Jolene's Recipe Journal

My great aunt used to make these and when she passed away, the recipe was lost. I found this on the internet about 10 years ago, and it was very close.  I haven't made them in a while since my guys have nut allergies, but my dad asked for them this year.

  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...

My husband is very picky about his steak and my son has sensory issues coupled with a bad steak experience from a few years ago, so I searched through Pinterest and assessed my possibilities.  I've gotten my kid to eat chicken, pork and eggplant all by breading and baking/frying, so I mulled over the idea of country fried steak, but I am terrible at making gravy.   My friend Sue suggested steak fingers, and a quick google found me these on Allrecipes.

These were on the menu for Superbowl, but I ended up having so much other food I scrapped them.   My son and I threw them together last night and we really enjoyed them.  I only did a few hot dogs worth, and the rest as plain muffins.    

We're big football fans, but we're also big fans of football food. Sometimes I go with a theme, sometimes it's picnic style (my son's favorite), but always I have the same game plan-  make a lot of food that's good at room temp or easily reheatable so that I can sit and watch the game!      :) This week I stuck with some old favorites, pulled pork in the slowcooker (pork roast and bottle of Jack Daniels BBQ sauce on low 8 hours, shred, serve on rolls),  nachos (chips and cheese set up on plates so that plus cheese, crackers and fruit. I decided to treat myself to a few spicy dishes since there was plenty of options for the guys to eat.    Combed my to-try files and the first to go on the menu was Sweet and Spicy Jalapeno Poppers from Country Woman.    The chicken and bacon poppers use a mixture of brown sugar and Penzey's BBQ3000 spice mix, so I simply doubled it and dipped the jalapeno poppers first. I had to bake mine lon...

I was a little skeptical when I saw this recipe...  take a jelly sandwich, add deli meat and cheese and then dip and fry it up like french toast.   Oh-kay.    We're pretty much snowed in today and the guys wanted pork chops so I figured it was a good day to experiment with my own meal.    I didn't have raspberry jam, I used strawberry.   Not a huge Swiss cheese fan, so I used shredded mozzarella.    Next time I'd have some sliced on hand, would make it easier to flip the sandwich in the egg coating.      The flavors all meld together into something totally delicious.    Give it a try! Monte Cristo Sandwiches Print With Image Without Image Author: Jolene's Recipe Journal Ingredients 4 servings 1 large egg 3 large egg whites 1/4 cup low-fat milk 1 pinch ground nutmeg 8 teaspoons raspberry jam 8 slices whole-wheat sandwich bread 4 thin slices roasted deli turkey -- (about 4 ounces) 4 thin slices deli ham -- (about 4 ou...

Enjoy a warm bowl of  our Lemon Chicken Rice Soup! It's made with chunks of chicken, fresh carrots, rice and a lemony broth with pepper and parsley.

We gave up traveling for Thanksgiving the year I was pregnant with Jake, Tim prefers Stovetop stuffing, jarred gravy and canned cranberry sauce, so basically I can go all out for desserts.    I let them each pick (Tiramisu for Tim and pumpkin pie for Jake, reviews to follow) and I wanted chocolate pie.  

I have a million potato recipes. We like them all kinds of ways. I've done potatoes on the grill before, but always in a packet or a grill pan.  I saw this recipe on TOH while poking around one day and put it straight on the to-try list.    

  Starting the week off with a winner!   I saw Carol's review of this and was so excited to give it a try.    I used her changes for the baking powder/soda and omitted the nuts.    Keeping in mind my veggiephobes, I peeled the zucchini before I shredded it and it all but disappears in the finished bread.   I also cheated and tossed the cherries into the food processor and gave it a few pulses.     Lastly, I sprinkled the top with coarse sugar, Tim really likes the crunch it gives baked goods and so do I.  Couldn't locate my 8x4 pans, so had to use 9x5s.   It made 2 nice loaves.  Jake and Tim have already eaten half a loaf!  Thank you, Carol and thanks to Susie Ann! Cherry Vanilla Zucchini Bread Print With Image Without Image Author: Jolene's Recipe Journal Ingredients 2 eggs 1 c. canola or vegetable oil 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 tsp. vanilla extract 2 c. grated zucchini 1/2...

Mom made us tons of popsicles growing up.   She poured juice into paper cups, stuck them in the freezer and then stuck sticks in them and let them freeze completely.  We thought she was a magician!  Now there are all kinds of popsicle molds, and I've owned several of them.    Puttering around amazon.com I ran across these molds by Tavolo, and I didn't hesitate, into my cart they went. I love that each pop can be removed from the tray and unmolded.  I love the base acts as a spill catcher.   I love the the size, they are going to be great for layered pops.     I got the molds last week and was searching for the perfect recipe to give it a try.   We went blueberry picking over the weekend and these sounded fantastic so Jake and I threw them together.    We only did the blueberry ones, but this would be great with any summer berry, watermelon, even cherry limeade.  ...