Category: Recipes

Recipes

Ham, Cheddar & Red Onion Bread Pudding

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I was pretty sure this recipe was going to be good after reading through the ingredients, and I was right! I had planned ahead and made a loaf of French bread earlier in the week (the recipe I used for the Spiral Stromboli made 2 loaves of bread). I knew I had to make this recipe soon, because if I didn’t, Andrew was going to eat that loaf of bread!

This recipe goes together pretty quickly, which is nice when you don’t want to spend a ton of time in the kitchen…like on a Friday evening. 🙂

Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
Serves: 6

oil for dish
4 large eggs
1-1/2 c. whole milk
1 T. Dijon mustard
1/8 t. freshly grated or ground nutmeg
Kosher salt & pepper
1 12-oz loaf French or Italian bread, cut into 1″ pieces
1 small red onion, cut into 1/4″ thick wedges
1 crisp red apple (such as Gala or Braeburn), cut into 1/4″ thick wedges
4 oz sliced ham, torn into 2″ pieces (I had a 7-oz container, so I just threw it all in there)
4 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
green salad, for serving

1. Heat oven to 350F/180C. Oil a 2-1/2 to 3-quart baking dish (I just used a 9×13″ pan). In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, mustard, nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper.
2. Add the bread and let sit, tossing occasionally, for 5 minutes.
I cut up the rest of my ingredients while the bread was soaking, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to show the quickest way I know to cut an onion:
First cut off the non-root end (the part without the hair-like things). Peel off the skin. Cut the onion in half through the root (this will keep the onion held together). Now make slices through the onion (like the picture above), making sure not to cut through the root. Then just slice off the root end, and there you go! Okay, back to the recipe…

3. Fold the onion, apple, ham, and cheese into the bread mixture.
4. Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Bake until set and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean (cover the bread pudding with foil if it browns too quickly), 45-50 minutes.
Serve with salad, if desired. Which we did:
What a great dinner! I love starting a meal off with a nice salad, and this bread pudding was both filling and flavorful. I can’t wait to make this one again!

**Each serving has about 367 calories, 13 g fat, 155 mg cholesterol, 830 mg sodium, 20 g protein, 42 g carbohydrates, and 2 g fiber. If you use more ham like I did, these numbers obviously won’t be right. 🙂

Recipes

Baileys Irish Cream Cupcakes

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Here is the recipe for the delicious cupcakes I made on St. Patrick’s Day this year. The recipe comes from this website. The only difference here is that I cut the cupcake part of the recipe in half to have extra frosting! And the ones on the website are much cuter than mine. 🙂

For the cupcakes:

1-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. cinnamon
3/4 c. sugar
6 T. butter, softened
1 egg + 1 egg white, at room temperature
1 t. vanilla extract
1/4 c. Baileys Irish Creme

For the buttercream:

1 c. butter (2 sticks)
4 c. powdered sugar
3 T. Baileys Irish Creme

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy with an electric mixer, about 2-3 minutes. Add egg and egg white one at a time, beating on low between each addition. Add vanilla.
4. Add flour mixture slowly in 3 additions, alternating with Baileys, starting and ending with flour. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full and bake 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. For the frosting, beat butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, until completely mixed. Add the Baileys and beat until well combined.
6. Poke holes in the tops of the cupcakes (I used a chopstick) and brush some Baileys on each before frosting.
7. Load frosting into a piping bag fit with a large tip and decorate as desired.

Makes 12 well-frosted cupcakes!

Enjoy!

Recipes

Spinach & Cheese Lasagna

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Are you on a low-calorie diet? Well, even if you aren’t, you will love this recipe! It tastes really light and fresh. In fact, the first words out of Andrew’s mouth when he tried it were, “This tastes too healthy.” 🙂 Needless to say, we both thought it was pretty yummy!
Active time: 20 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes
Serves: 12

12 lasagna noodles (NOT no-boil)
2 garlic cloves
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
3/4 t. dried oregano
black pepper
1 (16 oz) container low-fat cottage cheese
1 (15 oz) container part-skim ricotta
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1-1/2 c. (6 oz) shredded part-skim mozzarella
1/2 c. + 2 T. grated Romano or Parmesan
1 bunch spinach, thick stems discarded, leaves roughly chopped

1. Heat oven to 400F/200C. Cook the noodles according to package directions.
2. In a food processor (I used my blender), pulse the garlic until finely chopped (I minced mine beforehand). Add the tomatoes, oregano, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and process until pureed.
3. In a large bowl, combine the cottage cheese, ricotta, nutmeg, 1 cup mozzarella, 1/2 cup Romano, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; fold in the spinach.
4. Spread 1/2 cup tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9×13″ baking dish. Top with 3 noodles and a quarter of the remaining sauce (a heaping 1/2 cup), and dollop with a third of the ricotta mixture (about 2 cups); repeat twice. Top with the remaining 3 noodles and sauce.
5. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella and 2 tablespoons Romano. Cover tightly with an oiled piece of foil (to prevent sticking) and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the noodles are tender and the top is golden brown, 10-15 minutes more.

**Each serving has about 255 calories, 9 g fat, 29 mg cholesterol, 522 mg sodium, 19 g protein, 25 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber**