Enchilada Stuffed Shells -SRC

Have you ever made a new recipe full of delicious ingredients that you know your family loves yet had skeptical, dubious children take one look and declare,  "I don't LIKE that!" before they've even tasted it?

It drives me crazy.

My 3.5 year old Ellia is a real master at that kind of stuff. If she even thinks a dish might have onions in it, she automatically doesn't want to eat it.  What makes it even worse is that she really doesn't mind onions, it's the 6 year old (Annika) who does.  Ellia just wants to be like Annika, so she has to copy the onion-hating.

There was one time recently that Ellia was eating her peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch and she excitedly announced, "You can't even taste the onions!!!!"  

Yep.  I can't taste onions in my PB&J either.  Wonder why that is.

I use onions a lot in my cooking, so there are many opportunities to use that phrase, I suppose.

So there was a small amount of skepticism when this dinner was presented, but once the reluctant eaters were persuaded to take a bite, there were no more complaints and the plates were emptied.  Hurray!  Score for Mom!

Many thanks to Grandma Loy's Kitchen, whose blog I was assigned to for this month's Secret Recipe Club.
Grandma Loy has lots of down-to-earth recipes with simple ingredients and easy preparation - like her Herbed Potato Frittata (which I made a version of on Saturday and it was amazing!), Apple Pear Streusel Pie,  and Easy Pretzel Pralines (definitely trying those this fall).
I have really enjoyed reading through her blog and pinning all sorts of new things to try.

But I couldn't resist this entree option - I love enchiladas and pasta is always a hit with my family.....so I just knew these would be delicious.  When Annika came in and saw me filling the shells, she was less than impressed with how the filling looked....but I made her take a little bite and she was immediately convinced.....this was an awesome meal. :)   She couldn't wait to tell the others how good dinner was going to be!  And we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

I included our favorite enchilada sauce that I use for this recipe - Grandma Loy has her own version that you can also check out.  Or you can just use canned sauce.

P.S.  This would make a GREAT potluck meal.
P.P.S. I bet it would also freeze really well....although I haven't tried it yet.

Enchilada Stuffed Shells
adapted  from Grandma Loy's Kitchen

1 lb ground turkey or beef
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup red pepper, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups frozen whole kernel corn
1 can (15 oz) pinto or black beans, drained and rinsed
4 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
2 (10 oz) cans enchilada sauce OR homemade recipe below
20 jumbo pasta shells, cooked according to package directions
2 cups shredded cheese - cheddar and Monterey Jack combined, divided use

Brown ground turkey or beef with onion, red pepper, and garlic.  I like to sprinkle with garlic salt for flavor.  Drain if necessary.  Add corn, beans, cream cheese, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper and 2/3 cup enchilada sauce.  Let cook for ~10 minutes.  Cool slightly.  Spoon about 2 heaping Tablespoons meat mixture into each cooked pasta shell. Place in a greased 13 x 9" dish.  Sprinkle each shell with some of the cheese. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the shells.  Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes at 350°F. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 5-10 minutes longer.

Makes 10 servings of 2 shells each.

Enchilada Sauce: (makes enough for a double batch of stuffed shells  - freeze half for another time if you don't need a double batch)
2 T. olive oil
1 T. flour
1/4 c. chili powder
2 c. chicken broth
10 oz. tomato paste
1 t. oregano
1 t. cumin
1/2 t. salt

In a large saucepan or skillet, heat 2 T. oil and then add flour, smoothing and stirring with a wooden spoon.  Cook for 1 minute.  Add chili powder and cook for 30 seconds.  Add 2 cups broth, tomato paste, oregano, cumin and salt.  Stir to combine.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium/low. Simmer for 10-15 minutes to allow flavors to develop.

Chocolate Velvet Dessert

We are officially in the throes of birthday season.

All five of our children were born between September and November.  Three of them in October.

While mostly that was actually intentional......passing down clothes and all that.....it makes for a really busy fall.  (Like especially two years ago when I gave birth on October 9, Grant had ankle reconstruction surgery to repair 3 torn ligaments on October 11, and we had birthdays to celebrate on October 20 and 28.  Yeah. Fun times.)

We just celebrated our middle child's birthday - she turned 6 - this past weekend.  While it was a lot of fun to plan and execute, I'm glad it's over and everything went well.

One down, four to go. And then it's Thanksgiving and Christmas.  

So before all the party festivities began, we took the previous two weekends to have people over for dinner - lovely families from church that we had been meaning to invite over for months and just hadn't made it happen. One of the weekends, I made these cookies, which makes such a large batch that we had plenty for both evenings we had guests. (and I was reminded again just how much I love those cookies.)
For the next weekend, I wanted to make a new dessert. When I was deliberating what exactly that should be,  pouring through my pinterest board and foodgawker favorites, nothing was striking my fancy.

I know....how is that even possible with 300 different options?

But then I remembered this dessert.

I had made it years ago for a special night with some friends in Virginia.....and we had all loved it.  I had been meaning to make it again and somehow just never got around to it.  Silly me.  It certainly deserves to be made more often than every 5 years.

So here's the breakdown.  A slightly crunchy and buttery Oreo crust, a rich, creamy filling made with melted chocolate, egg yolks, and heavy cream, and a sweet chocolate buttercream frosting.
It looks similar to a cheesecake - but it has such a smooth - and yes - velvety texture.  It positively melts in your mouth.  It's almost like eating a slice of chocolate truffle.  
 
To say that it's decadent would be an understatement.
And you really have to love chocolate to appreciate this treat.
Thankfully, everyone in my family (and our guests) fell into that category.


Chocolate Velvet Dessert
adapted slightly from Taste of Home

1-1/2 cups chocolate cookie or Oreo crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
6 egg yolks
1-3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. dark cocoa powder (or 3 T. regular cocoa powder)
3-4 Tbsp. whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 350°.  In a medium bowl, combine cookie crumbs and butter well.  Press onto the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a greased 9-inch springform pan.  Place on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

2. In a large microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate chips; stir until smooth.  Cool.  In a small bowl, combine the egg yolks, cream, and vanilla.  Gradually stir a small amount of mixture into melted chocolate until blended; gradually stir in remaining mixture.  If it clumps up, don't worry - just keep whisking briskly until it smooths out.  Pour into crust.

3. Place pan on baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until center is almost set.  Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer.  Refrigerate overnight.

4. In a large bowl, combine the butter, powdered sugar, sifted cocoa, and enough milk to achieve a piping consistency.  Using a large star tip, pipe frosting on dessert.

(Healthy) Chocolate Oat Breakfast Cookies

As much as I love things like scones or cinnamon rolls for breakfast, I make them a special treat. We most often eat things like scrambled eggs, baked oatmeal, cereal, or banana muffins. The girls are fine with that.....especially the muffins part....but Corban (9.5) , who is in general my least picky eater, has started complaining about most of those offerings. He's not crazy about the non-sugary cereal I buy, doesn't care for homemade granola, and he hates bananas in baked goods.

So you can imagine his delight when one recent morning the kids came downstairs to see me baking cookies and then heard the announcement, "These are for breakfast!"

What???

Chocolate cookies for breakfast????

You're the Best mom Ever!  
An elation that wore off sooner than I would have preferred......when I still insisted in doing schoolwork for the day.

So yes, these fall into the "occasional treat" category....or they could even fall into dessert sometimes.....because although they are healthy, with coconut oil and oats  and whole wheat flour, they still have chocolate. And they taste surprisingly decadent.   They're a little chewy, a little crisp, have a wonderful salty/sweet contrast, and are definitely hard to stop at just one.

I even heard a couple of kiddos declare that these would be their Birthday Breakfast choice.

That means they're really good.

(Healthy) Chocolate Oat Breakfast Cookies
adapted  from Fit Mama Real Food  and The Tasty Cheapskate

1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
3/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 egg
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. natural cane sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional, but highly recommended)
1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional - I used unsweetened)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional - I didn't use)

1 .Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a different bowl, whisk melted coconut oil, egg, and sugars together.  Add in vanilla.
3. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix.  Stir in oats, then add chocolate chips, coconut, and pecans if using.
4. Drop mounds onto an ungreased baking sheet.  The cookies don't spread much, so I found it best to flatten them with the bottom of a glass before baking.  Bake for 7-9 minutes, or until set.

Peach Cobbler Scones

I could eat scones for breakfast nearly every day and be a happy camper.  

Well, maybe not when I went to put on my jeans....but at the table?  I'd be happy. 

The thing is, they have to be good scones.  Like, you know, soft....buttery....tender.....if they have those qualities, I pretty much don't care what flavor they are.  Apple, pumpkin, cherry almond, berry, whatever. It's all good. 

Maybe I just have bad luck, but it seems like every scone I've had from a restaurant (Starbucks, Panera Bread, and the like) has been a bit dry and stale tasting.  Oh, they weren't so bad that I wasted the fortune $3 they cost and tossed them in the garbage, but they just don't hold a candle to homemade.  In taste or value.  So in general, I prefer to make my own at home.  

These are a really fun variation on the normal type of scones - because they're basically like a peach sandwich.  Sweet, rich dough encasing juicy peaches, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, and baked until golden. 

Ummmm.....helloooooo......delicious!!  

Okay, to be perfectly fair, I'll admit that Grant wasn't the hugest fan.  But that's mainly because he doesn't really care for peaches unless they're plain....and he prefers scones with either frosting (ha, who wouldn't?) or a thick layer of jam, which would really be kind of weird on these scones. 

But the kids and I didn't mind because that meant more for us.  We thought they were incredible.  

Peach Cobbler Scones
makes 8 huge scones or 16 smaller ones
adapted slightly from Joy the Baker

3 cups flour (I used half white whole wheat, half all-purpose)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes (I used salted)
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk, plus a couple Tablespoons for brushing
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 ripe peach, sliced thin (or more if needed)
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Cut in butter until    mixture resembles coarse meal.  Don't leave any chunks of butter larger than peas.

3. In another bowl, combine egg, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Beat lightly with a fork.  Add to the flour mixture  all at once, stirring enough to make a soft dough.

4. Turn onto a floured surface and knead about 15 times.  If the butter has warmed too much in the making  of the dough, shape the batter into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest in the fridge for 15 minutes.
 I didn't have this issue - mine was fine.
 If the butter is still cool, shape the dough into a disk and on a well-floured surface, roll dough to a little less  than 1/2-inch thickness, making a rectangle about 12 x 10 inches, or a little larger.

5. Brush half of the rolled dough with buttermilk.  Arrange peach slices, in a single layer, across that side of  the dough. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle half of it over the peaches.

6. Carefully fold the empty side of dough over the peach layer.  Press gently together.  Add a bit of flour to your hands and press the edges of the dough in, creating more of a rectangle shape than a half-circle shape.  Slice dough into 8 or 16 pieces.

7. Place scones on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of room around each scone for spread  while baking. If dough has warmed and feels mushy, place in fridge for a few minutes to re-chill.  Again, I  didn't have this issue.  Brush each scone top with buttermilk and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar.

8. Bake scones for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. Scones are best served warm, on the day they're made - but they're pretty tasty the next day too. :)

Peach Cheesecake Ice Cream

We're fortunate to have a local peach orchard not too far away and I recently picked up half a bushel of my favorite late summer fruit.  That worked out to be 22 pounds, in case you're wondering.  (yes, I did haul out my kitchen scale to weigh them.....I just had to know.)

That's a lot of peaches.

I stuck at least half of them in our extra fridge in the garage so they wouldn't ripen too fast and left the rest on the counter.  My constantly hungry kiddos would make fast work of them, I was sure.

I had every intention of making peach freezer jam, and even bought the pectin for it.....but when I saw that the recipe called for a cup and a half more sugar than peaches, I just couldn't bring myself to make it.
Should have bought that less-sugar required pectin.

Also on my list of things to make was Peach Cobbler Scones.  Those I made on Saturday - the recipe will be coming soon.  Delish.

But above all else, I wanted to make peach ice cream.
But not just plain peach ice cream - peach cheesecake ice cream!
I couldn't get the idea out of my head.

So what I basically did was take the basic vanilla ice cream that I usually make and added a bunch of pureed peaches, with a block of cream cheese replacing one of the cups of cream.  I toyed with the idea of swirling in crumbled homemade ginger snaps or something of the like, but ended up just deciding to sprinkle individual servings with crushed graham crackers.

It was so. good.

Grant (aka Mr.Chocolate) was admittedly skeptical of it.  He was convinced that he wouldn't really care for it.  But after one spoonful, he was SOLD.  

In my opinion, nothing you buy at the store can hold a candle to homemade ice cream.  It's so rich, satisfying, and free of weird ingredients. (carrageenan, anyone??)  And this version, with so many sweet, juicy peaches in it, must have a full serving of fruit per scoop.  What store-bought ice cream can boast that?

Peach Cheesecake Ice Cream
Makes a generous 2 quarts
(a Rebekah original)

1-1/2 pounds fresh peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced
1 8 (oz) package cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 1/4 cups sugar (I used organic evaporated cane juice sugar)
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream
Graham crackers for garnish (optional)

1. Place peach slices and cream cheese (cut into small pieces) into a blender or food processor.  Puree until smooth.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the milk and sugar and mix for a few minutes on medium speed, until sugar is completely dissolved and mixture is smooth. I test it by rubbing a small amount of mixture between my fingers to make sure there's no grittiness left.
3. Add the peach cream cheese mixture to the milk and stir to combine.  Add the vanilla and cream and stir gently.
4. Pour into your ice cream maker and proceed according to your manufacturer's directions.

Mine nearly overflowed my Cuisinart 2-quart ice cream maker - so if yours is smaller, reduce the recipe in half or only freeze part of it at a time. 

Lemon Zucchini Bread - SRC

This month I had the pleasure of getting introduced to Lea Ann from Cooking...On the Ranch for my Secret Recipe Club assignment. Lea Ann lives in Colorado and has seriously one of the best views in the entire world from her little town.  You HAVE to click over to her About page to see it.  Go ahead....I'll wait.

Didn't I tell you???  Looks like a little piece of heaven to me. I need to go on vacation there.

So I was tempted by so many recipes on her blog - from Chicken Macaroni Salad (definitely making that one soon - I bought the ingredients for it, just haven't gotten to it yet) to this mouth-watering Baked Zucchini and Tomato side dish.....but I had some organic zucchini that was desperately calling to me from the bottom drawer of the fridge to be used soon, and I had never tried Lemon Zucchini Bread before, so that was the big winner.

I was the designated "snack-bringer" to my ladies' Bible study that week, so I decided to double the recipe and share this treat with friends.  And I must say, it was a HUGE hit.  I got loads of compliments from the ladies and kids alike.....and everyone was super surprised that the bread had zucchini in it.

That's mostly because of an error I made.

See, I just got my first food processor a few weeks ago and was super excited to use it to shred the zucchini. Sooooo much faster than hand-grating it, right?
But silly me, I neglected to take the blade out of the bottom of the processor, so the zucchini got not only grated, but basically pureed.  It was a nice, fine pulp.

I just tossed it in the bread anyways and it essentially disappeared.  I don't think anyone would have guessed that there was zucchini in the bread - but it definitely did its magic of adding moisture to the bread.

The best part was the glaze - the tangy, vibrant lemon glaze.  It just made the bread explode with flavor.

You really have to try it - Lea Ann swore it was amazing and she was Oh. So. Right.
Definitely double the recipe - you'll be so glad you did.

Next year I am totally planting some zucchini in my yard so I can make this bread all summer long.


Lemon Zucchini Bread
Adapted slightly from Cooking...On the Ranch
(makes one 9x5" loaf)

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil (I used expeller-pressed coconut oil)
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
Juice of 1 lemon (or 2 Tbsp. lemon juice)
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup grated zucchini

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
Juice of half a lemon (or 1 Tbsp. lemon juice)

Preheat oven to 350°.
In a large bowl, blend flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat 2 eggs well, then add oil and sugar and blend well.  Add the buttermilk, lemon juice and lemon zest and stir to combine.  Fold in the zucchini.
Add wet mixture to dry mixture and blend gently; don't over mix.
Pour batter into a greased 9x5" loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Combine glaze ingredients in a small bowl - add more juice or sugar if necessary to make a good drizzling consistency.  You don't want it really thick, but super liquidy isn't good either!  Spoon glaze over bread evenly and let set before serving.

Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cheesecake Bites

I know it's just the beginning of August - and there are lots of people who are still soaking in the love of summer for another month - but around here, we're already two weeks into our home school schedule.

We're attempting a new routine - one that I started last year but was completely disrupted by our move; six weeks on, one week off year round - with an extra ten weeks to take off whenever we want.  I'm sure a chunk of those will regularly be taken in the summer, plus we'll have extra time off in December and whenever grandparents come to visit. We'll see how it goes.

A couple of weeks ago, the leaders of our church hosted a dinner for the families who were new to the congregation in the past several months.  We were asked to bring a dessert (you know they had to twist my arm on that one) and I decided to make this variation on these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Squares.  That's my second most popular blog post of all time - and well deservedly so - but I always like to try new things.

The recipe that inspired me was made in a 8x8" square pan.  Now, I know for some people, that's a reasonable amount of dessert to have around, but when you have a family of 7 and might like a dessert to last more than one meal, that's just not gonna cut it. Not to mention that we were taking it to a potluck.

So double it I did.  

Okay, I have a confession to make.  Any time a recipe calls for an amount of cream cheese that doesn't use up the whole block, I adjust the recipe to use it all  - unless I already have a purpose for the remainder. I just can't stand leaving 4 ounces of cream cheese in the fridge, knowing that I'll never have a recipe that uses so little or I'll forget all about it and end up throwing it away in 3 months.  (cause that's about how often I clean out my fridge.  I know. Ick.  But it's my least favorite chore.)

Sooooo.....I not only doubled the recipe but increased the cheesecake layer so I avoid having the icky cream cheese in the fridge.  The result was that my cheesecake layer was a little taller than the original and took a bit longer to bake - which in turn meant that the cookie layer on top got slightly brown.  I was worried about that at first, but you know what?  It still tasted fabulously delicious.

The proof was that people kept asking "Who made these bars??" with glowing eyes and blissfully happy smiles on their faces at the fellowship meal - and my family couldn't get enough of them.  I'm afraid my kids might have taken more than their share.  And the small pan that I saved at home and took to my parents the next night were equally as well received - my dad and brother LOVED them.

Oh, and another nice thing about making a huge pan - although I didn't have the chance to freeze any, I know they'd freeze perfectly and you could have little cheesecake bites just waiting for you any time the chocolate urge hits.
Or you have surprise company.
Or an accomplishment to celebrate.
Or you just like cheesecake with cookie dough.  Like me.  :)

Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cheesecake Bites

Adapted from Baby Gizmo

Crust:

3 cups chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs (about 27 cookies)

1 stick (8 Tbsp) butter, melted (I used salted)

Cookie Dough:

10 Tbsp. salted butter, partially melted

2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

6 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cheesecake Filling:

3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a 13 x 9" pan with foil or parchment paper allowing a little overhang.

Mix the melted butter and cookie crumbs until thoroughly combined.  Press into the bottom of the prepared pan.  I use a metal measuring cup to press the mixture in well.  Bake in preheated oven for 6 minutes.  Remove pan to a cooling rack.

While the crust is baking, prepare the chocolate chip cookie dough.  In a large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, and vanilla until smooth.  Mix in the flour just until incorporated.  Stir in the chocolate chips. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Mix in the eggs and vanilla on low speed just until combined. Add the melted chocolate and mix gently.  Pour the cheesecake batter into the prepared crust.

Flatten clumps of cookie dough in your palms and distribute onto the top of the cheesecake batter.  Get it as evenly spread out as possible.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the cookie dough feels dry and firm and the entire pan looks set.  If it's really jiggly, give it a few more minutes.  If the cookie dough starts to brown too much, you can cover the top of the pan with foil.

Move bars to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.  Refrigerate for a couple of hours before cutting.  Remove from pan using the foil overhang and cut into desired size squares.  Keep refrigerated until serving.

Bars can be frozen also - just allow to thaw before serving.