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Doughnuts, doughnuts, and more doughnuts!

Doughnuts. They could possibly be one of the best foods ever invented. I mean, who doesn't love fried dough covered in sugary glaze, chocolate, powdered sugar or filled with cream or berry filling? Now I will go ahead and say that these doughnuts are not as good as Dunkin Donuts or Krispy Kreme, but for a quick doughnut recipe they were pretty darn good! I had seen this recipe a while back on Everyday Italian and have been waiting on an excuse to make them. I had intended to make them and submit them as an entry for a doughnut blogging event that was hosted recently, but sadly I have been so busy and have barely had time to cook. But I decided to make them as a special treat this weekend while my sister was visiting. We both agreed the cinnamon sugar doughnuts were our favorite followed by the powdered sugar and then the doughnut holes. The glazed ones didn't turn out so great. They were a bit soggy. I had planned on doing chocolate ones as well, but we had a sudden power outage just as I finished frying up the doughnuts so I couldn't melt my chocolate. I think the chocolate would have been great, too. If you're looking for a quick sweet treat, give these a shot. But be warned, you'll probably eat them all just like we did.

Italian Doughnuts

Vegetable oil, for frying
Olive oil, for frying
1 pound prepared pizza dough
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamonPour equal parts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees F.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/2-inch thickness. Using a floured 2-inch cookie cutter, cut out doughnut rounds. Using a floured 1-inch cookie cutter, cut out a hole in the center of each doughnut. Gather the dough scraps and re-roll to cut out more doughnuts.

Whisk the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl to blend. Set the cinnamon-sugar aside.

When the oil is hot, working in batches, fry the doughnuts until they puff but are still pale, about 45 seconds per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the doughnuts to paper towels to drain. Cool slightly. While the doughnuts are still warm, add to the bowl with cinnamon-sugar and generously coat each 2 times with the cinnamon-sugar. Serve warm.

*Alternately, cool the fried doughnuts to room temperature. Stir 3 ounces milk chocolate and 1/4 cup whipping cream in a heavy small saucepan over medium-low heat until the chocolate melts. Set aside until the chocolate sauce comes to room temperature but does not set. Dip 1 side of each doughnut into the chocolate mixture. Sprinkle with finely chopped toasted almonds or crushed espresso beans and set aside until the chocolate is set.

Other variations I made...

Powdered Sugar Donuts

Glazed Doughnuts-I used a simple glaze of milk and powdered sugar for these.

Doughnut holes-Couldn't waste any of that dough!

Girls' Night

My sister came up for the weekend to hang out and do some shopping. Knowing that Mexican food is her favorite type of food, I decide to make some chicken tacos for dinner the other night. We totally pigged out on chips and salsa and had a lot of fun just laughing and talking. The tacos turned out really good and I made some simple black beans to go along with them. It was such a fun night just hanging out with my sis.

Chicken Tacos

2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 Tbsp taco seasoning
3/4 cup water or chicken broth
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 flour tortillas

Begin by sauteeing the onion in a skillet with the olive oil for about 3-5 min. Next, add the cooked chicken and taco seasoning. Add the broth or water and stir. Let heat through about 5 minutes. Serve on warmed tortillas with your favorite toppings (lettuce, tomato, cheese, salsa, sour cream, beans etc)

Turkey Meatball Subs

Nope, this isn't a toasted sub from a chain sandwich place. It's homemade and much better than I've gotten at any chain restaurant if you ask me. My husband always orders a meatball sub anytime we do happen to eat at a sandwich place, so I decided a while back I would start making them at home occasionally since he likes them so much. I didn't have any ground beef in the freezer but I did have some lean ground turkey. I decided to use that for my meatballs tonight along with some whole wheat sub rolls I had in the freezer. They were so delicious and somewhat healthier than regular meatball subs! Healthier if you don't count all the cheese I put on mine.
; ) Subway's got nothing on me!

Turkey Meatball Subs

1 lb lean ground turkey
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp each salt and pepper
1-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

*1 jar marinara sauce
*sub rolls
*provolone or mozzarella cheese-2 slices per sub


Mix all ingredients in a bowl until just combined. Heat a skillet over medium heat with about 1-2 Tbsp olive oil. Form the turkey mixture into balls and place in the skillet. Turn the meatballs every couple minutes to brown on all sides. Add marinara sauce to the pan, cover and let simmer over low heat about 15 minutes to ensure the meatballs are completely cooked. Place 4 meatballs on each sub roll that has been sliced lengthwise and spoon the marinara sauce over the meatballs. Top with cheese (I used provolone) and place under the broiler for a couple minutes to toast the bread and melt the cheese.

Let the Food Speak for Itself

I don't have much to say in my post tonight. I could probably come up with some funny or witty little story to throw in here but I won't. This is what we had for dinner tonight and it was great which is why it's in my blog in the first place. ; ) The scalloped potato recipe is my favorite, I haven't made it in a while, so I made it tonight to go with our barbecue chicken and roasted broccoli. So try it, you'll like it. And that's about all I've got to say. ; P

PS: If you're reading this and you have a blog, you know you have posts like this too. And if you don't, you know you want to sometimes. : )

Scalloped Potatoes

5-6 red potatoes, washed and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 a large onion, chopped
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream (or whole milk)
1 Tbsp italian seasoning
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese or blend of cheeses
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Begin by preheating the oven to 400 degrees. In a dutch oven or other heavy pan melt 2 Tbsp butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook 3-4 minutes until the onion cooks down a little. Add the garlic and italian seasoning and cook about a minute. Next add the chicken broth, milk, salt and pepper. Place the sliced potatoes into the pan, cover and let simmer about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are slightly tender. Top with the cheese and place the pan into the oven for about 15 minutes. Let sit 10 min before serving.

My Husband is Right

My husband is right...I don't say that too often, but in this case he is. He tells me all the time that I am spoiled because I always end up getting all these fun, new kitchen gadgets that I want. But I don't think that's any different than him getting every new power tool or electronic gadget that comes out. And besides, I'm much more likely to use my kitchen tools for many more years than he'll use the things he buys. But anyway, back to me being spoiled. I realized today that I really am. I wanted to make some muffins to have for breakfast this week. I was all prepared with my recipe, and then I realized the bowl for my KitchenAid mixer was in the dishwasher (which I had just turned on by the way) along with my food chopper that I was going to use to chop some pecans, and my mandoline that I needed to shred my apples! All things I *needed* to make my recipe! At first I was disappointed because, being spoiled as I am, I couldn't figure out how I was going to make my muffins without my favorite kitchen gadgets. But then a little common sense finally kicked in. I realized that I still do have a hand mixer in the drawer, long forgotten since I got my stand mixer. I also have a hand grater in the drawer that I never use anymore, and as for chopping the pecans, well a plastic baggy and a heavy rolling pin works well for that. So I ended up making my muffins anyway and they turned out to be so delicious. Even my husband liked them and he is not into anything remotely healthy. Thanks to Elly over at Elly Says Opa for the recipe! I had to make some alterations to the recipe based on what I had on hand and I used a little different ratio of whole wheat to all purpose flour. Check out Elly's blog for the original recipe along with her other variations of the healthy muffin recipe.

Healthy Apple Muffins

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce (or vegetable oil, if you're not calorie counting)
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk (I subbed 3/4 cup milk with 1 tsp lemon juice)
1 cup shredded apple (1 large apple)
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400 and grease a 12-cup muffin tin. Sift together flours, baking powder and soda, salt and spices.

In a seprarate bowl, beat egg with brown sugar until well combined. Stir in vanilla, buttermilk, applesauce and shredded apple.

Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in nuts.

Pour mixture into muffin cups and bake approximately 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Veggies Galore

I've come to the realization we just don't eat enough veggies. I personally could eat veggies all day every day. In fact if I didn't like a good, juicy burger every now and some crunchy bacon from time to time, I could almost be a vegetarian. But my husband, well he's another story. He would eat nothing but meat, bread, potatoes, and pasta if he didn't have a loving wife that insisted he eat other things that are good for him. I don't always bother making all the veggies I like because I would be the only one eating them. But I've become pretty creative at incorporating some veggies into our meals. He's much more willing to eat vegetables if they're in something rather than just piled on a plate screaming "I'm a veggie, I'm good for you!". Ok, so they don't really scream at you but they might as well as far as he's concerned. So tonight for dinner I crammed as many vegetables into our dinner as possible. I made a really yummy veggie rice pilaf to go along with our spicy Cajun shrimp which I just sauteed in some olive oil and garlic, and sprinkled with Cajun spice mix. We also had some steamed yellow squash and broccoli (for me) and corn on the cob (for him). Such a great dinner!

Veggie Rice Pilaf

1/4 large red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 large green bell pepper,chopped
1/4 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1 large clove garlic, pressed or minced
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup brown rice
salt and pepper

Begin by cooking the rice and set aside. Then finely chop all the vegetables. Heat a skillet over medium heat with about 2 Tbsp olive oil. Add chopped veggies to the pan and saute 2-3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth and let simmer another 3 minutes or so. Add the pressed garlic and stir. Last, stir in the cooked rice, remaining broth, salt, and pepper. Let cook another 3-5 minutes until some of the broth is absorbed. Serve warm.