Jolene's Recipe Journal

My heart has definitely been feeling two sizes too small this December.   These Grinch Cookies perfectly summed up my mood.  

Hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!   For our last day of break, I thought that these Cranberry Orange Pancakes from Taste of Home would make a great breakfast.

Veggies are a tough sell at my house.  My son has limited favorites, and my husband is even pickier.   The December 2015 issue of Taste of Home featured this Orange Spice Carrot recipe, and I thought it would be a nice change from our usual sides.   

I'd slid into a little bit of a cooking slump the last few weeks, relying heavily on T&T recipes.    I planned the menu on Sunday for this week and penciled in ground beef for Tuesday night.   The go-to recipes for that would be either tacos or Beef Stroganoff Sandwiches and I wasn't in the mood for either. Clicking through my Beef Pinterest board brought up this recipe from Kevin & Amanda. 

I know people go bonkers over pumpkin everything, but to me, Fall= apples.  We are situated near several amazing orchards, and I try to get around to all of them at least once during the season.    I get into a frenzy of baking, some to eat now, some to stock the freezer.  

Felt like treating myself a little bit today.  I'm all alone for lunch and usually I'll just grab some leftovers or a quick sandwich.   I had some nice jalapenos from the farm, and this recipe seemed like the perfect way to use them.  

Peach season is coming to a close here in New Hampshire, but I still managed to score 4 large, sweet, juicy peaches.   I knew I wanted to make muffins, and a search through the Taste of Home database turned up this recipe.    

This week's ingredient for the Cook's Corner challenge is coffee.   I am the only person who likes coffee here, so my challenge was to find something that used the ingredient that didn't taste like the ingredient.    I had planned on making a chocolate poke cake before the ingredient was announced, so I went looking on Taste of Home to find a cake I could adapt.  I chose Joylyn T's Rich Mocha Cake. 

  I had zucchini, I was craving chocolate so I went in search of a recipe and I found these Fudgy Zucchini Brownies on the Taste of Home website.

Simple is best when it comes to fresh-from-the-farm green beans, and I gave this recipe a try today.  Still hot and muggy here, and I didn't want to boil water to steam them, so I made them in a packet to grill alongside some chicken. 

My son is entering a weird phase.   Some days he has a bottomless pit for a stomach, others he eats like a bird.   Tacos are one of his favorite meals, but I'm having a rough time judging how much meat to make.    

The first time I looked through the Aug/Sept issue of Simple & Delicious, I sort of shrugged at this recipe.   Frozen waffles.  Premade chicken.   Eh.   Then I kept reading- honey and hot sauce.  That's when I folded the page corner over and thought, I'm going to make these- but I'll do the chicken and the waffles from scratch. Today I found myself with leftover fried chicken from a local restaurant, and some Eggo waffles.  I heated the chicken in the oven at the same time I baked some pork chops for the guys. Toasted the waffles.   I mixed together local honey and sriracha, heated slightly in the microwave.     So good.   I love crispy, salty chicken, the heat and the sweet of the sauce, all on top of the golden brown waffle.      I'll definitely be making this one again!   Thank you to Lisa R for sharing the recipe :) Chicken & Waffles Print With I...

The farms are bursting with zucchini and summer squash right now.   Usually I'm in with both feet, making zucchini breads and muffins, some to eat, some to freeze, but the heat and humidity have reached ridiculous numbers again at the moment.    I found myself with 2 nice zucchini, an ingredient challenge and a pin for these waffles sent to me by my friend Sue.

While looking at recipes for the cherry challenge, I ran across this Cashew Crusted French Toast with Cherry compote.  Both of my guys are allergic to tree nuts, so I knew this would have to be a meal for a night when I was on my own.   Tonight was that night.

We love fresh cherries.   The guys will eat them by the handfuls, after I pit them, of course.   But both claim not to like cooked cherries in anything.    Nasty hot here today, so I went looking for a recipe that was easy to put together, and looked worth running the oven for.    These blondies from Sassy Southern Mommy had great potential.

So hot and humid here in New Hampshire! This week's ingredient for the Cook's Corner Challenge is marshmallows.    I'd bought some for S'mores, but no one wants to sit by the fire.   I went looking through my marked recipes for something to try and came across this Chocolate Mousse Pie.

Hot here today!   Husband had the main meal covered with some grilled steak tips, but the side dish was up to me.   I had some corn on the cob, but didn't want to heat up the house boiling it up.   My friend Sue mentioned doing corn in the crockpot earlier in the week, so I gave it a go.

Burgers and hot dogs are everyday staples here in the summer.   Always looking for ways to make them tastier, something different!   I saw this recipe on the Six Sisters ' blog and followed it back to the Taste of Home website.  

It's only a few weeks into vacation and my family is already tired of "summer" foods.    I love the ease of tossing a few burgers or hot dogs on the grill, so I have to find ways to make them more interesting.     Since the challenge ingredient on Taste of Home Cook's Corner is beans this week, I thought I'd give these Boston Terriers a try.   

I've been waiting for strawberry season for what seems like forever, and finally it's here!  The warm temperatures, coupled with the fact that I am out of eggs, knocked out almost all the baking recipes I wanted to try.     Then I ran across these Strawberry Lemonade Popsicles from Sweet & Savory on Pinterest.   I love an excuse to break out my popsicle molds! 

Today, finally, was the last day of school for my son.   Every year I make him a special treat to celebrate and this year I chose Chocolate Fudge Waffles from Handle the Heat.   No changes at all to this one, except I did use the oil instead of butter.   

My guys love upside down cake, so when I saw this recipe from the Kitchen Magpie, it went right to the top of the to try list.    No huge changes to this one, except I only put 1 cup of rhubarb into the cake itself, and I used Chobani Lemon Greek Yogurt (about 5oz) and sour cream (about 3oz).

I've been a member of the Taste of Home online community since 2002.   One of the fun things there were challenges issued by the Community's manager, Sue.    She issued a challenge this week to make something from the front or back page of our grocery store circular.    I chose radishes, and zeroed in on this simple recipe from Reminisce May/June 2002.

I've really been slacking on the holidays this year, thinking that my son has outgrown the theme dinners.    He always surprises me at the last minute and I'm scrambling to come up with something.   I had already planned tacos, so I went looking for a quick appetizer or dessert.    I saw lots of sopapilla recipes using crescent dough, which I didn't have, but I did have Pillsbury pizza dough. 

Too hot to run the oven here in New England this week.   I went searching through my "on deck" recipes to find something that I could cook quickly on the stovetop.  This recipe from Cooking Light sounded great.  I subbed Penzey's Black and Red Spice for the black pepper and red pepper and held all the salt until the end.

That's a very long title for this very simple to put together dressing!    It really doesn't get much easier than this, gather your ingredients, a few quick measurements and then shake until combined.   Easy peasy! 

I should have known not to attempt anything complicated for dinner tonight.   I have a terrible head cold, and I've been barely functioning for a few days.   But my son is at a sleepover, and I was pretty excited to get into some of the recipes I've been saving for those times.   I had no intention of making this one exactly as is, I knew I was going to be swapping out beef broth for chicken broth, yellow mustard for dijon mustard and that I was going to do a combination of sliced and shredded cheese.   I had no idea how far this was going to go off the rails.  I like to line up all my ingredients on the counter before I start cooking, opening any cans, boxes, etc and lining everything up in the order I need it.     I did that per my usual, and then went fishing in my cabinet to find my stockpot.   I've handed the chore of dishwasher emptying off to my son, and he takes it as a personal challenge to create...

We are big 'breakfast for dinner' fans.   Our go-to is usually Belgian waffles, but we've been getting bored with the classic recipe.   I found this recipe on the Mother Thyme blog a while back.   I've got a stockpile of frozen bananas, perfect for this recipe.     I put them in the bowl I'd be using for the wet ingredients, defrosted them in the microwave and then mashed them.

I've been a member of the Taste of Home Community for over 13 years.  One of the fun posts there is a weekly challenge where an ingredient is given and you are supposed to try a new recipe using it.   This week's ingredient is pineapple.   

We're eating lots of poultry lately, and I've started hearing the grumbling from my family.   With the grill covered with snow and ice again (yay New England!), my options were a little limited.    Staring at the package of chicken tenders in my fridge, I wondered what I could do to them that would be exciting and different.   I had a few hot dog rolls and 4 strips of bacon that needed to be used up.

Get ready to have some fun this April Fool's Day! Why not whip up a batch of gelatin juice for a playful prank on the kids that’s both silly and delicious? It’s a tasty way to bring some laughs to the day! Realizing his fruit punch is actually Strawberry Jello... Usually I put together a more elaborate prank and get him with it earlier in the day.   This year I let him think I forgot, and then we sat down to dinner. Prepare Jello as directed on package, pour into a glass, add the straw and let it set up.  If you try and add the straw after it doesn't look as convincing.  

I wanted a simple side dish to have alongside a BLT.   I had a bag of honey gold potatoes that I bought without a purpose, so I set about finding one on my Pinterest boards.     This recipe from Rock Recipes was perfect.

I've made a couple versions of Cheeseburger Pie this year.   I pulled ground beef out yesterday, but a quick check of my freezer showed the pie crust I thought I had was gone.   I had a tube of crescent rolls in the fridge, so I went with those.  

I've been trying to clean out my cabinets/pantry for a while now.  I pulled ground beef from the freezer yesterday, and when I checked to see if I had taco seasoning, I found an Old El Paso Hard and Soft Taco dinner kit that had been pushed to the back.   

Breakfast for dinner was the request for tonight, and I want to start working my way through my stockpile of frozen blueberries.    This recipe looked fantastic, so I preheated my Presto Flip Side Belgian Waffle maker while I mixed up the batter.

Saturdays are date day around here.   Usually I take advantage of those days to make something that my son wouldn't eat but is easy for me to prepare, like a roast or stew in the crockpot.   I didn't have all the ingredients on hand for any of my T&T favorites, so I went searching on Pinterest for something new.  

The cold New England weather has me searching for comfort food recipes.  I ran across this recipe from the Betty Crocker site in my to-try file, but I had no heavy cream.  

We've really enjoyed the Rosemary Orange Roasted Turkey I made earlier this week.   We ate it the traditional way.    I had it as Thanksgiving in a sandwich (toasted buttered bread, spread with cranberry sauce, layered with stuffing and turkey).    

This cold, snowy weather has me craving comfort food.   I picked up a hotel style turkey breast a little while back and earmarked this recipe to try.   

Pinterest is flooded with recipes and crafts for Valentine's Day.   I kept seeing variations of Cupid Floats, and I thought they would be a fun thing to make with my son.  

I've fallen in love with my new panini maker .    Sifting through recipes on Pinterest, and Lasagna Grilled Cheese from Joy the Baker caught my eye.    I don't usually cook at lunch just for myself, but I just kept scrolling past the pin, thinking how great it looked.  

Date day and we're enjoying an adult beverage  :)  We have amassed a large amount of vodka in multiple flavors and I've been searching for ways to use it.    I found this one via Pinterest. I could only find massive peppermint patties, so that's what I went with.

Big Patriots game today, and I wanted a meal that was easy to throw together.   This recipe from Life With the Crusts Cut off was perfect!    I used bite sized Italian Meatballs, and added Penzey's Italian Herb mix with the sauce.     A sprinkle of shredded Parmesan along with the mozzarella.