Jolene's Recipe Journal

  Getting cooler here in New England and I've started looking for heartier, comfort food-type recipes.    I had a few Roma tomatoes left from a trip to the farm, and some gnocchi in the freezer, so thought that I'd make this recipe up for dinner tonight.  

I've been making this recipe for over 5 years now.  My guys saw an advertisement from a pizza chain for a Mega Chocolate Chip Cookie and they asked if I could make one. 

There are so many family favorite recipes that I've been making for 10 years or more!  This is my go-to one for waffles or pancakes.  It can be changed up in so many ways.  I do always add a  teaspoon of vanilla, sometimes also a teaspoon of butter extract.  It's great with fruit mixed in, or on top. It's a filling breakfast that isn't super heavy.

Our super easy cheesy Tortilla Pie is packed with layers of seasoned ground beef, melty cheese, and soft tortillas, all baked to perfection! I made this one as listed the first time, now it's more improvised.   I use Mild taco seasoning with ground beef and omit the tomatoes.    I've also dropped down to 3 tortillas and build the pie in a springform pan.    This is one of my husband's favorite meals.

Though this recipe for pizzelles is new to me, it’s not new to my family.    My mom makes over 500 of these every December, and until now, I’ve never made them, only eaten them.   Tim bought me my own iron for Christmas, and I’ve been looking forward to trying it out.  

Tim and I are both big fans of calzones, stromboli, pepperoni pizza.    I found this recipe on the Taste of Home website and decided to give it a try today.  I'm low on all things flour, so I ended up using 1 1/2c all-purpose and 1 1/2c white whole wheat.   It turned out ok, a little harder to work with, and I'll go back to bread flour next time. Tim won't eat chunks of onion so when I browned the ground beef, I added 2T of minced dried onion.  I used 90% lean beef, and since I had bought a package of the thick sliced pepperoni, I quartered the pieces.   I went all mozzarella for the cheese. Very happy with the final result!  I stashed the second one in the freezer unbaked to have another time.   Very easy to customize this with veggies or whatever you like. Ground Beef and Pepperoni Stromboli Print With Image Without Image Author: Jolene's Recipe Journal Ingredients 2 loaves (1 pound each) frozen bread dough -- ...

Like most of the country, we've been stuck in a rainy, cold and miserable weather pattern for a while.   I found myself craving chili yesterday, and wanted some kind of cornbread/muffin to go with it.   I found this recipe on Cooking with My Kid and couldn't wait to give it a try in my mini donut pans.  

Get ready for a delicious and super easy lemon butter! With just three ingredients, it’s a breeze to whip up. It’s perfect for spreading on crackers topped with thinly sliced radishes or drizzling over steamed or roasted garden veggies like corn, potatoes or green beans.

When my son was younger, I loved making special meals for Halloween.  Mummy dogs, breadstick bones, and forked eyeballs were some favorites. These Taco Pumpkins were a huge hit as well. I first saw the idea from Taste of Home in 2009.  The ingredients were not something that he'd eat back then, so I adapted it to his tastes. It really doesn't get any more simple. I used leftover taco meat and Fiesta blend cheese. Roll refrigerated biscuits out slightly to flatten them.  Place one biscuit on the baking sheet, add 2 to 3 tablespoons taco meat and then sprinkle with cheese.  How much? I don't know, life's just too short to measure cheese, don't you think? Top with another biscuit.  You can go two ways now.  You can get artistic and cut out jack o'lantern faces, or just score lines to make it resemble a pumpkin. Cut out stem shapes from one of the biscuits, and I like to do the little curlycues too.  Press them onto the pumpkin to seal them together...

Was lacking in ambition yesterday, but didn't feel like eating take out for date day, so first thing yesterday morning I threw this roast recipe into the slow cooker.    I was concerned, the vinegar smell was overwhelming and Tim is super sensitive to it.    I used a smaller amount of the crushed red pepper flakes, since I'm the only one that likes the heat.    The end result was amazing.  Not vinegary at all.    I served ours on buttered toasted rolls.   Tim had his with mozzarella cheese, tossed under the broiler for a few mins to melt.   I had mine with thinly sliced red onion and jalapeno mustard. Absolutely delicious and I'm looking forward to the leftovers for lunch today  :)   Be sure to go check out the AddAPinch blog , she repurposes the leftovers 2 ways (reducing the juices for a dip type sandwich and also stuffed mushrooms). Balsamic Roast Beef Print With Image Without Image Author...

    Love Girl Scout Cookies, but you've had a rough week and could really use a drink?  I've got just the thing for you!  I've seen this named different things in different places, but we call it a Girl Scout Cookie Shooter.   I found the recipe in the Bartending for Dummies book in 2013, and we've been enjoying them ever since. Sometimes we have it as shooters, sometimes we blend it with ice cream. You can substitute Creme de Menthe for the Peppermint Schnapps, we use whichever we have on hand at the time.  Girl Scout Cookie Shooter Print With Image Without Image Author: Jolene's Recipe Journal Ingredients 1/2 oz Kahlua 1/2 oz Bailey's Irish Cream 1/2 oz Peppermint Schnapps 1 or 2 Thin Mints, crushed, for garnish Instructions Pour the alcohol into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until well mixed and strain into a tall shot glass. Garnish with cookie crumbs, if desired. Notes Source: Bartending for Dummies Recommended Products 24oz Cockta...