Garden Vegetable Cream Cheese Spread

Garden Vegetable Cream Cheese Spread

 

Start the day off right with homemade garden vegetable cream cheese spread!

Serves: 1½ cups

Ingredients

• 16 oz cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup red bell pepper, finely diced
• ½ cup yellow bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 small carrot, peeled and finely diced
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ cup chopped chives
• Salt, to taste

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese with bell peppers, carrots, garlic powder, and chopped chives. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Serve on toasted bagel halves.

Notes

*Cream cheese spread lasts up to 1 week in the refrigerator stored in an airtight container.

Crockpot Bow Tie Pasta

1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (15 o) can stewed tomatoes
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
salt/pepper
10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed (can also use fresh spinach)
16 oz. bowtie pasta, cooked
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded

How to make it :

Brown ground beef with onion and garlic. Put in crock-pot and add sauce, tomatoes and seasonings. Cook for 6-7 hours on low. Add the last 4 ingredients during the last 30 minutes of cooking and turn crock-pot to high. Add fresh spinach, pasta, parmesan and 1 cup of the mozzarella and mix well. Add the last 1/2 cup of mozzarella to melt on the top.

Apple Cider Donut Cake

Apple Cider Donut Cake

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Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, softened
• 2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1 1/2 cups apple cider *(see information below)
• 1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (you can substitute vegetable oil – but coconut tastes better!)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla bean paste (can substitute in extract if you don’t have paste…put get some paste, you won’t regret it!)

For the Cider Glaze:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup water
• 1/8 – 1/4 cup hard cider *(see below for substitutions)

For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating:

• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and spray a bundt pan with baking spray.
In a medium saucepan, bring chopped apples and cider to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until apples are fork tender. About 10 to 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat, cool for a few minutes, then pulse in a food processor or blender until pureed. Measure out 1 cup apple mixture and stir the milk into it. Set the apple/milk mixture aside for later. (As for the remaining cider/apple puree, it is left over. I usually save it and put it over yogurt, or oatmeal. It is also fabulous heated slightly and drizzled over ice cream.)
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated. Add the oil and mix well. CAUTION: If you are planning on using coconut oil, make sure those eggs are at room temperature or slightly warmer if your house is chilly. If the eggs are cold and you add coconut oil to the mixture, the coconut oil will solidify and you will end up with a clumpy mess!
Add the flour mixture and apple/milk mixture alternatively in three additions, scraping the bowl as needed and mixing after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat once more, just to combine.
Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place the cake in its pan on a cooling rack for ten minutes before removing the cake itself to a cooling rack for at least 30 minutes.
While cake is baking, prepare Cider Glaze. Melt butter, sugar and water over medium high heat. Bring mixture to a boil and let boil for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately add the cider, stirring to combine.
Place baking sheet under wire rack. Using a pastry brush or marinate brush, cover cake with glaze. I usually do this in several passes, letting one application of glaze sink in and then going back over the cake with another.
Prepare the Cinnamon Sugar Coating. Combine sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Sprinkle the warm, glazed cake with cinnamon sugar, using fingers to rub it onto the sides of the cake. (I usually place my cinnamon sugar mixture in an empty spice bottle, or salt shaker and then sprinkle it over the cake.)
*Since I originally posted this recipe, I have had quite a few questions about hard cider vs. fresh cider. So let me just start out by saying fresh cider is the juice from pressed apples. It is unfiltered and often appears cloudy. Unless you buy it directly from an orchard it has likely also been pasteurized. Hard Cider occurs when unpasteurized fresh cider is allowed to ferment. It becomes carbonated and alcoholic. This cider can be found wherever beer is sold. Now as far as substitutions: If you do not wish to use hard cider in the glaze, you can substitute in fresh cider. However, fresh cider is often sweeter than hard cider and the glaze will be a bit sweeter, but still delicious I’m sure. You can also just leave the cider out of the glaze, which would then just be a sweet buttery glaze, but lack apple flavor. Another possibility for a substitution that lacks alcohol, but still gives you an intense apple flavor is boiled cider. Boiled Cider is fresh cider which has been boiled down to produce an intensely flavored apple cider syrup. I have provided a link below if you wish to try that ingredient. I always use hard cider for my glaze, so I’m not sure how much boiled cider you should use as a substitution. I would start with 1/2 Tablespoon and taste it until it reaches your desired level of apple-y goodness.
Enjoy!

TOUCH OF GRACE BISCUITS

yield: 10 BISCUITS

INGREDIENTS:

• 1-1/2 c. White Lily® Enriched Bleached Self-Rising Flour
• 1 T. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 3 T. Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening
• 1/2 c. cold heavy cream
• 3/4 c. buttermilk
• 1 c. White Lily® Enriched Bleached All Purpose Flour
• 2 T. melted butter, optional

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat an 8" round cake pan with no-stick cooking spray and set pan aside.

In a medium bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups self-rising flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in shortening with pastry blender or 2 knives, just until mixture is the size of peas. Stir in cream, then buttermilk. Dough will be very loose and look similar to cottage cheese.

Add 1 cup all-purpose flour (do not use the self-rising flour for this portion) to a plate or pie tin. With a medium-large ice cream scoop (mine measures 2" in diameter), scoop a lump of wet dough into the flour. The dough will be very loose. Sprinkle flour over the dough to completely coat the outside. With well-floured hands, pick up dough. Or if it's easier, use a thin flour-covered spatula to pick up the dough and transfer it to your hands (my preferred method). Gently "toss" the dough between your two palms a couple of times to shake off the excess flour. You want the dough to have a fair amount of flour still covering it, so don't shake off too much. Place dough in prepared pan. Repeat, until you have 10 loosely formed biscuits. I like to first place seven pieces of dough around the outer edge of the pan, and then add three pieces of dough at the center, scrunching each one tightly up against the next.

Place pan in center of oven and bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Cool one or two minutes in pan before turning them out onto a platter. If desired, brush top of biscuits with melted butter. Serve hot.

Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup – Crock pot

Ingredients:

½ Cup uncooked wild rice
½ Cup uncooked basmati rice
1-½ lb. chicken breast
1 Cup onion, diced
1 Cup carrot, diced
¾ Cup celery, diced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 bay leaves (depending on strength) optional
6 Cups low sodium chicken broth
2 Cups water
1 tbs. Italian seasoning
1-½ tsp. Black pepper
2 tsp. salt
5 tbs. butter
½ Cup all purpose flour
2 Cups whole milk

Instructions:

Rinse the rice under running water. In a 5-½ qt. slow cooker, place uncooked rice, chicken breast, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaf, chicken broth, water, italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 7-8 hours. Remove chicken from pot during the last 30 minutes of cooking. Allow to cool

slightly then shred with two forks.

Add the chicken back to the slow cooker and continue cooking vegetables through. Melt butter in a small saucepan.

Add the flour and cook for one minute. Whisk the mixture slowly while adding the milk, whisking to remove all lumps and until sauce has thickened and become creamy.

Add the bechemel sauce to the slow cooker, stirring to combine. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Let sit 5 minutes, soup will thicken as it stands.

Roasted Sweet Potato Sticks

Stay healthy during snack time with our recipe for Roasted Sweet Potato Sticks. They're low in calories, fat, and carbs, so you can indulge in this baked snack when you feel the cravings kicking in.  I think you'll love their lightly sweetened taste, too!

What You'll Need:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch sticks

What To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine oil, onion powder, salt, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Add sweet potato sticks and toss until evenly coated. Place on rimmed baking sheet.
   
   
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until crispy.

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 (24 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 (20 ounce) package three-cheese tortellini
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Place olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot carefully add in onion and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes or until the onions are soft. 
2. Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, basil, rosemary, salt, pepper, chicken stock and heavy cream. 
3. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Stir in tortellini and cook for another 15 minutes or until tortellini is cooked through. 
5. Serve hot. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.