2012!

I can't believe it has been one year since this here blog was started. It began as a passing thought and has developed into a truly fun and exciting hobby. I wasn't sure how I would fair writing my thoughts for others to read, but it has been a very freeing experience. I love to give you all a taste of what I'm thinking, cooking, and feeling. One Recipe at a Time has taught me to try things that I never thought would work and to open up my mind and my taste buds to new things. 2011 was a hard year for many reasons and I'm glad to see it in my rearview. I can only begin to guess what 2012 has to offer but I hope it is full of new and exciting adventures, great recipes, great experiences and lots of happiness. I hope to reach more people with my recipes and my banter, so please pass this on to anyone who enjoys comforting food and a flair for fun.

To start the new year off right I'm sharing with you the easiest asian inspired/ make your own take out/pantry clean out/I just got back from a great weekend in Astoria and couldn't bear a trip to the grocery store style dinner. Please hold your applause for after :) 

Mixed Vegetable Asian Saute over Egg Noodles

1 large zucchini, cut into small strips

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper

1 clove of garlic minced

1 tsp. toasted sesame oil

1 tsp. canola oil (more if needed)

2 cups egg noodles (prepared as directed on bag)

1 1/2 tbsp. sunflower seed butter (or peanut butter or almond butter)
2 tsp. soy sauce

2 generous squeezes of Sriracha

Sesame Seeds for garnish (optional)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Start by preparing your egg noodles as directed on the packaging, feel free to use whatever you have in the pantry (spaghetti or soba noodles would work just as well). In a large saute pan swirl on your sesame oil and canola oil. Add zucchini, carrots, and pepper, allow to cook for 3-4 minutes or until they begin to soften. Stir in the garlic and continue to cook. Without removing the vegetables add the sunflower seed butter, Sriracha, soy sauce and salt and pepper. Stirring to combine all ingredients. Add about 3 tbsp. of the cooking water from your egg noodles to the large saute pan to thin out the sauce. Serve the vegetables immediately over noodles and garnish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds! 

Adjust the amounts of Sriacha to your taste, if you like it spicy add another tbsp. or so. I would also suggest a squeeze of lime juice which was no where to be found in my house. It still came out delicious but a little acid would really set this dish off! 

I hope you all stick with me for another year full of food and fun! Be on the look out for souffles, sixteen layer cakes, puff pastry, and healthy alternatives.  Love you all thanks for sharing this experience with me ;) 

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Welcome to the most delicious dessert you will eat this holiday season. When I say this recipe is a winner, I mean it is seriously winning! It is so tasty and ever so decadent. Do you love cheesecake? Do you love brownies? Do you love Red Velvet? If you answered yes to any of the above questions you will be totally hooked on this creation. I originally made this for my coworkers birthday in September and it was a hit. Literally, my coworkers have been asking me to make this for them again every time I mention baking. So with the approach of another coworkers birthday I decided to pull out the recipe and have at it again. And I just couldn't do so without sharing with you all. The recipe comes together pretty easily and there are no crazy ingredients. Just be sure to use really good quality dark chocolate it really does make a difference and is worth the few extra bucks. I found the original recipe on this blog, SweetPeasKitchen. My brownies didn't come out quite as pretty but seriously it didn't even matter they tasted oh so good! I am doubling the recipe for you and you will thank me.

All packed up ready for the office! 

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
Brownie Batter:
1 cup unsalted butter
4 oz. good quality dark chocolate chopped
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tsp. red food coloring
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Cheesecake topping:
2 -- 8 oz. packages block style cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Prepare a 9x13 pan with butter and parchment paper. Leave the parchment paper long on two sides for easy removal. For the brownie batter which will be your first layer begin with a microwave safe bowl, melt butter and chocolate together until smooth. Set aside and allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, combine sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and food coloring.  Using an electric mixer, mix until combined. Slowly add the butter/chocolate mixture, stir together. Pour the brownie batter in the prepared pan. For the cheesecake mix together all ingredients until smooth. Pour cheesecake batter over top of the brownie batter. To swirl use the end of a knife (my swirling skills are lacking). Bake at 350 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Oh, and did I mention I am trying to get to 50 followers by the New Year? So if you have friends who like to cook and are looking for new recipes feel free to forward on One Recipe at a Time! You can follow the blog by "Joining this Site" in the right hand column and entering your email address. Thanks guys, I have one more recipe before the holidays so be on the look out!

Power Smoothie

So with the holidays comes decadent eating, and I am not one to pass up the sweets. This is by far my favorite time of year to eat. All of my favorites seem to find the table during the holidays....turkey, mashed potatoes, magic cookie bars, sweet potato casserole. Name that holiday food and it has probably made an appearance on my favorites list. But all of this heavy food tends to weigh me down, literally weigh me down. And I need plenty of energy to get through shopping and wrapping presents and planning all of my holiday travel. So I have been whipping up this quick, super healthy, and tasty power smoothie. It is packed with vitamins and nutrients that make me feel good. It helps me start the day off on a good note. I use my Cuisinart Stick Blender to make this even quicker. 

Renee's Power Smoothie

1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1 small ripe banana

1 tsp. honey

1/4 cup orange juice

1 large handful baby spinach

1 cup frozen blueberries

In a tall measuring cup (I used the one that comes with the cuisinart blender) or in a blender pitcher, pulse the rolled oats until they are the texture of corn meal. Add the banana, honey, and orange juice and blend until combined. Add the spinach and blueberries (still frozen) and blend until desired consistency. Then enjoy! 

You can see the specks of green spinach and rolled oats and you just know this is good for you. The smoothie comes in at a little under 300 calories and packs in the vitamin C, A, B-6, folate, iron, and magnesium. But the best part, it tastes great so you won't even mind that it is healthy! Hope you try out this delicious recipe in the near future, I promise you won't regret it. 

French Toast Bites

Hey all! It's the holiday season and that means my kitchen has been working over time. I just can't resist cooking for friends when holiday cheer is upon me. My coworkers are especially lucky since it is just so easy to bring leftovers into work with me. They get cookies galore! But the product of this recipe was for me alone, there was no sharing here ;) Plus breakfast foods don't tend to pack well.

I recently acquired the photography app Instagram on my iPhone, so I will be using that to show off my handiwork. In case you were wondering where the artistic flare came from.

These little pillows of delight are seriously the best breakfast I have had in a while. But beware these are a holiday treat and should be treated as such since they definitely pack the calories. But hey this is what holidays are for right, a little indulgence! I had a leftover baguette that needed to be used up since it was a little stale and what better way then to incorporate my favorite breakfast food.

French Toast Bites

1 loaf day old Baguette or French Bread
2 eggs
1/4 cup or so of half and half
dash of nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. butter

For dusting:
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Syrup for serving

Beat together eggs and a generous splash of half and half (I say about 1/4 cup but adjust to the amount of bread you have, more half and half for more bread). Add nutmeg and vanilla. Cube the bread into bite size pieces or to the size of your liking. You could always do slices but I found the bite sized cubes more fun! Toss the cubes of bread into egg mixture until the bread soaks up all of the egg.

Melt 1 tbsp. of butter into large saute pan (or griddle if you have it) over medium high heat. Place the half of the soaked pieces of bread in the pan once the butter has begun to bubble. Watch carefully! They will cook up fast.  Cook for approximately 5 minutes or until pieces are browned on all sides.

In a medium bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar. Once you remove the fully cooked pieces of bread from the pan, place directly into cinnamon/sugar mixture and toss lightly until pieces are coated evenly. Set aside and repeat with the remaining pieces of bread.

Serve with a side of warmed maple syrup for dipping and enjoy! 

This is a super simple, quick and easy delicious weekend breakfast recipe. I hope you give it a try and if you do let me know how it comes out! 

The finished product! 

p.s. how do we like the new photo technique...yay or nay? Any requests for recipes or any challenges out there? I'm always looking for ideas to share with you all so just let me know. 

Quick and Easy is the Name of the Game

So, I wanted to get a quick post into you guys before I head back up north for the food holiday of the year! That's right I'm heading back to good ole NY for some feasting with the family. I'm more than excited to among friends and family and my mom's cooking of course. But first I wanted to share these recipes that I have tried this past week. They are super simple and are great for week nights when the last thing you want to do is cook. 

Chicken Sausage over Potato Slivers and Sauteed Spinach

4 Chicken Sausage (I used Trader Joe's Pesto flavored; but any would work great)

1/2 bag baby spinach

1 large Potato, thinly sliced 

1 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. olive oil 

Salt and Pepper

To start, I thinly sliced my potatoes using a mandolin. The first batch I cooked up I did on the stove top and they came out crispy just how I imagined they should. Using about 1/2 Tbsp. butter I cooked the potato slices in a saute pan for about 5 minutes each side until they were golden brown and crispy. But since my potato produced an insane amount of thin slices I decided to speed up the process. I turned my oven on to 450 degrees. In one layer I placed the potatoes on a cookie sheet drizzled them with 1 Tbsp. olive oil, then seasoned with salt and pepper. Then using my hands I ensured all of the potatoes were coated with the oil. I stuck them in the oven for about 20 minutes until they were slightly golden and soft (still just as delicious as the first batch). While my potatoes were cooking up I sliced my sausages at an angle and sauteed them up until heated through about 5-7 minutes. I removed the sausages from the pan, and in the same pan placed a drizzle of olive oil and my baby spinach. I cooked until the spinach wilted about 2 minutes. Then I simply plated my dinner, potatoes first, then spinach, topped off with the sausage. Quick and Easy! It makes about 4 smaller servings, I had plenty for dinner (slightly larger portion) and two days of lunch. 

Pumpkin Roll Ups and Mini Apple Cream Cheese Roll ups 

I used one can of crescent rolls with two different flavors apple and pumpkin. I baked them at the same temperature and used the same cinnamon/sugar combo for dusting the rolls. A little something for everyone. 

Pumpkin Roll Ups 

1/2 tube crescent rolls (low fat)

1/2 can pureed pumpkin

2 oz. softened cream cheese (1/3 less fat)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. all spice

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

3 Tbsp. sugar

For dusting, 3 tbsp. sugar and 1 Tbsp. cinnamon combined in small bowl. 

In a small bowl combine pumpkin, cream cheese, spices, and sugar. Using an electric mixer, mix until smooth. Spoon about 1 Tbsp. pumpkin mix into each crescent roll, then gently roll into crescent shape.  Once you have rolled all of the pumpkin crescents place each roll in the sugar and cinnamon mixture until coated. Place evenly spaced on a cookie sheet set aside. 

***I had extra pumpkin filling left over after this that I didn't use up in the above recipe. So the next morning I stirred it in with my oatmeal for a heart warming breakfast, I highly recommend you try it***

Apple Cream Cheese Roll Ups

1/2 tube crescent rolls (low fat)

1/2 can prepared apple pie filling

2 oz. softened cream cheese (1/3 less fat)

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp. sugar 

In a small bowl combine cream cheese, lemon juice, and sugar. Mix until smooth. Spoon cream cheese mixture onto crescent rolls. In a small bowl, using a spoon gently cut apart the apple slices in the apple pie filling so that they are easier to manage. Then spoon the apple pie filling on top of cream cheese. Roll up the crescents and coat with the same cinnamon and sugar mixture used for the pumpkin roll ups. Place evenly on the same cookie sheet as the pumpkin roll ups.

In a preheated oven at 375 degrees bake the roll ups for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. The apple roll ups will be bubbling slightly. Then enjoy while still warm! This is a great week night dessert that is just perfect for the fall. I brought these in for my coworkers the next day and I just told them to nuke them in the microwave for about 15-30 seconds and they were just as yummy. 

Hope you enjoy! And just to start this holiday off right, I wanted to thank each of you for tuning in to my little blog. This truly has been a fun little adventure for me. I love to hear your feedback on my posts and the stories of the recipes you have tried from here! I'm always looking for suggestions so feel free to shoot some my way. Love you all and just know I'm thankful for you everyday :) 

Mushroom Bourguignon

Hey all, it has been awhile! But no worries I am back and with the holidays around the corner I will have lots of recipes to share. You would think with the three day weekend that I just enjoyed I would have more than just one recipe to give to you, but alas I spent most of the weekend lounging and shopping. You can't blame a girl can you? I found this recipe on, Pinterest, and wouldn't you know it is from one of my favs Smittenkitchen. Back in the days when I ate red meat I loved a good beef bourguignon, so I have been on the search for a vegetarian or pseudo-vegetarian version. And boy did Smitten deliver! This was a truly hearty, warming, best eaten in the dead of winter when your freezing your bum off dish! I basically followed the recipe as is, except I could not find pearl onions* in my grocery store and the dish did not suffer from the loss, but I imagine it would be a lovely extra touch.

Mushroom Bourguignon
2 Tbsp. Olive oil, divided
2 Tbsp. Butter, softened, divided
2 lbs. Mushrooms (I used whole creminis, and sliced baby bellas 1lb. each make sure to thoroughly clean all grit from mushrooms)
1/2 carrot, finely diced
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup full bodied wine (I used Yellowtail Shiraz and it worked great)
2 cups vegetable broth (you can use whatever you have on hand beef, chicken, or veggie your preference)
2 Tbsp. Tomato Paste
1/2 tsp. dried Thyme
1 cup pearl onions*
Egg noodles, cooked as package directs

In large pot, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil and 1 Tbsp. butter add mushrooms and cook for about 3-4 minutes. remove from pot into a bowl and set aside. Add remaining olive oil, onions, carrots, thyme, salt and pepper and cook for about 10 minutes or until the onions have softened and slightly browned around the edges. Add the garlic and continue to cook for an additional minute or two. Pour in wine and increase temperature to high, let reduce to half (about 5 minutes). Add broth, tomato paste and mushrooms (with any juices that have collected). Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. In a small bowl, combine flour and 1 Tbsp. butter once combined add into mushroom sauce. Continue to cook until desired consistency (this is when you would add pearl onions if going that route). I cooked mine for another 5-7 minutes so that it thickened slightly more. Serve over egg noodles, season to taste and get ready for a delicious heart warming dinner! I slopped up the extra juices with a hunk of crusty bread and enjoyed a glass of Shiraz, perfecto!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Coconut Choco-Chip Cooooookies

I love to bake, end of story. Seriously, there is something so comforting about getting out all of your ingredients, carefully measuring the correct amount, mixing it all together, popping it in the oven, then VOILA a sweet treat comes out for you to enjoy! I can bake anytime of day whether it is early morning or late at night. It is always the right time of day to bake. I love that you can always take out an old recipe and without fail it will come out the same almost every time. OK, so maybe you burn your first batch. But usually there is always enough batter left over for a second round. Don't get me wrong I love a good savory dish and cooking is what started me onto this blogging adventure. However, baking will always hold a special place in my heart. So as I'm sitting reading my book tonight (Song of Ice & Fire, A Clash of Kings) I have a hankering for oatmeal cookies. I wanted to make it a slightly healthier version of the classic cookie so I played around a little bit. I actually deviated from the printed recipe, gasp. I am not very good at ad-libbing baked goods. I pretty much will always stick to the exact recipe, so don't expect a huge change from the original. I did put my stamp on this one though. I adapted it from Mark Bittman's Oatmeal Cookie in, How to Cook Everything (my cooking bible, you should get it). 

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Coconut Choco-Chip Cooookies (said as if you are cookie monster!)

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups rolled oats (not the instant)

2 tsp. baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

3/4 cup milk (I used skim)

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, cream sugars and butter with an electric mixer. Add the eggs one at a time, then add vanilla beating until well blended. In a separate bowl combine, whole wheat flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, pinch of salt (I used a generous pinch of kosher salt), choco chips, and coconut. Alternating with the milk, add flour mixture to batter by hand stirring with a wooden spoon. Make sure the batter is well blended, it will be quite sticky but that's OK. Drop onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. I made my cookies pretty big so the recipe yielded about 2 1/2 dozen cookies. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the tops are just golden brown. 

This recipe will give you a nice dense oatmeal cookie, with less of the guilt ;) The cookies have a nice earthy tone from the whole wheat flour and a sweet finish with the chocolate and coconut. And as a plus, your house will smell of warm, freshly baked cookies.  Yes, I will admit I was eating two cookies while I wrote this! Somebody must enjoy the benefits of this blog. Let me know if you try them out, I promise you won't regret it.