The Super Bowl is this Sunday. (That’s why you read my blog, for the breaking news.) And whether you’re having a party, going to a party or just watching the game by yourself - snacks are in order. Heck, even if you’re not watching the game, snacks are in order because it’s a Sunday afternoon and snacking is fun. In my house, we’ll be watching intently because our Colts are playing. Go COLTS!!! But this isn’t a football blog - it’s a food blog, so the question remains: What sort of snacks should we have?? I am going to give you two recipes today. The first is more of a grown-up snack and the second is more of a kid-friendly snack.

Jalapeno Poppers
Shamelessly shared from Pioneer Woman’s website because that woman knows how to make some snacks!
20 whole Fresh Jalapenos, 2-3 Inches In Size
2 cubes Cream Cheese, softened
1 pound Bacon, Sliced Into Thirds

1. Cut jalapenos in half, length-wise. With a spoon, remove the seeds and white membrane (the source of the heat; leave a little if you like things HOT).
2. Smear softened cream cheese into each jalapeno half.
3. Wrap jalapeno with bacon pieces (1/3 slice). Secure by sticking toothpick through the middle.
4. Bake on a pan with a rack in a 375-degree oven for 20-25 minutes. You don’t want the bacon to shrink so much it starts to the squeeze the jalapeno. If, after 20 minutes, the bacon doesn’t look brown enough, just turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes to finish it off. These are best when the jalapeno still has a bit of bite to it.

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You say your kids don’t like jalapeno peppers? Two out of three in my house don’t either. They’ll be eating these instead - and frankly, so will any adults in the house because they are yummy!

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Ham Pinwheels
1 can crescent rolls
Spreadable cheese (I like any of the Alouette varieties for this, found near the deli section)
6 slices of deli ham
1 bag of baby spinach

1. Separate the crescent rolls into rectangles, press the perforated edges together
2. Spread some cheese (a tablespoon or so) to 1/4 inch of the edges
3. Lay a piece of ham on the cheese and then a couple leaves of spinach
4. Starting at the short edge - roll it up. Press the edges together to seal
5. Slice each roll into 5-6 slices and place cut side down on a cookie sheet
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes - until golden brown

Barb writes about daily adventures and more on her Quick Like A Bunny blog.

Earlier this week I was looking for inspiration for this week’s recipe. I decided to turn to the pickiest eater in the house - my eight year old daughter. The one who insists on eating pizza with no sauce. The one who only buys lunch at school if it’s Bosco sticks or chicken nuggets. The one who would live on macaroni and cheese if I let her (but only the blue box powder version). I asked her to give me her favorite dinner but it had to be something I actually make, not out of a box or from a restaurant.

It took her a few minutes but she came up with a good one. The whole family likes this one, it is fast to make and only requires five ingredients!

Brown Butter Tortellini
As seen in the Pampered Chef cookbook ‘29 minutes to dinner’

1 family size package refrigerated, cheese-filled tortellini
1 package fresh baby spinach leaves
1 package of diced, cooked ham steak
1 large bell pepper, diced (red looks the nicest, but as you can see in my picture - yellow or orange works too)
1/4 cup butter (yes butter - don’t substitute for this one)

1. Cook tortellini according to package directions.

2. As tortellini cook, place the spinach into a large colander. When the tortellini are done, drain them over the spinach to wilt the leaves.

3. Add butter to a large skillet. Heat over medium heat for 5-7 minutes until the butter is a nice brown color. Swirl the skillet occasionally to move the melted butter around. Once butter is brown, add the bell pepper and reduce heat to medium low. Cook for 2 minutes to soften the pepper a bit. Add the ham and stir to coat in the butter.

4. Remove from heat. Add the drained tortellini and spinach to the skillet and gently toss to combine all your flavors.

I like mine served with a bit of freshly ground black pepper and finely shredded parmesan cheese. My eight year old refuses the pepper but definitely likes the cheese sprinkled on top.

Barb also writes about cooking, family, snow, adventures and whatever is on her mind on her daily blog: Quick Like A Bunny!

In keeping with my January theme of sharing recipes that help you meet your goals of lightening up in the kitchen, I’ve got an appetizer for you! With football playoffs this weekend and the super bowl around the corner you might just find yourself at a party with some yummy - and not so diet friendly - foods. What’s a Colts fan to do?? Pull out these and you won’t even realize you’re eating something that is low in calories.

Bourbon BBQ Shrimp
1/4 cup steak sauce
3 TB cider vinegar
3 TB ketchup
3 TB light brown sugar, packed
2 TB bourbon
1 tsp (or more) hot pepper sauce
1 pound medium shrimp, shelled

1. Mix all ingredients, except the shrimp, in a bowl. Add shrimp and toss to coat. Let sit for about 5 minutes in the fridge so the shrimp soak up the yumminess.

2. Heat a nonstick, ridged grill pan over medium high heat. Grill the shrimp until pink and lightly browned - 2-3 minutes per side.

3. Take ‘em out of the pan and eat ‘em.

I made these this weekend, laid them out on a platter and ate them with toothpicks. They were so good! As you might guess from the picture, this recipe makes enough sauce that you could serve this over rice for dinner - which is what the original recipe in one of my favorite light cookbooks: Weight Watchers’ Make it in Minutes suggests. You could also skewer these and grill them - but it’s January and that would require me shoveling a path thru the snow to our grill.

Note on the calorie count, the original recipe uses rice and some chopped pecans as garnish. With those included it comes to 4 servings at 391 calories per serving. Dropping those ingredients and using a calorie counter I’m estimating 8 shrimp per serving, 4 servings total and 150 calories per serving. I’m no dietician but I think that’s a pretty good approximation.

Final note before you run off to check your pantry for the ingredients: this spicy/sweet barbecue sauce would be great on just about anything to which you want to add barbecue sauce. If you like your sauce really spicy you could also add chopped jalapenos or crushed red pepper.

Yes, sweet potatoes. There are seasons for food and in my mind (and stomach) the season for sweet potatoes is Nov thru Feb. I’m not opposed to them any time of year but this is when I find myself cooking with them most often. My only problem is that my family members are not fans of the sweet potato.

Now in all fairness, I don’t think they’ve given them a fair shot. After all, I’m not talking candied with marshmallow topping here. I’m talking baked sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes in stews, sweet potato fries (oh - I have a recipe for baking those!). Recently we went out to dinner and I had a baked sweet potato covered in jerk chicken and mango salsa. Mmmm I’m going to have to replicate that sometime, but until I do - I have a super easy, super yummy sweet potato recipe for you. A recipe where you would not expect to see a sweet potato… like quesadillas! Yes!! Quesadillas! And the crazy thing?? Some of my family members who swear they don’t like sweet potatoes, like these. Me? I LOVE them. And if you remember my post last week about trying to go meatless once a week - this recipe fits the bill: healthy, yummy and vegetarian.

I have to give props to my cousins in Virginia who made these for us at the beach house this summer. I demanded they share the recipe, it came straight from a Moosewood cookbook so I suppose I should give props to them too

Sweet Potato Quesadillas
1 onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 TB vegetable oil
3-4 sweet potatoes, peeled and grated
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
a pinch (or more) of cayenne
salt and black pepper to taste
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
8 tortillas (10 inch)
your favorite quesadilla toppings: sour cream, salsa, black bean salsa, cheese sauce…

1. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil until the onions are translucent - about 5 minutes.

2. Add your sweet potatoes and all those seasonings.

3. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. When the sweet potato is tender, remove from heat.

4. Spread 1/8th of the filling and 2 TB of cheese on half of a tortilla, fold over and cook in a skillet with a little bit of oil until the tortilla is lightly brown on both sides and everything inside is all melty and happy. Repeat until you run out of filling and tortillas.

5. Serve immediately with your favorite toppings.

Barb also writes daily about much more than food on her blog: Quick Like A Bunny!

If you go to the YMCA or gym lately, turn on the television or read any sort of magazine or newspaper you know that lots of people are either trying to lose weight and/or save more money this year. I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions myself but if you are, I’ve got some family friendly tips for you and they are all in the kitchen!

It is possible to start cooking healthier meals that your whole family will enjoy. And it’s possible to do it while also saving money. One of my favorite tricks to help both of these goals is going meatless. Yes, dropping meat from your menus even just once or twice a week is both healthier and cheaper. And in many cases it’s easier than you think:
- Make spaghetti with no meat in the sauce.
- Make a stir fry over brown rice or whole wheat pasta. Use lots & lots of veggies and no one will miss the meat. This is a bonus if you have chopsticks, my kids have so much fun using their chopsticks that they love stir fry dinners.
- Stuffed peppers a recipe I’ve posted here before and no meat is required.
- Quesadillas are an easy way to make different things for different tastes and you certainly don’t need to add meat to make them good. Black beans and mushrooms are good ways to add some meaty texture and make them more hearty too.

I started cooking with less meat a couple of years ago and last year made a real effort to have at least one night a week with no meat. It’s been a big success and sometimes I even convince my husband that we can go a whole week without meat (though I’ll use fish a few nights). It’s better for your waistline and your pocketbook. Here’s a pasta recipe that my entire family enjoys. It uses veggies that you can find year round - even here in Northwest Indiana. It’s very quick to make and it’s healthy too - less than 5g fat and 250 calories per serving! (and for you Weight Watcher fans it’s got 4g of fiber). And since I know all those facts I obviously didn’t make this one up, it’s from a Weight Watcher’s cookbook: Make it in Minutes.

Penne with Squash
1lb eggplant, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 zucchini, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 yellow squash, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 red onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
3/4 pound penne or rotini pasta
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped (or 2 tsp dried basil)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or feta cheese)
2 TB extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray and roast your veggies for 30 minutes. If you want a faster way, broil them 7 inches from the heat for 15-20 minutes. Either way, you know they are done when they are fork tender.

2. Boil water and cook pasta according to directions on the box.

3. In a large bowl toss your pasta with the veggies. Add the basil, olive oil and cheese; toss to coat.

4. Eat!

A note of honesty - my family are not big eggplant fans, I use one more zucchini and yellow squash when I make it and it’s all good.

Read more about Barb’s lifestyle and adventures on her daily blog: Quick Like A Bunny!

After I had my youngest child, a good friend arranged for the mom’s group at our church to bring me dinners for a few weeks. These women didn’t even know me (we were new to the parish) but they stepped up and it was such a huge help. One of those dinners was the best pot roast dinner we’ve ever had. Pot roast is such a good family dinner - a cheap cut of meat with a delicious, family-pleasing result. I begged my friend for the recipe, and I’m happy to report it’s practically fool-proof. As a bonus I modified it for the crock pot a few weeks ago and it turned out great! So today you get the same recipe two ways - two ways to feed your family economically - plus the leftovers are yummy.

Pot Roast Dinner

4-6 pound chuck roast
2 TB flour
2 TB oil
1 medium onion sliced & separated into rings
4-6 small potatoes, peeled & cut in halves or quarters
4-6 medium carrots, peeled & cut into chunks
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp seasoning salt
1 tsp sage
black pepper
1-2 cups of water

1. Heat the oil in a dutch oven. Dredge the roast in the flour. Brown the roast well on all sides. I season it while browning which makes a very yummy crust on top.
2. Remove the roast and place it in the bottom of your roasting pan. If you have a trivet to hold the meat up a bit so it doesn’t rest in the liquid – use it. If not, the roast still comes out well. If you chose not to season while browning, season all sides now.
3. Top the meat with the onion rings and add enough water to come about 1/4 of the way up the sides of the roast. Don’t worry – it won’t dry out, there will be plenty of roast juices happening.
4. Cover the pan and place in a 325 degree oven. Cook for 2-3 hours depending on the size of the roast. With about an hour to go, add your veggies.
5. Once the potatoes are fork tender, take everything out of the pan and make some delicious gravy with the pan juices. (I always make a medium brown roux first and add the pan juices… mmmmm)

Pot Roast in the Crock Pot
Same ingredients as above minus the water and plus:
1 cup beef broth
1 TB tomato paste

1. Follow #1 above to brown your roast.
2. Place the potatoes, carrots and onions in the bottom of your crock pot.
3. Place the browned and seasoned roast on top of the veggies.
4. Mix together the broth and tomato paste and pour over the top of your roast.
5. Cook on low for 8 hours.
6. Make gravy as noted above if desired.

Barb also writes about daily adventures on her own Quick Like A Bunny blog.

When you’ve got children in the house, Christmas morning is filled with wrapping paper, packages and new toys that often require some assembly. What it shouldn’t be filled with is someone away from the fun in the kitchen making breakfast. That’s why I always put together some sort of breakfast casserole the night before so all I have to do is put it in the oven and go back to untwisting billions of twisty ties on toy packages. No matter what holiday you celebrate - this is a time-saving breakfast that you’ll want to make beyond December.

Potato Egg Casserole

1 package of southwest style hashbrowns from Simply Potatoes
1 lb of maple breakfast sausage, browned & crumbled
2 cups of shredded cheese (cheddar, cheddar jack – whatever you like)
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups of milk

1. In a 9×13 baking dish layer one half the potatoes, one half the sausage and 1 cup of the cheese. On top of that, layer the rest of the potatoes and sausage (but not the cheese, yet)
2. Whisk together eggs and milk and pour over the top.
3. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Then top with the remaining cheese and bake 5-10 minutes more.

The spicy potatoes and slightly sweet sausage do a great job balancing each other. And this is one of the few breakfast casseroles I make that never has a problem setting up in the middle.

Really, the best teacher’ gift is a gift card - but this time of year I usually also throw in some sort of baked goodie. As the parent of children young enough to give their teachers gifts, we’ve got the standard Christmas cookies lying around - beautifully decorated sugar cookies, some candy cane cookies etc. But I like to give the teachers (and a few special out-of-town friends) something different, something they likely don’t make for themselves. I make them homemade biscotti.

It sounds so fancy doesn’t it? It’s really not too hard and the end result, dunked in the hot drink of your choice, is yummy. I make two kinds every year, but one of those two kinds is always Chocolate-Coffee Cashew Biscotti. And better yet, the recipe is from Cooking Light so it’s not even fattening! (Seriously - less than 100 calories per cookie!) I thought I’d share this with you so you can make a gift for someone special too - or heck, just for yourself! And get the kids involved in the kitchen - that’s half the fun!

Chocolate-Coffee Cashew Biscotti
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 TB butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
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2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup instant coffee granules
3 TB unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 cup dry-roasted cashew pieces (if unsalted, add 1/4 tsp salt)
1 TB sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Place first six ingredients in a bowl (everything above the line), and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended.

3. In a large bowl combine flour, instant coffee, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Gradually add to the sugar mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in your cashews and turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface.

4. Knead lightly 10 times - if the dough is very sticky, add a little bit of flour. Divide dough in half and shape each into a 12 inch long roll. Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray (or on a silicone pad) and pat each loaf down to 1/2 inch thickness. Sprinkle rolls with remaining tablespoon of sugar.

5. Bake for 22 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and let cool 15 minutes on a wire rack. Cut each roll diagonally into approx 20 slices (1/2 inch in width). Carefully stand the slices upright on the baking sheet. Reduce oven temp to 325 and bake for 15 minutes - the cookies should feel slightly soft in the center, they will harden as they cool.

6. Cool completely on a wire rack and then store in an air-tight container. They will last for weeks.

Barb also writes about her daily adventures on the blog: Quick Like A Bunny!

While Christmas shopping recently I found a cookbook on the bargain table (I know, I shouldn’t have been looking for myself but it jumped out and grabbed me). It’s a crock pot cookbook and it has an entire section of recipes with five ingredients or less. Sold! Here’s a recipe from that section. It’s super easy and was a huge hit for every member of the house.

Scalloped Potatoes & Ham
credit to Rival’s Crockpot cookbook

6 large russet potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1 ham steak (abt 1.5 lbs), cut into cubes
2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can of water
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt, pepper & grill seasoning to taste

1. Spray inside of crock pot with nonstick cooking spray. Layer potatoes and ham in the cooker.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients. Pour over the potatoes and ham.
3. Cover and cook on High for 3.5 hours or until the potatoes are fork tender. Turn to Low and cook for one more hour until done.

Note: I had a crazy schedule that night and turned it on low about 2 hours before dinner - it still turned out fantastic.

Read more about Barb’s life and silly adventures on her daily blog: Quick Like A Bunny!

It’s cold outside in Northwest Indiana. They were predicting snow last night but we haven’t seen any flakes here yet - much to the disappointment of my little ones. But combine some chilly weather with some Christmas decorations and we’re all looking for some good comfort food. In my book it doesn’t get any better than macaroni and cheese. It just so happens to be my children’s favorite food on earth… well besides chocolate…. or pancakes. So I’ve been looking for a good baked mac & cheese recipe for a while. I found one last spring on Pioneer Woman’s site and it’s a definite keeper. I thought you and your kids might like to give it a try too.

Baked Macaroni & Cheese
4 cups macaroni noodles
1/2 stick of butter (1/4 cup)
1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 cups milk
2 tsp dry mustard
1 egg, beaten
1 pound of cheese, grated (use any kind your family likes, I usually use good ol’ cheddar)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Cook macaroni until very firm. Macaroni should be undercooked - too firm to eat right out of the pot. Drain and set aside.

3. In a small bowl, beat the egg and set aside.

4. In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in the flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat for five minutes - whisking constantly so it doesn’t burn (you’re making a roux, the perfect base for a sauce). Pour in milk and add mustard - whisk until smooth. Cook for five minutes until very thick. Reduce heat to low.

5. Take a ladle of the sauce and slowly pour it into the bowl with the egg, whisking as you go to avoid cooking the egg. Whisk together until smooth and add it to the sauce - whisk until smooth.

6. Pour your cheese into the sauce and stir so it all melts. Season with seasoned salt, salt & pepper - taste it and add more salt if needed.

7. Pour in your cooked, drained macaroni and call the kids - have them help you stir it up so it’s all combined and creamy and cheesy.

8. Pour into a greased baking dish (9×13 works well) and top with a little extra cheese if you’ve got it. Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.

Barb also writes Quick Like A Bunny! A daily blog about family, life and other random observations. This week it also includes a different comfort food recipe.