arabic desserts

Ingredient Spotlight: Buttermilk

This week, we’re focusing on buttermilk. Up until about three years ago, I always used the lemon juice + milk buttermilk substitute. Then, I tried the real deal.

Fluffy and tangy pancakes, check!

My decision to try the real thing was helped by my friend Megan who told me you can freeze buttermilk! So, now we buy the half gallon (it’s cheaper per oz that way) and freeze the leftovers. That way, we can enjoy:

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Bread – This bread is outstanding. It is our favorite sandwich bread, grilled cheese bread, French toast bread and toasting bread.

White Whole Wheat Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes – A delicious and easy buttermilk pancake recipe made a thousand times better by adding blueberries.

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes – A fun way to change up Thanksgiving potatoes with these buttermilk chive mashed potatoes.

Buttermilk Doughnuts – So easy and delicious, we love these with the old fashioned glaze too.

Vanilla Buttermilk Ice Cream – A fun summer treat, especially delicious paired with fruit.

Buttermilk Waffles – A breakfast favorite around here. I pretty much make a batch of waffles every weekend. They freeze extremely well.

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes – Want a healthy chocolate chip cookie? Look no further, and have it for breakfast while you’re at it.

Ranch Crackers – These crackers use powdered buttermilk to make a delicious light snack cracker. A perfect after school snack or Saturday baking experience with littles!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Buttermilk Bread – Because of our love of wheat buttermilk bread, I decided to give this oat buttermilk bread a try and it was a great hit. Also excellent for sandwiches. Makes two loaves at a time.

Cheesy Chicken & Ranch Pasta Bake – Relies on powdered buttermilk and is a creamy and cheesy casserole for the winter months.

Do you go for the real deal when it comes to buttermilk, or does the substitute work for you?

An InLinkz Link-up

Don’t forget to join us next week for TURKEY!!

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Crockpot Manicotti

We really enjoy manicotti around here, but it’s never on our menu because, confession, I really dislike stuffing the noodles.

When I saw this recipe for a crockpot version of manicotti that did not pre-cook the pasta, I had to give it a try.

It was so easy to fill and prep, and dinner tasted great. The only draw back to this recipe is that it only takes 4 hours on low in the crockpot, so it’s not one that you can start in the morning and come back to dinner 8 hours later. I suppose you could do that, but your noodles would be really mushy, and I don’t recommend it.

We used our favorite manicotti recipe and followed the crockpot directions from Mom on a Mission. We hope you will enjoy it too.

Crockpot Manicotti – Inspired by Mom on a Mission

Ingredients

4 C of your favorite spaghetti sauce (we used our freezer sauce)
8-10 manicotti shells
1 (8oz) container of ricotta cheese
1 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. basil
pinch of minced garlic
salt & pepper
2 T Parmesan cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Optional: chopped spinach

Directions

Layer 2 C of your favorite spaghetti sauce across the bottom of a lightly greased crockpot.

Mix together ricotta cheese with 1 tsp. parsley and basil and a pinch of minced garlic. Add a dash of salt and pepper. Stir well. If desired, stir in 1/4-1/2 C chopped spinach.

Finally, mix in 2 T Parmesan cheese.

Using a spoon, spoon the ricotta mixture into each of the manicotti shells. It works best to fill from both ends to make sure you get ricotta mixture all the way through the manicotti.

Place each filled manicotti over the spaghetti sauce. It’s OK if they overlap.

Cover with remaining spaghetti sauce.

Top with mozzarella cheese.

Cover and cook of low for 4 hours.

Serve warm.

Enjoy!

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Oven Roasted Carrots & Asparagus

Looking for a great side dish for Thanksgiving? Roast up some carrots & asparagus.

Couldn’t be easier, and together they are so tasty!

Oven Roasted Carrots & Asparagus

Ingredients

1-2 C baby carrots (or large carrots quartered)
1/2 lb. asparagus
salt
pepper
minced garlic
olive oil

Directions

Line a baking sheet with tinfoil and lightly spray the tinfoil with olive oil. Wash carrots and asparagus, and trim as needed. Then, arrange the carrots over the tinfoil. Spritz with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and minced garlic.

Roast at 450 for 15 minutes. Then, remove from the oven and add the asparagus, spritzing the asparagus with olive oil and seasoning it also with salt, pepper and garlic. Roll the carrots around too at this point, and return the veggies to the oven for another 15 minutes.

Serve warm.

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Menu Plan–November 10

Last week was a busy week. While Wednesdays are always a busy day for me, this week I was asked to teach the Board of Trustees at our University in our new SCALE-UP classroom. It was an amazing and fun night for me, even though teaching a room full of CEOs and men/women in suits was a bit different than my college freshmen :)

To make it through that busy day, we relied on a quick and easy dinner – Creamy Shells & Cheese with Broccoli. We had not had this dinner in a long time and I forgot how easy it was and how good.

We also made Meatball Tortellini Soup for the first time this season. This is an amazing soup, something about the flavors blends so well, and better yet – it makes a huge batch of soup. Perfect for freezing, or for eating for lunches/dinners if you have a busy week.

On tap for this week:

Sunday
Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal
Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup, Homemade Crescent Rolls

To do: Thaw chicken

Monday
Maple & Brown Sugar Granola {new}
Sweet & Sour Chicken, Brown Rice, Broccoli

To do: Roast bell peppers while oven is hot

Tuesday
Whole Wheat Buttermilk Waffles with Maple Apple Sauté Topping
Roasted Red Pepper Soup & Grilled Cheese

To do: Thaw Italian sausage, make dessert

Wednesday
Maple & Brown Sugar Granola {new}
Rigatoni with Stewed Veggies
Raspberry Swirl Bars {new}

To do: Thaw chicken

Thursday
Whole Wheat Buttermilk Waffles with Maple Apple Sauté Topping
Mozzarella Mushroom Chicken, Broccoli & Red Pepper with Garlic & Herbs

To do: Nothing

Friday
Veggie Scramble
Spinach & Mushroom Calzones

To do: Nothing

Saturday
Kris Kringle Pancakes or Pumpkin Muffins {new}
Creamy White Bean & Bacon Soup {new}

Game Night: Pizza Dip

Snacks
Apple Chips
Dark Chocolate Cherry Granola Bars
Sweet Potato & Dark Chocolate Bread

Menu Plan Monday is hosted at Organizing Junkie - stop by for hundreds of menus

Find more great menus at OrgJunkie’s Menu Plan Monday!

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Single Serving Brownie in a Cup

Just in time for Friday…

This is a perfect dessert for those of us who love dessert, but love it so much that making an entire pan would be a bad idea.

Why you ask?

Because in two days, the whole 9x13 pan of brownies will be consumed.
That’s not so bad if you have a family of 6-7, but for a family of 2, well, that’s trouble.

Since I still love my desserts – my sister and I decided to try a brownie in a cup.

We decided it was perfect: just the right amount of work that you won’t make it every day, and just the right amount of rich, gooey chocolate to meet your craving.

Single Serving Brownie in a Cup

Ingredients

2 T white whole wheat flour
1 T sugar (slightly heaping)
1 T dark chocolate cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
2 T water
1 tsp. olive oil
splash of vanilla
1 T dark chocolate chips

Directions

Combine the 2 T flour with 1 heaping T sugar, 1 T cocoa powder 1/4 tsp. baking powder and a pinch of salt in a small mug, cup or bowl. We used a 1 C serving bowl and it fit perfectly.

Add in 1 1/2 T water, 1 tsp. olive oil and a splash of vanilla. Stir until well mixed. Don’t forget the the dark chocolate chips!

Microwave on high for 30 seconds, adding an additional 15-30 seconds if needed.

Top with ice cream and serve.

Use caution when eating – the contents are really hot!

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Cream of Mushroom Soup

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, many recipes call for canned cream of mushroom soup.

I recommend, making it yourself instead.

It doesn’t take that long and the flavor – wow. You won’t want to go back to the can.

This has been our go-to recipe for years, and although I’ve shared it here before, I thought new readers, especially, might be interested in this recipe.

Cream of Mushroom Soup – Finding Joy in My Kitchen

Ingredients

4 oz mushrooms (fresh & sliced, or sliced from a can)
1 T minced onion
1/2 C chicken broth
1/2 C milk
~2 T corn starch
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

Begin by preparing your mushrooms. Wash, slice and place in a small saucepan, heating until liquids are evaporated. If you are using canned mushrooms, skip that step and just drain the mushrooms and add them to a small saucepan.

Meanwhile, mix together 1/2 C chicken broth with 1 1/2 T corn starch. Stir well until corn starch is dissolved. Add in milk and minced onions and mix well.

Slowly, while stirring constantly, add the cornstarch mixture to your small saucepan. Reduce heat to medium and stir constantly until the mixture begins to bubble (you may need to increase the heat a little bit) and thicken*. Stir for 1-2 minutes and then remove from the heat. Season with salt and pepper.

*Note: If your soup does not thicken to your liking, take the remaining 1/2 T corn starch and mix it with 1 T cold water. Stir well, and slowly drizzle it into the soup mixture while it’s still on the burner. Once again, stir constantly during this process, just like you would thickening gravy. Continue until the desired thickness is reached.

Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or use right away.

Enjoy!

Recipe makes roughly 8 oz.

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Ingredient Spotlight: Lentils

Thanks so much for joining us this week! We had a blast last week focusing on Sweet Potatoes. There were so many delicious recipes linked up including Cranberry Sweet Potato Bread and Spicy Sweet Potato & Sausage Soup. Yum.

This week, we’re focusing on Lentils.

I know on the surface Lentils are not that exciting, but they are a super food just like the sweet potato. They are high in protein, have good nutrients for us (like fiber, iron & Vitamin B + 2 essential amino acids), and are dirt cheap. Yep. Lentils are one of the best ways to get your protein.

But, you have to soak lentils before you use them.

Why you ask? Well, it’s because lentils have chemical properties that actually work to inhibit our body’s enzyme trypsin. Trypsin is responsible for breaking down protein, so if you use lentils without soaking them, chances are you are not getting all that good protein from the lentils.