Your Top 10 Recipes of 2011

I know, I know... everyone who has a blog does a Top 10 post at the end of the year. Which means if you read many blogs you've been reading these wrap up posts all week. With that said I personally love reading those posts because I always find something new that I missed on my favorite blogs. This year, rather than selecting my favorite posts from 2011, I went with the posts that got the most hits from you! Without surprise you all love your sweets- 3 out of 10 of my top recipes were for cookies!

This year was a big year for me. I began the year by welcoming my beautiful niece into the world and wrapped the year up by welcoming my own bundle of joy. I am now learning the ropes of being a first time mom which is quite challenging and incredibly rewarding. On the blog front I have spent this past year working on my photography and developing new recipes for you. I have seen a great increase in my blog viewership, with my daily readers more than quadrupling, so I must welcome those of you who are "new" here and send out a great thanks to those who have been around awhile.

I wish you and your loved ones a very happy and healthy New Year! I'll "see you" in 2012! Until then... here's your top 10 of 2011!

1. The most popular recipe, by far, was for these cake batter cookies. I love these cookies- they truly take "semi-homemade" to a new level by giving you a super easy recipe that yields amazing results.

2. Your second favorite recipe this year was crockpot pulled chicken. This one surprised me! Not because the recipe isn't tasty, just because it's not something I'd typically expect to be so popular! It surely was though- mostly thanks to Pinterest.

3. I was thrilled to see that my perfect party cookies were so high up in your favorites this year! This was my first original cookie recipe and one that I was so proud of. I spent a lot of 2011 creating my own recipes but this was my first time venturing into baked goods. If you haven't tried these yet please do!

4. This was another surprise hit! I will say that these potatoes are so darn good that they absolutely deserve to be this high up on your favorites. They are crispy, almost tasting like a french fry, but without the fat/calories of deep fried potatoes. I think I'm going to make these again soon... just seeing the picture makes me miss them.

5. I discovered Chipotle on the day my niece was born because we needed to eat and we needed to eat fast. Since discovering it I have been obsessed with their rice. It's just SO good. It wasn't long before I made it at home. Now it's a staple in my kitchen. You must try my knock off for Chipotle's cilantro lime rice.

6. I have to say- you guys have great taste. I was so excited to see this recipe for fettucini alfredo florentine in the top 10. It deserves to be. A "lighter" version of a creamy classic always deserves some attention!

7. Yay for this recipe! When I first made these Bang Bang Shrimp I was thrilled. I go to Bonefish Grill a few times a year solely for the Bang Bang Shrimp (although the food is pretty good- nothing compares to that shrimp) so being able to make it at home was great.

8. Now this recipe is definitely so popular thanks to Athen's Foods highlighting it on their website. With that said, it's still worthy of the special attention it received in 2011. Flaky... creamy... bite sized... sounds perfect to me! Flaky spinach dip bites are an awesome appetizer.

9. These cinnamon glazed doughnuts were my first attempt at homemade doughnuts. We were big fans of their soft cake-like taste dripping in frosting. A doughnut pan is a small investment (about ten dollars) that opens up a world of fun baking options.

10. The final top recipe of the year was for these oreo cheesecake cookies. I made these for John as a special "thank you" for being such a great husband. It's one of my favorite posts because it's a special message just for John (and all of the people who read my blog haha!) and I'm glad his special post made the top 10.

Salsa Chicken Enchiladas

A classic crockpot recipe is salsa chicken. I think most people who own a crockpot have tried some variety of this meal. I personally have made two, the one linked above as well as this version. Now, when I make salsa chicken I tend to use it either as chicken tacos or on top of rice. While both are great options I decided to branch out and try some new recipes. I'm going to share both with you this week, the first being these enchiladas.

After having the baby I pulled a tray of salsa chicken from the freezer and stared at it. I knew I wanted to use it differently, but how? I then remember what a hit the honey lime enchiladas were and decided to try a different version. These were awesome and came together really quickly. The flavors all melded nicely and we were both very happy. A great option for using up leftover salsa chicken!

Source: Stephanie Cooks Original

Ingredients:
2-3 cups cooked salsa chicken
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can red enchilada sauce
8-10 flour tortillas
1-1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 350. Pour a thin layer of enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
2- In a bowl stir the salsa chicken and sour cream.
3- Take one flour tortilla, spoon chicken in a straight line into the center and sprinkle with about 1 tbsp of cheddar cheese. Wrap the tortilla tightly and place it seam down in the baking dish. Repeat until all enchiladas are rolled.
4- Pour the remaining enchilada sauce on top, sprinkle with the remaining cheddar cheese.
5- Bake 20-25 minutes.

Apple Cider Waffles

I know apple season is long gone. I know you're seeing this and thinking, "Ok... you're a few months late with this..." but throw away your preconceived notions of "seasonal recipes" because I have to share this recipe. You see, John is on an apple cider kick lately so we constantly have fresh apple cider in the house. Because of that when I saw this recipe pop up I knew I needed to make it. Originally I wanted to make this for John on his birthday but I couldn't get it together in time so I decided to do them later on in the week. The original recipe calls for making these into pancakes but I was feeling lazy so I pulled out my trusty waffle iron and make them into waffles. DE-LISH. They tasted cinnamon-y and comforting. I don't know if the apple flavor really was the star, I'd say it was more the cinnamon, but they were still incredible. We were big fans and it made for a great special breakfast for my special husband.

Source: Adapted from So Tasty, So Yummy

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk
1 cup apple cider

Directions:
1- In a mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir well.
2- Beat in the egg, oil, milk, and cider.
3- Set aside and let stand 5 minutes while heating your waffle iron.
4- Spray the waffle iron and cook according to waffle iron directions.

Yields approximately 5 waffles.

Tomato Basil Soup

Pinterest will be my demise. I spend way too much time looking at stuff on there- I even look at things that have no interest to me! Plus now that I exist in a sleep-deprived haze thanks to my baby I find Pinterest to be the perfect website- I can just look at pictures and not think. Without fail I pin several recipes a day that I feel I need to try. This soup was one of my most recent pins. I loved that it cooked mostly in the crockpot making it an easy weeknight meal. Yes, you do need to make a roux on the stovetop, but in total that took 5 minutes.

When all was said and done this soup was seriously to die for. Shockingly I forgot to add the parmesan cheese that the original called for (yes... I forgot cheese... I know...) and it was still so rich. So rich that I don't think you even need cheese (GASP!) and I wouldn't add it next time I made it. I'm leaving it out of the recipe below but if you want just add 1 cup of parmesan when you add the half and half! John and I both were obsessed with this and I'm thrilled that it made enough to freeze for another night.

Source: Adapted from 365 Days of Slow Cooking

Ingredients:
2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes, with juices (fire roasted if you can find them)
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 cup finely diced celery
1 cup finely diced onions
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup fresh basil, diced
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
2 cups half and half, warmed
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:
1- Combine the tomatoes, carrots, celery, onions, oregano, basil, and broth in a crockpot. Cook on low for 7 hours.
2- In a saucepan melt the butter and stir in the flour to create a roux. Once the paste is formed add 1 cup of the hot veggie mix, stirring well until incorporated. Add an additional 3 cups, stirring well, until smooth. Pour the mixture back into the crockpot, stir well.
3- Add in the half and half, salt, and pepper. Cook on low an additional hour.

Chicken Florentine Puffs

If someone were to steal my laptop they'd probably think I was a total freak. My whole desktop is covered in pictures of food- pictures ready to be blogged, pictures ready to be edited, and pictures that are already blogged but haven't gone "live" yet. It looks like chaos but I understand what it is. With that said, I rarely switch up my order of recipes to blog because I try to keep some order to the desktop mayhem. I wasn't intending to post this recipe yet, but when I posted a teaser picture on my blog's facebook page I knew from the responses I had to bump this recipe up. I could have been mean and made you all wait, but I couldn't wait either- I made this recipe two days after I found it!

This was really delicious; I described it as a healthier Hot Pocket. It was so easy to make and best of all used mostly ingredients I already had with the exception of the gruyere cheese. Best of all it was a nice change of pace from our typical dinners. We both loved it and purposefully paced ourselves so we could freeze half of this for another night.

Source: One Lovely Life (I just discovered this blog and I'm obsessed- check it out!)

Yields 8 puffs

Ingredients:
1 box puff pastry (2 sheets)
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
1 roasted red pepper
4 ounces cream cheese
1 cup shredded gruyere cheese
2 cups cooked chicken, diced
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 egg
1 tbsp water

Directions:
1- In a bowl combine the spinach, red pepper, cream cheese, gruyere, cooked chicken, garlic powder and salt. Stir well until everything is well incorporated.
2- In a separate bowl beat the egg and water together.
3- Roll out the puff pastry. Cut each sheet into 4 squares. Spoon 1/8 of the filling into the center of each square. Brush two sides of the square with the egg wash, then fold the puff pastry over the filling to create a triangle. Use a fork to press down and seal the triangle. Brush the top of the triangle with egg wash and sprinkle with salt.
4- Transfer the triangles to cookie sheets covered in parchment paper or silpats. Bake at 300 for 18-20 minutes, until lightly golden.

**If freezing, allow them to cool completely, then wrap tightly and store in a freezer safe container. Reheat at 400 for 15-18 minutes.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Cookies

Do you remember when I posted this recipe for cake batter cookies? Well, I posted it almost a year ago and it is the recipe that gets me the most hits on Google, Pinterest, and various other sources. I guess it's safe to say we love some cake batter cookies 'round here! With that said, right after I had the baby my mom came over with various groceries. One of the ingredients that found its way into my cabinet was a box of chocolate cake mix. Well, hello there cake mix, we'll be good friends...

I kept saying that as soon as I could "get it together" the first thing I was baking was chocolate cake batter cookies with peanut butter chips. The other day Landon was being a perfect little baby and I decided to tempt fate be brave and try to bake while the little bug napped. Luckily for me I basically finished making these just as he was waking up. The whole time I was feeding the baby I was staring at these cookies on the cooling racks, salivating, dying to try one. By the time he finished eating I basically ran to the counter to try them. They were so stinkin' delicious. They taste almost like brownies crossed with cookies. Can there be anything better? Nope.

Source: Adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients:
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup peanut butter chips
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2-In a medium bowl, stir together the cake mix and baking powder. Add eggs and oil, then mix until well blended. (It was a bit crumbly for me so I used my hands to really mix it well- it's not as smooth as typical dough.)
 3-Stir in peanut butter and chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.
4- Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven.  Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Southwestern Pasta and Cheese

Before the baby came I made several meals to freeze for days when I just couldn't make dinner. This was one of the meals that I made, figuring it looked like something that would freeze nicely. Now, for some reason it didn't connect to me that "pasta and cheese" was essentially "macaroni and cheese." I was shocked when I saw the end results, which really is quite scary on my part since the title is pretty self-evident. Yes- I know, it's sad that I was shocked considering the title and the method of preparation, but I was. For some reason I thought the sauce would be lighter. However macaroni and cheese is never a bad surprise, right? This was very filling and hearty- John and I both could only handle a small portion of it. With that said, the leftovers were great and we're both looking forward to when I pull the tray of this out of the freezer.

Source: Slightly adapted from Krista's Kitchen

Ingredients:
3-1/3 cups uncooked bow tie pasta
1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
8 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil 
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon minced chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2-1/4 cups milk
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

Directions
1- Cook pasta according to package directions.
2- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute pepper and onions in oil untiltender. Stir in the flour, chili powder, chipotle pepper, salt and cumin until blended. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in 1/4 cup cheeseuntil melted. 
3- Drain pasta; toss with sauce. Stir in cilantro. Transfer to a 2-qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly. 

My Little Chef

That is all for today! I have some great recipes coming up but I felt this picture needed a post of it's own.

The photo was taken by Kristy at Gigglebug Photography and I cannot recommend her enough if you are one of my NJ readers looking for newborn/child photographs! She was incredible and my pictures were all amazing!

Crockpot Chicken and Wild Rice

I'm going to be honest with you- this meal was a complete and utter mistake. A delicious mistake, but a mistake. It was supposed to be soup. Cream of chicken and wild rice soup. But... it doesn't look at all like soup to me... how about you? No? Ok... moving on.

The crockpot is my best friend these days. It's super easy for me to throw ingredients in it and let it go while I tend to my beautiful newborn son. I had seen a recipe for chicken and wild rice soup on pinterest as well as this version from Lauren's Latest and decided to combine the two and throw it in the crockpot. While the end results are not soup (in any way shape or form) it was delicious! John described it perfectly- it tasted like risotto. Risotto that I didn't have to do any work for. Best of all it made a lot so I froze a huge chunk of this for us for another night. The crockpot and the freezer... a new mom's two best friends!

Source: Stephanie Cooks Original

Ingredients:
4 cups chicken broth
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup with Garlic (or the original if you can't find it)
1 6 oz box Uncle Ben's Wild Rice mix, rice and seasoning packet*
1/2 cup baby carrots, diced small
6 ounces cooked chicken

Directions:
1- Combine the broth, canned soup, rice and seasoning packet, and carrots in the crockpot. Cook on low for 5 hours.
2- Stir in the cooked chicken and allow it to cook for an additional 30 minutes.
3- Stir well and serve hot.

*I took the advice from Lauren's blog (linked above) and bought this specific brand of rice. As she explained the seasoning packet is responsible for the flavor of the dish, so I can't attest to how it would be if you used a different type.

Pesto and Cheese Stuffed Shells

I love baked pasta dishes- baked ziti, lasagna, stuffed shells, manicotti... you name it, I love it. My love is so deep that I can remember ordering stuffed shells at this local Italian restaurant every time we went as a child- they used to bake them in a ramekin- made it so much better. Note to self- must buy ramekins big enough for baked pasta dishes! The hubs, Mr. John (who is celebrating a birthday today- HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!), could live without it.

Whenever I make a baked pasta dish I try to find a way to make it more appealing to John- pesto being a sure bet. John ate a full plate of these and really enjoyed them which to me is the biggest compliment there is! I used a 15 ounce container of ricotta and it wasn't enough to fill a whole box of shells, so I modified the recipe to reflect how many shells I actually was able to make. We don't eat ground meat but you could always cook the pesto in with some ground beef or turkey and add that to the cheese mixture. We loved this and I'm so glad I froze a tray of these!

Source: Stephanie Cooks Original

Ingredients:
25 jumbo shells, cooked according to packaging directions
15 oz ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup pesto (a thicker pesto is recommended, but any pesto will work)
1 egg
Salt and pepper
2 cups marinara sauce
Slices of mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1-In a mixing bowl combine the ricotta, parmesan, pesto, and egg. Stir well. Season with salt and pepper.
2- Cover the bottom of a baking dish with a thin layer of marinara sauce.
3- Working with one shell at a time, spoon a few spoonfuls of filling into each shell. Pinch closed and set in the baking dish. Repeat until all shells are full. Pour the marinara over the top and layer the mozzarella cheese over the shells.
4- Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Freezer tip: Complete steps 2-3 in a freezer safe container. Cover and freeze, complete step 4 once you defrost it from the freezer.

Bacon Shrimp Risotto

I'm baaacckkkkk! I'm going to try my best to post regularly but if I miss a day here and there while I adjust to motherhood please be patient with me. I'm amazed how much I missed cooking/blogging. I made dinner after he was one week old and typed up this post shortly after. I just needed a bit of a return to normalcy amongst all the newness of a newborn. It doesn't hurt that he is an amazing baby so far (knock on wood!) and is very easy going!

So onto the food! I really find risotto to be such a versatile and delicious dish. It's almost like pasta- a solid base that you can build upon. What's better than cheesy rice? Oh.. I know... cheesy rice with bacon! Yeaaah... that's better! I can't even remember when I made this because it was weeks ago, I know I was very pregnant and cursed myself for taking on a dish that took so much time, but the end results were to die for. I loved the combination of the shrimp with the cheesy rice and the contrast of the crisp salty bacon. This meal is perfect when paired with a nice green salad. You can't go wrong here!

Source: Adapted from How Sweet It Is

Ingredients:
4 slices bacon, chopped
1 cup arborio rice
1 clove garlic
3-4 cups chicken broth, heated
6 ounces shrimp, kept warm (cooked)*
1 cup fresh shredded pecorino romano OR parmesan cheese
1 tbsp dried parsley
Salt/pepper

Directions:
1-In a large skillet cook the bacon. Remove the bacon and all except about 1 tbsp of the bacon drippings.
2- Add the garlic and rice to the skillet. Stir and cook until the rice is lightly toasted. Begin adding broth to the skillet, 1 cup at a time, and heating over low/medium heat until the liquid is all absorbed, stirring frequently. Then add more broth, continuing the process until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked.
3- Remove the rice from the heat, stir in the cheese and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in the cook shrimped and half the bacon.
4- Top the risotto with the remaining bacon when serving.

*I cooked my shrimp in the bacon drippings after seasoning them with garlic powder/onion powder/salt/ and pepper. I then removed the shrimp and drained the bacon with the exception of 1 tbsp as stated in step 1. You can also use precooked shrimp if you desire, in that case just add them warm.

What I've Been Cooking

So I am still on hiatus, believe me my kitchen is sadly neglected right now as I work on feeding my new baby and keeping myself somewhat alive at the same time, but I did want to share a few pics of my little man with you! Here's the best thing I've ever made:

Just born

The next day

Finally home and happy :)

Thanks for being patient, new recipes coming soon! Until then, enjoy the cuteness above, I certainly am!

Short Hiatus

Hi there! I'm so proud to announce that my son was born on Tuesday, November 29 at 6:59 p.m. I am going to take a short hiatus while I adjust to being a new mommy (only about a week or so- fear not! I have plenty to share with you!) I had recipes I planned to blog this week to share while I was first home but guess what? This little man decided to come a bit early, so I wasn't prepared! I will share a picture with you soon, but until then thanks for understanding and I'll be back in a week or so!

XoXo,
Stephanie