Jolene's Recipe Journal

It's beginning to look a lot like DONUTS!  Struggling a bit with my Christmas spirit this year.   I decided to play some cheerful music and bake a nice treat for breakfast.   I knew I wanted donuts, but I couldn't decide on a flavor- eggnog?  peppermint?  Nope, I wanted gingerbread and I had these on my donut Pinterest board from Pinch of Yum. No changes to this one, except that I cannot remember adding the maple syrup.  The minute I stepped into the kitchen, I was swarmed with people needing answers to urgent questions that apparently I only possess the answer to.   I know I did, the lid was off and I had a measuring spoon with remnants in it, but whether I added it to the batter or the glaze, I have no idea.     I let the kid go a little nuts with the sprinkles.   And they turned out delicious.  It's the holidays, and calories don't count til January, right?     Thank you so much to Lindsay at Pinch of Yum for the recipe, and for helping my Grinchy heart grow thr

This was Jake's first year not Trick Or Treating, but I still wanted to make him something special.   I spent a week or so browsing Pinterest, and this recipe from Southern Living caught my eye.    Cheesy beef in a pie crust?  I'm in  :) I swapped the onion for dried onion and jarred garlic instead of fresh.   I also decided to add the mustard in with the beef mixture.  He's not a huge fan and if it was visible he might have balked.    I used a sharp shredded cheddar for my cheese.   Easy, fun and the grownups enjoyed it too!  Jack O' Lantern Cheeseburger Pie Print With Image Without Image Author: Jolene's Recipe Journal ingredients: 1 pound ground beef 2T dried minced Onion 2t minced jarred garlic 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/4 cup ketchup 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1 package refrigerated piecrusts -- (15-ounce) 1 tablespoon yellow mustard 3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese -- divided 2 tablespoons water

Fall is my favorite season.   Apple picking, cider, hoodies, comfort food.  But this is New England, and today summer decided to make a comeback.    I had this Cider Bacon Chicken on the menu and it turned out to be the perfect choice- it tasted like fall, but was quick and easy and didn't heat the house up.   I buy thinly sliced chicken breasts and that saved me the trouble of pounding and plastic wrap.   I only had a 1/2 cup of chicken broth, so I upped the amount of cider to make up the difference.   I used minced dried onion and dried herbs, it's what I always have on hand.     For a side, I made couscous, replacing the recommended amount of water with cider, and finishing it with some thyme.  This was a big winner here! One photo is all I got because I couldn't wait to sit and eat and there were no leftovers. Even my picky kid ate seconds.   Thank you Simply Scratch for this new family favorite! Cider Bacon Chicken Print With Image Without Image Author: Jolene's

I've been making variations on these lasagna rolls for a while.   I change up the ingredients based on what I have on hand.   Measurements are estimated, I rarely measure shredded cheeses or sauce.  I used about 1/2 of a 26 oz jar. Italian Herb Mix from Penzey's is my go to for this type of dish, you can certainly sub Italian seasoning or your favorite blend.   This also would be great with some browned ground beef or Italian sausage! A lot of the pictures I see out there show the majority of the roll uncovered by sauce.   I am always afraid of winding up with crunchy pasta that way. I ended up making sure that all of the edges were going to be covered by the sauce, and the result was perfectly cooked lasagna rolls, but not as pretty to look at lasagna rolls  :)  Lasagna Rolls Print With Image Without Image Author: Jolene's Recipe Journal Ingredients: 9 lasagna noodles -- cooked and drained 16 ounces ricotta cheese, part skim milk 1

Meals have been a challenge since my son started back to school.   I think we've finally gotten into a groove now, going over the school lunch menu and my home menu and making sure there is some variety.    This week's menu had been planned, but wasn't quite right when my friend Sue shared she'd be making Cheeseburger Quesadillas for dinner.  That was my missing piece! A few tweaks.    I had a little over a pound of ground beef.    The guys will not eat real chopped onion, so I used dried and added to the beef while it cooked.    The recipe doesn't say to drain off the grease, but I did since mine had a pretty high fat content (85/15).     I used real bacon, microwaved til crisp.   When the hamburger mixture was complete, it was a lot.   I ended up doing two large quesadillas, and plan on freezing the leftovers for a quick lunch or snack.     I did not bake mine in the oven, I heated 2 griddle pans and lightly buttered them.    I browned them with a weight on

My uncle's garden is going gangbusters with the tomatoes this year.  I've been looking forward to the start of school and being able to fix myself nice light lunches.     A little while back I made some Citrus Couscous and I froze the leftovers.  Combined with some ideas from a recipe from the Florida Tomato Committee, it made for a perfect meal!  My couscous already had the herbs, lemon juice and salt and pepper.  I don't have mint, so that was omitted.  I drizzled the inside with sriracha and olive oil, and next time I'd put a drizzle over the top as well.    I mixed the citrus couscous with some minced jarred garlic, the tomato pulp and orange bell pepper, diced very small.  After it was well combined, I filled the tomato shell and enjoyed my lovely lunch!   Tomatoes Stuffed with Couscous Print With Image Without Image Author: Jolene's Recipe Journal Ingredients 6 large tomatoes Salt 1 tablespoon olive oil Drizzle of Sriracha Filling Citrus couscous 1T minced

I've had a few boxes of plain couscous in the cabinet for a while now.  Previous attempts at using it wasn't greeted by much enthusiasm from anyone but myself. In an effort to start clearing my pantry out, I searched for a recipe to see how I could use some up.    I settled on this recipe from Cooking Light, but played a little loosey-goosey with it.  I don't ever remember to buy green onions so I substituted dried chives, about a tablespoon.  I also used dried parsley, about 3/4 of it stirred into the mixture when it called for it, and the rest over the top when it hit the plates.     I used half the zest from the orange, next time I'd use it all.  I used 2T of lemon juice, because I didn't want the rest to go to waste.  Normally I'd pour any leftovers into an ice cube tray, freeze completely and then put it in a zip top bag, but my freezer is packed right now. I had put a little spoonful on my son's plate, expecting it to be pushed around and not eate

My son is suddenly open to trying veggies in all kinds of ways.  So in the spirit of "striking while the iron is hot", I've been making veggies in all kinds of ways   LOL   Some of our last farm trip included some zucchini, and it's pretty easy to get him to eat veggies in sweet stuff like breads, so wanted to try something a little more savory.     The verdict?  These are a little fussy, but if you've got everything ready to go, it goes quickly.   Jake helped with the layering of the spinach and basil and the rolling.    In the end, he ate 2 and he liked them.    Woo hoo! Print With Image Without Image Grilled Zucchini Rolls ingredients: 3 zucchini (about 1/2 pound each) -- sliced lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 Pinch freshly ground black pepper 1 1/2 ounces reduced-fat soft goat's cheese -- used 1/3 less fat cream cheese 1 tablespoon freshly minced parsley leaves -- used dried 1