One Pot Pasta with Tomato Basil Sauce

by penji1

If you are looking for the easiest dinner ever, you can stop looking because here it is!

You just layer everything in a pot, put it on the stove and let it boil away. Oh and by the way, it tastes great too!

12 ounces pasta, recipe suggests casarecce or fusilli, I used ziti

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

2 cups chicken broth

1 onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/3 cup firmly packed fresh basil leaves

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

freshly grated Parmesan

1 Place all ingredients, except Parmesan, in a Dutch oven in order listed. Cover and bring to a boil over medium high heat (about 12 – 15 minutes). Reduce heat to medium low and cook, covered, 10 – 12 minutes or until pasta is al dente, stirring at 5 minute intervals.

2 Remove from heat and stir. Serve topped with Parmesan.

recipe from My Recipes

Under the Sea Graham Crackers

by penji1

More fun with porch treats for the neighbor kids! Definition of porch treats? Click here! Saw this cute idea and then adapted it a little bit to suit me. I think they are adorable.

1 – 2 boxes graham crackers

1 tub blue frosting

1 bag Swedish fish

1 bag goldfish crackers

1 bag Vanilla Cupcake goldfish crackers

yellow rock candy

fish shaped sprinkles (which comes with the blue frosting if you use store bought)

white sugar pearls

Spread frosting on graham crackers to look like water then decorate as desired. I put one of each kind of “fish” on each cracker then added the embellishments.

I found some yellow rock candy in my sprinkle stash and thought it looked like either a coral reef or just ocean rocks so sprinkled those near the bottom then put the fish swimming over them.

I used the little fish sprinkles that came with the frosting for these.

And then for this version I used the little pearl sugars to simulate little air bubbles above the fishy crackers.

inspiration from The First Year

May the Fourth Star Wars Treats

by penji1

Happy Star Wars Day everyone! Hope it was a great day. I spent the day making these Star Wars treats for the neighbor kids AKA Porch Treats. My favorite part of these are the Teddy Graham Ewoks!

Good times! I got to play with food all day! Here’s the how to if you are interested.

1 – 2 bags Wilton candy melts (I used 2 bags of candy melts and that made about 40 treats)

1 box graham crackers

I box chocolate Teddy Grahams

1 pouch cookie frosting

1 Melt candy melts according to package directions. Carefully spoon melted candy melts into Star Wars candy molds which you can find on Amazon.

2 Tap gently to release air bubbles then place filled molds in refrigerator for about 20 – 30 minutes or until set. Gently release from molds.

3 Break graham cracker sheets into 2 pieces. Attach molded chocolates and Chocolate Teddy Grahams to graham cracker using the cookie frosting as glue.

4 Allow frosting to set.

Alien Oreos

by penji1

I just finished working on a tv show called “9 Years to Neptune” about a bunch of puppets in space headed to Neptune. It will be on in the fall on BYUTV if you are curious about puppets in space. Here’s a link to the teaser if you are really curious! I wanted to make some special treats for the crew after months of hard work so I went Michaels to look around and when I saw these outer space candy molds, I was so excited! Might have even whooped out loud in the store. Here’s the how to if you want to give it a try.

1 bag turquoise Sweet Tooth Fairy Meltables

1 bag lavender Sweet Tooth Fairy Meltables

silicone molds

1 bag white Wilton Candy Melts

1 bag yellow Wilton Candy Melts

2 large packages Oreo cookies

1 Melt Sweet Tooth Fairy Meltables according to package directions. Using a small spoon, fill each cavity of mold with melted chocolate and tap gently to release air bubbles. Place on a cookie sheet and place in fridge until solid to the touch.

2 Carefully remove candies from mold, touching as little as possible as handing them too much takes away their shine.

3 Melt Wilton Candy Melts according to package directions. Carefully dip Oreos into melted candy melts using a fork and then tapping gently to remove excess chocolate. Place carefully on wax paper or parchment paper and immediately place a molded candy on top of the Oreo so that they dry and set together.

Yield: about 80 candy topped cookies

Brownie Bites

by penji1

I got a new silicone brownie bite pan so decided to give it a go with this Disney recipe. Brownie bites are so hard to get out of the pan but the silicone pan made it a snap and they were just the right size.

I left some plain and I sprinkled some with powdered sugar.

I had some chocolate ganache in the fridge so topped some of them with that which was my fav, of course.

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup flour

14 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 Preheat oven to 350. Spray brownie bite pan with cooking spray for baking.

2 Beat together butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well combined. Add cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder and mix until combined.

3 Using a mini scoop, fill each compartment of brownie pan with 1 scoop of batter. Bake 20 – 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

4 Allow to cool, then gently remove from pan. Sift powdered sugar over brownies or leave plain or top with ganache.

recipe from “The Unofficial Disney Parks Cookbook”

Utah Taste Off – Cookie Butter Kit

by penji1

I think this is my favorite kit that we’ve gotten from Utah Taste Off. Everything in it was so delicious! Here’s what it came with –

Cookie Butter Cookies from Crumbl Cookies

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies from Twisted Sugar

Cookie Butter Sweet Rolls from Batch Baked Goods

Belgian Liege Waffles from Waffle Love

Cookie Butter Bar Donuts from Jack’s Donuts

Cookie Butter Oatmeal Cookie Dough from Thirst Drinks

Like I said, everything you are looking at was yummy! The sweet roll won the voting for the most liked item in the kit. I just can’t pick a winner, they were all fab!

Check out Utah Taste Off, you won’t be sorry you did.

Turtle Bundt Cake

by penji1

I just love a good bundt cake! And this one was no exception.

CAKE

1 box chocolate fudge cake mix

1 small box (4 serving size) chocolate instant pudding and pie filling mix

1 cup water

1/2 cup oil

1/4 cup caramel topping, the thicker the better

4 eggs

3/4 cup chopped pecans

TOPPINGS

3/4 cup chocolate frosting (from 16 oz container)

1/4 cup caramel topping

1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans

1 For the cake, heat oven to 350. Spray bundt pan with cooking spray for baking.

2 Beat cake mix, pudding mix, water, oil, 1/4 cup caramel topping, and eggs on medium for 2 minutes. Stir in pecans. Pour into bundt pan.

3 Bake 38 – 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 20 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

4 For the toppings, microwave frosting on high for 20 – 30 seconds or until thin enough to pour over cake. Pour over cake. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until frosting is set.

5 Drizzle caramel topping over frosting and sprinkle with pecans.

(I decided to make a chocolate ganache instead of using the frosting. You can find a good ganache recipe here.)

recipe from Betty Crocker

Safari Skewers

by penji1

We are still missing Disneyland over here so I am still making Disney food. These were part of Courtney’s birthday dinner. We had them at Disneyland in Adventureland at the Bengal Barbecue the last time we were there. We had been eating so much sugar that the Bengal Barbecue was a welcome change of pace.

6 wooden skewers

1/2 pound thick cut bacon, cut into 2″ strips

8 thick spears asparagus, cut into 1″ pieces

1 Soak skewers in water for 30 minutes. Preheat grill or grill pan 10 minutes to medium high heat.

2 Wrap each bacon strip around a piece of asparagus. Spear a skewer into the horizontal side of asparagus piece right at bacon edge. Repeat with remaining asparagus and bacon.

3 Grill skewers until bacon is cooked through and asparagus is tender, about 8 minutes.

recipe from “The Unofficial Disney Parks Cookbook”

Cookies and Cream Mickey Cupcakes

by penji1

Made these cuties for the neighbor kid’s birthdays. They are pretty easy to make and really cute!

Still missing Disneyland so the Disney baking is in full swing around here.

CUPCAKES

24 red cupcake liners

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/3 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole milk

1 Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 muffin pans with red liners

2 Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and beat to combine. With mixer running, add flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa, and salt. Continue to mix until fully combined. Add milk slowly then scrape down bowl to make sure all batter is combined.

3 Scoop batter into liners. Bake 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

FROSTING

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons heavy cream

10 Oreos, finely crushed

48 mini Oreos

1 Beat butter, sugar, cream cheese, and cream until light and fluffy. Add cookie crumbs and beat until combined.

2 Scoop frosting into a large piping bag fitted with a 1A round tip. Pipe frosting on to the cupcakes in a circular pattern. Place 2 mini oreos to look like ears in the frosting.

Yield: 24 cupcakes

recipe from “The Unofficial Disney Parks Cookbook”

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

by penji1

These were the easiest banana muffins I’ve ever made and they were yummy too! The banana flavor isn’t overwhelming like it can sometimes be. If you’ve got some bananas in the freezer, pull them out and give this a try.

1 stick butter

3 – 4 very ripe bananas

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 box yellow cake mix

2 eggs

2 cups chocolate chips plus more for sprinkling on top

1 Preheat oven to 375. Line 2 muffin pans with paper liners.

2 Melt butter in microwave.

3 On low speed of your mixer, mix together bananas and melted butter until well combined. Add buttermilk and mix well. Add cake mix and eggs and mix well.

4 Stir in chocolate chips by hand.

5 Scoop into muffin liners and top with additional chocolate chips.

6 Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

recipe from The Coers Family