Penne with Five Cheeses

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup crushed tomatoes in thick tomato puree
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1/2 cup shredded Italian fontina/Italian cheese mix
2 T. ricotta cheese
1/4 cup fresh mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 pound cooked penne
4 T. butter

Combine all ingredients except the penne and butter in aluminum pan. Mix well. Add penne to tomato and cheese mixture and combine well. Dot with butter. Cover with foil and put into extra large ziploc bag. Freeze.

Thaw in refrigerator for 24 to 36 hours. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bake pasta until bubbly and brown on top, about 20 minutes.

Note:  If you don't want to freeze this, just put it into the oven instead of the freezer and bake as directed above.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 2/3 C (8 1/2 oz.) Cake Flour

1 2/3 C (8 1/2 oz.) Bread Flour

1 1/4 tsp. Baking Soda

1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

1 1/2 tsp. Coarse Salt (or less if you like)

1 1/4 C (2 1/2 Sticks) Butter

1 1/4 C (10 oz.) Light Brown Sugar

1 C plus 2 tablespoons (8 oz.) Granulated Sugar

2 Large Eggs

2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1 1/4 lbs. Bittersweet Choc. Chips

Cream sugars and butter for 5 min. until very light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time until mixed. Turn mixer to low speed and add the rest of the wet ingredients. Add dry ingredients until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Pre-heat oven to 375 and bake for 10-12 minutes. Tops of cookies should be slightly golden. Eat your heart out cookie lover!

(I usually store some in the freezer, wrapped into the shape of a log in wax paper....you never know when you need cookies!)

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

I think these peppers tasted great, but for me the texture was a bit off (we like more crisp/juicy stuffed peppers than soft). I used brown rice instead of the white rice called for in the recipe, so that was probably the cause of my increased cooking time/temperature. In the future I would most likely use left-over rice to cut down on cooking time (for more crisp texture), but overall they were good!

I got my recipe from: http://www.momswhothink.com/crock-pot-recipes/southwestern-stuffed-peppers.html

Ingredients:

4 green bell peppers
15 ounces black beans, rinsed and drained
4 ounces shredded pepper jack cheese (I just used cheddar and mozzarella)
3/4 cup medium salsa
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/3 cup uncooked long grain white rice
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
sour cream (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut thin slice off top of each bell pepper. Carefully remove seeds and
membrane, leaving pepper whole.
2. Combine beans, cheese, salsa, corn, onions, rice, chili powder and cumin
in medium bowl.
3. Spoon filling evenly into each pepper. Place peppers in crockpot.
4. Cover; cook on LOW 4 to 6 hours. Serve with sour cream, if desired.

Black Bean Soup

Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 T olive oil

4 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped

3/4 C diced carrots (about 2 med carrots)

3/4 C diced celery (about 2 ribs)

1 C diced onion (about 1 sm-med onion)

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 3.5oz can green chilies

2 cans low-sodium beef broth

1 t kosher salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/2 t chili powder

1/4 t cumin

1/2 t dry oregano leaves

1 bay leaf

Optional Toppings: sour cream, tortilla chips, grated cheese, chopped cilantro, etc.

Place a large stock pot on the stove-top and set to medium-high heat.  When pan is warm, add olive oil.  Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and saute 4-5 minutes.

Add in the black beans, chilies, and beef broth. Stir to combine and then add the salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and bay leaf.

Simmer uncovered for about 20-25 minutes or until carrots are tender.

Remove from heat. Remove bay leaf from soup. 

Place soup in a blender. (You could use an immersion blender in place of this step) Place lid on blender, but remove the stopper in the lid to let heat escape. Place a paper towel over the hole to avoid splatters. 

Puree soup until completely smooth.  Optionally you could pulse until a semi-chunky soup is achieved. Squeeze in the juice from one lime and pulse to combine.

Ladle into bowls and top with desired toppings. Serve with extra lime wedges.  Makes about 8 C soup.

Cuban Black Beans & Whole Wheat Tortillas

I will write this as a pressure cooker recipe, because that's the way I do it...but you can definitely use a crockpot and just cook however long you need until the beans reach your desired tenderness.

For pressure cooking, if you're ever curious how long to cook beans, I like to use the bean chart on this website: http://fastcooking.ca/pressure_cookers/cooking_times_pressure_cooker.php

I tend to mostly soak my beans...so I still need to cook them longer than truly soaked beans. :) And I usually do a half natural/half quick release on the pressure...just depending on when I started them cooking and when we're actually eating. I will throw in a shout out at this point to my electric pressure cooker. I think that it is amazing. If you're ever in the market, let me know and I can tell you more about it. :) All that being said, I usually cook my beans on high pressure for about 15 minutes. But different pressure cookers cook differently and it all varies depending on how soaked your beans are...so play around with it until you find what works for you. :)

Onto the recipe: Cuban Black Beans

• 2 c. dry black beans
• 5 c. water
• 2 bell peppers, chopped (I never do that much...I just do however much I feel like)
• 1 lg. onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. pepper, or to taste
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 T. sugar
• dash of olive oil

Add ingredients together and mix, cook on high pressure until done. If you want to add salt (I never do) wait until after they are cooked, otherwise you will end up with hard beans.

As an option, if you'd like when they are done you can take out a cup of cooked beans, and blend it with 2 T. vinegar and 2 T. red wine (or broth) and then return it to the pot and mix with other beans. I have never done this, but the original recipe calls for it, so I figured I'd throw it in there. :)

We love these beans on burritos with cilantro lime rice, but they're good with just rice too. :)

I didn't actually serve these tortillas at the recipe group, but I do make my own whole wheat tortillas and I think they're pretty good, so I'll throw that recipe in here too:

Whole Wheat Tortillas

• 2 cups whole wheat flour (you can obviously use white flour if you're not into whole wheat stuff, but I prefer the whole wheat ones :) )
• 1 T. vital wheat gluten (if you don't have gluten around, you can substitute 1/4 c. white flour for wheat flour and that should do the trick)
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. vegetable oil (I use canola)
• 3/4 c. warm milk

Mix together the flour, gluten, baking powder, salt and oil.
Slowly add the warm milk.
Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.
Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft.
Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.
After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.)
After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. (If you roll out pie crusts you’ll have no problem with this.) Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.
In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done. (I do this on my electric griddle or a frying pan.)
Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat.
Can be reheated in a dry iron skillet, over your gas-burner flame or in the oven wrapped in foil.
While you probably won’t have any leftovers, you can store in the fridge tightly wrapped in foil or plastic for a day or so.
Makes eight tortillas.

(I always double the recipe.)

To give credit where credit's due, I got the tortilla recipe from this blog: http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2007/03/and-end-to-my-quest-flour-tortillas.html and tweaked it.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti and Bean Balls

I usually start my sauce, then make the bean balls and after I put them in the oven, I start water boiling for my noodles.

Marinara Sauce

1 (28 ounce) can tomatoes, stewed or any other kind
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, or 1 TBS dried
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt (optional, canned tomatoes are pretty salty!)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 TBS olive oil
1/3 cup finely diced onion
1/2 - 1 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup white wine or veggie broth

1. In a food processor or blender place tomatoes and tomato paste. Blend until smooth.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat saute the finely chopped onion and diced green bell pepper for several minutes.

4. Add salt, pepper, oregano, garlic, and parsley and saute for a minute or two more.

5. Add the white wine or veggie broth and scrape off all the little bits into the pan and let it cook down.

6. Add the blended tomatoes and paste and simmer covered for 30 minutes or more, stirring occasionally.

Bean Balls

1 20 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained (~3 cups)
2 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS steak sauce or tomato paste
1 TBS olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp grated lemon zest (optional)
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
2 TBS whole wheat flour
2 TBS wheat gluten
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried thyme

Preheat oven to 375F.

Mash the kidney beans in a mixing bowl until no whole beans are left, using a potato masher, a fork or your own hands.

Add all the other ingredients and mix everything together with your hands for a minute until everything is combined well and comes together.

Form small balls, about 20-25 and put on an olive oil greased baking sheet (I put a silpat on mine). You can drizzle them with olive oil at this point if you're feeling decadent.

Bake for 15 minutes until lightly browned on the bottom, then flip and bake another 10 minutes. Pull them out of the oven and pour 1/2 cup of marinara sauce over them, flipping them around to coat. Bake for 5 more minutes.

Cafe Rio Rice aka Cilantro Lime Rice

1 c. uncooked rice (long grain is best. I use brown rice)
1 tsp. olive oil (or butter)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 can (15 oz.) chicken broth
1/2 c. water
1 T. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp. sugar
3 T. fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, oil, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low until rice is tender. (Time varies for brown/white rice.) Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.

**My notes:
I always make this in a rice cooker. I add the everything except the T. lime juice, sugar and cilantro and push a button to cook it. Then I add the other ingredients when its done (except not as much lime juice as is called for).

I always make this x5 or 6. We're big eaters in my family. :) But honestly, just one cup is not very much.

I have made it with less oil and it turned out fine. I have made it with no sugar and its turned out fine, so feel free to tweak as needed. I usually use lime juice bought at the store, as opposed to a fresh lime. And I never add a whole T. of lime juice at the end. I find the lime juice at the beginning gives it a strong enough flavor, and so I just add a dash at the end.

I also typically use bouillon as opposed to broth and use WAY less. I usually half the amount called for (and make up for it in water). It is still plenty flavorful and way less salty.

I love this rice. It makes every burrito taste better. :)