Martha Stewart Living’s “Cookie of the Month” was “Nutty Butters.” The recipe looked interesting so I gave it a try—slightly adapting it, of course. (As usual…)

I was most pleasantly surprised. One bite and I was really astonished—they BURST with good flavor. I think no matter how you make them they will be delicious but it may have something to do with the type of ingredients I used . . . I’m always picky about ingredients.

Here is my version of these delicious treats:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks Smart Balance 50/50 Olive Oil/Butter Blend butter, softened
1 cup old-fashioned oats (I used Quaker this time—I usually opt for higher quality oats but as this was an experiment, I didn’t want to waste extra-good oats!)
1 cup plus 2 TBSP all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
*salt ONLY if you are using unsalted butter instead of the olive oil/butter blend sticks
1/2 cup dark brown sugar*
1/3 cup granulated sugar*
1 large egg
1/2 cup nut butter (I used Jiff Natural Creamy Peanut Butter mixed with some leftover 265 Brand Crunchy Peanut butter . . .)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (the original recipe says “nuts” so I guessed and used what I had . . . worked well. As for measurements, I eyed the nuts and it may not have been quite 1/2 cup)
1/2 tsp Madagascar bourbon vanilla (I added this—it is not in the original recipe)

Directions:
1. Melt 1/2 stick butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add oats, and cook, stirring, until toasted. (Original recipe says to only toast for 5-7 minutes and let cool—I didn’t let mine cool. Oops! )
2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350F. Whisk together flour and baking soda (add 1 tsp salt if using unsalted butter).
3. Beat together the remaining stick butter and the sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy.
4. Add egg, and beat until combined. Add vanilla, if desired.
5. Add nut butter, and beat on medium speed until well combined.
6. Add oat mixture and chopped nuts, and beat on low speed until combined.
7. Add flour mixture, and beat until well combined.
8. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Place cookies 1 inch apart (recipe says use parchment paper—I didn’t have any) on a baking sheet. Bake until golden, 12-15 minutes.

Let cool completely, it says. I doubt you’ll let them cool completely before trying them, though…

I was very happy with the way these turned out! If you like peanut butter/nutty treats you’ll really enjoy these!

*Note: I never use exact measurements for sugar. I always use a little more brown than white and often don’t put much white in at all. This time I am guessing I used about 1/2 cup dark brown sugar and 1/4 cup granulated… I just used a whole cup to measure them together and didn’t pack the dark brown sugar.

Garlic Naan Individual Pizza

This is one of my husbands favorite meals. I’ve discovered that men can usually handle two each.

Ingredients:

1 package of garlic naan from Trader Joe’s (6 per bag)*
1/2 lb Jimmy Dean Italian Sausage or Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage
1/2 lb lean ground beef/ground sirloin
1 small jar of marina sauce or pasta sauce (Trader Joe’s has a decent marinara sauce). You will use about 2 TBSP of sauce per pizza.
1 package of Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese Shredded Mozzarella
1 clove minced garlic
A bit of minced onion (not much, this is just for flavor)
2 TBSP 50/50 Olive Oil Butter Blend, melted (or 2 TBSP melted butter), OR 2 TBSP olive oil
Fresh basil leaves
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Optional toppings:
Mini heirloom tomatoes or sliced Roma tomatoes
Green pepper
Mushrooms

*If you prefer to use Trader Joe’s whole wheat naan you can turn it into garlic naan by rubbing it with garlic OR adding a bit of garlic powder into the melted butter before you brush the naan with it.

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 425 or 450
2. In a large skillet, begin to saute garlic and onion over medium heat, add the sausage and ground beef/sirloin and cook, stirring occasionally, until brown. (I usually turn the heat up higher toward the end to get the meat nice and brown). Remove the pan from the burner and set aside.
3. Lightly bush each piece of naan with butter/olive oil mixture.
4. Spread about 2 TBSP of marina sauce over each piece of naan (you don’t need much sauce—too much will make it soggy.
5. Top with meat, basil, desired toppings, then sprinkle the mozzarella over the top. I add a few pieces of basil at the end, too for color.
6. Bake on a pizza stone, cast iron skillet, or cookie sheet, for about 15 minutes or until cheese and crust begin to brown.

Remove from oven and serve immediately. Some like some pepper sprinkled on top.

Enjoy!

Old Fashioned Pancakes (Cinnamon Role Style)

One morning I used Google to find a unique but delicious pancake recipe. I was a little speculative at first but when I saw it was her grandma’s old, tattered recipe I thought, “That HAS to be good!”

I adapted the recipe a bit and used a cast iron skillet coated with some butter (50/50 Olive Oil/Butter Blend). They were a hit with Erik! Next time I won’t be afraid of the weird texture of the batter (it fluffs up and does not at all look like normal pancake batter) and I won’t try to “help” it cook by spreading out the dough. It really WILL cook all the way through and be very fluffy—even though you won’t see bubbles or little grooves before you flip the cakes.

Thank you to whoever the delightful person was who posted this!

*I did not add as much salt as it lists here and the additions of vanilla and cinnamon are mine. I also opted for brown sugar over white.

See below for cinnamon role flavored option.

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar OR white (I usually opt for brown)
* 1 1/4 cups milk (I used 1 cup 2% milk and 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk)
* 1 egg
* 3 tablespoons butter, melted
*1 tsp vanilla
*1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

In the skillet…

After they've been flipped… keep turning until golden brown.

For cinnamon role topping do the following:

Mix together until resembling a coarse mixture:

*1/2 to 1 TBSP of brown sugar
*1/2 TBSP flour (optional—if you don’t the sugar is a bit strong)
*1/4 tsp cinnamon
*1 TBSP butter (not melted)
*1/4 cup pecans

Layer pancakes with mixture. Me-thinks if I had put this mixture in the toaster oven for a bit it might have turned out better… I’ll try that next time!

It will smell like a cinnamon role… delic!

Ingredients:

2 slices of Ezekiel 4:9 bread
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (optional—sweetened)
1 egg or 2 egg whites
1 tsp Madagascar bourbon vanilla
1/2 tsp organic cinnamon

Directions:

1. Heat an electric non-stick griddle OR use a non-stick pan—medium to high heat. If using stainless steel you can use I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spray to prepare the pan so the bread won’t stick.
2. Whisk milk, egg, vanilla, cinnamon.
3. When pan is ready, dip each piece of bread into the the mixture and place in the pan. Turn occasionally until done.

Toppings: I always eat my french toast with natural creamy peanut butter, but you can use anything you want! Blueberries, bananas, and walnuts or pecans are a nice addition, syrup is ok if you like a sweet breakfast. Butter works, if you don’t have digestive sensitivities.

Enjoy! I sure did…

(To make for 2 or more, just adjust ingredients accordingly. 1/2 cup milk, 2 eggs, etc..)

Garlic Naan Lasagna Mini Version

Great to make when cooking for a large group of people.

Option for smaller families or couples: make a mini lasagna in a bread pan – just cut the ingredients in half.

Ingredients
-2lbs Italian Sausage
Suggested: 1lb Jimmy Dean Sage & 1lb Jimmy Dean Italian

Jimmy Dean Sausages

Other options: mix 1lb Italian sausage with ground beef if you want a to lighten the sausage flavor.
-1-2 TBSP Olive Oil
-2 cups ricotta
-6-8 garlic naan
Suggested: Trader Joes carries excellent garlic naan with a perfect shape for this recipe.
-2 jars spaghetti sauce
Suggestion: Use the highest quality possible—always look at ingredients. Here are two examples (Publix often puts these on sale.)
-2 cups shredded mozzarella
Suggested: grate it yourself for freshness.
-Salt & freshly ground pepper
-Fresh basil leaves (fresh basil adds so much flavor!)

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat until browned.
3. Season the ricotta with salt & pepper (salt & pepper are completely optional – there’s a bunch of salt in the meat and pasta sauce, already!)
4. Spread a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of a large baking dish, then add one layer of garlic naan, 1/3 of the sausage, 1/3 of the ricotta, and enough of mozzarella to cover the ricotta. Add a few broken up pieces of fresh basil (must be fresh basil) if desired. Repeat the layers once or twice more, depending on how the depth of the pan.
For the top you can either cover the naan with sauce, mozzarella, and fresh basil OR you can brush the naan with olive oil/pepper and a bit of mozzarella. (You do not want your top layer of naan to dry out.)

Pre-baked – bread crumbs on top are not necessary.

5. Bake, covered with foil for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 30 minutes longer (you can add fresh basil to top before this or after). Let cool for 20 minutes or so before serving so it will set.

Done!

If you are planning on entertaining later in the day and want to prepare this ahead of time, you can always under-cook it a bit, refrigerate it and pop it in the oven for 20 minutes or so before serving. Be sure to let the lasagna sit out for about 20-30 minutes before putting it in the oven, though or your dish might crack!

Stephanie's Mashed Potatoes

I experiment with the ingredients each time I make these mashed potatoes (or as we like to call them, “smashed taters”) but pretty much stick to these staples:

Ingredients:

-Yukon Gold Potatoes (this year I used mini versions which made the potatoes extra fluffy — takes a lot of time, but it works!).
-2% or whole milk (buttermilk is optional—if using cream cheese, it’s not necessary)
-1/2 package of cream cheese or 1 8 ounce carton of sour cream

-3-5 cloves of garlic
-Salt & pepper, to taste
-A bit of freshly grated nutmeg

1. Pre-heat the oven (or use a toaster oven) to 350.
2. Scrub the potatoes and cut off any icky or ugly parts, leaving the skin on the potatoes. Cut into large pieces.
3. Put the potatoes in a large pot and cover completely with water. Bring water to a boil. Cook, covered, for 20-30 minutes (depending on how large the potatoes). Some recipes say to add salt. If you want to, go for it.
3. While the potatoes are cooking, put 3-5 cloves of garlic (depending on how many potatoes you are using/how big this dish will be) in the middle of a big piece of tin foil. (Do NOT peal the garlic cloves yet!). Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the cloves, make a tent to cover them completely, and roast the cloves in the oven for 10-15 minutes.
4. Once the potatoes are soft, drain the water, let them cool a bit, then peel off the skin (yes, by hand unless you want to lose a lot of the potato – this takes a while but it ensures your potatoes will have a lot of flavor AND nutrients).
5. Put the peeled potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Remove the garlic cloves from the tin foil (make sure it has cooled) and grabbing by the tips, squeeze the garlic out of it’s peel and onto the potatoes.
6. Using an electric mixer, add milk OR buttermilk and sour cream OR cream cheese, butter (to taste), salt & pepper (to taste), freshly grated nutmeg (about 1/2 to 1 tsp) little by little to the potatoes and garlic. Add milk if potatoes are too thick.

NOTE: To freshen up day old mashed potatoes, put them back in a mixing bowl and add some milk. They’ll get fluffy again!

Just call me Julia!

Stephanie's Italian Meatballs

Ingredients:

-1lb Italian sausage
Suggested: Jimmy Deal Italian Sausage
-1lb ground sirloin or ground beef
-2-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 medium or 1/2 large sweet onion, finely chopped
-2 eggs
-3/4 cup plain organic bread crumbs
-1 jar high quality marinara sauce
-Olive oil
-Salt & pepper (to taste)
-fresh basil leaves
-Parmesan, mozzarella, or mix of Italian cheeses
Optional: oregano

1. Pre-heat oven to 350

2. In a large cast iron (or oven safe) skillet sauté 1 clove garlic and and a small portion (1 TBSP or so) of onions over low heat.

3. In a medium bowl combine meats, leftover garlic and onion, eggs, salt & pepper, a few fresh basil leaves (torn or chopped), oregano (optional), bread crumbs, and about ¼ cup of cheese. (Mix thoroughly by hand).

4. Form meat mixture into 1-inch balls, adding them one by one to skillet.

5. Brown meatballs on medium to high heat, turning carefully so they won’t break apart.

5. Once browned, pour marinara sauce over the meatballs until completely covered. Add basil leaves. (Optional: top with shredded mozzarella)

Bake for 20-30 minutes.

Serve over penne pasta, spaghetti noodles, or spaghetti squash.

Enjoy!

Rutabagas With Ginger Roasted Pears (Stephanie's Version)

My family (Staples side) has exactly ONE tradition: every year at Thanksgiving we eat a rutabaga dish of some sort to remember my grandfather who was a POW in WWII. He suffered so much. One of the few things he shared about his experience was that the only thing they had to eat was boiled rutabagas.

Rutabaga is a root vegetable and it has a very strong taste. I have been experimenting with recipes, trying to find one that’s tasty. This year I found one that I will continue to experiment with – I will probably do a few things differently next time. But here’s the recipe I adapted from Epicurious.com.

-1 or 2 rutabagas (recipe calls for 4lbs that are already cut into cubes – unless you purchase them pre-cut do NOT attempt cutting this root on your own. It’s virtually impossible and you might hurt yourself! I just bought it whole and boiled it before cutting it into cubes.)
-Nonstick vegetable oil spray
-1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
-1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger (if you don’t have fresh, jarred will do!)
-1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
-3 firm Anjou pears (about 1 3/4 pounds), peeled, cored, cut into 3/4-inch cubes (whatever type of pear you want to use is fine)

Optional (play around with these ingredients if you’d rather make a lighter dish):
-1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
-5 tablespoons butter
-1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme (I didn’t have any… so… it’s not necessary.)
-Coarse kosher salt

Directions:

1. Cook rutabagas in pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 35 minutes (this can take much longer if you are boiling it whole!).
2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F. Spray large rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Combine lemon juice, ginger, and sugar in large bowl. Add pears; toss to coat. Spread on prepared sheet. Roast until tender, turning pears every 10 minutes, about 35 minutes total.
3. Drain rutabagas; return to same pot. Mash to coarse puree. Stir over medium heat until excess moisture evaporates, 5 minutes. Add cream, butter, and thyme (or whatever you decide works for you). Mix in pears and any juices from baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper (I did not add salt or pepper).

Hope this works well for you!

Stephanie

Original recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Smashed-Rutabagas-with-Ginger-Roasted-Pears-240414#ixzz1fnEYkHWA

Roasted Applesauce
Adapted from MarthaStewart.com

This is the most delicious applesauce I have ever tasted. If served warm with graham crackers or something similar, it’s more like an apple cobbler.

I didn’t have a food mill or food processor so I used my blender to pulse the apples once they cooled, being careful to keep the applesauce chunky.

Ingredients
-1/4 cup water
-6 tablespoons packed light-brown sugar (you can use 3 TBSP if you want to lighten it up—it will, however make it much less sweet.)
-1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
-Pinch of coarse salt (completely optional)
-2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (I used 50/50 olive oil/butter blend sticks that contain salt, so I didn’t add the salt listed above.)
-3 pounds small assorted apples, such as Gala, McIntosh, or Fuji (I used mostly Fuji but it really is best to use several different kinds—and organic for the best taste!)
-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I recommend using organic—great flavor)
-Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
-Pinch of ground cloves (optional

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine water, sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
2. Scatter butter pieces over mixture, and top with apples. Roast until apples are very soft, 30 to 40 minutes.
3. Working in batches, pass apple mixture through the medium disk of a food mill and into a bowl. Stir in spices. (I did not do this. I used a blender and kept the applesauce chunky. You can also use a food processor.)
4. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled. Applesauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Serve with graham crackers or just as a warm side dish with a Thanksgiving-style meal.

ENJOY!

Stephanie

Original recipe:

http://www.marthastewart.com/314376/roasted-applesauce

Blueberry Buttermilk Cornbread (Stephanie's Version)

My wonderful friend Vanessa passed this recipe on and I just had to test it out for my Thanksgiving guests. They approved (unless they were just being polite!) so I’m passing it along to you. (Thanks, Vanessa! )

Slightly Adapted from AllRecipes – then slightly adapted again by Stephanie Staples

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (Used Smart Balance 50/50 Butter Blend – because this butter is salted I did not add the salt listed below.), melted.
1 cup sugar (I mixed brown and white sugar)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup blueberries (I added a few more )

Directions

1. Lightly grease or spray 8 by 8 inch baking pan or muffin tins. (You can also use a cast iron skillet.)
2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl separate bowl than what you’ll be using to mix, then set it aside.
3. Combine melted butter and sugar together with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and mix.
4. Add the buttermilk and stir (by hand).
5. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, being careful not to over-mix (it’s ok to see the flour – you really don’t want to over mix, especially before adding the blueberries).
6. Gently fold in blueberries
7. Pour into pan(s)
8. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes, muffins for less time.

Cool on a cooling rack.

Enjoy!