you count having pie for breakfast ~ which we often ate). I make at least 3 or 4 desserts a week for my family”. She’s a mom of 5 kids, teenage to preschool, who comes from generations of great bakers and loves keeping family recipes alive and sharing kitchen adventures. Most of her recipes are frugal and not for dieters, but she loves to throw in a nonconforming recipe now and then just to shake thinks up. Be sure to come back and check out Save Room for Dessert Friday at ThE KrAzY KiTcHeN.

    Simple Supper Saturday

    We’ve decided to change the name from Simple Summer Suppers to Simple Supper Saturday since it isn’t summer everywhere around the world, and although it’s like summer almost all year here in Florida, summer does actually end, but the meme won’t.

    Right now I will still be featuring a lot of main dish salads, subs, or sandwich style meals. Simple Supper Saturday’s overall focus will still be quick, easy and inexpensive meals no matter what time of year it is! Welcome to Simple Supper Saturday!

    This week’s it’s another family favorite made from leftover chicken – Chicken Quesadillas!

    Just lay out burrito size tortilla shells, top with a thin layer of shredded cheese, then a thin layer of shredded chicken, and again with cheese. Top with an additional tortilla shell and bake at 350 for about 5 minutes or just until the edges just barely start to crisp. That’s it, supper is ready!

    Note – These can also be made with leftover steak, ground beef or even just cheese alone. They are great all by themselves, but I like to serve them with shredded lettuce and other various sauces and toppings when serving them for a meal.

    I can’t wait to see your Simple Supper ideas!

    Healthy Helpings at the KrAzY KiTcHeN

    We’re proud to introduce Martha TOO from the Daily Grind as our newest contributor over at the KraZy KiTcHeN. I say Martha Too because my co-author for our new blog is also a Martha. We’re starting to sprout Marthas around there so I wanted to keep it all straight!! Martha Too is a “flip flop wearing, camera toting single mom” who will be hosting Healthy Helpings on Thursdays. Please come by on Thursday and welcome her by joining in with this great new meme.

    ♥final blog signature. ♥

    Introducing Martha Too & Healthy Helpings

    We’re proud to introduce Martha TOO from the Daily Grind as our newest contributor. I say Martha Too because my co-author for our new blog is also a Martha. We’re starting to sprout Marthas around here so I wanted to keep it all straight!! Martha Too is a “flip flop wearing, camera toting single mom” who will be hosting Healthy Helpings on Thursdays. Please come by on Thursday and welcome her by joining in with this great new meme.

    Simple Summer Suppers

    Welcome to Simple Summer Suppers!

    During the warm summer months there are usually other places I’d rather be besides in the kitchen – like at the beach or in the pool! During the summer I make a lot of main dish salads, subs or sandwich style meals, but that doesn’t have to be boring! Simple Summer Suppers will focus on quick, easy, inexpensive and generally even healthy summertime meals.

    Chicken Caesar Pitas are one of my family’s favorites, and talk about easy! Just grab that leftover chicken out of the fridge and slice or shred, mix up a quick Caesar salad – you can even buy it ready to mix in the bag these days if you choose. Throw your pita bread in the oven right on the rack just long enough to warm, about two minutes (I use the whole grain pitas, but that’s up to you)…


    Pile the salad and chicken on the pita bread, add a bit fresh grated Parmesan cheese, fresh ground pepper, fold and enjoy! This meal tastes even better on paper plates 😉


    Note – sliced steak or shrimp are also great in place of the chicken.

    I hope you’ll join us with your own Simple Summer Supper ideas!

    ORTEGA CHILE BAKE

    I thought I’d kick off the week and the meme with a family favorite which is also super simple time saver recipe, inexpensive, great ‘user upper’ of great food AND it was sooooooooooooo tasty I thought hubby was going to lick his plate. He settled for seconds though.

    This recipe originally ran at 3 sides of Crazy 12-14-08. It was cold and snowy here that day. A day that just cried for a really hot lunch! So I took to the freezer and refrigerator to see what there was (we hadn’t planned on being here so nothing had been planned) and I found some leftover BBQ beef (which I drained of all sauce), 1/2 a package of shredded cheddar cheese, a can of cream of celery soup, some pasta shells and a can of diced green chiles. This is tlso the most perfect recipe for leftover Pot Roast or roast beef. We had 6 servings for $4.29 or $0.72 cents per serving.

    ORTEGA CHILE BAKE
    Left over shredded beef (technically 0.00 since it was already accounted for)
    1 can cream of celery soup (.96)
    3 cups AL DENTE pasta noodles (1.12)
    1 can diced green chiles, drained (.89)
    1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (1.12)

    • Drain chiles.
    • Stir soup and chiles together.
    • Stir in beef until well blended.
    • Add pasta and mix well.
    • Pour into a greased 9×9 baking dish and top with cheese.
    • Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

    Balsamic Peach Chicken ~ Stretch Your Food Dollar

    This recipe was originally this. Hubby liked it so well that I have written an alternative version that allows me to clean out the fruit drawer, freezer and eat it too! This version also allows me to make the flavorful part the night before while I’m cleaning up the kitchen and throw it together quickly the next night and no one knows I cheated a little.


    BALSAMIC PEACH CHICKEN ~ 6 servings ~ $5.82 ~ $0.97/serving

    1/4 cup balsamic vinegar ($0.65)
    2 peaches ($0.82)
    1 kiwi*($0.33)
    1/2 cup packed brown sugar($0.32)
    1 tablespoon plum sauce* ($0.10)
    1 tablespoon KARO syrup ($0.10)
    1/2 cup hot water
    1 teaspoon Better than Bouillon chicken base ($0.25)
    1 pound chicken tenders, sliced into 1 inch pieces ($2.95)
    1 1/2 cups prepared brown rice ($0.30)

    • In a small saucepan bring the water, vinegar, bouillon and brown sugar to a boil. Add the chopped fruit pieces and boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and simmer for several minutes more.
    • Spray a skillet with pure. Stir fry the chicken pieces until heated through.
    • Transfer to a medium size bowl. Pour vinegar mixture over chicken pieces and chill several hours.
    • Prepare rice.
    • In a large skillet heat through the chicken mixture.
    • Add the rice and heat through.
    • Serve and Enjoy.

    *The plum sauce and kiwi made a nice tropical taste that was a little more tart than the original recipe.