Swiss Vegetable Bake

     For the first time ever, I actually decided to look at my weekly email that I got from recipes.com and it was a good thing! The theme this week was vegetarian dishes! This is one that jumped out at me immediately because it's easy and the list of ingredients I needed to go out and buy was very short (the only thing I didn't have at home was Swiss cheese). This turned out so yummy! It's good enough to use for a special occasion, yet easy enough for a weeknight.

Cast of Characters:

• 1 lb (1 bag) mixed veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots)
• 3 Tbsp butter (divided)
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup soft whole wheat bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook frozen veggies according to directions. Drain.
3. Melt 2 Tbsp butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add in onion powder, salt, and flour. Continue stirring until smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat.
4. Stir in milk. Return to stove and heat until boiling. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in shredded Swiss cheese until melted. Stir in veggies.
5. Transfer to 1.5 quart oven safe dish and bake for 20 minutes or until breadcrumbs are golden.
6. Enjoy!

Nutrition Info:

Calories: 219

Fat: 13 g

Carbs: 16 g

Protein: 8 g

Miss Amy's Cinnamon Banana Bread

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite things to bake (and eat) was banana bread. I learned early on that the riper the bananas the better (and sweeter) the bread. Fast forward to last week--> I bought some bananas and then managed to totally forget about them. I managed to stumble upon them in my kitchen on Friday, but by then they were all brown and over-ripe. Well, my forgetfulness turned out to be a blessing because I decided to continue poking around my kitchen to see what else I might have on hand. I ended up coming up with this recipe from the ingredients in my fridge and pantry.

Cast of Characters:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), room temp
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (1 single serving container)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2-3 tsp cinnamon (depending on your preference)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Using an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy
3. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated.
4. Mix in Greek yogurt.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
6. Alternate mixing in the mashed banana and the flour mixture. DO NOT OVER MIX! The bread will be tough and rubbery if you do :(
7. Bake for about 60 - 70 minutes. Test to see if the bread is done by inserting a toothpick into the middle of the bread. If it comes out clean, you're good to go. If it comes out with batter on it, keep the bread in a bit longer.

If you really like banana nut bread, try folding in about 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans into the batter before baking. Enjoy!

Baby Earflap Hat

This past weekend, my sister Emily threw a baby shower for her sweet friend Lindsey. (Check out Emily's blog about the shower. It was super cute!) As part of her present, Emily asked me to make a hat for baby Wesley. Here is how it turned out:

And here is the cute little pom pom that goes on top:

I found the pattern for this hat here. It was very easy to follow and, as you can see, turned out to be super cute! One piece of advice if you ever try to make it: use very sharp scissors when making the pom pom :)

Photo credits: Emily Hall

Soup on Sunday: Miss Amy's Vegetable "Beef" Soup

There's nothing better on a cold winter day than some warm comfort food like this vegetable beef soup. Well, the fact that it's so low maintenance may make it even better! I love this recipe because you cook it on low for several hours (8-10), so I can toss everything in the crock pot in the morning and it'll be ready by the time I get home from work!

I think this is a fairly versatile recipe. If you are a meat eater, you could certainly add in browned ground beef or even some chicken. You could also try changing up the veggies. If you give this soup a makeover, let me know how it works out!

Cast of Characters:

• 1 can vegetable broth
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 12 oz veggie burger crumbles (made by companies like Morningstar)
• 1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 can great northern beans
• 16 oz bag mixed veggies
• 1 packet of onion soup mix

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
2. And that's it! Only 1 direction!

Nutrition Info using burger crumbles:

Servings: 6

Calories: 210

Fat: 3 g

Carbs: 30 g

Protein: 17 g

Nutrition Info using lean ground beef:

Servings: 6

Calories: 281

Fat: 13 g

Carbs: 26 g

Protein: 17 g

Miss Amy's Belgian Spice Cookies

This week it was my turn to bring snacks for my small group and I was feeling quite festive, so I made some gingerbread men and these Belgian spice cookies. I liked them so much, I decided to post the recipe here so I wouldn't forget how I made them.

Cast of Characters:

• 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1.5 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1.25 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to blend together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then mix in egg and vanilla extract.
4. Gradually mix dry ingredients into butter mixture. Mixture may be a bit crumbly, but should still stick together when pinched.
5. Form dough into a disc and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 - 60 minutes.
6. Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick and cut with cookie cutters. Be sure to use plenty of flour on your rolling pin, hands, and counter. This dough can be really sticky.
7. Spray cookie sheets with non-stick spray.
8. Bake each batch of cookies for about 8 minutes.
9. Enjoy!

Spiced Chai Latte Mix

Some day in November while my mom was shopping with my grandmother up in Indiana, she came across these adorable little Ball jars. We decided that I needed to find something to fill them with to hand out as presents this year. While at home for Thanksgiving, I was looking through some of her old Taste of Home magazines and I came across this easy spiced chai latte mix.

Cast of Characters:

• 3 Cups nonfat dry milk powder
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened instant tea (like Nestea)
• 3/4 cup Powdered nondairy vanilla creamer
• 1 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp cardamom
• 1/2 tsp cloves

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together in a food processor or blender. (I actually just sifted all of the ingredients together and it turned out just fine.)
2. Mix 3 Tbsp of mixture into 3/4 cup hot water.
3. Enjoy!

Nutrition Info:

Servings: 24

Calories: 85

Fat: 1 g

Carbs: 18 g

Protein: 1 g

Soup on Sunday: Miss Amy's Broccoli Cheese Soup

And the soup kick continues! Last week I decided to make a vegetarian version of broccoli cheese soup (most broccoli cheese soup uses beef broth).

Cast of Characters:

• 1 box of vegetable broth
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 cup flour
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 Cups milk
• 4 oz (half a block) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 4 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 10 oz bags of steam in the bag broccoli, cooked (chop any large pieces into spoon-sized pieces)

Directions:

1. In a small pot simmer half of the vegetable broth and onion for 15-20 minutes.
2. Heat milk in microwave for about 3 minutes.
3. In a large stockpot, melt butter and then gradually add flour while stirring constantly. Continue to cook and constantly stir for about 2 minutes.
4. Whisk in warm milk. Continue to cook and stir constantly for 5-8 minutes until thickened.
5. Add warmed broth and onions and remaining vegetable broth.
6. Add in shredded cheese. Stir and cook until completely melted.
7. Add steamed broccoli.

Nutrition Info:

Servings: 6

Calories: 354

Fat: 20 g

Carbs: 24 g

Protein: 18 g