Superbowl Sunday Mash Up

Happy Weekend everybody and happy Superbowl Sunday!

Kevin & I have been making things here and there and not blogging about them.  OOPS!  Yeah, we’ve been a little lazy, sorry!  We promise to try and keep you guys up to date. But for now – it’s Superbowl Sunday and we have some fun in store for you guys!

Superbowl doesn’t usually mean much to me, unless of course there is some good food involved.  Just about every Superbowl Sunday is spent at my moms house in front of the big screen TV with delicious goodies like Stromboli, honey teriyaki and hot wings and any variety of chips, pretzels and dips.  The boys in the football uniforms with the cute butts are just a bonus. Sorry, I’ll stop objectifying the talent now. Today we’re just wanted to do a quick update & share with you, a few recipes that we’ve tried that are relatively quick and just might help make your Superbowl Sunday food preparations a little easier.

Because of all the junk food that we usually take in during a football game, we thought we’d start this day off with something that is both healthy and delicious that everyone at your breakfast table can enjoy. This is my Aunt Marcia’s recipe that we’ve made a few of our own edits too.  We were told these muffins were OUT OF THIS WORLD and we just had to try them.  We really have no doubt that you will love them too.  And they are so yummy and filling!

Marcia Muffins

You will need:
4 eggs; slightly beaten
3 cups of sugar
1 cup of vegetable oil (or you can use 1 cup of applesauce instead if you wish)
1 quart of buttermilk
2 teaspoons of vanilla
One 15oz box of Rainsin Bran cereal
5 cups of flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoon of salt
5 teaspoons baking soda

Instructions:
- Mix eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla & buttermilk.  Best to use a large tupperware bowl for this.
-Then add cereal.
-In seperate bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda and then add to egg mixture a little at a time, folding it in and stirring well.
-Add nuts, dates, etc. if desired.
-Bake at 400 degrees for 15-30 minutes (depending on if you're making mini muffins or larger ones and depending on your oven).  We used large muffin tins and had to put it in for 30 mins, checking it at 20 and 25 minutes with a toothpick.

This recipe will make a very large batch of batter. The best part is, you make make as many as you’d like and you can store unused batter in fridge for up to 6 weeks!  Just take it out, drop some batter into your muffin tins and voila!  Breakfast or a yummy snack, anytime!

Next is our pasta salad, which is a lot tastier and lighter than store bought and is sure to be a hit at your Superbowl table.

Italian Pasta Salad

You will need the following:
1 small bottle of Wishbone Italian dressing (not the creamy kind)
1 container of cherry tomatoes, rinsed
1 Cup of shredded carrots (optional)
1 seedless cucumber (optional)
1 green bell pepper (optional)
1 small red onion (optional)
Parmesan cheese (optional)
1 can of black olives
A few pinches of salt & pepper

Instructions:
- Boil a box of pasta according to directions for Al dente (we use Rotini, Kevin prefers the tri-color Rotini actually). Don’t forget to salt your water.
- Once your pasta is in the strainer, run cold water over it and toss a bit until it has cooled down.  Then dump into large bowl.
- Shake the Italian dressing well and then give a few generous squirts of dressing over the pasta, just to coat it well enough not to stick while you’re prepping your veggies.
- Dice any veggies except for the tomatoes and olives which will remain whole.
- Add vegetables, a variety at a time, and stirring into pasta well. If you find that it needs more moisture add a little more dressing.  Add tomatoes and olives as well and then add salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese to taste.  Use salt sparingly at first to be sure you do not over salt the pasta salad.  You may need a little more of the dressing, it really depends on your preference.  If you plan to have the pasta salad as leftovers, be sure to keep some of the dressing for the remaining days because the pasta absorbs the liquid as time goes on and you may need to add some the next day.

Kevin & I love this pasta salad. The bite and color of the fresh vegetables beats out the heavy flavors of vinegar and mayo any day!

Next is another pasta dish that is pretty easy and so tasty!  It's my friend Nicole's macaroni & cheese.

Kevin & I are both particular about Mac & Cheese, but – it’s for completely different reasons.  Just about every version of homemade mac & cheese I have ever had has been lacking in seasoning.  Mind you, I don’t like  things very salty. My mother hardly used salt when I was growing up, instead she would use garlic and other seasonings to beef up the flavor.  But I can tell when the salt factor goes missing and someone forgot to add a little something to help replicate that particular bite that makes things worth eating.  Sometimes when Kevin makes his mac and cheese, I get a little queasy watching him.  I just have a thing about using eggs in savory cooking.  Breakfast? Sure!  Baking? Absolutely!  But the thought of eggs in mac and cheese makes my stomach turn.  Of course, like my friend Rachael says, if you put it in front of me and it tastes good, I’ll eat it, just don’t tell me what is in it.   But once I know an egg is in there, or if my prying eyes locate a custardy weirdness, I’m usually turned off.  Kevin likes his mac & cheese with shallots and once you turn the pasta out into a greased baking pan he prefers his topped with panko, or anything that’ll give him that crunch and texture he's looking for.  Crushed Ritz crackers is an option –Or if you want to be want to be especially evil, like my mom, you could use crushed sour cream & cheddar potato chips – I know, I know.. you’re drooling aren’t ya?  Hahaha!

Well, below is Nicole’s somewhat ‘lightened up’ Macaroni & Cheese recipe.

You will need the following:
1 Box of Dreamfields Healthy Pasta (I promise this stuff is 100% like the real deal).
4 Cups of shredded cheddar cheese (I used Sharp but whatever you prefer is fine, Nicole has said she has used Cheddar, Gouda or even Monterey Jack cheeses).
2 Tablespoons of salted butter.
1/4 Cup of Fat Free half and half, and set aside a little bit extra as you may need a few drops more while mixing the cheese together.

Instuctions:
- Boil pasta according to instructions on box EXCEPT salt your water AFTER it comes to a boil, not before.  When you've added your salt and pasta to the water, it is time to start your cheese sauce!

-   In a sauce pan, add the 2 tbsp. of butter - be sure that the heat is on #5 on your stove knob (or just below half way).
- When butter has melted add in the cheese. I put the first 2 cups in, then used a whisk move it around and help it to melt, then I added the next 2 cups of cheese and then the half and half.  Whisk constantly to be sure the cheese doesn’t burn. Use your judgment, if the cheese sauce seems too thick or hard to mix, add a little extra half and half.  As soon as your pasta is done, strain it well and add back to pasta pot.  Using a rubber spatula, add all the cheese sauce to pasta and gently fold cheese sauce & pasta together until well mixed.

Voila! It is so damn good!!

Okay, last but not least – dessert of course!  These are our leftover cereal bars.  Your child doesn’t like hot wings or pasta salad? No problem!! These is a cool, kid friendly Superbowl recipe, and adults like them too.

You will need:
6 cups of whatever cereal you have on hand
4 cups of mini marshmallows
3 tablespoons of unsalted butter or margarine

Instructions:
- In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.
- Add your cereal to the mixture and stir until well coated. We made this recipe because we were trying to get rid of some cereal that was going to expire soon.  We used Cheerios and Golden Grahams together.
- Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares.  These usually taste best if you eat them the same day that you make them. You basically make this as you would make Rice Krispy treats, only you’re using whatever leftover cereal you’ve got laying around.  You can also add things like chocolate chips, craisins, nuts, etc. Get creative!!  But remember, those things should be mixed well into your 6 cups of cereal first and then mixed in all together into the marshmallows.

Next time I’d like to melt some chocolate chips in the double boiler and dip the bottom half of these treats into the chocolate and lay them on wax paper and stick them in the fridge to cool.  That would be extra yummy!

We hope you’ve enjoyed our Superbowl Sunday Mash up and that you have lots of game day Eats & Treats!  May the best team win!

Until next time,
Aimee & Kevin
xoxo

E-Mail Bag and Biscuits!

AIMEE: We got a special request via email from our friend Georgia who lives in Massachusetts.
Hi! I’ve been looking for a good biscuit recipe. The kind that would go with dinner, with butter or gravy. Lately, I have used jiffy mix ‘cause I have it on hand, but they taste kind of bland and heavy with soda powder/baking powder taste. Yuck. If you run across or try biscuit recipe please let me know. NO hurry.
Thanks for your time and help!
-Georgia
Well Georgia, we aim to please!  It just so happens we had plans to make some baked chicken for dinner Sunday night and what goes better with chicken than biscuits, right?  Well, Kevin certainly thought so and since he was heading to the store on Saturday afternoon, while I was still recovering from the flu, he got all the ingredients we needed.   I somewhat figured that what Georgia wanted was an quick, recipe that could be easily made for a group of people or just one if needed.  Something that didn’t require a whole pantry of ingredients.   I was Google’ing around and found a Youtube video of an old southern grandmother making biscuits.  I thought it was totally endearing (not to mention super important!) that someone had the forethought to video tape their grandmother making a recipe that they are famous in the family for.  So often our relatives pass away, leaving a huge void in our hearts, but in our stomachs as well and somehow we never know exactly how they made that meatloaf, that casserole or those cookies.  Anyway, when I watched this little old lady making these biscuits I was so eager to try them, she made it look completely effortless – and come to find out – it was!
Kevin was not sold on the recipe I had written down from the video I had watched.  He thought maybe there were ingredients missing, or something, but I could just tell he was not happy about making these biscuits in the fashion in which I had gotten from this video.  And listen – I understand!  When you’ve made food before from your own recipe or in school, or maybe your mom taught you – you kind of just want to do it that way forever.  I get it.  But what Kevin doesn’t understand is that, I have never made biscuits from scratch before – therefore I have nothing to lose and everything to gain!  I don’t have that dreaded fear of trying something other than what I have always known a biscuit recipe to be. It simply doesn’t bother me.  So anyway, getting back to dinner time.. the chicken was seasoned and baked and resting and before I knew what was happening Kevin was pouring flour into a bowl and adding things with a grimace on his face.  He didn’t look very happy.  When I realized that he was starting the biscuits without me, I hopped up with my phone to take pictures.  See originally the plan was, I was going to bake the chicken and he was going to do the biscuits.  However, I was taking a much needed hopefully-post-flu marathon nap and he offered to season the chicken for me.  From there, he just took over.  But I was expecting then that I would do the biscuits!  Well, anyway, things weren’t looking good in the bowl and Kevin was looking peeved.  The thing is, he hadn’t watched the video so my little list of ingredients and what to do didn't mean anything to him and he seemed annoyed. So I took over.  Now this is what you’ll need for these insanely simple, easy biscuits:
-Self rising Flour (recipe calls for 8 cups but we only used 4).
-Crisco (shortening)
-Buttermilk (recipe calls for 1 Cup, we used a little more than 1/2 Cup).
Instructions:
-Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
-Sift your flour – if you don’t have a sifter (and don’t worry - we don’t either) just mixed through it well with your hands, try to work out most of the lumps.
-Use the shortening or Crisco to grease a cookie sheet
-Make yourself a well in the center of the bowl of flour – this is where your dough will form. Use a good handful of Crisco to and start to slowly massage into flour
-Then add your 1 C of butter milk slowly, about 1/4 cup at a time mixing it with the flour and the shortening. Be sure to add flour bit by bit and mixing with hands until you’ve got desired amount of dough. Careful not to mush the dough around too much, or you will over work it. When the dough firms a bit, you can make it into biscuits (whatever size you desire – they do rise a little bit).
Drop biscuits onto sheet.  If you like a more tender biscuit, keep them very close together, even touching, on the sheet. For a biscuit that is brown and somewhat crispy on all sides, keep them separate on the sheet.
Lightly press knuckles into top of each biscuit.
Bake for 18-22 minutes – depending on your oven and the size of biscuits.

Next time I fully plan to added some garlic & sharp cheddar cheese into these babies – delicious!  Hope you enjoy as much as we did!
 
xoxo
Aimee & Kevin Ellis
p.s. This is the video that I watched to learn to make these – I wish I had thought of video taping my grandmother making all of her delicious recipes! I highly recommend watching the video before making the biscuits so you can see what I mean about ‘overworking’ the dough – she just does some squishing, but she doesn’t touch it a whole lot – which is apparently very important when it comes to biscuit making!