Don’t Rice Krispie Treats remind you of class parties in elementary school?  It seems that some wonderful Mom was always bringing in Rice Krispie Treats for all of the class to enjoy.  I think Jello Jigglers ran a close second, but who didn’t love a plate of those sticky, marshmallowy  squares arriving for some party.   I think there’s also something wonderful about a recipe, however simple it may be, that evokes those childhood school memories and gives you some time in the kitchen with your kids.  It makes me think that they’ll look back on these times with fondness.

Here’s two things I love about this class recipe:  first, only 3 ingredients and second, everyone seems to love them.  So, for just a few dollars and a short prep time you’ve got a great dessert or an after-school snack. 

Since it is the day before Halloween we decided to get into the spooky spirit with our Rice Krispie Treats.  We topped ours with semi-sweet chocolate, which I melted in the microwave in 30-second intervals.  I stirred it a couple times and then placed it insde a small zipper top bag, snipped the corner off (don’t make the opening too big) and drizzled it over the top.  My kids loved sprinkling on orange and black sprinkles from Wilton.  Each square was then topped off with a black witch silhouette from Martha Stewart Crafts.    When you have very young children  it is helpful to plan a cooking project with quick prep time and almost immediate gratification, since there’s no baking time.  We had a great time measuring out the cereal and even my youngest carefully stirred the marshmallows and butter.  I’d even go so far as to say it was easier making these then when we sit down to make our Christmas cookies each December.

If you need a little refresher on how to make the Rice Krispie Treats then click here.  My kids are already looking forward to making them again!

I love a recipe that comes together so simply and the finished product yields fantastic tasting (and smelling) results.  If that combo wasn’t enough, it can also be used to enhance other recipes.  Love that!

Homemade granola is super simple and you can involve your children in measuring out the ingredients and stirring it.  You’ll need to pull out the pan from the oven at the half-way point during baking (probably just for the adults to do) but they’ll enjoy adding in the dried fruit at the end of the baking time. 

Keep this on the counter for a quick snack and/or to add to your morning yogurt.  You won’t be disappointed.   And, while you’re thinking about making your own granola, do check out this recipe on the Whole Foods Market website.

Fruit and Nut Granola Recipe

4 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 cup flax seeds (I used Nature’s Path Organic Flax Plus flaxseeds)

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

couple pinches of nutmeg

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup honey

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla (no imitation vanilla, please)

1/2 cup whole almonds

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup banana chips

1/2 cup apricots, chopped

Method

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine oats with brown sugar, flax seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and both types of nuts.  Set aside.  In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, combine oil and honey with whisk over medium-low heat.  Add vanilla and stir.  Remove from heat.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.  Stir until thoroughly combined.  Spread granola onto baking sheet.  Bake in pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and stir granola.  Spread out in one layer after stirring.  Return baking sheet to oven and bake for 10-15 more minutes. 

Cool completely.  Add dried fruit and combine.   Store in airtight container.

Kitchen Note:  Use any combination of dried fruits and nuts that you’d like.  Add granola to yogurt  or as a topping for ice cream or frozen yogurt.  Makes a great snack on its own or a good addition to your child’s lunch box.

This recipe is similar to my first beef stew post, but has a few less ingredients but still has the same bold flavors that most of us enjoy in a beef stew recipe.  It will also make your home smell amazing as it simmers on your stove top.

I made this a couple of weeks ago for my family.  My youngest ate the carrots, but the older ones at everything except the mushrooms (with lots of egg noodles resting underneath).  I’ve left out the onions in this stew recipe as I realize there are more than a few onion-haters out there.  Personally, I happen to be a big fan (definately my father’s daughter).

Beef Stew with Red Wine and Mushrooms

1/4 cup flour

Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

3 lbs beef stew meat, cut to 1 1/2-inch pieces

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup red wine

32-ounces beef broth or stock

2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp oregano

2 bay leaves

4 large carrots, peeled and cut on the diagonal into 1-inch thickness

1 container of sliced mushrooms (white or cremini, your choice)

Method

 Combine the flour with salt and pepper in a shallow dish.  Dredge beef in seasoned flour, shaking off excess. 

In a large stock pot, heat butter and oil over medium-high heat.  Working in batches, brown beef on all sides in stock pot.  This may take up 7-8 minutes per batch.  Return beef to pot.  Add wine and broth (or stock, if using)and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and add paprika, oregano and both bay leaves.  Cover pot and simmer for 1 hour. 

Uncover pot and add carrots and mushrooms.  Cover pot and simmer for 45 minutes or until carrots are tender.

Kitchen Note:  Do not crowd the pot when browning the beef.  Crowding limits the beef from browning on all sides.  Browning is part of what will give your stew great flavor.

While I admit this is no food-stylist-arranged photo here (obvious, I know), I  hope you’ll take a look at this recipe and method below. 

It comes together rather easily and there is no long simmer time or lots of steps.  You can shorten the ingredient list or toss in what you have on hand (diced red or green bell pepper would be nice additions).

And one more thing, it re-heats beautifully the next day for lunch (or freeze it in a freezer-safe container for up to 1 month).

 Sloppy Joes

1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef

1 small onion, diced

1 14-ounce can petite diced tomatoes (drained)

3/4 cup ketchup

1 tsp prepared Dijon mustard

1 tsbp liquid smoke

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp chili powder

3/4 cup frozen corn (I used Green Giant shoepeg corn)

Kosher salt to taste

Method

In large saute pan over medium-high heat, brown beef and onions together.  Stir and break up beef.  Cook until no pink remains.  Drain, if necessary.

Add next 7 ingredients and stir to combine.  Lower heat to medium and simmer 10 minutes until heated through.  Serve on rolls.

Kitchen Note:  You can add 1-2 tbsp brown sugar and eliminate liquid smoke to make a sweeter sloppy joe.  You can also use ground chicken, turkey or a combination of beef and pork.

One of the biggest reasons people don’t cook at home is the clean-up afterwards, which can often be painful when you’ve got bedtime routines, homework to help with and laundry to put away.  This recipe solves that in its own small way.  I’ve condensed the recipe to make one loaf of banana bread and all of the ingredients are combined in one bowl – not the moist ingredients in one and the dry in the other.   It’s an easy recipe, which yields a very moist loaf and is easily adaptable to your own tastes. 

One Bowl Banana-Nut Bread

4 ripe bananas

3 tbsp butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1 large egg, beaten

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Method

Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly grease loaf pan.  Mash banana in large mixing bowl.  Blend melted butter with banana.  Add next 8 ingredients until blended.  Add pecans and chocolate chips just until incorporated.  Poor batter into prepared loaf pan. 

Bake on middle rack in preheated oven for 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of bread comes out clean.  Let cool on wire rack before slicing.  A serrated knife works well.

Yield: 1 loaf

Kitchen Note:  Omit nuts and/or chocolate chips if desired.  The pecans can easily be replaced by walnuts.

There are literally millions of ways to prepare a great tasting tomato sauce.  There are those that are passed down from generation to generation, given to a friend, found in a favortite cookbook or made from ingredients had on hand.  This sauce falls into the latter category and stems from having an abundance of tomatoes in the garden (they always seem to ripen at once!).  Did I forget to mention those that are found on blogs and wonderful sites like epicurious?  Give this one a try – you can’t make a mistake.  And, if you don’t have an ingredient, it’s a very forgiving recipe.

Fresh Marinara Sauce

Ingredients

6 large, ripe tomatoes

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup celery, diced

1/2 cup carrot, diced

1 bay leaf

splash (or two) of dry, white wine

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Peel and seed tomatoes.  Set aside.

In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  When pan is hot, add onion stirring until translucent (about 7-8 minutes).  Add garlic and stir constantly for 2 minutes.  Garlic should have some color but not brown.  Add celery and carrot.  Saute for 7 more minutes or until vegetables are tender.  Add bay leaf, prepared tomatoes, white wine and season with salt and pepper.  Turn up heat to high and bring to a boil for 1 minute.  Lower heat and let simmer for 1 hour.

Remove bay leaf.  Let sauce cool for 30 minutes.  In batches, puree sauce in the bowl of a food processor.  Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed. Toss with hot pasta or freeze in a freezer-safe container for up to 1 month.

Yield:  2 1/2 cups

To heighten the flavors of the vegetable soup I served at dinner last night, I made a simple pistou.  As I had mentioned in yesterday’s post, pistou hails from France and is used to flavor soups, typically a vegetable and bean soup.  You’ll also note that traditional pistou is no more than fresh basil, garlic and olive oil, ground down into a paste with a mortar and pestle.  It’s robust, but simple.  What could be more simple than 3 ingredients? 

In my recipe, I added Parmagiano-Reggiano cheese (also found in pesto) and of course, you’ll want to season with salt and pepper.  As a time saver, I used my food processor but I applaud those of you that plan to use a mortar and pestle.

Ingredients

1 cup fresh basil, packed

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup Parmagiano-Reggiano cheese, freshly grated

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Combine basil, garlic and cheese in bowl of a food processor.  Slowly add oil until paste forms.  Adjust oil consistency by adding more if needed.  Season with salt and pepper.

You’d think I belonged to a CSA with all of the vegetables I have on the counter and in our vegetable drawers.  It’s a Sunday afternoon and I’ve decided a soup is the way to go.  I’m adding in a fresh tomato puree (a bumper crop of tomatoes from our garden this year), but I’m using a store-bought chicken stock to save time.   Although, I’m a big advocate of making your own stock – it’s rather easy.

To appeal to the kids, I’m boiling up Organic Alphabet Pasta from Trader Joe’s.  You can certainly add any pasta from your pantry.  It’s a great way to use up those almost-gone bags of pasta, just be sure to add your cooked pasta into each indiviual bowl and then ladle your soup on top.  Storing cooked pasta in a soup will lead to your pasta soaking up the broth.  More problematic if you have left-overs.

For my hubby and I, I’m preparing a pistou to add into the finished soup (minus the alphabet pasta).  A pistou is similar to the Italian pesto, but the pistou hails from France.  You’ll notice the absence of nuts in this recipe (such as pine nuts or walnuts, as are sometimes used).  Real pistou is made using a mortar and pestle, but time constraints and interruptions to play “super heroes” with my 3 year-old has me using my food processor.  You’ll see that I recommend using a good quality Parmagiano-Reggiano (freshly grated) to enhance the finished pistou.   You won’t be sorry you paid a few extra dollars for it.

Vegetable Soup Recipe

 1 leek, white parts only – finely chopped

1 small red onion, finely chopped

2 medium red potatoes

2 stalks of celery

2 small carrots

1 small zucchini (or 1/2 of a medium)

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 tbsp water

4 1/2 cups chicken stock (I used low sodium)

2 – 3 ripe tomatoes (or 2 tbsp tomato paste)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Cut potatoes (leaving skin on), celery, carrots and zucchini into 1/4-inch dice.  Heat a heavy-bottomed stock pot (Dutch oven) over medium heat.  Add the olive oil and water.   Add all of the veggies and saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until water evaporates.  Vegetables should have no color after sauteeeing.  Add chicken stock to pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered.  Potatoes should be tender, when pierced with a fork.

Add fresh tomato puree and stir.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.   Serve.

Add cooked macaroni (if using)  to the bottom of individual bowls.  Ladel soup on top.

Stir pistou (if using) into individual servings.

Yield: 4 servings

Kitchen Note:  Click on the link above to get simple direction on peeling tomatoes.  To seed your tomatoes, cut peeled tomatoes in half and squeeze over a bowl in your sink.  The seeds should come out easily.  Use your food processor to puree the peeled, seeded tomatoes.

My Dad still lovingly cuts out newpaper articles and mails them (with a postage stamp, not email) to me if he thinks they may be of interest.  Earlier in the week I saw an evelope in the mail in his handwriting and inside was a brief article featuring services that are out there to help solve the “What’s for dinner?” problem that so many families face nightly.  The  Newsday article features two personal chefs (on Long Island), highlighting each of their services.   Articles like these help dispell the myth that personal chefs are strictly for the rich and famous.  To locate a personal chef in your area, try hire a chef, which has a zip code finder and can help you find  the chef that is a great fit for your family, tastes and budget.

How do I love thee?  Oh boy, I just love caramelized onions.  I know I’m not alone on this.  And, let me say this (just in case you’re not getting the gist already) that they are simply delicious in so many different recipes.  Not just for French onion soup or the classic pissaladiere, but delightful in a grilled sandwich (turkey and brie) or on crostini with fig jam and feta or even on a salad.  I promise your dinner guests will be quite impressed when they see these as part of the menu.

This is quite easy since there’s no stirring or hovering over your stove top.  Just plan to do some house cleaning or catching up on one of those novels on your nightstand since you’ll need about 2 hours (don’ be alarmed). 

Ingredients

3 lbs onions, skins removed

3 tbsp unsalted butter

Kosher salt

fresh ground black pepper

1 bay leaf

Method

Pre-heat oven to 350.  Slice onions 1/2-inch thick, discarding ends.  When oven is ready, place butter into baking pan and place in oven.  Let butter melt, but not brown.  Remove baking dish, add onion, salt and pepper and baby leaf.  Turn to coat in melted butter.

At 30-minute intervals, remove pan and toss onions and redistribute evenly.  Bake in oven for 2 hours total.  Discard bay leaf and any onions that may have turned dark brown.  These are typically those that may have been on the edge of your pan.

Yield: About 1 1/2 cups