Blood Orange Smoothies

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, these smoothies scream “I BLOODY LOVE YOU!!!”.

Who wouldn’t want to wake up to this treat on Valentine’s morning?

I first encountered blood oranges while I was traveling through Italy during my semester abroad in college. The sweet, deep burgundy flesh was just so tasty! But, it wasn’t until years later that I began to see this fruit gain attention in the US. In fact, I was thrilled when I first saw the Blood Orange flavored Chobani come on the market last year, which, by the way, is my oldest son’s favorite Chobani flavor.

So, yesterday, I picked up a bag of blood oranges at Target. I knew they wouldn’t last long, as my little blood orange fanatic went right to work peeling and chowing down on them. But, I managed to salvage a few to use in our “bloody” smoothie.

We served the smoothies with a batch of homemade cinnamon rolls. This time I chopped up an apple and added that to the cinnamon roll filling before rolling up….result: yuuummmm!!!

Blood Orange Smoothies

1-2 medium blood oranges – peeled and seeds removed
1 cup frozen melon (or other frozen fruit, I used canteloupe)
1 container Chobani greek yogurt – blood orange flavor
1 cup ice cubes
2 cups orange juice

Whirl everything together in a blender and enjoy this version of “bloodies” for breakfast.

Double Cheddar Smothered Turkey Enchiladas

I saw a few different versions of this white sauce enchilada recipe being pinned and repinned on Pinterest, so I thought I’d give it a try. It’s been awhile since we’ve tried a new enchilada recipe….our typical go-to version is one we call Creamy Enchilada Bake, and it uses a mix of sour cream and cream of mushroom soup on top with ground beef and refried beans inside.

I’m not saying this new version is any healthier. Hello…butter…sour cream…shredded cheese. However, this version does eliminate the canned “cream of science experiment” soup, so it’s progress, right?

If you have some leftover chicken on hand or perhaps some turkey in the freezer from the holidays, either would work just fine in this recipe. I used about two cups, but a little more or a little less won’t hurt anything. You could also add some rice, quinoa, or bulgur to add a bit more bulk to the tortilla contents. I just used what was on hand, and these came together perfectly for a hearty winter Sunday supper.

Double Cheddar Smothered Turkey Enchiladas

For the Sauce
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup sour cream

For the Enchiladas
2 cups finely diced turkey (or chicken)
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp Frank’s hot sauce
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I used chipolte cheddar inside the tortillas and 1 cup extra sharp white cheddar on top)
5-6 whole wheat tortillas

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Whisk in the flour. Slowly stream in the chicken broth, whisking continually. When thickening and bubbling, remove from heat and stir in sour cream. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the turkey, chili powder, hot sauce, and one cup of cheese. Divide mixture equally among the tortillas and roll up.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking oil. Layer tortillas in baking dish. Use a spatula to spread the sauce over the rolled tortillas. Sprinkle the second cup of cheese over the top. Bake for 20 minutes. Then, move dish to a higher shelf in the oven, turn on the broiler, and broil for 2 minutes or until browned, watched carefully so that the top does not burn. Remove from oven. Let sit for 5 minutes, and serve. Fresh diced tomatoes and avocado slices make a tasty addition to these.

Cinnamon Rolls From Scratch

If you have the time and patience, these homemade cinnamon rolls are perfect for a lazy, weekend morning. I adapted these from a recipe I found that’s ready in 90 minutes. The bulk of the time is just for the dough to rise.

Our family loves…LOVES…cinnamon rolls, and for years, the extent of our cinnamon roll experience has been as follows: preheat oven, open tube of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, bake. Oh, yeah, and then eat the whole batch.

But, when I actually looked at the ingredients on the Pillsbury package, I realized that these rolls are highly processed, packed full of preservatives, artificial flavors, and artificial colors. Yes, they are convenient, but there had to be a better way.

So, I gave found this recipe online, tweaked it a bit, and gave it a shot. This makes a nice big pan of rolls and although it’s not low-fat, it at least uses less ingredients that are clearly recognizable…no xanthan gum here.

We made these on Christmas morning, and to dress them up a bit, I added some leftover Christmas cookie frosting, but the rolls are sweet and delicious enough that no frosting is really needed.

These reheat great for quick weekday breakfasts. Next time, I’m planning to chop up some apples to sprinkle over the cinnamon-sugar layer before rolling up. Yummy!

Cinnamon Rolls From Scratch
Adapted from Ninety Minute Cinnamon Rolls

For the Dough
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp yeast
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1 egg

For the Filling
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened

Heat the milk on the stove over medium heat until it just starts to bubble. Remove from heat and mix in the 1/4 cup of butter until melted. Set aside.

Combine 2 cups flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the water and egg and mix well. Once the mix mixture has cooled to lukewarm, slowly add to the mixing bowl and mix well. Add the remaining flour and mix well. Remove dough from bowl and knead on a floured surface for a few minutes. Cover and allow to rise while you make the filling.

For the filling, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter in a small bowl.

Using a rolling pin, roll dough into a large rectangle. Use a greased spatula the spread filling to cover entire dough. Roll up dough the long way. Cut into 15 rolls and place cut side up in a greased 13 x 9 cake pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until browned. Serve warm.

Smokin’ Hot Buffalo Chicken Calzones

If you like Frank’s buffalo chicken dip, then you’re going to love this recipe. It’s basically Frank’s buffalo chicken a la calzone…or as I call it: smokin’ hot buffalo chicken calzones.

The soft, pillowy dough works wonders to tame the spicy, cheesy chicken mixture. We use our versatile pizza dough recipe for calzones. One batch of dough is enough for two calzones.

For the boys: pepperoni pizza calzones. For the adults: buffalo chicken calzones. Both varieties were a hit.

Smokin’ Hot Buffalo Chicken Calzones
¼ cup Frank’s hot sauce
1/8 cup ranch dressing
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cups cooked, chopped boneless chicken
4 oz. cubed cream cheese
½ recipe of pizza dough

Pizza Dough
3 cups flour
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp yeast
1 cup warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil

Prepare pizza dough a few hours in advance to allow it to rise. Use half for this recipe and save the other half for another calzone or pizza crust.

To prepare dough, stir yeast into the warm water. Add flour and salt to a food processor with a dough blade in place. Turn on the dough setting on the food processor and stream the yeast water into through the feeder tube into the food processor. Then, stream in the olive oil. Turn off as soon as the dough ball forms. Remove, dough ball and place in a large bowl coated in olive oil, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for at least a few hours.

To prepare calzone, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix the chicken, cheeses, hot sauce, and ranch. Divide the pizza dough in half, and set the other half aside for another use. Toss a spoonful of cornmeal or flour on a sheet of parchment paper, and then use a rolling pin with a bit of olive oil on it to roll out the dough into a rectangular shape. Top the dough with the mix to form a line of mix down the middle. Cut slits in the dough on either side of the mix, and criss-cross the dough slices over the mix. If you’re really feeling crazy, slather a bit of melted butter over the top of the dough. Oh yes we did!

Bake for 30 minutes or until dough is browned and cheese begins to ooze out of the slits. Leftovers reheat great for lunch the next day…that is if there’s anything left over. Not in our house.

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf with Chipotle Cheddar

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. We had our first big snowfall of the season this weekend. Over a foot of snow fell in the course of 24 hours.

I have to admit, I was probably even more excited than my kids to go play in the snow.

We bundled up in our snowpants, jackets, hats, mittens, and boots and headed out for some winter fun. The snow was light and fluffy…perfect for sledding and making snow angels…but not quite ideal for snowmen.

So, what do we make for dinner on a snowy, weekend evening? Comfort food, of course. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

I came up with this concoction based on what we had on hand. Most meatloaf recipes call for crushed crackers or breadcrumbs to bind everything together. I thought…why not try rolled oats??? And, instead of just ground beef, since we like a little kick, I used a combination of ground beef and hot Italian sausage.

I also replaced the typical cheddar cheese with chipotle cheddar. And, for the piece de résistance, I layered a few strips of bacon on top.

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf with Chipotle Cheddar

1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb hot Italian sausage
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 egg
1 cup shredded chipotle cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp Frank’s hot sauce
1 small onion, diced
1/4 cup green pepper, diced
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
Dash of salt and pepper
A few strips of bacon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients except the bacon in a large bowl. Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap. Dump mixture into loaf pan and press down with a fork. Invert loaf into a 9 x 13 baking pan. Discard plastic wrap. Cut bacon slices in half and layer over meatloaf. Bake for 60 minutes or until temperature reads 170 degrees. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before slicing.

Serve with garlic mashed potatoes and salad. The salad in this picture is super simple: spinach, apples, almonds with lemon olive oil dressing (equal parts fresh lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil whisked with a dash or sea salt and pepper).

Orange Oat Spice Muffins

Deck the halls with orange juice muffins…fa la la la la…

The halls are decked at our house, the tree is up, and we’re ready for Christmas.

After a busy Saturday spent cutting down our tree and decorating the house, we decided on a low key Sunday.

While reaching into the fridge to pull out a carton of OJ, the thought of orange juice muffins crossed my mind.

I found a few recipes on Allrecipes.com, but I wanted something heartier and more flavorful than what I found, so I took a few hints from each and crafted my own version.

The result was a moist, flavor-packed muffin with a sweet and crispy crust on top. If you make these, you’ll notice they don’t rise or puff up much like most muffins. I baked mine in paper muffin cups, and the cups seemed a little “greasy” when I pulled them out of the muffin pan, so I’ll probably cut down on the butter next time, or go half-and-half with butter and applesauce. They were definitely delicious, though!

Orange Oat Spice Muffins

1 cup orange juice
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp nutmeg or apple pie spice
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the oats and orange juice. Let the oats soak up the juice for a few minutes.

In a large bowl, cream butter with white and brown sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix in oats and orange juice.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Stir well, then dump into large bowl and mix all ingredients. Stir in raisins.

Pour batter into 12 muffin cups. Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick tests done.

Tips: Try adding a tablespoon of fresh orange or lemon zest for added flavor. You could also add a half cup of nuts, too.

Marinated Venison Kebabs with Bulgur

It’s deer hunting season here in Minnesota.

If your family is like ours, it’s quite likely you’ve got some venison in the freezer this time of year. You may even have some from last year to use up to make room for this season’s latest meat, like we do.

It’s been an unseasonably warm week here for November, with high temps almost in the 60′s.

While cleaning out our chest freezer, we pulled out what was left of last year’s venison, and decided that grilling just felt like the right thing to do on such a mild fall day.

I’ve been tweaking my venison marinade recipe for years, and it’s hardly ever made the same way twice. There are a few basics that I always begin with, however: olive oil, salt and pepper, and garlic.

Then, to that I’ll add whatever sounds good that we have on hand, like lemon juice, bbq sauce, hot sauce. It really depends on how we plan to serve the venison. For fajitas and tacos, I’ll add some salsa or taco seasoning to the marinade.

Let it sit and hang out in the marinade in the fridge overnight, or in a pinch for just a half hour or so, and then fire up the grill!

Marinated Venision Kebabs

1 lb venison steak, cubed
8 white button mushrooms
4-5 small sweet peppers
1 lemon
2 Tbsp garlic olive oil (or EVOO and one clove diced garlic)
2 Tbsp Frank’s hot sauce
salt and pepper

Cube venison and set aside.

To prepare marinade, whisk together the juice of the lemon, the olive oil, the hot sauce, and a dash of salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add venison cubes, and allow to marinate for 30 minutes to a few hours, depending on how much time you have in advance.

Wash and dry peppers and mushrooms. Cut stems off peppers, and remove seeds inside. Cut peppers in half width-wise. Load up skewers by alternating between venison cubes, mushrooms, and peppers. This should make about 4 kebabs.

Grill over medium heat until veggies are soft and steak is cooking to your desired doneness.

Crack open a tall one, and serve kebabs with a side of bulgur or brown rice.