Macaroni Grill Bread

I used to love the Macaroni Grill. I haven't been there to eat in years, but I remember going there to eat after working on wedding flowers and eating insane amounts of their bread. We would dip it in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Parmesan cheese and a little freshly cracked pepper. Sometimes, we would go and just order a Caesar salad so we could have an excuse to pig out on bread. This recipe is not identical, but is pretty darn close. The original recipe is a bread maker recipe, but I have successfully made this in the oven as well.  I make this recipe exactly like the original, but when it is freshly baked I rub the crust with olive oil and give a little sprinkle of sea salt. Yum!

Macaroni Grill Bread
1 c. warm water
1 1/2 t. yeast
1 1/2 t. sugar
1 1/2 t. salt
3 T. olive oil
1/4 t. Italian seasoning
1 T. rosemary
1/4 t. pepper
2 1/2 c. flour

Add all ingredients as directed in bread maker instructions. Bake on white bread cycle.

Roasted Shrimp with Feta

Another hit from Annie's Eats! I even botched this recipe by accidentally opening and dumping in a can of tomato sauce instead of diced tomatoes. My little glitch didn't matter though because the flavors in this dish are divine. I served this over cous cous, but it would have been wonderful over pasta as well!

Roasted Shrimp with Feta
3 T. Olive Oil, divided
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 c. dry white wine
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce (original calls for diced tomatoes, plus 2 t. tomato paste)
1 1 /2 t. dried oregano
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 c. bread crumbs (I used panko)
1 t. lemon zest
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
5 oz. crumbled feta
juice of lemon
lemon wedges for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Saute onion in 2 T. of oil over medium heat for 5-8 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant or about 1 minute. Add wine and cook until liquid has reduced by half.

 Add tomato sauce, salt, pepper and oregano. Cook, stirring occasionally for 10-15 minutes.
Combine lemon zest, bread crumbs and remaining 1 T. of oil.

Pour tomato sauce into baking dish and place shrimp, tail side up, in tomato sauce. Top with feta and then bread crumb mixture.

Bake 10-15 minutes or until shrimp is done and topping is browned. Squeeze lemon juice of dish and serve with additional lemon wedges.

Greta and Miles rating: Greta loved this, and Miles loved the flavor of the sauce, but is not a fan of shrimp that has not been breaded :)

Best French Dip

The best French dip I've ever had! I found this recipe a few weeks ago on Joelen's blog. I've since made this recipe THREE times! Throw everything into a crock pot and when the meat is ready, just grill up some buns. FABULOUS.

Best French Dip
4 lb. Chuck Roast
1 c. soy sauce
6 c. water
1 T. dried rosemary
1 T. minced garlic
3 bay leaves

Cook all ingredients in a crock pot set to low setting. Cook at least 4 hours (or until meat is done) but the longer, the better! Serve on grilled buns with au jus. Serves 10.

Greta and Miles rating: They are normally not big fans of red meat and they adored this!

Hint of Hazelnut Pound Cake

This is one of those recipes that turned out so well, that I couldn't believe I made it! I found the recipe on a message board, but the original calls for heavy whipping cream. Boy, am I glad I used the coffee creamer. This turned out absolutely perfect! The texture is just like you'd imagine the perfect pound cake to be. It is dense, moist, soft and the hint of hazelnut- pure perfection! This cake would be fantastic with a layer of chocolate ganache on top, or a homemade strawberry sauce, or better yet- both!

Hint of Hazelnut Pound Cake
1 c. butter
3 c. sugar
6 eggs
3 c. flour
2 c. hazelnut flavored coffee creamer (liquid)
1 T. vanilla

Preheat oven to 325. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in flour and creamer alternately. Mix in vanilla. Bake in 10" tube pan or 2 loaf pans for about an hour and a half or until top of loaf springs back when pressed gently.

Banana Muffins

I've been in sort of a rut with snacks for the kids. It is so easy (and healthy) to just give them a piece of fruit and call it good. But, lately, I've been wanting to spice things up a bit. I found this simple, healthy recipe and the kids loved it. I loved that it doesn't have any butter or oil and only 1/4 c. of sugar. The original recipe was for mini-muffins. Since I don't have a mini-muffin pan, I made full size- which was a good thing because my kids each ate 3 full sized muffins!

Banana Muffins

2-3 bananas, smashed
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 egg

1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/8 t. salt
1 c. flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine first 4 ingredients and mix well. Stir in dry ingredients, just until combined and spoon into muffin tins. Bake for about 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I adore recipes like this! You know, recipes that have simple ingredients, but some how it comes together to make something divine! I heard raves about this recipe from some friends and when I read the ingredient list, I thought, "hmmm...can't be that good, can it?" Oh, yes it can! The best part is that this recipe is super quick. The original recipe is from Kraft foods website. I've made a few changes as noted below. Enjoy!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

6 corn tortillas, cut into thin strips
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts- cut into bite sized pieces
1 t. oil
1 T. taco seasoning

4 C. low sodium chicken broth
1 C. salsa
1 C. frozen corn
*1 C. beans (I used black beans and pintos) optional
1 C. shredded cheddar

Cut tortillas into strips. Toss in a little oil and salt well. Bake at 400 degrees until crispy. Stirring every 3 minutes or so. Remove from oven and set aside.
 
Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken in taco seasoning until completely cooked. Combine remaining ingredients (except cheese) in soup pot and cook until hot. Serve with cheese, greek yogurt (or sour cream), avocado slices, or scallions. Top each bowl with tortilla strips.


Greta and Miles rating: They LOVE this. As with all soups, they are not crazy about the broth, so I just strain most of the broth from their bowls.

Brothy Chinese Noodles

I was recently fortunate enough to get to visit my sister in Switzerland! She is a fabulous cook! I promise to share some of the wonderful meals she made for us. This is a recipe she prepared for us that came from the EatingWell website. If you have not visited this site, it is a must! It is one of the few websites with healthy food that are actually tastes good! My sister substituted ground chicken for the ground turkey. I've made it both ways and the chicken is the best! Thanks, Jill for this recipe :)

Brothy Chinese Noodles
2 T. sesame oil
1 lb. ground chicken
1/2 C. chopped onion (or scallions)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T. ginger, minced
8 oz. dried Chinese noodles
4 C. chicken broth
3/4 C. water
4 C. thinly sliced bok choy
3 T. soy sauce (I used Bragg's Aminos)
1 T. rice vinegar

Heat 1 T. oil over medium heat. Add chicken, onions, garlic and ginger. Cook until no longer pink and transfer to plate. Add noodles, broth, water, bok choy, soy sauce, vinegar and 1 T. of oil to pot. Cook, stirring until noodles are tender. Approximately 5 minutes. Return chicken mixture to pot and serve.

Greta and Miles rating: The whole family loved this comfort dish!