Jolene's Recipe Journal

  Getting cooler here in New England and I've started looking for heartier, comfort food-type recipes.    I had a few Roma tomatoes left from a trip to the farm, and some gnocchi in the freezer, so thought that I'd make this recipe up for dinner tonight.   I only used about 10 slices of bacon, the remainder of a package.   The canned tomatoes and fresh tomatoes I ran through the food processor, along with the paste and sugar.     Neither of my guys like chunks of tomato.   It looked a little skimpy, since I was doubling the gnocchi, so I added about 1/4c of tomato sauce.   Got distracted and forgot to add the cream/yogurt, we didn't miss it.  Next time I might stir in a little ricotta.  I baked this in a 13x9, for 10 mins at 400, then flipped the broiler on to brown up the cheese on top.   Thank you Alida, this recipe certainly is "Simply Delicious"! Print With Image Without Image Baked gnocchi with bacon, tomato and mozzarella Ingredients 18oz store-bought

I've been making this recipe for over 5 years now.  My guys saw an advertisement from a pizza chain for a Mega Chocolate Chip Cookie and they asked if I could make one. Since I didn't have an ovenproof skillet or pizza pan at the time, I searched the web for one I could do in a cake pan.    I found this recipe on That's So Yummy and it was perfect since I only had 1 egg.     This is a great fix for a chocolate chip cookie craving without making a huge batch, scooping dough and then babysitting cookie sheets! Most often I make it with semisweet chocolate chips, but sometimes I switch it up and and use some of the specialty ones that I can't seem to resist buying, like Sea Salt Caramel. Though the directions say to cool it completely, we like ours warm, topped with a scoop of ice cream, sometimes a drizzle of hot fudge sauce.   Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Print With Image Without Image Yield: 8 Author: Jolene's Recipe Journal Ingredients U

Made this last night on 2 friends recommendations.   I have zero luck with coating sticking to baked marinated chicken.  I had 4 decent sized boneless skinless chicken breasts, so I increased the amount of cornflakes to 4c.   I used 9oz of Ken's Light Options with Romano & Red pepper.  Instead of the garlic salt, I used garlic powder and onion powder. Thank you Carol and Linda for the heads up on this one and big thanks to Kelsey at the Naptime Chef for the recipe. Print With Image Without Image Oven Fried Cornflake Chicken Author: Jolene's Recipe Journal Ingredients: 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 9 oz Ken's Light Options Italian Dressing with Romano & Red pepper  1t garlic powder 1t onion powder 4 cups crushed cornflakes Instructions: Heat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with foil. Place chicken in a ziptop bag and add dressing. Seal and refrigerate for 30 to 45 mins. In food processor, crush cornflakes and add oni

There are so many family favorite recipes that I've been making for 10 years or more!  This is my go-to one for waffles or pancakes.  It can be changed up in so many ways.  I do always add a  teaspoon of vanilla, sometimes also a teaspoon of butter extract.  It's great with fruit mixed in, or on top. It's a filling breakfast that isn't super heavy. (originally made 11/3/2007) Jake's been bugging me to see how the waffle iron works, so this morning we made this recipe. It's a great starter recipe, and it would be awesome with some strawberries mixed in, or maybe some mashed banana. Definitely add a splash of vanilla! I topped mine with Blueberry Syrup, Jake had his with real Maple syrup we got during the season. Will definitely make this one again! Oatmeal Waffles or Pancakes Print With Image Without Image Author: Jolene's Recipe Journal ingredients: Ingredients 2 eggs, beaten 1t vanilla extract 1t butter extract (optional) 2

I made this one as listed the first time, now it's more improvised.   I use Mild taco seasoning with ground beef and omit the tomatoes.    I've also dropped down to 3 tortillas and build the pie in a springform pan.    This is one of my husband's favorite meals. Tortilla Pie 1 pound lean ground beef Taco seasoning (we like Mild) 3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese 1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese 3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro or parsley, divided (use dried parsley) 3 burrito size flour tortillas 1/2c Mexican blend cheese Preheat oven to 400º. Cook beef in a skillet over medium heat until no longer pink, breaking up with a spatula.   Drain.   Add taco seasoning and water recommended on the package.   Combine the ricotta, mozzarella cheese and parsley. Spray springform pan with nonstick spray.   Lay tortilla in the bottom of pan.   Add half of meat mixture.   Sprinkle with 1/4c mexican blend cheese.   Add another tortilla.   Top with ricott

This is another one of my Grandmother's recipes.   She called it "Combination".   Sometimes she'd use creamed corn, I use regular.   It's a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes. Favorite Hamburger Casserole (Gram's Combination) Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 1 1/2lbs ground beef 1/2t ea garlic powder and onion powder salt and pepper to taste 15oz can corn, drained 2 cups mashed potatoes (from scratch or instant, prepared as directed) 2T butter, diced 1/2c shredded cheddar cheese  

I made this yesterday because my sister requested Toll House pie for her birthday. Definitely a keeper! I used a deep dish pie crust, and the finished pie was a gooey, chocolate-y treat! We served it with a small scoop of Edy's vanilla ice cream. I knew it was a hit when my sister didn't offer to share when company showed up later! Due to allergies, I substitute 1 cup of crushed Rice Krispies cereal for the nuts.  print recipe Toll House Chocolate Chip Pie reviewed by Jolene's Recipe Journal October 13, 2013   9               inch  deep-dish pie shell -- unbaked   2              large  eggs      1/2           cup  flour      1/2           cup  sugar      1/2           cup  brown sugar   1 1/2         sticks  butter -- softened   1                cup  NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels -- (6 oz.)   1                cup  chopped nuts-- (use crushed Rice Krispies) PREHEAT oven to 325° F. BEAT eggs in large mixer bowl on high

I've really been trying to clear out my cabinets the last few months.   I had a partial box of lasagna noodles, and a quick search found me this recipe from the Pink Parsley blog .    I subbed sweet Italian sausage for the ground beef.    My family doesn't like chunks of veg, so I bought crushed tomatoes and used minced dried onion.   I added the onion to the tomatoes and spices and garlic in the food processor and pulsed it to make it smooth. I was short a few sheets of noodles, but it didn't really make a difference.   I did find that it was hard to get them to cook through in the 20 mins when you had to keep lifting the lid to stir them.    I'd say mine took closer to 25.   I also discovered that what I thought was a 12" skillet was clearly a 10" after adding the tomatoes.   I moved it to a larger pan so I could stir without making a giant mess.  Make sure that the skillet you use has a heat safe handle, you don't want to melt it under

I frequently buy an assorted bag of chips for Jake to take in his lunch, Tim to snack on, etc.   Time after time, the Fritos are the only ones left behind.  They get transferred to the next bag or crammed on the shelf.   I was looking for a recipe to use some of them up, but something that was also WW Points Plus friendly.      Going through my old issues of Cooking Light I'd pinned this recipe for Chili Corn Chip Pie.   It's a take on a "walking taco" served in a bowl instead of the Fritos bag. Right off the top, I swapped the onions for minced dried onion.   I added them to the ground beef (90%) along with the garlic when I browned it.    Chunks of tomatoes do not fly here, so I put those, the cumin, chili powder and salt in the food processor and pureed it.     I've managed to accumulate 3 boxes of chicken broth and no beef, so I just went with chicken broth.    The guys had Mexican blend cheese on theirs, I topped mine with some light sour cre

Every year I try and find fun and creative things to make for Jake for Halloween.   Since it landed on a Sunday this year, we got to go a little crazy  :)    I found all these ideas on the Family Fun site. First up, Apple Bites (since Jake can't have nuts, we used marshmallows) and Cheese Fingers.  For the nails, we used a cut up fruit roll up-  Breadstick bones and Pizza mummies (our cheese "wrapping" melted away, but they tasted good... we made pepperoni eyeballs)-  For dessert- Forked Eyeballs- donut holes dipped in white chocolate, M&Ms and dark red icing for the bloodshot effect-

Though this recipe is new to me, it’s not new to my family.    My mom makes over 500 of these every December, and until now, I’ve never made them, only eaten them.   Tim bought me my own iron for Christmas, and I’ve been looking forward to trying it out.      I originally doubled the recipe that came with it since Tim can eat a half dozen in a sitting, and then I realized that it was the same as my mom’s recipe EXCEPT that she significantly increased the vanilla.    I tried a few with the lower amount and was unhappy with the taste, so I added the difference.    The end result?  They were ok, but they were not Mom’s.    Part of the issue is the iron, it seems to produce a thicker pizzelle than what I want.     I like the bigger, thinner pizzelle with the lacy edges.   These were good with some maple honey caramel and I rolled a few to fill with some cream filling that I’d stashed in the freezer.  Pizzelles Print With Image Without Image Author: Jolene's Recipe Journ

Tim and I are both big fans of calzones, stromboli, pepperoni pizza.    I found this recipe on the Taste of Home website and decided to give it a try today.    Instead of the frozen bread dough, I made the Soft Garlic Breadstick dough.   I'm low on all things flour, so I ended up using 1 1/2c all purpose and 1 1/2c white whole wheat.   It turned out ok, a little harder to work with, and I'll go back to the all bread flour next time  :)  Tim won't eat chunks of onion so when I browned the ground beef I added 2T of minced dried onion.  I used 90% lean beef, and since I had bought a package of the thick sliced pepperoni, I quartered the pieces.   I went all mozzarella for the cheese. Very happy with the final result!  I stashed the second one in the freezer unbaked to have another time.   Very easy to customize this with veggies or whatever you like. Pepperoni Stromboli Print With Image Without Image Author: Jolene's Recipe Journal Ingr