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Skinny Green Bean Casserole

I made this casserole for Christmas Eve dinner at Sean's grandparents' house, and then we ate the leftovers on Christmas day at my parents' place.  

This recipe comes from the blog Skinnytaste.

You'll need:

For the topping
1 tbs olive oil
1 cup shallots, finely diced
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1 tbs grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dried thyme

For the green beans
2 lbs fresh green beans, trimmed, halved, and washed
1 tbs olive oil
1/3 cup shallots, finely diced
16 oz. sliced mushrooms (I used cremini)
1/4 cup flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup milk
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese


Boil a large pot of water.  Add the green beans and blanche for 2-4 minutes (you can do this for 6-8 minutes if you like softer beans).  Drain them into a colander and run cold water over the to stop the cooking.

To make the topping, heat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat.  Add the shallots and saute for 3-5 minuts, or until they are golden.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the bread crumbs, cheese, and thyme.  Saute for 5-6 additional minutes, stirring frequently to avoid burning.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Lightly grease a 9x13 inch pan.

Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add the remaining 1/3 cup of shallots and saute for a couple of minutes.  Add the mushrooms, stirring to coat with the oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Saute for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Sprinkle flour over the mushrooms, stir to coat.  Continue stirring for about a minute.  Slowly add the chicken stock and milk.  Bring it to a low boil, and cook for about 3 more minutes, or until it starts to thicken up.  Stir occasionally.  Stir in the rest of the grated cheese.

Add the blanched green beans and mix well.  Taste, and season with salt and pepper.  Pour everything into the prepared baking dish.

Top with the toasted bread crumbs and bake for 30 minute.

Now eat it!

I'll definitely be making this again.  Though the traditional green bean casserole with condensed soup is good, this recipe blows it away.

{Homemade Christmas Gifts!} - Part 5 - Sugar and Spice Candied Almonds

Folks, this is the fifth (and final!) installment of homemade holiday gift posts.  Hopefully you've been inspired to make some delicious homemade gifts of your own!

There are tons of recipes like this out there, but I found mine on the blog Smitten Kitchen.

You'll need:

1/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup white granulated sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
generous pinch cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg white, room temperature
1 tbs water
1 pound almonds (Alternately, could use pecans, walnuts, etc.)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Mix the sugars, salt, cayenne pepper, and cinnamon.  Set aside.

Beat the egg white and water until frothy, but not stiff.  Add the nuts, and stir to coat evenly.  Sprinkle nuts with sugar mixture and toss until evenly coated.

Spread sugared nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.  

Bake for 30 minutes, stopping to stir them around occasionally.  Remove them from the oven and separate the nuts as they cool.

When completely cool, pour into a bowl, or other vessel.  Eat!

{Homemade Christmas Gifts!} - Part 4 - Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Treats

For the fourth installment of homemade holiday gifts, I bring you homemade dog treats.  Don't forget your furry friends this holiday season!

My dad forwarded me an email he received from the American Kennel Club that included this recipe.

You'll need:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat or barley flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 eggs
3 tbs peanut butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Stir the flour and cinnamon together.

In a separate bowl, combine the pumpkin, eggs, and peanut butter.  Whisk until mostly smooth.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry.  The mixture will be pretty dry and crumbly.  Add a bit of water until it's workable.  If it gets too wet, add a bit more flour.

Roll the dough out until it's about 1/2 inch thick.  Use cookie cutters to cut into various shapes.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until hard and dry.

Homemade Holiday Gift Recipe Roundup

In case you're in denial and are managing to avoid the reality of the situation - There are exactly 7 days until Christmas!  Still in search of some homemade holiday gifts?  In case you missed 'em, check out the ones I've blogged about:

Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix
Cookie Mix in a Jar
Homemade Peppermint Schnapps

AND check out these bad boys that I found on Foodgawker:

Homemade BBQ Spice Rub - Back to Her Roots
Flavored Coffee Syrups - Feed Me, Seymour
Homemade Vanilla Extract - Apron Strings
Peppermint Bark - Fork Knife Swoon
Homemade Mulling Spice Mix - 30 Pounds of Apples
Salted Woodchuck Hard Cider Caramels - Bakeaholic Mama
Chocolate Truffles - K & L Food Blog
Homemade Ketchup - A Duck's Oven
Cookie Cutter Fudge - Chocolate Moosey
Homemade Orange Marmalade - Vegan Yack Attack
Dal Fry Mix in a Jar - Veggie Belly
Cranberry Orange Preserves - Curly Girl Kitchen
DIY Infused Olive Oils - Just Putzing Around in the Kitchen
Citrus Sea Salt - For the Love of Food
Truffle Dust - My Man's Belly
Chai Concentrate - Munchin with Munchkin
Vanilla Bean Sugar Scrub - Good Life Eats
Homemade Creme de Menthe - Boulder Locavore

If you feel like living on the edge, check back as the week goes on.  I have at least 1, and possibly 2 more homemade gift ideas for you.

{Homemade Christmas Gifts!} - Part 3 - Homemade Peppermint Schnapps

For the third installment of homemade Christmas gifts, I bring you homemade peppermint schnapps.  Schnapps always makes me think of "The Backwards Episode" from Seinfeld.  Haven't seen it?  Go watch it.  You'll thank me.

You'll need:

2 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tbs peppermint extract
1 handle (1/2 gallon) vodka

Create a simple syrup by first boiling the water.  Once boiling, add the sugar and stir fairly continuously.  Allow it to come to a boil again and stir for a minute or so longer.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool a bit.  Add the peppermint extract and continue to cool until it comes to room temperature.

Combine the vodka and simple syrup.  Voila: homemade peppermint schnapps!


If you can wait, let it hang out and mature for a week or two.

I will be gifting mine, so I poured it into these cute little 8.5 oz swing top bottles and tied some ribbon around the neck.  I was able to get 9 bottles (plus a little extra for me) out of this batch. 

Need some help figuring out what to do with all this schnapps?  Maybe make a cocktail or two.  Here are a few ideas:
The Mint Icicle
White Lightning
Candy Cane Martini
Mint Chip; Peppermint Kiss; Icy Apple Martini

Or you could do what I was planning to do: add a little splash to some hot chocolate (preferably made using some of this homemade hot chocolate mix!).

{Homemade Christmas Gifts!} - Part 2 - Cookie Mix in a Jar

Cookies in a jar!  Pretty cute, right?  Want to know how to do it, too?  Head on over to Bakerella's blog and check it out!

In the mean time, here are some photos to help you get into the Christmas spirit =).  I took these this weekend while visiting 34th street with friends.

Leek-y Chicken with Cous Cous

I first made this recipe several years ago, while in college.  It was a hit.  Now that it's back on my radar, I'll definitely be making it more often.

This is a Rachael Ray recipe, and can be found here.

You'll need:

1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tbs butter
1 1/2 cups cous cous
1/4 cup golden raisins, chopped
2 tbs olive oil
1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders, cut into bite-sized pieces
salt and pepper, to taste
2 medium leeks, cut into half-moons and cleaned well
1 cup dry white wine or chicken broth

Heat the chicken broth and butter in a medium sauce pan.  After bringing it to a boil, add the cous cous and raisins.  Remove the pan from the heat, stir, and put the lid on.  Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.  Add the chicken.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook through, turning occasionally.

Once the chicken is cooked through, add the leeks and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Add the wine (or chicken broth) and allow it to cook down by half (3-4 minutes).

Fluff the cous cous with a fork, and spoon it onto a plate.  Top with the chicken and leeks.

There you have it.  An easy, quick, pretty healthy dinner.

{Homemade Christmas Gifts!} - Part 1 - Hot Chocolate Mix

Here's the first installment of posts showcasing homemade gifts that are just perfect for giving away during the winter holiday season!


I know I've shown you homemade hot chocolate before, but this recipe makes much larger quantities.  And really, I think that this one is actually better!  After much searching, I found this recipe from The Brown Eyed Baker.

You'll need:

3 cups nonfat dry milk powder
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips (or white chocolate, chopped)
1/4 tsp salt

Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl.

Working in 2 batches, pulse the ingredients in a food processor until the white chocolate is ground up pretty finely.  

Store in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

To make the hot chocolate: Add your desired amount of mix to a mug and stir in 1 cup of hot milk (almond milk works well here, too!).  Enjoy! 

Since I'm giving these as gifts, I also plan to add a little fabric and ribbon to dress them up a bit.

Classic Snickerdoodle Cookies

I was at home for the end of rifle season this past weekend, and my mom and I decided to squeeze in a little baking.  We made some snickerdoodles, one of my mom's favorites.

You'll need:

Cookies
1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt

Topping
2 tbs sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  

Whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through salt).  Separately, mix together the sugar and cinnamon for the topping.  Set both aside.

Cream the shortening and sugar together.  Add the eggs and mix well.  

Little by little, mix in the dry ingredients to the wet.  

In walnut-sized balls, roll the dough through the sugar and cinnamon topping.  Place on cookie sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes.

Cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets before removing the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.  Enjoy!

Birthday Brownies!

I'm calling these "birthday brownies" because Sean requested them for his birthday last month.  The recipe yields thinner, chewy brownies.  And since it makes 2 pans, it's a perfect recipe for sharing with others.  Or for just hogging out and eating both pans yourself.  Your call.

I found this recipe on the blog Awkward Kitchenette.

You'll need:

1 1/4 cups butter, melted
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 cups flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix the melted butter and sugar in a large bowl.  Stir in the vanilla extract and eggs.  Mix until combined.  

Mix in the cocoa powder.

Stir in the flour until just combined.  This will be a little difficult, since the batter is super thick.

Pour the batter, evenly, into two, greased, 9 inch round pans.  Bake 18-20 minutes.

Tammy's Cranberry Sauce

I got this recipe from my mom, Tammy.  Hence the name.  She makes it every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Since Sean and I will be celebrating Thanksgiving in southern Maryland with his sister and her husband, instead of heading home, I wanted to bring a little bit of home along with me.  

This recipe is so easy to make, requires not much more effort than opening a can of cranberry sauce, and is way better than just the canned stuff alone.

You'll need:

3 oz. box raspberry Jello
1 cup hot water
1 lb. can whole berry cranberry sauce
8 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Dissolve the Jello in the hot water.  Add the cranberry sauce and stir well.  Add the other ingredients and mix well.  

Pour into a jello mold (or any other container) and chill for several hours.

Voila!  Cranberry sauce!

White Cheddar Corn Soup

This recipe was found on the blog Amanda's Cookin'.  I have modified it slightly.

You'll need:

1 1/2 tbs butter
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth
5 cups frozen corn kernels
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp each: salt, black pepper, dried thyme leaves
1/4 cup milk, or heavy cream
2 cups sharp white cheddar cheese


Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Saute the onion and bell pepper for about 10 minutes.  Add the garlic and saute for an additional 2 minutes or so.

Add the broth, corn, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and dried thyme.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Reduce the heat and allow it to simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf.  Blend with an immersion blender until it has reached your desired consistency.  Alternately, blend it in an actual blender, but do so in batches.

Add the milk or cream.  Stir in the cheese until fully melted.  Eat!

Baltimorean Tour de Pizza - Part 1

You like pizza.  I like pizza.  Let's take a tour of some of Baltimore's finest pizza-serving establishments.  Without further ado, let's embark on the first leg of The Baltimorean Tour de Pizza!

Stop #1: Joe Squared

I visited the Powerplant location with my friend Emily, rather than the one up in Station North, since the Powerplant is closer to where we both live and neither of us had our cars that day.

We shared an order of hot wings.  I have to say, Joe Squared has the best wings of any place that I've tried in Baltimore.  They're not the same as what you can find in the Pittsburgh area, but they're pretty darn good.

I had the crab and avocado risotto.  Their risottos are awesome, and you can order a half size (what I got) if you feel like it.  They have some interesting and creative flavor combinations, too.

She enjoyed the quattro formaggio pizza.  Always an excellent choice.

We split an order of the Maker's Mark Bourbon Pecan ice cream.  To quote Emily, this ice cream was "hella good".  The perfect way to describe it.  I'm already on the lookout for recipes so that I can make something like this at home.

Stop #2: Home Slyce

The next stop was Home Slyce Pizza Bar on Charles Street with Sean and our friend Melissa.  

Sean and I split a cheese pizza, which was tasty.

And Melissa got a slyce.  Which looks like a boat of pizza.  Deeeeelicious.

This place is relatively new to Mt. Vernon, though we've been there before and have ordered takeout a few times.  Good stuff.

Rounding out our initial leg of the Tour de Pizza was a trip to...

Stop #3: Iggie's Pizza

Stop #3 on the tour brought us to Iggie's Pizza, one of our favorites.  Sean's sister and her husband (Devon and Joe) came up to Bmore and took Sean and me out to lunch for Sean's birthday.  We had never taken them to Iggie's, so we figured this would be a good time to go.

They now have Diet Coke in glass bottles!  Maybe not the most exciting thing in the world, but Joe sure was excited.

Devon and Joe ordered the Seis Formaggi, which, as the title implies, is a 7 cheese pizza.  It's the first time I've seen it on the menu, and it was very good.

Sean and I ordered our old standby, the Salsiccia.  Yum.

You really can't go wrong with Iggie's.  If you are a guest of ours, and we have never taken you here, that situation needs to be rectified.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed eating at each of my pizza destinations, after hitting all 3 places up in the span of ~36 hours, I feel like I need to go on a detox diet.  

Even so, I plan to continue my pizza odyssey by revisiting some tried and true favorites as well as by exploring some new places.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know! =)

Classic Pumpkin Pie

Hi everyone!  Not that it's possible for you to have forgotten, but Thanksgiving is coming up in exactly 1 week.  We'll be spending the holiday at Sean's sister's house, and I volunteered to bring the dessert as well as some of my mom's cranberry sauce.  Keep an eye out for the recipe for the cranberry sauce and the other pie I plan to make.  Hopefully that one goes well on Thanksgiving morning so I can share it with you, because it looks like it will be awesome.

Having never made a pie before, I wanted to practice a bit before the holiday came, in order to work out any potential issues.  

I found this recipe on the side of a can of Libby's pumpkin puree, and it can also be found here.

You'll need:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
1 unbaked pie shell/crust (or use this recipe, like I did)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. 

Mix the sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and cloves in a small bowl.  Set aside.

Beat the eggs in a larger bowl.  Add the pumpkin puree and sugar mixture.  Mix until combined.  Gradually add in the evaporated milk.

Pour into the pie shell.  Bake for 15 minutes at 425.  Lower the heat to 350 and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick comes out cleanly when inserted near the center.  Cool on a wire rack for ~2 hours.

Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Maybe not the prettiest pie ever--the crust isn't exactly perfect--but it sure was tasty!  And I'll be making it again next week, for sure.  I'm glad I got the chance to practice before the holiday.  Even though it's difficult, I'd advise waiting the full 2 hours for it to cool.  It allows the pie to really set up.

Party Punch

Sorry for the hiatus!  Here's a quick and easy recipe for punch for serving a crowd.  I honestly can't remember where I found this recipe, and have a feeling that it's the result of combining several different recipes.

You'll need:

1 tub of orange sherbet

1 carton/bottle orange-banana-pineapple juice (or some other tropical mixture)

2 2 liter bottle orange soda

rum, as much as desired
several limes and an orange, sliced thin, for garnish

Mix it all together in a large serving vessel, ladle it out, and enjoy!

Sugar Cookies + Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween, everyone!!  I wanted to share these awesome sugar cookies with you. They're just regular sugar cookies, topped with buttercream frosting (dyed purple, of course), and topped with some Halloween-themed sprinkles.

I found the this recipe on the blog Sweetcakes Bakeshop.  Please check it out over there for the recipe!

Need some more Halloween/fall recipes?  Check these out!

Creamy Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dip

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Halloween Rice Krispie Treats

Chocolate Halloween Bark

Banana Bread

Today we're starting to feel the effects of Hurricane Sandy.  Sean, Maeby, and I will be hunkering down for the next couple of days.  If any of you are also in the storm's path, I hope that you will all stay safe!

A couple of weeks ago, I had a surplus of bananas that were rapidly becoming very ripe.  Banana bread was the logical choice to use up the bananas before they went bad.

This recipe was found on the blog Not Enough Cinnamon.

You'll need:

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup (4 tbs) butter, softened to room temperature
2 large eggs
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup plain low fat yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
cooking spray

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray.  Set aside.

Spoon flour into measuring cups and level off with a knife.  Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.  Whisk together.  Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together.  Add the eggs, one at a time.  Add the banana, yogurt, and vanilla.  Beat until blended.  Add the flour mixture.  Mix until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.  Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick, when inserted into the center, comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then cool completely on a wire rack.

Chocolate Halloween Bark

For once, I thought I'd be on the ball and show you some holiday-related treats before the holiday.  Radical notion, I know.  Sean and I are having a Halloween party this weekend, and this is one of the tasty noms we'll be enjoying.

I was inspired to make this chocolate bark after seeing this recipe on Live, Love, Pasta.

You'll need:

Reese's Pieces
Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
24 oz. milk chocolate
12 oz. white chocolate
Sprinkles

Start by lining a cookie sheet with wax paper.  Scatter the wax paper with the candy.  Using your thumb, squish the peanut butter cups down so that they are about the same height as the Reese's Pieces.

Melt the milk chocolate (either in the microwave in 30 second increments or using a double boiler on the stove) and spread it evenly over the candy with an offset spatula.

Put the cookie sheet in the freezer for 20-30 minutes until the chocolate hardens.

After the milk chocolate hardens, melt the white chocolate.  Spread it evenly on top of the milk chocolate.  

Then, add sprinkles!  Since we're having a Halloween party, I naturally went with black and orange.

Put the cookie sheet back into the freezer to let the white chocolate harden.  Once it firms up, break the bark into pieces.  It doesn't have to be perfect.

Store it in the refrigerator.

Bourbon Rosemary Icepick

Finally, alcoholic beverages make a return to Thirsty Thursday!

I got this recipe from my friend, Chrisdine.  Makes 1 cocktail.

You'll need:

8 oz. iced green tea
rosemary sprigs (for brewing and garnish)
2 oz. bourbon
agave nectar, to taste

Steep your green tea with a couple of sprigs of rosemary.  

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add tea (sans rosemary), bourbon, and agave nectar.  Shake well.

Strain into a glass with fresh ice.  Garnish with another sprig of rosemary.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blondies

This recipe was modified from the recipe on the blog The Fig Tree.

You'll need:

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbs pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 13x9 inch baking pan with parchment paper, making sure to leave some overhang on all sides.  Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray.

In a medium-sized bowl, add the flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.

In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until smooth.  Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until combined.  Beat in the puree next.  The original recipe notes that the mixture will look a bit curdled, and that this is completely normal.

Reduce the mixer's speed to low, and add the dry ingredients little by little.  Fold in the chocolate chips.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick, when inserted into the center, comes out clean.  Allow them to cool, cut into squares, and enjoy!!

These blondies are a bit too good.  You have been forewarned.

Homemade Hot Chocolate

Happy Thirsty Thursday, everyone!  I have another non-alcoholic beverage for you.

You'll need:

2 tbs cocoa powder
2 tbs sugar
salt, small pinch
1 tbs hot water
1 cup milk*
marshmallows or whipped cream, optional

Add the cocoa powder, sugar, salt, and water to a pan.  Stir to combine.  

Slowly add the milk and bring to a near-boil.

Remove from the heat and add the vanilla.  Whisk it all around to make everything frothy. Add marshmallows/whipped cream, if you desire, and drink up!

*Works with almond milk, too!