Spinach Tortellini Soup

    As my mother would say, "Sometimes, less is more Bridget." This recipe really brings out the taste of the roasted red peppers. It really doesn't need a whole lot of seasoning. This is a super simple and fast idea for dinner!

Spinach Tortellini Soup

Ingredients:

- 1 (9 ounce) package of tortellini

- 3 (14 ounce) cans of chicken broth

- 1 (7 ounce) jar of roasted red peppers, drained and chopped

- 3 green onions, chopped

- 3 cups of fresh spinach

- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

    Cook the tortellini according to package directions and drain. Bring the chicken broth to a simmer in a large saucepan. Add the cooked tortellini, peppers, green onions, and spinach. Let simmer for a minute. Serve and top with Parmesan cheese.   

Peanut Butter Blondies

Is it a peanut butter cookie? Is it a blondie? It's both! 

Peanut Butter Blondies

Ingredients:

- 1 stick of butter, melted

- 1 cup of brown sugar, packed

- 1 egg

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 2/3 cup of creamy peanut butter

- a pinch of salt

- 1 cup of flour

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8x8 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg, vanilla, and peanut butter. Mix well. Mix in the flour and salt until combined. Pour and spread batter evenly into prepared baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes (until toothpick is inserted and comes out clean). 

Pork Chops with Garlic Leek Sauce

    I had a few leeks left from my sweet potato chowder that I made last week. I had never cooked with leeks before so I've been exploring uncharted territory! I was very happy with how this recipe came out! The recipe that I found for the leek sauce originally called for dried sage, but I was fresh out of sage at home. I did a little research and found that marjoram has a similar taste and I happened to have some handy. I used butterflied pork chops, but you could easily use any kind you'd like.

Pork Chops with Garlic Leek Sauce

Ingredients:

- 2 butterflied pork chops

- 2 teaspoons of marjoram, divided

- 1 teaspoon of rosemary

- 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, divided

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

- 1 tablespoon of coconut oil

- 1 leek, thinly sliced

- 1 cup of chicken broth

- 1 tablespoon of heavy whipping cream

    In a small bowl, mix together 1 teaspoon of marjoram, rosemary, 1 teaspoon of minced garlic, and salt. Spread the mixture onto each pork chop, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 4 hours (or overnight). When ready to prepare, heat the coconut oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Sear the chops on each side for a few minutes (until browned). Remove the pork chops and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium and add the leeks to the skillet. Saute them for about 5 minutes, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add in the minced garlic and saute for another minute. Next, add the broth and bring to a boil. Place the pork chops back into the skillet with the leeks. Cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the pork has thoroughly cooked. Remove the chops again and set aside to let them rest. Add the whipping cream and simmer (stirring constantly) until the sauce reduces (about 5 minutes). Pour over chops and enjoy. 

Vanilla Almond Biscotti

    There's really nothing like dipping a freshly baked biscotti in your morning coffee. Today I had my chocolate chip cookie flavored coffee and one of the Vanilla Almond Biscotti that I baked after work last night. It totally made my morning!

Vanilla Almond Biscotti

Ingredients:

- 1 cup of sugar

- 1 stick of unsalted butter, melted

- 2 teaspoons of almond extract

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 3 eggs

- 2 and 3/4 cups of flour

- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

- 1/4 teaspoon of salt

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I mixed everything together by hand in the order that they are listed. (add the dry ingredients all at the same time). Once everything is completely combined, refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes. Prepare a cookie sheet by spraying with non-stick spray. Divide in half and shape the dough into two loaves. The size will depend on how big you want your cookies to be. Bake the loaves for about 30 minutes, until golden brown. Let them rest for about 10 minutes. Slice into 1/2 inch cookies and place them back onto the cookie sheet, sliced side down. Bake for about 10 more minutes. 

Sweet Potato, Kale, and Corn Chowder

    Usually, when the thought of chowder comes to mind you're reminded of a chunky potato soup with a base of cream and maybe some seafood. This is a far cry from the typical! I must admit, I'm not a huge fan of kale. It can be tough and tasteless in my opinion. But, in this soup it was so tasty! I bought a huge bag of it and I'll probably be experimenting a bit more this week! Also, I've never cooked with leeks before. I found some massive ones at the grocery store. Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite foods! I've been cooking with them a lot lately! This recipe is part of my meal prep mission, I've portioned it out for the week and it's going to make a great lunch to bring to work! I'm telling you, go make this! It's so good, I couldn't spoon it into my mouth fast enough. I just picked up my bowl and drank it! Not to mention it's pretty good for you!

Sweet Potato, Kale, and Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

- 1 tablespoon of coconut oil

- 1/2 of a large onion, chopped

- 2 medium sweet potatoes, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

- 3 cups of low sodium chicken broth

- 3 cups of water

- 1 large leek, cleaned and thinly sliced into half moons

- 1 tablespoon of minced garlic

- 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

- 2 cups of fresh chopped kale, packed

- 2 (15 ounce) cans of whole kernel corn, fresh or frozen works too

    In a large stock pot, over medium heat, saute the onions and coconut oil until the onion has softened. Add in the sweet potato, garlic, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Saute for a couple of minutes. Then, add in the chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the sweet potatoes are fork tender. Add in the leeks and simmer for another couple of minutes. With an immersion blender, roughly blend the soup until mostly smooth. If you don't own and immersion blender, simply pour into a blender or food processor, blend, and pour back into the pot. Add in the kale and the corn and simmer another couple of minutes, until the kale is tender. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. 

Orange Ricotta Cookies

    Have you ever had an orange scone from Panera Bread? That's what these cookies reminded me of! Flavored with fresh orange zest and iced with orange goodness! They are fluffy and fantastic!

Orange Ricotta Cookies

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

- 1 stick of butter, at room temperature

- 1 cup of granulated sugar

- 2 eggs

- 1 cup of ricotta cheese

- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- the zest of 1 orange

- 2 and 1/2 cups of flour

- 1 teaspoon of baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

For the icing:

- 1/4 cup of fresh orange juice

- the zest of 1/2 an orange

- 2 cups of confectioners sugar

    Preheat oven 325 degrees. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the ricotta, vanilla, and orange zest. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Spoon mix the dry ingredients into the large bowl of batter until just combined. Prepare cookie sheets by spraying with non-stick spray. Scoop the cookies, about an inch in diameter and about two inches apart, onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake them for about 20 minutes. Let them cool completely. In a small bowl, whisk together orange juice, zest, and confectioners sugar for the icing. Dip each cooled cookie into the icing and set aside to allow the icing to set before serving. 

Favorite Marinade

    If you're looking for a perfect steak marinade, in my opinion, you've found one! I just throw everything into the Ninja bullet and it's done in seconds. I've tried it on steak, pork chops, and shrimp so far and I have yet to be disappointed!

Favorite Marinade

Ingredients:

- 1/3 cup of low sodium soy sauce

- 1/2 cup of olive oil

- 1/4 cup of worcestershire sauce

- the juice of 1 lemon

- 2 tablespoons of dried basil

- 1 tablespoon of minced garlic

- 1 teaspoon of white pepper

- 1/2 of an onion, cut into pieces

    Add all of the ingredients together in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Marinade pork chops, steak, chicken, or shrimp for at least an hour before cooking. It's great on the grill!

 

Frito Corn Salad

    Summer cook-out season is upon us people! Paula Deen knows how to get down in the kitchen. Let me tell y'all about her corn salad that your family is going to love. It's the easiest, you just chop up some green peppers and onions and throw it all together! Simple and so good! This was one of my recipes from my brother's party a few weeks ago, I'm just getting around to posting it. It was a hit though!

Frito Corn Salad

Ingredients:

- 2 (15 ounce) cans of whole kernel corn

- 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese

- 1 cup of mayonnaise

- 1 cup of green pepper, chopped

- 1/2 of a red onion, chopped

- black pepper to taste

- 1 (10 ounce) bag of Chili Cheese Fritos, coarsely crushed

    Mix together the corn, cheese, mayo, green pepper, black pepper, and onion. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve and then add the Fritos right before serving. 

Bacon and Caramelized Onion Frittata

Happy Easter everyone! I whipped up a little breakfast for my family this morning! 

Bacon and Caramelized Onion Frittata

Ingredients:

- 12 slices of bacon

- 1 onion, roughly chopped

- 1 teaspoon of minced garlic

- 10 large eggs

- 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream

- freshly ground pepper

- 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a 10 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat and cook the bacon until crisp. I cooked them 4 slices at a time. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and whipping cream then, set aside. Lay the cooked bacon slices on a plate lined with paper towels and set aside. Drain most of the bacon fat, save about two tablespoons in the pan and toss in the onions. Saute the onions and grind black pepper to taste on top. Add the minced garlic and saute for a couple more minutes, until the onions start to caramelize. Cut the bacon into smaller pieces and add into the onion mixture. Pour the egg mixture on top and mix together. Let cook on the stove for about 5 minutes, stirring the eggs occasionally. Spread the shredded cheese on top and place the whole skillet into the oven for about 10 minutes. Once the middle has set and the cheese has melted, slice and enjoy. 

Simple Cheesecake

    I got to spend some time with a wonderful friend of mine yesterday! We fired up her grill and cooked a feast fit for a king. She and her son love cheesecake and I had never tried to make it before. So, I hit the grocery store on the way over and stocked up on cream cheese! This is a pretty low maintenance cheesecake recipe. It's pretty great! Elyse melted some dark chocolate with coconut oil and drizzled it on top, such a good idea. I brought some leftovers into work today, I'm pretty sure my cheesecake is better than our featured Sicilian cheesecake at the Olive Garden, just saying.  It'd be great with some fresh berries or maybe a little caramel on top. The possibilities are endless!

Simple Cheesecake

Ingredients:

 for the crust:

- 2 cups of finely ground graham cracker crumbs

- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

- 1/2 cup of butter, 1 stick, melted

 for the cheesecake:

- 5 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese, at room temperature

- 1 and 1/2 cup of sugar

- 7 eggs, at room temperature

- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 1/4 cup of plain greek yogurt

- the zest of one lemon

    Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon, and melted butter with a fork. Spray a 9 1/2 inch spring-form baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and gently pack the graham mixture into the bottom. Set aside or in the fridge while you make the cheesecake batter. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and sugar until, completely smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Slowly beat in eggs, one at a time. Gently mix in the vanilla, yogurt, and lemon zest, you don't want to over mix it once you've added the eggs. Pour the batter over the graham cracker crust. Place in the bottom third of the oven and bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes have passed, without opening the oven door, set the temperature to 225 degrees and let bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the center in mostly set. You shouldn't open the oven at all because you'll lose heat and it may cause your cake to crack. Remove and refrigerate for several hours before serving.  

Spring Flower Treats

    I can't believe it's April already! On this Good Friday, I've decided to share a cute idea that I found on Pinterest for a spring treat! I'm a huge fan of sweet and salty and what's better than chocolate and pretzels? Once again, I made this treat for the kids at church and they loved them! They can be a bit of a pain to decorate, but they're so cute that it's worth the effort. They're perfect for a cute Easter basket treat!

Spring Flower Treats

Ingredients:

- 1 bag of spring colored M&M's

- 1 bag of pretzel squares

- 1 bag of bright white candy melts

    On a microwave safe dish, place a couple of pretzels and top them each with a candy melt. I did 5 at a time. Place them in the microwave and heat until the candy melt has started to melt. I put them in for about 30 seconds. Be careful to not overheat them, they will burn. Place the M&M's in a flower design on top of melted candy and let them set. I put them in the freezer for a few minutes. Enjoy!