Potato Leek Soup

This is such a great, easy spring soup (and one of the few potato-based soups I like!). I like to serve it with large croutons and a sprinkle of shredded parmesan. You could also add cubed ham as well for a little more substance, but this is great as is with a salad as well. This is a New York Times recipe that I modified slightly to cut the dairy.

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Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Ganache

This was a cute pumpkin-shaped cake we had at this year’s Halloween party.  A lot of steps, but not particularly difficult…just required two cakes baked in bundt pans.  This would also be fun for Thanksgiving.  This came from Shugary Sweets.

pumpkincake

Recipe!

Fish Nuggets

This was a really fun and tasty way to get some fish in – I’m pretty bad about remembering to defrost it and cook it, even though we both love it!  This was a Cooking Light recipe, I used Mahi for the fish, and we had it with brussels sprouts.

fishnugs

Recipe!

Baked Ziti

My favorite baked ziti recipe – easy and always awesome.  I usually just make it with ground beef and season a lot, but it would also work with ground turkey or sausage, as the original recipe (from Smitten Kitchen) suggests.  We’ve also done this with shirataki and liked it just as much. 🙂

bakedziti

 

Recipe!

Enchilada Sauce

Quick and easy homemade enchilada sauce that really improves over store bought.  This is from Gimme Some Oven.  I used this in enchilada soup, and it would also dress up any enchilada or even taco dish.  This is a mild red sauce.

Recipe!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Any time these appear on a cookie tray, I have to restrain myself from eating all of them.  So I decided to go ahead and make them myself this year – definitely will be a regular addition in the cookie tins.  This is from Joy of Baking.

peanutbuttercupcookies

 

Recipe!

Mint Chocolate Cookies

This may be one of my favorite cookies I’ve ever done – but I love all things mint.  Definitely a popular one in this year’s cookie tins.

mintchipcookies

Recipe!

Cherry Chocolate Blossoms

Another new cookie in this year’s holiday cookie extravaganza, this one was cute and went over well.  A twist on peanut butter blossoms.

cherrychocolatecookies

Recipe!

Holiday M&M Bars

One of the cookies for our yearly holiday cookie tins – as much as I am not a fan of chocolate, I really liked this one.  Simple and makes a lot, too.

m&mbars

Recipe!

Pizza Cake

So this isn’t really a recipe, but it was a pretty cute dinner project that was a hit with the kids.  You could use homemade pizza crust and sauce, and if it hadn’t been a weeknight dinner, I probably would have (and you could get really original with it that way, too). But it was still pretty good with store bought both.  You will need a springform pan for this.  This might also be a fun appetizer at a small party.

pizza cake

Recipe!