Categories
Main Dish

Beef up your dinner menu with casserole

Hamburger casserole dresses up tomato soup into a hearty, Italian-inspired dish.
Hamburger casserole dresses up tomato soup into a hearty, Italian-inspired dish.

A quotation I saw online, attributed to Rob Fee, is one of the best explanations of the conversation Joey and I have every day: “Relationships are just two people constantly asking each other where they want to go eat, until one of them dies.”

In our case, it’s not really asking where we want to go eat so much as what we want to make to eat.

Both of us like cooking, so it’s rarely a battle to see who is going to be tasked with dinner preparations, but we tend to fall into ruts. For me, my common fallback is just to make tacos.

I nearly succumbed to my same rut again this week, but while my hamburger was defrosting, I stumbled across another, just as easy, recipe, and I decided to give it a try.

This comes from the blog “Baking with Mom.” The original recipe only calls for four main ingredients: hamburger, tomato soup, pasta and cheese, but as you can see, I added quite a few more flavors to my version. You can find the original post at https://bakingwithmom.com/hamburger-casserole/.

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Hamburger Casserole

Hamburger casserole dresses up tomato soup to make a hearty dinner.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword casserole, kid-friendly, pasta, tomato

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces small pasta I used macaroni
  • 1 small yellow onion
  • 6-8 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 pound ground hamburger or turkey
  • 2, 10.75- ounce cans tomato soup
  • 1 heaping teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 heaping teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 heaping teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 cups shredded cheese I used a combination of monterrey jack and mild cheddar

Instructions

  • Prepare a 9-by-13-inch baking dish by spraying it with non-stick spray and set aside. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  • Brown the hamburger and onion in a large skillet over medium heat.
  • While the hamburger is browning, cook the pasta according to package directions and drain.
  • Once the hamburger is cooked through and the onions are soft, drain as much grease from the pan as you can and then add the garlic. Saute for a couple minutes until the garlic starts to brown slightly, and add in the tomato soup, spices, and fill one of the soup cans halfway with water and add that into the pan as well. Stir to combine.
  • Let the mixture cook for a few minutes to let the flavors meld.
  • Dump the cooked noodles into the prepared baking dish and top with the hamburger mixture. Just spread the hamburger mixture over the top of the noodles; there’s no need to mix it together.
  • Top the casserole with cheese and cover the dish with aluminum foil.
  • Bake for 20 minutes, remove the foil, and bake for another 10 minutes. Then turn the broiler on high to brown the cheese just a bit—probably about two minutes, but keep an eye on it.
  • Let the casserole cool for about 10 minutes and then serve.

This was really simple to put together and was yummy, too. Plus, I managed to put away quite a bit of leftovers in the fridge.

If I’m being honest, I doubt neither Joey nor I will ever get sick of tacos, but it was a nice change of pace to try a new casserole, and with such simple ingredients, it was easy for me to make on the fly, which I appreciated.

Now, with plenty of leftover casserole in the fridge, tonight’s dinner should be easy to figure out. Unless, of course, one of us starts craving Mexican food instead.

This piece first appeared in print on March 12, 2020.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

You’ll be head over ‘peels’ for lemon truffles

Easy lemon truffles come together quickly with just a few ingredients, including a cake mix.
Easy lemon truffles come together quickly with just a few ingredients, including a cake mix.

When I write about recipes every week, I normally tell you about my friends and family, who step in as guinea pigs to try all of my concoctions.

And normally, I tell you how they really liked it or about the lack of leftovers after I present them with a plate of something new.

But I have to admit this week that of the three family members I tried this out on—my sister, brother-in-law and two-year-old niece—I was only successful with two-thirds of the crowd.

The adults loved the lemon-based dessert I brought for a shared meal.

My niece, on the other hand, was not impressed. She was a lot happier with the store-bought cookies I brought as a backup, though, so she forgave my after-dinner failure.

Regardless of not pleasing the toddler palate, I still decided to share this recipe with you this week, which comes from the blog “Premeditated Leftovers.” You can find it at https://premeditatedleftovers.com/recipes-cooking-tips/easy-lemon-truffle-recipe/. I added a bit more lemon juice and zest in my version.

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Easy Lemon Truffles

Course Dessert
Keyword cake mix, lemon, truffle

Ingredients

  • 1 lemon cake mix
  • 7 tablespoons butter melted
  • juice of one lemon
  • zest of one lemon
  • 3/4 cup sugar divided

Instructions

  • In a mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, butter, lemon juice, lemon zest and 1/2 cup sugar until everything is well incorporated.
  • Place the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar in a small bowl.
  • Roll the dough mixture into about one-inch balls and then roll them in the bowl of sugar.
  • Store the finished truffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about an hour to set up before serving.

I would argue that these weren’t overly sweet or sour—they were just in the middle—and I was glad I added just a bit of extra lemon to cut the sweetness.

I will also warn you that this doesn’t make a lot of truffles. I got around a dozen and a half out of mine, so if you’re looking for more volume, I highly recommend doubling this one.

And, if you’re planning on supplying treats for children, I can tell you from my experience that this may not be a good go-to recipe. Apparently, it’s more well-suited for adult tastebuds, and if it would hurt your feelings to watch a toddler screw up their face in disgust after trying your cooking, beware of sharing this one with anyone still in diapers.

In the end, though, this recipe was a slam dunk with my sister and brother-in-law, and they even requested that I leave the leftovers behind when I went home.

If I had to guess, that was half because they enjoyed them, and half because they knew they wouldn’t have to share.

This piece first appeared in print on March 5, 2020.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

It will be nice ‘toffee’ these bars on your dessert plate

Chocolate chip toffee bars are sweet with lots of rich flavors.
Chocolate chip toffee bars are sweet with lots of rich flavors.

I finally worked through the last of several bags of Heath toffee baking chips I had hanging out in my freezer. I can never resist a sale, and I hadn’t resisted one featuring those yummy bits several months ago.

It was the first time I’d purchased them—especially since I’m generally too cheap to buy most name-brand items—and they did not disappoint.

I have to admit, there was probably a time in my childhood when I would have said I didn’t really care for toffee. I think it probably stems from the Heath bar being one of my least favorite in a variety bag of fun-sized candy bars and it always seeming to be a “grown-up” kind of candy bar to choose from the array of brightly colored packages.

I suppose I can say I’ve reached the level of maturity where a toffee candy bar sounds pretty nice, though, and when I finally cracked that last bag of toffee bits, I might have snuck a few of them into my mouth.

Quality control, you know.

The recipe I used comes from the blog “Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen.” You can find the original at https://cantstayoutofthekitchen.com/2013/03/12/chocolate-chip-toffee-bars/. I stuck to the recipe but did try to give a bit more clarity to the directions.

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Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars

Chocolate chip toffee bars are sweet with lots of rich flavors.
Course Dessert
Keyword bars, chocolate, toffee

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup butter melted
  • 1 egg
  • 2 1/3 cup flour
  • 12 ounces chocolate chips divided
  • 1 cup chopped pecans or nuts of your choice, divided
  • 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
  • 8 ounces toffee bits baking chips or chop 8 ounces Heath bars into small pieces, divided

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9-by-13-inch baking pan by coating with cooking spray.
  • Beat the brown sugar and butter together until smooth. Beat in the egg, and then beat in the flour.
  • In a separate bowl, combine the chocolate chips and nuts and then incorporate about 1-1/2 cups of them to the batter (it will be crumbly).
  • Set aside 1-1/2 cups of the batter and press the remaining batter into the bottom of the prepared pan.
  • Bake for 10 minutes.
  • Pour the sweetened condensed milk over top of the baked crust, and sprinkle all but 1/4 cup of the toffee bits on top, then sprinkle on the rest of the batter, chocolate chips and nuts.
  • Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Top with the final 1/4 cup of toffee bits, and press them gently into the top. Cut into bars once the pan has cooled completely, and store them in an airtight container.
  • You have to trust the golden brown color on these bars to know they’re done, because it’s impossible to use the toothpick trick with the gooey sweetened condensed milk in the middle.

These turned out really well, and I highly recommend enjoying one with a hot cup of coffee. They were a hit with family, too. I noticed, though, that some of the kids in the group were much more interested in the other desserts on the table than my toffee bars.

Apparently, the hesitancy to choose toffee over other desserts is a family trait.

I was perfectly OK with it, though. Those kids don’t know what they’re missing, and that leaves more for me.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 27, 2020.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Condiment

Chipotle sauce is the ‘crema’ the crop

Chipotle crema or creamy chipotle sauce is a spicy concoction that is perfect for Mexican food or anything that could use a little kick.
Chipotle crema or creamy chipotle sauce is a spicy concoction that is perfect for Mexican food or anything that could use a little kick.

After the Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory, Joey and a friend traveled to Kansas City for the parade.

Apparently, the experience is less than glamorous, and he came home after a long day pretty exhausted from standing outside for hours with no access to food or water and little access to any bathroom facilities. (But with absolutely no dimming of his post-championship enthusiasm.)

They left early in the morning, grabbing some breakfast on the road, and then didn’t eat again until late in the afternoon, and Joey claimed that the tacos he ate were the best he’s ever had.

Now, that could have been the slight starvation and dehydration speaking, but he was insistent that we should try to recreate the experience, specifically because we had some barbecued pork shoulder sitting in our refrigerator, and these weren’t just any tacos: they were barbecue tacos.

With the meat already prepared, it was simple to just saute some onions and peppers to go with it, but the main trick was recreating the sauce Joey said he tried in Kansas City: crema chipotle.

Since Joey always expects me to perform miracles, I started researching the fabled sauce and apparently, I managed a pretty good facsimile, which is what I’m going to share with you this week.

The recipe I found comes from the blog “Laylita’s Kitchen,” by Layla Pujol. You can find the original post at https://www.laylita.com/recipes/creamy-chipotle-sauce/. As you will see, it’s a very simple recipe. I did add extra garlic and some paprika in my version.

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Creamy Chipotle Sauce

Chipotle crema or creamy chipotle sauce is a spicy concoction that is perfect for Mexican food or anything that could use a little kick.
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword chipotle, crema, sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 cup plain Greek yogurt Mexican crema or crème fraiche
  • 2 small chipotles in adobo sauce remove seeds to keep it a bit milder
  • 4-6 cloves garlic
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • juice of one lime about two tablespoons
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  • Combine all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until the sauce is smooth and creamy.
  • Taste it and add more seasonings, if necessary. Also, if the sauce is too spicy, add a bit more yogurt. If it isn’t spicy enough, add more chipotles and adobo sauce.
  • Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator between uses. Greek yogurt tends to have a one to two week shelf life, but use your best judgment.
  • Serve with anything that could use an extra zip—tacos, sandwiches, quesadillas, etc.

We have been getting all kinds of mileage out of our batch of chipotle sauce. It was amazing on our barbecue tacos, but it’s also been going on turkey sandwiches for lunches lately.

I was glad Joey got more out of his trip to Kansas City than sore feet and a very fleeting view of the Super Bowl champions as they waved to the crowd.

Our sauce is now amongst the other condiments in our fridge in its very own squeeze bottle, so I suppose that’s the highest honor a sauce can achieve.

And unfortunately, I reinforced to Joey once again that if he can vaguely explain a food to me, I can probably figure out how to make it.

As long as he sticks to the less complicated stuff, I think I’m in the clear, but it would probably be to my benefit to keep him away from anywhere fancier than a taco truck.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 20, 2020.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

Melt their heart with ice cream sandwiches

Homemade ice cream sandwiches have simple ingredients, including a cake mix, even if they're a bit tricky to create.
Homemade ice cream sandwiches have simple ingredients, including a cake mix, even if they’re a bit tricky to create.

With Joey out of the house a few evenings ago, I decided it was time to clean another random ingredient out of the pantry and settled on a red velvet cake mix that I don’t even remember purchasing.

With Valentine’s Day looming, I thought it was perfect.

When I finally got through all my baking, though, it looked more like I’d performed open heart surgery on my countertops rather than making something from the heart.

Love is messy, it seems, but it’s also delicious.

I will also warn you that this recipe is a bit tricky, as it requires some painstaking spreading of thick cake batter into an evenly thin layer, but even if you’re like me and have less than beautiful results, you can still make something that tastes great, and if your sweetie is a fan of cake and ice cream, they won’t mind, either.

The recipe I decided to try is ice cream sandwiches made with a cake mix. While the original asks for red velvet and vanilla ice cream, you can use whatever combination of cake and ice cream sounds good to you. I kept thinking a spice cake with butter pecan ice cream or a dark chocolate one with some mint chocolate chip would be amazing.

This comes from the website “Delish” and is by Lauren Miyashiro. You can find the original at https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a53798/red-velvet-ice-cream-sandwiches-recipe/. I doubled the vanilla in my version.

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Cake Mix Ice Cream Sandwiches

Homemade ice cream sandwiches have simple ingredients, including a cake mix, even if they're a bit tricky to create.
Course Dessert
Keyword cake mix, ice cream, red velvet

Ingredients

  • 1 boxed cake mix
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup butter softened
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 gallon ice cream slightly softened

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a large, rimmed baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.
  • In a mixing bowl, beat together the cake mix, eggs, butter, vanilla and salt until it’s smooth. This will create a very thick batter.
  • Spread the batter out to about one-quarter- to one-half-inch thick. The main goal is to have the thickness be as consistent as possible so the cake bakes evenly. Mine did not go all the way to the edges of my pan.
  • Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the cake is set (depending on how thinly you spread it out, you may need to watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn).
  • Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely.
  • Once the cake is cooled, cut it in half to create two, equal parts. Spread the ice cream evenly over one half of the cake and then top with the other half. Put the whole thing in the freezer to let it firm back up—probably about 30 minutes, depending on your freezer and how soft your ice cream was.
  • Slice into your desired size of sandwiches and store in an airtight container in the freezer.

I had some very jagged edges on my cake and ended up trimming it up. I also took one for the team and ate those trimmed off pieces. If your cake doesn’t turn out 100 percent like you wanted, don’t worry. It’s a very forgiving recipe if you just get your knife out and trim away the mistakes.

For mine, I definitely didn’t end up getting my batter thin enough, but even my thick sandwiches were really yummy.

Also, be careful not to let your ice cream soften too much. If it’s soupy, you will have a hard time getting it to stay put, and you’ll end up with more cake than ice cream in your sandwiches.

I did manage to get the kitchen cleaned up before Joey got home. I figured seeing red everywhere and hearing your wife say, “I have a surprise for you.” isn’t the best Valentine’s Day present.

But it turns out that ice cream sandwiches are a pretty decent gift—even if they are from an old cake mix from the back of the pantry.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 13, 2020.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Cookies Dessert

I ‘Congo’ on and on about these great cookie bars

Congo bars combine brown sugar, chocolate chips and pecans into a delicious, soft cookie bar.
Congo bars combine brown sugar, chocolate chips and pecans into a delicious, soft cookie bar.

I’m always on the hunt for easy recipes to feed a crowd, and as I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I found a great cookie bar recipe that fit the bill.

And then I forgot to take a photo before my crowd inhaled every last one.

So, with the Super Bowl in my sights, I whipped up this recipe once again and made sure that I snapped a photo long before they hit the snack table.

With the added experience of baking these a second time, I can say with absolute confidence that not only are these incredibly easy to make, but they’re definitely a crowd pleaser, as well.

I suppose you could say the outcome of the game and the full bellies leaving our house afterwards were a win-win.

This awesome recipe comes from the blog “Six Sisters Stuff.” If you haven’t heard of their site, I highly recommend it. It’s written by six sisters who now live in various parts of the country. They co-write the site as a way to keep in touch, which I think is a fantastic idea. You can find the original post at https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/congo-bars-recipe/. I doubled the vanilla in my version.

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Congo Bars

Congo bars combine brown sugar, chocolate chips and pecans into a delicious, soft cookie bar.
Course Dessert
Keyword bars, chocolate, pecans

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup butter softened
  • 2 cups packed brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 3/4 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 12 ounces semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
  • 1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Prepare a 9×13-inch baking pan by spraying it with cooking spray and set it aside.
  • In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until it’s light and fluffy.
  • Beat in the eggs and vanilla, and then beat in the flour, baking powder and salt.
  • Once everything is well incorporated, mix in the chocolate chips and pecans.
  • Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is nicely browned. (You don’t need to do the toothpick test on this one. The bars will finish setting up as they cool.)
  • Let the bars cool completely and slice for serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container.

I told Joey that I don’t remember making cookie bars that used 100-percent brown sugar and no granulated sugar before this recipe. I think that addition is what made these really soft and chewy.

This particular recipe is getting its own card in my recipe box, which is my way of giving a gold star to a dish.

This time, after our friends exited and we started cleaning up, I actually had a few bars left over, but those were easily taken care of the next morning for breakfast along with a nice cup of coffee.

And really, I don’t think it would have mattered what dessert landed on our table for the Super Bowl last weekend. The victory was already sweet enough.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 6, 2020.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Air Fryer Appetizer Main Dish

Try a recipe that’s ‘taquito’ happiness

Chicken taquitos are quick to make and can be cooked by frying, baking or using an air fryer.
Chicken taquitos are quick to make and can be cooked by frying, baking or using an air fryer.

As a general rule, I avoid a lot of specialty appliances in my kitchen.

While I’ve been tempted in the past to consider a rice cooker or a cake pop baker, I haven’t given in—mostly because I have no idea where I would store such contraptions.

But I do have a couple trendy pieces that make me feel like I fit right in on the food blogs, mainly an electric pressure cooker and most recently, an air fryer.

If you’re not familiar, air fryers are all the rage these days, making it possible to get crispy “fried” foods with little to no oil. Really, it’s just a mini convection oven, but it does seem to work as advertised.

With my new purchase on hand, I decided to try a recipe I’d been eyeballing for awhile: chicken taquitos. The recipe reminded me a lot of some chicken flautas my favorite Mexican restaurant makes, and I needed to see if I could recreate the experience at home.

If you don’t have an air fryer, don’t worry. You can still make these by frying them traditionally in oil or by baking them, and I’ll give you the details for all three methods.

This recipe comes from the blog “Chili Pepper Madness” by Mike Hultquist You can find the original post at https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/chicken-taquitos/. I added some seasonings to my version.

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Chicken Taquitos

Chicken taquitos are quick to make and can be cooked by frying, baking or using an air fryer.
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword chicken, taquitos

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 1 large jalapeno diced (remove seeds and ribs if you want milder flavor)
  • 6-8 cloves garlic minced
  • 1.5 pounds chicken breast cooked and shredded
  • 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
  • 1 packet sazon seasoning
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup Monterrey Jack cheese
  • 20-24 small soft corn tortillas
  • 2 cups vegetable/canola oil if frying
  • vegetable/canola spray if air frying or baking

Instructions

  • In a saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the onion and jalapeno, stirring regularly, until they are both soft, about six to eight minutes.
  • Add the garlic and saute for another two minutes or until it slightly browns and becomes fragrant. Remove the pan from heat.
  • In a large bowl, combine the contents of the saute pan with the shredded chicken, seasonings and cheese, and stir to coat the chicken evenly.
  • To properly heat the tortillas and make them pliable, wrap the stack in a damp paper towel and microwave for about 30 seconds. Keep them covered with the damp towel while you work.
  • If you are frying, heat your oil in a deep pan over medium heat to about 350 degrees. If you are baking, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. If you are air frying, you’ll set it to air fry at 400 degrees for about 8 minutes (you may have to experiment with the timing a bit).
  • To assemble the taquitos, place a spoonful of the chicken filling on the middle of each tortilla and then roll it up tightly, leaving the ends open. Secure it by placing a toothpick through the center of the taquito.
  • If frying or air frying, cook the taquitos in batches. If frying, fry them for about three minutes until they are golden brown. If air frying, mist the taquitos with cooking spray before frying them.
  • If baking, place the taquitos on a baking sheet and lightly spray them with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes, turning the taquitos halfway through.
  • Remove the toothpicks and serve hot taquitos with your favorite salsa and sour cream.

We loved these, and they were really easy. I ended up deboning a rotisserie chicken instead of cooking my own to make the process go even more quickly, and I paired these with some Mexican rice. They also reheated really nicely in the air fryer or the oven. They do reheat in the microwave, but they lose their crispiness.

Making this recipe solidified for me that the air fryer won’t be taking up unnecessary space in our house, and I’m looking forward to playing with it more.

Many people claim it’s a great way to cut a lot of extra oil and fat out of your diet. Of course, as Joey helpfully pointed out, if I keep buying frozen French fries now that I have the option, it may have the opposite effect.

This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 30, 2020.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert Uncategorized

Candy bar cheesecake brings king-sized flavor

If you're in a hurry, a no bake toffee cheesecake pie comes together quickly and is a crowd pleaser.
If you’re in a hurry, a no bake toffee cheesecake pie comes together quickly and is a crowd pleaser.

We have a yearly tradition of getting together with our friends for the first round of the NFL playoffs. We eat, yell at the TV and have a good time.

It’s one of the few times during the year we all set aside to spend time together.

This year, we decided to wait for our party until this past weekend, when the Chiefs would be playing for a spot in the Super Bowl, and as is common knowledge by now, we were not disappointed.

Our basement was full of a big group of friends, and Joey even borrowed a second television so that we had great sight lights for everyone in the room. We had a pretty nice spread on our snack table, of course.

I made a new kind of cookie bar I was excited about and decided I’d just take a photo of them for my column after the game was over. Surely there would be leftovers, right?

Yeah. There were not.

So my plan to give you an idea for a great Super Bowl snack kind of backfired on me, since they were clearly such a great football snack that I couldn’t keep even one to photograph, so I’ll be making them again in the near future to get a good photo to share, but I’m going to give you another idea instead that, thank goodness, I did manage to photograph before it all disappeared.

This recipe comes from the blog “Together as Family.” You can find it at https://togetherasfamily.com/toffee-cheesecake-pie. I added extra vanilla in my version.

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No Bake Toffee Cheesecake Pie

If you're in a hurry, a no bake toffee cheesecake pie comes together quickly and is a crowd pleaser.
Course Dessert
Keyword candy bar, cheesecake, no bake, toffee

Ingredients

  • 9- inch prepared graham cracker crust regular or chocolate
  • 8 ounces cream cheese softened (I used fat free)
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 8 ounces frozen whipped topping thawed
  • 8 ounce bag of chocolate toffee bits OR 6 Heath bars chopped

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until it’s smooth.
  • Beat in the whipped topping, and then fold in the toffee pieces, saving a handful to sprinkle on the top.
  • Spread the mixture into the prepared crust and top with the remaining toffee pieces.
  • Cover the pie and refrigerate for six to eight hours or overnight. (For some reason, I never realized that the plastic insert in a pre-made graham cracker crust is meant to be flipped over and used as a domed lid for the fridge, so I was pretty excited about finding that out.) Slice and serve. Refrigerate any leftovers.

When you slice this pie, you may want to opt for smaller pieces, as it’s pretty rich, and a little goes a long way. Plus, if you’re hosting a big party, it will let everyone sample more goodies.

I shared this pie with friends awhile back for a different gathering, and it was a big hit. It was also a nice respite from having to deal with the oven for a bit. That’s one thing I often don’t like about baking right before company comes over—heating up the house more than necessary.

When the Super Bowl comes around in February, I think I’ll plan on some more cookie bars, and this pie might make another appearance on our snack table as well.

One thing I’ve learned as a Chiefs fan is that you may not always be happy after every game, but as long as you have a paper plate full of something delicious, you can get over it pretty quickly.

Go Chiefs!

This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 23, 2020.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Side Dish

A quick Cajun dish will do ‘rice’ly

Cajun rice comes together easily and is a flavorful side dish.
Cajun rice comes together easily and is a flavorful side dish.

During a recent lazy weekend, we were getting a meal ready to eat in front of the television to watch a basketball game. As is often the case, Joey and I decided to share duties in the kitchen to get our meal prepared. Joey was going to cook a rack of ribs, and I told him I’d take care of the side.

He was making some Cajun ribs, so I decided a nice side of Cajun rice would be perfect, already tasting the sweet red peppers and warm seasoning in my mouth.

Except he wasn’t making Cajun ribs. He was making chipotle ribs.

I have no doubt that he told me the right flavor profile. In fact, I’m sure he told me exactly what he had planned, and I think my brain just filled in what it really wanted to hear.

So, this week I’m sharing a recipe for some Cajun rice with you, despite us not eating anything else even remotely Louisiana-related with it.

This comes from the blog “The Mountain Kitchen” by David and Debbie Spivey. You can find their original post at https://www.themountainkitchen.com/easy-cajun-rice/. I changed up the amounts of some items in my version.

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Cajun Rice

Cajun rice comes together easily and is a flavorful side dish.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Cajun
Keyword bell pepper, rice

Ingredients

  • 1 cup white rice cooked to package directions
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large red bell pepper diced
  • 6 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon Cajun or Creole seasoning
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the peppers and saute until they reach your desired tenderness.
  • Add the garlic and saute until it just starts to brown. Stir in the tomato paste and let cook for about one more minute.
  • Add in the rice, lemon juice and seasonings, stirring to combine everything and making sure the rice is heated through. Serve.

On the plus side, I can tell you from experience that this rice does, indeed, pair well with chipotle-seasoned meats, so if you want an adventure, go for it.

Also, if you want to make this a meal by itself, season some peeled shrimp with some of your Cajun seasoning and saute it in a little butter or olive oil over medium heat. Add it to the rice, and it’s a great meal.

I’m glad I have an understanding husband who just rolled his eyes at me and dished up a large scoop of rice alongside his ribs.

I suppose if you’re going to be a bad listener, the least you can do is apologize with something delicious.

This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 16, 2020.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

Get shakin’ with salted caramel brownies

Salted caramel brownies have a hint of saltiness and lots of sweet caramel and chocolate flavors.
Salted caramel brownies have a hint of saltiness and lots of sweet caramel and chocolate flavors.

I have been on a popcorn kick lately when I’m in the mood for a snack.

Really, to be accurate, I should say that both I and our schnauzer, K.C., have been on a popcorn kick lately, since I never eat a bowl of it alone if she can help it.

There’s something about that combination of the sweetness of the corn covered in just a bit of salt that I can’t get enough of, and apparently, it’s because our bodies are literally wired to like salty and sweet tastes together.

An article by Justine Sterling for “Delish” notes that researchers have found a certain sweet tastebud that only activates when sodium is also present.

In other words, if salt and sugar are both in whatever we’re eating, we get a bonus taste receptor to notice it for us.

The good Lord knew what he was doing when he was crafting our tongues, it seems.

With my love of salty and sweet, I was immediately drawn to a recipe for salted caramel brownies recently, and the dense chocolatey-ness along with the caramel makes this a recipe worth trying.

I found it on the blog “The Salted Marshmallow.” You can find the original at https://thesaltymarshmallow.com/sea-salt-caramel-chip-brownies/.

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Salted Caramel Brownies

Salted caramel brownies have a hint of saltiness and lots of sweet caramel and chocolate flavors.
Course Dessert
Keyword brownies, chocolate, salted caramel

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup butter melted
  • 4 eggs
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 10- ounce bag of sea salt caramel baking chips
  • 1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper and spray it with cooking spray. Set it aside.
  • Add all of the ingredients except the baking chips and caramel topping to a mixing bowl and beat until everything is combined.
  • Fold in the baking chips and spread the batter into your baking pan.
  • Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
  • Let the brownies cool and then top with the caramel topping.
  • Store in an airtight container.

I didn’t wait for my brownies to cool all the way before adding the caramel topping, and it sort of melted into the tops, which still tasted amazing, but it didn’t let them have that nice drizzle effect. But if you don’t have time to wait, you won’t mess anything up by just dumping on the sauce while your brownies are still warm.

I also wish I would have sprinkled a little coarse salt on the top of these and definitely will the next time I make them, so you may consider that addition as well.

This also helped me clean out two different ingredients in my kitchen, since I had some salted caramel chips in my freezer and half of a jar of caramel sauce sitting in my refrigerator. If I keep it up, I may have my excess ingredient collection cleaned out by spring.

I really liked the combination of flavors in the brownies, and we enjoyed sharing them with friends, too.

K.C., on the other hand, was less than impressed with me eating chocolate snacks she’s not allowed to have. Her vote is still for the popcorn.

This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 9, 2020.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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