Bread Pudding with Sugared Pecans

Bread Pudding is one of my absolute favorite desserts, but since discovering I have a growing lactose intolerance, I have avoided all things made with milk.  For the most part it hasn’t been too bad. I’ve been able to do without the heavy cream sauces, cheeses, and ice cream. I’ve also been able to use almond milk as a substitute for many of my baked goods and my morning oatmeal. And bonus – I’ve lost a few pounds! However, the other day I came across a picture of bread pudding, and I knew I had to have some. The question was – could I make the custard part with almond milk?

Guess what? Yes, you can! I was even able to make a simple caramel sauce. My bread pudding came out soft and custard-y in the middle with a toasted top. I love to mix textures and needed some crunch, so I added some sugared pecans. My feeling is, that unless I told you that I made it with almond milk, you’d never know the difference.

It’s so nice to know that even with some changes in my diet, I can still find a way to enjoy my favorites.

Bread Pudding with Sugared Pecans

• 5 cups cubed Italian Bread, day old (or more) works best, 1-inch cubes
• 6 Eggs
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 cups Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla

Pecan Topping

• 1 cup chopped Pecans
• 2 tablespoons Butter, melted
• ¼ cup Brown Sugar

Coat a 9×9 baking dish with non-stick spray.

Whisk eggs and sugar until combined. Whisk in milk and vanilla. Fold in bread cubes until they are all coated in custard mixture, pour into prepared pan. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350⁰. While oven is preheating, prepare pecan topping.

Combine melted butter and brown sugar. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle over bread pudding.

Bake bread pudding for 40-45 minutes until it is golden brown on top and the custard has set. Serve warm with caramel sauce if desired.

NOTE: I used Ree Drummond’s Easy Caramel Sauce as a start, substituting in the almond milk, and not adding any extra vanilla (since I had vanilla almond milk). It didn’t thicken too much on the stove as I was cooking it, but it did thicken after cooling in the refrigerator.

Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip

The holidays are fast approaching, and I’m gearing up for my cooking sprees. I feel like so many people get stressed out about entertaining and planning menus, but not me! It’s what I live for! And with easy appetizer recipes in my arsenal, why not! I could probably eat my weight in Spinach-Artichoke Dip, and this recipe is something I keep at the ready for all those holiday parties and impromptu get-togethers.

I’m sure everyone out there has their own go-to Spinach-Artichoke Dip, but just in case you don’t, or you’re looking for a change, here is how we do it! You can make this dip up a day or two ahead, put it in your oven-safe dish, top it with extra cheese, and stash it in the fridge.  Then, when you’re ready, just pop it in the oven, and done! Easy entertaining!

I love to toast up thinly sliced french bread for serving, but it’s also great with crackers, veggies sticks, spoons…however I can get it fastest.

Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• ½ onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 14oz can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
• 1 package (10oz) frozed chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup sour cream
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (less if you’re not a fan of spicy)
• 1 ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, divided

Coat a medium size baking dish with non-stick spray.

Melt butter in medium saucepan. Add onion and cook over medium heat 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook one minute more.

Add in artichoke hearts and spinach. Cook several minutes stirring and breaking up artichoke pieces with your spoon.

Stir in mayonnaise, sour cream, salt, pepper flakes, and ¾ cup cheese. Pour into prepared baking dish. Top with remaining ½ cup cheese.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to bake.

Preheat oven to 350⁰. Uncover, bake for 20 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

**NOTES – Sometimes I just use whatever cheeses I have on hand. I do prefer the hard Italian cheeses (parmesan, asiago, romano, etc).

If you want to make and bake all at the same time, the instructions are all the same, just keep an eye on it in the oven; it may not take the full 20 minutes.

Butternut Squash Risotto

Baby, it’s cold outside! For the first time this season, the weather forecasters have said the word snow, the news stories consist mostly of how much salt the state has stored up for the roads, and the people have gone nuts, as usual. Am I going out there with the crazies? Nope, I’m staying in and making a hearty, cozy risotto.

In a previous post I mentioned how much I love to stir a risotto and find the whole process therapeutic. That post was about a Mushroom, Pea, and Parmesan Risotto, but this time of year calls for the butternut squash version.

Sweet roasted butternut squash, salty bites of bacon, and the perfectly creamy texture of a good risotto make me want to sit down with just the pot and a big spoon, but alas, I have other mouths to feed. Paired with simple grilled chicken and a light salad it makes a nice winter dinner that pleases everyone.

Butternut Squash Risotto

• 3 strips Bacon
• 1 medium Onion, diced
• ½ teaspoon Salt,
• Pepper to taste
• 1 cup Arborio Rice
• ½ cup White Wine
• 4 cups Chicken Broth
• 1 ½ cups roasted Butternut Squash, see note below
• ½ teaspoon chopped fresh Sage
• 1 teaspoon chopped Thyme leaves

Heat broth in a medium pot and keep warm on low.

In a heavy bottomed pot, cook bacon strips until just crispy. Remove to drain on a paper towel lined plate.

Cook onion with salt and pepper in bacon grease about 5 minutes. Stir in dry Arborio rice and cook in pan, stirring frequently, until toasted, about 5 minutes more.

Add in white wine and stir until absorbed. Add 1-2 ladles of warm broth and stir until absorbed. Repeat until all the broth is stirred into the risotto. On the last addition of broth, also stir in butternut squash, sage, and thyme. Crumble reserved bacon back in to risotto. Serve immediately.

NOTE: To roast butternut squash, heat oven to 400⁰. Peel squash, cut in half, remove seeds with a spoon, and cut into 1” pieces. Spread on baking pan, toss with 2-3 tablespoons olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast for 20-25 minutes until soft and just starting to brown. Roasting the squash can be done in advance. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Classic Blueberry Muffins

Back when I was working full time, before our bundle of joy came along (3 years ago!), I used to be the muffin (wo)man of the office. I would get up early in the morning to make muffins or other goodies to take to my co-workers. No real reason; it was just something I enjoyed – spreading the muffin love.

Now that I’m not heading into the office every morning, we are left with entire batches of muffins sitting around the house. I’ve been gifting them to family and friends, but then I had the idea to take a basket of muffins to the Little Guy’s preschool for all the teachers. So I broke out my recipe for my favorite easy blueberry muffins.

These are a light and airy, sweet muffin with tart blueberries. It’s such an easy recipe, and you can make the batter ahead, but my favorite parts are the crunchy edges and the way the muffins rise so it looks like the berries are trying to burst through the top.

The preschool teachers were so very appreciative. I’ll have to start thinking about what can go in my next goody basket!

Classic Blueberry Muffins

• 3 cups Flour
• 1 cup Sugar
• 4 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 2 Eggs
• ½ cup Oil
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 ½ cups Blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 400⁰. Either coat 2 muffin pans with non-stick spray or use paper muffin liners. This recipe makes 18 muffins.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl – flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Whisk together eggs, oil, milk (I used almond milk), and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in blueberries.

Scoop or spoon into prepared muffin cups until they are ¾ full. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan before removing.

NOTE: The muffin batter can be made ahead and refrigerated, just don’t fold in the blueberries until you are ready to bake the muffins.

Baked Pork Taquitos with Black Beans and Corn

We have a freezer problem around here. As in, one of our freezers quit working! The freezer attached to our kitchen fridge decided it was done, and the very nice man who came out to look at it basically told us it would be cheaper just to get a whole new refrigerator rather than fix the compressor on the freezer. Well, that was a while ago, and we still haven’t gotten a new fridge yet. We have another fridge/freezer in the laundry room so it’s not that big of a deal if you don’t mind carrying all the frozen foods across the whole house. It also means we are a bit more selective about what goes into the freezer, and every once in a while we have to have a freezer clean out week. That’s where these pork taquitos come into play.

I pulled out half of a Boston Butt pork roast (because for whatever reason I’ve always cooked like our cute little family of three is a family of ten, so I’ve learned just to go ahead and freeze extra portions of roasts and veggies and casseroles). Usually with my leftover pork roasts I just add some barbeque sauce for easy sandwiches, but this time I decided to change it up and go more Mexican in flavor.

I’ve always liked the flavor of pork with a green salsa verde, and I decided to go with Taquitos, but I’m not much of a fryer, so I baked them instead. I was able to make up my pork filling mixture in the morning which cut down on some of my prep time, and the bean and corn side dish was just plain easy to throw together (and got some corn out of the freezer, bonus!). The Hubby loved everything, but the real compliment came when my three-year old said, “Wow Mommy, this is good!” That’s all I needed to hear to know this meal was a keeper!

Baked Pork Taquitos with Black Beans and Corn

Pork Taquitos

• 4 cups shredded Pork Roast
• ¼ cup diced Red Onion
• ¾ cup Salsa Verde
• ½ cup Corn
• 12 Corn Tortillas
• Garlic Oil, for brushing, see below
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
• Cumin and Cilantro Flakes, optional

Black Beans and Corn

• 1 cup diced Red Onion
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• 2 cups Corn (frozen or canned)
• 1 can Black Beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 teaspoon Cumin
• ½ teaspoon Dried Cilantro

Garlic Oil

• 3-4 tablespoons Oil, either olive oil or canola oil is fine
• 2 cloves Garlic, roughly chopped

To make the garlic oil, heat the oil and garlic in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Sauté for about 2 minutes, then set aside. Once it’s cool, I usually pour it all into a small Tupperware. It will keep for a few days; I brush it on all kinds of stuff!

Combine shredded pork, red onion, salsa verde, and corn in a bowl.

Preheat oven to 350⁰. Coat a baking pan with non-stick spray.

Lay out the corn tortillas (I did find it better to heat them a few at a time for about 20 seconds in the microwave, otherwise they had a tendency to break as I rolled them). Place one heaping tablespoon cheese down the center, top with 2 tablespoons meat mixture. Roll up and place seam side down on pan. Brush top with garlic oil. Sprinkle with cumin and cilantro flakes, if desired. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Some of my rolls broke even after heating the tortillas and brushing with oil, but they still tasted the same!

While taquitos are baking, work on beans and corn. Sauté red onion with salt in 1-2 tablespoons oil over medium high heat for 5 minutes. Add corn, beans, cumin, and cilantro and continue cooking 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve taquitos and beans hot with any toppings or sauces you wish. We had sour cream and avocados, and it was fabulous!

Pumpkin Soufflés with Toasted Marshmallow Merengue

Oh, how I love this time of year. The trees are turning into beautiful works of art, I’m breaking out my scarf collection, and Thanksgiving foods are everywhere! Bring on the food!

In our house, Thanksgiving truly means spending time with family and doing the thing we love most – feeding people! I always feel like Thanksgiving is the one holiday that I’m not in a competition. I don’t have to have the best dressed house, the coolest present, or the kid with the most elaborate costume you’ve ever seen. I can just be me and do what I love.

My mom and I have already been making lists and brainstorming what will make our menu this year.  We combine old family favorites with new ideas we want to try. It starts with a huge list that we slowly whittle down to a more manageable number. Today I’m thinking about dessert, more specifically, pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin pie has been a favorite of mine for as long as I can remember. Give me a big slice and pile it high with fresh whipped cream, and I’m a happy girl. This year, maybe I’ll try something different, like these pumpkin soufflés. The texture and flavor is almost identical to a traditional pie, however this would be crustless and a little bit lighter. The marshmallow merengue piled high and toasted on the top takes the place of whipped cream, and does quite a nice job if I might say so myself!

Pumpkin Soufflés with Toasted Marshmallow Merengue

Soufflés

• 1 can Pumpkin, 15 ounces
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 3 Eggs
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• 2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 can Evaporated Milk

Marshmallow Merengue

• 2 Egg Whites
• ½ cup Sugar
• 2 tablespoons Water
• ¼ cup Light Corn Syrup
• ½ teaspoon Vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon Salt

Preheat oven to 350⁰. Prepare 4-6 ramekins (depending on size) with non-stick cooking spray.

Stir together pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir in evaporated milk until well combined. Pour mixture into ramekins, filling ¾ full.

Place filled ramekins in a large baking dish; pour hot water into baking dish so that it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Put baking dish in oven and bake 50 minutes to 1 hour until puffed and set. Remove from oven, remove soufflés from water bath, cool completely.

Increase oven to 425⁰.

To make marshmallow merengue, heat sugar, water, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it just comes to a boil.

In an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium high speed for about a minute until white and frothy.  Very slowly, stream in hot syrup mixture while mixer is running. Turn speed to high and continue to beat egg whites for another 5 minutes until it is shiny and resembles marshmallow.

Spoon marshmallow merengue into a zip top bag or piping bag fitted with your choice of tip. Pipe onto cooled soufflés. You may have extra; I piped some onto some cupcakes (and maybe just ate a little with a spoon!)

Place soufflés back into oven to toast to the merengue. Keep an eye on them; it only takes a couple of minutes.

Serve warm or cold. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Brunch Bacon

For years, bacon and I had been arch enemies. Standing over the skillet getting splattered by hot grease wasn’t really working out for me. Consequently, I would walk away from the pan, and the result was burned bacon.  On the rare occasion I brought out edible bacon (usually quite crispy, but not actually black!), the Hubby would always make the same bad joke – “oh, who’s in the kitchen cooking the bacon for you?” Funny man.

Well, I finally learned how to cook the bacon in the oven, and have been using this method for quite some time now. So much better for everyone involved. I can make a big batch, I don’t have to stand there, and no one gets burned (or has to eat anything burned).

I’ve also been fancying up my bacon on occasion, adding a maple-dijon glaze and a sprinkle of brown sugar. When I’m serving a holiday breakfast or brunch, this “Brunch Bacon” is the star, and when I have to bring a breakfast item to a potluck I like to make a batch of my Angel Biscuits and turn them into little bacon sandwiches. Everyone loves the salty-sweet combination and something just a little bit different.

Brunch Bacon

• 1 lb thick cut Bacon
• ¼ cup Maple Syrup
• 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
• 2-3 tablespoons Brown Sugar

Line a large baking pan with parchment paper. You may need 2 pans to fit all the bacon. Lay bacon strips flat in a single layer on the pan(s).

Stir together maple syrup and mustard until well combined. Brush glaze heavily over bacon.

Sprinkle bacon strips with brown sugar.

Put pans in a cold oven, then turn on to 400⁰. Bake for 20 minutes or a little longer for crispier bacon. You may need to rotate your pans if using two.

Use a spatula to lift bacon strips to a paper towel lined plate to drain for a few minutes. Serve warm. Eat way too much. Become a bacon addict.