Scallop Scallopini!?!?!

Well, why not....it has the word 'scallop' right there in the beginning of the word 'scallopini'!

Let me explain why I decided to create this recipe for 'Scallop Scallopini', with a little help from McCormick!

Tomato Mozzarella Toast!

I'm just totally loving simple and easy recipes lately! I'm finding that recipes don't need to have a long list of ingredients to be flavorful! As with this recipe from the 'Riches to Rags by Dori' blog.

This is my version of her recipe. I made this using white

toast sprinkled with shredded mozzarella cheese topped with chopped fresh basil, sliced plum tomatoes, minced fresh garlic and a pinch of salt. Then I put it in the toaster oven to melt the cheese and it was done. A very light but VERY flavorful fresh tasting open face sandwich!

 

I loved every last bite of this! Give it a try!

Instant Mac and Cheese in the Microwave!

I love Mac & Cheese and I love making quick food in the microwave, so this intrigued me! Can this really work? I've made coffee cake in a mug **see here** and loved it! Now I needed to try this new recipe!


It worked out pretty well! The mac & cheese was creamy but a little gritty. When it was done cooking it was soupy, but as it cooled it thickened up a bit. The flavor was perfect. It was slightly tricky to cook because the water kept bubbling over the mug, so I needed to keep turning off the microwave and stirring the macaroni. After reading all the reviews I decided to use a 'quick cook' pasta, which worked perfectly! Still bubbled over but at least the macaroni wasn't undercooked or pasty!

 I would make this again because it saves cleaning a pot! Check out the recipe here and try it for yourself...'Instant Mac & Cheese in the Microwave'

French Toast Muffins!

 

I love French toast! I've had it stuffed with bananas ** see here** or blueberries **see here**... topped with different fruits, baked into a casserole, made into a bagel! You name it, I've tried it! So why not try a muffin version? I saw this recipe on Pinterest and knew it was destined to end up in my belly! And as soon as I snapped the above photo, that's where all 3 went!

 

The French Toast Muffin recipe was posted on this blog called

Velvet Lava Cake

It was a very quick and easy muffin recipe! I had 12 of these whipped up in less than 30 minutes from start to finish!

Check out that blog and give these muffins a try!

A Perfect Valentine Dessert!

 

Isn't this a cute little dessert? I found the recipe on Allrecipes.com and I'm so glad I tried it! It's called 'Matrimonial Bliss'...cute name too, right? 

I Just Love a Good Breakfast Casserole!

...And I think I've found one to make me happy for a VERY long time! This breakfast casserole has everything I could ever want in a breakfast casserole! It's quick & easy, can be assembled the night before, serves 6-8 people, it's very hearty and is perfect in flavor and texture! I love the layers of ham, egg, bread and cheese! I've tried MANY breakfast casseroles in the past 5 years and I can honestly say this is the best one!

 

 

I came across this recipe on the McCormick Spice Company website. The recipe is called Country Breakfast Casserole. It contains 8 simple ingredients! I used smoked ham, from the deli counter, instead of sausage, but other than that I made it as written. My ENTIRE family loved this so much that next time I'll need to make 2 casseroles because they were looking for more! I served this for dinner instead of breakfast. I think I'll make this once a week from now on!

Panakuchen ~ German Apple Pancakes!

If this is the kind of breakfast they serve in Germany then I would be a VERY happy tourist! This was so light and fluffy! It puffed up so high while it was baking! And it's made with such simple ingredients! Not too much butter or sugar either! This reminded me of a combination of a filled crepe and stuffed french toast!

Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone so I had to tweak it slightly! I used bananas instead of apples and I added 1 tbls. of sugar to the batter of each pancake! And I used 1% low fat milk. I ate one whole 9 inch pancake myself...and I wasn't even full!!! So I would say this recipe only feeds two people!

I'll be making this again this weekend...and I'll be experimenting with different fruits! Of course I'll try it with apple next time, but maybe also blueberries!

Ingredients
1 apple
2 Tablespoons butter

 

Batter
4 eggs
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Topping
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

 

Go to the link below to see how this easy and delicious pancake is made!

 

By  Smoked n' Grilled

      'Panakuchen ~ German Apple Pancake'

Recipes From Italy

This month as part of my participation as a brand ambassador for Allrecipes.com I was asked to join their Italy site. I gladly agreed! One of my assignments for this month was to make, rate, review and photograph
faceless (recipes without photos) recipes from the Italy site.  Again, I gladly agreed! I choose these next two recipes! Sweet and Sour Vinaigrette and Toasted Bread with Lard ( bruschetta) Both of these recipe were just so simple and delicious!

I served the vinaigrette with a mozzarella/tomato salad. Check out those recipe. I think you'll like them!       

My next assignment for this month is to create a recipe using any Sargento cheese product. They didn't have to twist my arm for that one either. And the Sargento company was generous enough to supply the brand ambassadors with 4 free coupons for their cheeses!  I'll be posting that recipe creation soon. So stay tuned for more Italian inspired goodies!

Cheeseburger Soup

I mentioned in this post...'Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joe's'...my dilemma with that particular recipe! Well I decided to use the leftovers from the Sloppy Joe's to make this next recipe called 'Cheeseburger Soup'.

Amazingly Good 'Easy Biscuits'

I've said it many times...I'm not much of a baker. So when I went looking for a biscuit recipe, I made sure to find the easiest one! That's exactly what I found with this recipe! It's only 6 simple ingredients (flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, oil and milk) and only took 20 minutes to make from start to finish! But it was not only easy, it was also so perfect in taste and texture! Soft warm pillows of biscuit goodness! Look at how pretty my biscuits turned out...

And look how pretty they are on the inside too...

Cucumber Salsa

 I first saw this recipe on Pinterest. It was re-pinned from this blog called 'Paul, Kelsey & Levi'.

Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joe's

I love a good cheese steak....although I've never had one from Philadelphia! That's on my bucket list of things to try!

Frickles?!?!

What the heck are 'Frickles' you ask? That's exactly what I thought when I saw the title of this recipe!

Cocktail Meatballs

Small baked meatballs in a thick sweet and savory sauce! Perfect as an appetizer or snack! Very easy to make with simple ingredients! I've made these many times! My guests loved them!

My McCormick Spice Video Debut!

 

I first mentioned my McCormick video in this blog post called "My 15 Minutes of Fame". 

Crabby Patties...or Crab Cakes, if you're not a Square Pants Fan!

I love to order crab cakes whenever I go to a really good seafood restaurant! And 90% of the time I end up being very disappointed! Most times the crab cakes are either too fishy, too pasty, too dry or they just don't taste anything like crab! You would think they could get it right if they're specializing in seafood!

 Then one day,

Reindeer Pops

When I saw these cute Reindeer Pops on the Internet I said, "I can do that!" And they were staring back at me saying, "Yes, you can do it!" How could I resist?

Chinese New Year Chocolate Candy!

I'm not sure why this recipe is called 'Chinese New Year Chocolate Candy'....maybe because it's made with chow mein noodles? This is a delicious chocolate candy, no matter what you call it! It's crunchy, salty and sweet. Everything I love, all wrapped up in one bite! And you can change it to suit your own taste. I added grated coconut on top to make it more festive for Christmas. This recipe is extremely easy to make and only uses 4 ingredients.


Chinese New Year Candy

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup crushed chow mein noodles
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or peanuts
1/4 cup coconut flakes or grated coconut

DIRECTIONS:
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Melt chocolate according to package directions. I use the microwave method.
In a large bowl, combine the melted chocolate with the crushed chow mein noodles and the nuts.
Mix until well coated.
Drop by the tablespoonful onto the lined cookie sheet.
You should get 15 pieces of candy from this recipe.
Dust the tops with the coconut flakes.
Allow the candy to firm up before placing on a serving platter.

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com
This post belongs to My Recipe Journey food blog.

 



Christmas Eve Dinner!

One of our family traditions is to have LOTS of different fish dishes to serve on Christmas Eve! This is a common tradition in many Italian households. It's called "Feast of the Seven Fishes". In my family we don't make all seven fish dishes...four or five is our limit! We usually make shrimp, scallops, sea bass, octopus, crab and/or calamari.

My Mom's Strufoli

This is an old fashioned Italian dessert that we make every year for Christmas! It's basically fried dough coated with honey and multicolored nonpareils. This recipe has been in my family for many generations!