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Mimi’s Cornbread

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Here’s a secret family recipe for you- my Mimi’s cornbread. So delicious.

I made a half batch for just the hubby and I, but I’ll give you the full quantities to make a 9×13 pan.

Mimi’s Cornbread

by Lindsay L

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Keywords: bake side cornmeal Thanksgiving fall winter

Ingredients (9×13 pan)

  • 1/2 c melted butter
  • 1 jar baby food prunes
  • 3 c Bisquick
  • 1 c sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 6 Tbsp yellow cornmeal
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 c milk

Instructions

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.

2. Add the wet ingredients. Stir to combine.

3. Pour into greased 9×13 pan.

4.Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

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Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

P.S. I also made a small batch of this but shhhh, don’t tell…I didn’t follow the directions. I just mixed the squash, cranberries and apple together, added a tsp of butter, cubed and a tsp of sugar and threw it in the oven with the cornbread. Sometimes you gotta cut corners when it’s 10pm and you haven’t eaten yet 😉

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Clam Spaghetti

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Hi Friends-

Let me start this post by saying two things:
1) I have been looking forward to making this dish since Sunday, when I decided to make it. Now that I’ve had it, I’m already looking forward to eating it tomorrow. Once it’s gone, I will begin to look forward to the next time I make it. I LOVE IT.
2) This dish is not for everyone.

Ok, so I know that was more than two things…but sometimes I just can’t help but get carried away! This is one of the two things I requested that my mom immediately make every single time I came home from college. It’s an old family recipe…and by that I mean both the recipe itself and the recipe card:

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It’s wrinkled and stained and edited and has probably been made a thousand times in several different kitchens. And I’m so lucky to have the actual recipe card in my possession. Some day, just for kicks, I’m going to follow this recipe exactly…just to see how much it actually makes. I have a hard time even envisioning it. To start with, the recipe calls for 4 large onions, chopped. This is one of the very few recipes where I even use one whole onion, let alone four. I don’t think I have a cutting board big enough for four of them! So, I scale things back a bit, but this is still a recipe of lots. Lots of everything…So let’s begin shall we?

Chop up an onion (yes a whole onion) and lots of garlic. Saute them over low heat in a big pan with some olive oil and some dried chilies.

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Leave the seeds in for a kick like I do, or take them out.

Saute over low heat, until the onions become translucent. Now is also the time to start heating some water for the spaghetti.

Add one tablespoon of basil and one tablespoon of oregano (seems like a lot, but trust me)

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Then add the juice from one can of minced clams and 1/2 a cup of white wine. *Now pay attention here…this is the most important part. The recipe SPECIFICALLY says that the cook may drink the wine instead. I do both 🙂

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When your water is ready, add the spaghetti and cook as directed. Add some green onions, some fresh parsley, some pimentos, two cans of diced clams and one can of baby shrimp to the onion mixture. I usually rinse the canned stuff to get rid of most of the salt. Also, for the record, I have no idea what pimentos are, or really even what they taste like, or what else you would ever use them for except stuffing olives…but for as long as I can remember, my mom has been buying them in their little glass jar at the grocery store. So I buy them too.

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It looks like Christmas doesn’t it?! Finally, mix in the spaghetti, toss and serve.

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You can top with Parmesan cheese if you want to. SO GOOD!

Clam Spaghetti

by Lindsay L

Keywords: saute entree clams spaghetti Italian

Ingredients (Serves 4)

  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 dried red peppers, minced
  • 1 Tbsp dried basil
  • 1 Tbsp dried oregano
  • 2 cans chopped clams, reserve juice from one
  • 1/2 c white wine
  • 1 can baby shrimp
  • 1/2 box spaghetti
  • 1 jar pimentos
  • 4 green onions, sliced
  • 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, minced
  • Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Add the onion and garlic to a large pan with some EVOO and saute over LOW heat until onions are translucent (about 30 minutes).

2. Add the dried basil, oregano and red peppers and saute for 2 more minutes.

3. Add the juice from one can of clams, the wine, the clams, shrimp and fresh parsley. Let simmer while you cook the pasta according to package directions.

4. When the pasta is done, add the pimentos, green onions and spaghetti to the pan and toss to combine.

5. Serve warm and top with Parmesan cheese if desired.

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Enjoy!

–Lindsay–

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

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Small ingredient list, big flavor. This Curried Sweet Potato Soup is perfect for a vegetarian dinner on a cold fall evening. Make a double batch and freeze some for a busy week!

Small ingredient list, big flavor. This Curried Sweet Potato Soup is perfect for dinner on a cold fall evening. Make a double batch and freeze some for a busy week!

**Note- This blog post and photos were updated 10/12/15.**

I used to hate this soup.

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My mom made it all the time when we were growing up. I remember the smell of it, and watching her set up the blender right next to the stove so she could puree batches at a time. Some always spilled!

Now I love it. It’s hearty and spicy and it makes a great dinner side or appetizer.

Print

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

Curried Sweet Potato Soup 1
Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

Warm, hearty and full of spice this soup makes a great appetizer or meal of its own!

  • Author: Lindsay L
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4-6 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 Tbsp unsalted butter or oil
  • 4 small leeks, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
  • 2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 1 Tbsp curry powder
  • 4 cups veggie broth
  • 1/2 – 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • Plain yogurt and cilantro to garnish (optional)

Instructions

  1. In a large pot melt butter. Add leeks and ginger and saute for 5-7 minutes over medium high heat.
  2. Add sweet potatoes, curry, pepper and 3 cups broth.
  3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender (about 15-20 min).
  4. Puree the soup in batches in blender or using an immersion blender.
  5. Add remaining cup of broth if you want a thinner soup. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.

Small ingredient list, big flavor. This Curried Sweet Potato Soup is perfect for dinner on a cold fall evening. Make a double batch and freeze some for a busy week!

[Tweet “Small ingredient list, big flavor. Try this Curried Sweet Potato Soup from @leangrnbeanblog!”]

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Pumpkin Mini Donuts w/ Cinnamon Glaze

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Good news friends! These donuts were waaaay more successful than my last batch!

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Here’s the original recipe…I didn’t really change anything.

Pumpkin Mini Donuts

by Lindsay L

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 6-8 min

Keywords: bake breakfast donuts pumpkin summer fall winter

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • ¼ tsp. baking soda
  • 2 tsp. cinnamon
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 Tbl. milk
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cinnamon Glaze

  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 Tbl. milk
  • ½ tsp. cinnamon

Instructions

For the donuts

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.

2. Cream together the brown sugar, canned pumpkin, eggs, milk, butter and vanilla extract until the butter is well incorporated.

3. With your mixer on medium low speed, slowly add the dry sifted ingredients to the wet mixture. Mix until just barely combined. Be careful of over mixing.

4. Spray the donut pan with cooking spray and fill each donut mold halfway with the pumpkin batter. (I spooned the batter into a ziploc bag and piped it into the rings.)

5. Bake at 375 degrees for 6 – 8 minutes or until the exterior springs back when touched.

Cinnamon Glaze

Mix until smooth and creamy. The glaze should pour easily from a spoon. You may need to add additional milk or powder sugar to get the right consistency.

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Baked Pumpkin Donuts

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The pumpkin makes these darker so they look more like fried donuts and the consistency is more like a cake donut than the last batch. YUMMY!!!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

 

Hello, Hello!

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Hi friends-

Starting a food blog is something I’ve been thinking about doing for a long time. I’ve been avoiding it because I am lazy, scared and pretty much unconvinced that there’s anyone out there that would actually care enough to read it. But I finally got tired of people telling me to start one, so here goes.

Let me start by saying a few things:
1) I picked blogger.com for no good reason other than the fact that I recognized the bright orange “B” logo that goes along with it from some of the other blogs I have read in the past.
2) I started by googling “how to start a food blog”…the results were a little overwhelming and all I really found were lots of instructions telling me to “do this” and “don’t do that”…After reading a few of these sites, I decided that I don’t really care if I make the same “mistakes” that other beginning bloggers did, so I quit wasting my time reading the “how-to’s” and just dove right in.
3) A lot of the things I make don’t have recipes…I’ll do my best to tell you how much of each ingredient I put in, but if you require exact measurements…you may get somewhat frustrated with me! And I’m ok with that…no one is making you read this!
4) Some of the things I make don’t turn out well…that’s not going to stop me from posting them. In fact, I consider those the greatest opportunity aspect of this blog…those are the recipes where I need suggestions from you! Read what I did, and then tell me what you would do differently…one of us with eventually get it right!
5) I’m not here to impress anyone. If you get bored reading my blog, quit reading it…you won’t hurt my feelings.
6) I’m not making any promises about how often I will make new posts…I’ll get to it when I get to it…and if I don’t, well then this blog will probably come to an end 🙂

As many of you know, I’ve been posting food pics on facebook for a while now. My first few posts will probably be me trying to figure out how to get those pictures onto here, and then seeing if I can remember the recipes. We’ll see how it goes!

–Lindsay–

Welcome to the Blog

by 2 Comments

Hi friends-

Starting a food blog is something I’ve been thinking about doing for a long time. I’ve been avoiding it because I am lazy, scared and pretty much unconvinced that there’s anyone out there that would actually care enough to read it. But I finally got tired of people telling me to start one, so here goes.

Let me start by saying a few things:
1) I picked blogger.com for no good reason other than the fact that I recognized the bright orange “B” logo that goes along with it from some of the other blogs I have read in the past.
2) I started by googling “how to start a food blog”…the results were a little overwhelming and all I really found were lots of instructions telling me to “do this” and “don’t do that”…After reading a few of these sites, I decided that I don’t really care if I make the same “mistakes” that other beginning bloggers did, so I quit wasting my time reading the “how-to’s” and just dove right in.
3) A lot of the things I make don’t have recipes…I’ll do my best to tell you how much of each ingredient I put in, but if you require exact measurements…you may get somewhat frustrated with me! And I’m ok with that…no one is making you read this!
4) Some of the things I make don’t turn out well…that’s not going to stop me from posting them. In fact, I consider those the greatest opportunity aspect of this blog…those are the recipes where I need suggestions from you! Read what I did, and then tell me what you would do differently…one of us with eventually get it right!
5) I’m not here to impress anyone. If you get bored reading my blog, quit reading it…you won’t hurt my feelings.
6) I’m not making any promises about how often I will make new posts…I’ll get to it when I get to it…and if I don’t, well then this blog will probably come to an end 🙂

As many of you know, I’ve been posting food pics on facebook for a while now. My first few posts will probably be me trying to figure out how to get those pictures onto here, and then seeing if I can remember the recipes. We’ll see how it goes!

–Lindsay–