classic rice pudding

The original made such a tiny amount I am doubling it here. 

Classic Rice Pudding

INGREDIENTS

-- 2 large eggs

-- 1/2 C. white or light brown sugar

-- 1 t. vanilla extract

-- 1/4 t. cinnamon (optional)

-- 4 cups whole milk

-- 1 cup heavy whipping cream

-- 2/3 c. short grain white rice (I used arborio)

-- pinch of salt 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Whisk together the egg, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon if using in a small bowl. Set aside.

2. Add the milk, cream, rice, and salt to a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. 

3. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer until the rice is tender, about 20-25 minutes. Stir frequently to keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. 

4. Slowly add about half a cup of the hot rice mixture to the egg mixture, whisking quickly, to temper the egg mixture.

5. Add the egg mixture to the saucepan with the remaining rice mixture. Stir everything together and continue heating on low heat for about another 5-10 minutes or until thickened. Don't boil. It will thicken quickly. Keep in mind that the mixture will continue to thicken as it cools, so you don't want it to be too thick before you take it off the heat. a touch soupy is still OK. 

6. Remove from heat and serve warm. 

Corn Dog Muffins

 One of the few things my picky kids will reliably eat for lunch. I make them with vegetarian hot dogs

Ingredients

- 1 cup yellow cornmeal (I like medium ground)

- 1 cup all purpose flour

- 1/4 cup white sugar

- 4 t. baking powder

- 1/4 t. salt

- 1/8 t. black pepper

- 1 cup milk

- 1 egg, beaten

- 8 hot dogs (veggie or meat)

 Instructions

- preheat oven to 350,  butter 12-muffin tin

- Mix dry ingredients into a bowl, stir

- add in milk and beaten egg, stir as little as possible to moisten batter

- cut hot dogs up into coins, mix them into the batter

- pour into greased muffin tin, bake 18 minutes or until brown on top and skewer poked in them comes out clean.

fettucini alfredo

 SO this is easy to make and my kids liked it. I added peas but you can add chicken, shrimp, spinach, etc.

INGREDIENTS

- 3 T. butter

- 3 cloves of garlic, minced

- 2 cups half and half or heavy cream

- 1/2 t. salt

- ground black pepper

- pinch cayenne

- pinch nutmeg

- 1 egg yolk (optional)

 - 1 pound pasta

 

INSTRUCTIONS

- melt butter in a pan, cook garlic 1 minute or until fragrant

- add in cream and spices, heat until small bubbles form around the edge but don't let the sauce boil or it will separate! Cook like that for a few minutes or until thicker

- if desired, whisk in one egg yolk to thicken and enrich the sauce

- serve over 1 pound boiled pasta, 

Pasta salad for picky kids

Oh my god my kids are so picky. they say they don't like beans, eggs, or cheese -- and they are vegetarian!! I made this salad today and only one kid cried so that is a success I guess.

Pasta Salad for picky vegetarian kids

-- 1/2 block tofu

-- 1.5 cups pasta

-- 3 small cucumbers, diced

-- 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

-- 1 tomato, diced

-- 1 small can sliced black olives, drained

-- 1 inch chunk feta cheese

-- 1/2 lemon

-- oil

1. Boil the pasta in salted water. While the pasta is boiling cut the tofu into squares and fry it lightly in oil. 

2. When the pasta is soft drain and rinse in cold water. Mix with fried tofu, vegetables, and crumble the cheese on top. Drizzle with oil and add the juice of the half lemon. Mix and add salt and pepper to taste. 

3. Give to kids and hope they don't cry

vegetarian bolognese

This turned out really well! I like that it used lots of vegetables and had a similar texture to it as real bolognese. Mincing them using the mini food processor saves a lot of time and helps the texture turn out so nicely. IMO This is better than the other veggie bolognese recipe on here. Serve with garlic bread, of course

Best Vegetarian Bolognese Sauce

adapted from Build Your Bite

Ingredients:

• 7 oz sliced baby bella mushrooms, rinsed and patted dry
• 2 celery stalks, ends cut off and cut into 3 pieces each
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 3 sections each
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 medium onion, quartered
• 1 28 oz can of tomatoes, any kind you like
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon sugar (if desired)
  
• 1 lb Spaghetti, for serving

Instructions: 

1. Add baby bella mushrooms to a food processor and either pulse or shred, until minced
2. Transfer mushrooms to a large skillet or dutch oven
3. Add celery chunks, carrot chunks, garlic cloves, and onion pieces to the food processor and pulse/shred
4. Add the celery/carrot/garlic/onion mixture to the mushrooms in the pan
5. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper to the vegetables
6. Turn the burner on medium high heat and sautee vegetables for 25-30 minutes, stirring often, until vegetables cook down and most of the liquid evaporates
7. Puree canned tomatoes in the food processor until smooth
8. Add the pureed tomatoes to the vegetables along with the basil, oregano, and sugar
9. simmer sauce 10 minutes or so until it seems done.
   
10. Taste and add any seasonings if necessary (if it tastes too acidic, add a little more sugar as necessary)
11. Heat until hot throughout, then serve
12. Serve over spaghetti and topped with parmesan cheese, if desired

 I got this recipe from Stephanie and it is the best I have ever made! So I am saving it here. 

Kittencal's Buttery Cut-Out Sugar Cookies W/ Icing That Hardens

from food.com

 
 

Ingredients

COOKIES

• 1 cup butter, softened (no substitutes)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon vanilla
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon almond extract
• 3 ¹⁄₄ cups all-purpose flour
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon baking soda
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon baking powder
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt 

   

  FROSTING
•  2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (the sugar must be sifted)
• 1 tablespoon milk (adding in more if needed for proper spreading consistency)
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon almond extract (can use 1/2 teaspoon vanilla in place of the almond)
• food coloring (use your choice of colours)

   

   

  DIRECTIONS

  
  

  1. For cookies; in a large bowl combine butter with sugar, eggs, vanilla and almond extract; beat using an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy.
  2. In another bowl combine the flour with baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually stir into the butter mixture until well blended.
  3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.
  4. Set oven to 400°F.
  5. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper (do not grease cookie sheets use parchment paper only).
  6. On a very lightly floured surface roll out the dough into about 1/4-inch thickness.
  7. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters.
  8. Place cookies 2-inches apart on cookie sheet.
  9. Bake 4-6 minutes.
  10. Remove cookies to wire racks to cool completely before icing.
  11. For the frosting; in a small bowl mix the confectioners sugar with milk (start with 1-2 tablespoons, you will likely need more milk for the perfect spreading consistency).
  12. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until the icing is smooth and glossy (if the icing is too thick add in a small amount more of corn syrup).
  13. Divide into as many separate bowls as you wish for different colours.
  14. Add in food coloring until desired intensity is achieved.
  15. Paint the icing over the cookies using a brush, or dip edges of cookies into icing.
  16. Allow to set on waxed paper.

   

   

   

   

   
  

 

Winter Squash and Spinach Pasta Bake

 This is Smitten Kitchen's version of a recipe originally by Ottolenghi. We made it tonight and I really loved it. The down side is it take 1.5 hours to bake and then another half hour to rest, but other than that it's pretty easy and infinitely variable which I really like in a recipe so I definitely hope i make it again. I have varied it a little here.

Winter Squash and Spinach Pasta Bake

From Smitten Kitchen

 Ingredients:

• 1 large egg
• 1 cup (250 grams) ricotta
• 1 cup (100 grams) finely grated parmesan, divided
• 1 cup (85 grams) coarsely grated fontina cheese (I substituted cheddar for this and it was fine)
  
• 1 1/4 cups (300 grams) water
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil, divided
• 2.5 teaspoons kosher salt (use less if you are using table salt)
• Freshly grated nutmeg
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste (I omitted this for kids)
  
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 5 ounces (140 grams) baby spinach, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons thinly-sliced sage leaves or 1 teaspoons chopped thyme leaves (optional) (I substituted 1/2 t. dried sage)
  
• 1 1/4-pound (560-grams) butternut or another sturdy winter squash, peeled, seeded, sliced thin or 1 pound (455 grams) in prepared chunks, sliced thin
• 8 ounces (225 grams) dried pasta (see Note), broken into pieces if large/long (I used penne and it was great)
• 3 Tablespoons pine nuts
  

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350°F (176°C). Line a 9-inch springform with 3-inch sides (see Note) with parchment paper, pressing it across the bottom and creasing the sides to get it to fit as best as possible. If the sides aren’t well covered, repeat with a second piece of parchment in the other direction.

Whisk egg and ricotta in a large bowl. Stir in half of the parmesan, fontina (or cheddar), water, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt, a few gratings of fresh nutmeg, lots of freshly ground black pepper, red pepper flakes (if using), and garlic. Stir in squash, spinach, pine nuts, and sage or thyme, if using. Add dried noodles and stir until everything is coated.

Pour into prepared pan and press gently so everything is in as even of a layer as possible. Sprinkle with second half of parmesan. Gently fold any parchment that extends over the rim of the pan into the center and cover the pan tightly with foil. Bake on a sheet (for extra security against drips) for 1 hour, then remove foil, reopen the parchment folded over the top, and drizzle the dish with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Return to the oven uncovered for 30 minutes. Pasta will be baked through and the top will be crisp. If it doesn’t have as much color as you’d like on top, you can finish it under the broiler for a minute or two.

Cool in pan on a rack for 30 minutes before removing the springform ring, sliding the pasta bake by its parchment onto a serving plate, and cut it into wedges.

Do ahead: This keeps in the fridge for up to 1 week. Rewarm uncovered in a 350-degree oven. I haven’t frozen it, but would expect it to freeze well, tightly wrapped.

Notes:
* Structural note: Like a lasagna, this is more wet and messy when it first comes out of the oven. I recommend a 30-minute rest at minimum (what you see here in the loose slices) but it will be cleaner to cut and more set the longer it hangs out. It reheats fantastically and keeps up to a week in the fridge. Last night, we reheated wedges from 6 days ago and they were (still) perfection.

* Pan size: I only tested this in a 9-inch springform but would expect it to also fit in a 11 to 12-inch ovenproof skillet and also, less glamorously, a 9×13-inch baking dish. No need to line with parchment if you’re serving it from the pan or not worried about leakage