[Circle of Moms Top 25 Foodie Moms - 2013 - Vote for me!]

I’ve been nominated again for Circle of Mom’s Foodie Blogger Contest. I placed 11th this year and hope to achieve the top 25 again this year. This is a wonderful community for moms and I am really happy to be apart of their growing food section, along with their Cookbook. The competition is stiff, but I know with your help I can do it again. I appreciate all of your votes and hope you will vote for The Way to His Heart once every 24 hours to help me get in the Top 25 again! Voting ends June 4th, but please vote everyday as the rankings fluctuate very easily from day to day. Please, share this link or the link I post on Facebook and Twitter on your walls, etc. Every bit helps!

Thank you all so much!

Maeghan

When baking, it’s important to follow your recipe and measure your ingredients accurately. Your results are usually a given if you do this, whether you are a novice baker or a seasoned vet. Sometimes, though, you get carried away or too comfortable and you miss a step or an ingredient. In my case, I mixed up ingredients. Even though I read through my ingredient list and gathered all of the ingredients for this recipe I still grabbed the wrong thing. As I was measuring everything out for my daughter to pour into the bowl I said, “Now the baking powder.” My daughter spoke up and said, “Mommy, that’s not baking powder that’s baking soda!” She can’t read at three, but she already knows the difference. So, I scooped the little bit that went into the bowl our and we fixed my mistake. I hear from a lot of you that you’ll mess something up or can’t do something, and say you wish you could make things from scratch like I show here. I’m telling you, we all make mistakes! Just keep trying because the results are usually tasty! So, anyone want to share your recent or most memorable “oops” moment in the comments?

These muffins are really a nice change of pace. They have that lovely orange and chocolate combination that I’ve grown to love, but aren’t overly sweet like most orange and chocolate desserts out there. A simple, fresh flavor with that hint of chocolate. Neither is overpowering, but you can definitely tell what is inside.

Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups All-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup semisweet, milk, or white chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 to 1 tsp orange oil OR 1 to 2 Tbsp orange zest, to taste
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes, optional
• additional sugar, for sprinkling on top

Pre-heat oven to 400 F. Lightly spray a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, vegetable oil, egg, and orange until light in color. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently stir until the ingredients are moist, about 20 seconds. Lumps are okay, don’t over stir or the muffins will be heavy instead of tender.

Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full with batter. Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp of sugar over each for a sugary crust.

Bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the muffin pan from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Then, remove the muffins from the pan and allow to cool further on a wire rate.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yields 12

Source: King Arthur Flour

Circle of Moms Top 25 Foodie Moms – 2013 – Vote for me! You can vote once daily. Thank you!

I’ve been looking for a good soup recipe to use up a ham bone I’ve had sitting in my freezer for quite some time. I think Christmas maybe? I tend to stick a lot of things in the freezer until I am ready to cook with it or find the perfect thing. I had kind of given up on finding something since lentils really weren’t what I was in the mood for when I happened about this recipe on a fellow bloggers site. I loved how it predominately used vegetables and threw in some beans. My daughter adores pinto beans so I knew I had a fighting chance with this soup!

The soup was delicious and the ham added such a nice flavor to everything. It softened the taste of the cabbage and gave the pinto beans some depth. I actually didn’t end up using any salt or pepper since the ham bone already had some in it! My daughter gobbled this soup right up. The only thing she didn’t like was the ham, I know, she’s weird! But, little does she know that is what got her to eat the kale and cabbage since she otherwise wont touch the stuff!

I know that ham season is over, but I’m hoping maybe a few of you had some over Mothers Day weekend or you have a ham bone sitting in the freezer like I did. Otherwise, bookmark this recipe! You’ll be glad you did. I didn’t want to sit on this recipe until next year and have you miss out!

Ham Bone, Veggie & Bean Soup

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 large carrots, sliced
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 8 cups of water (may need more)
• 1 ham bone with some meat still on it
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1   15oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 head green cabbage, shredded (about 8 cups)
• 1   14.5oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves torn or chopped into bite-sized pieces
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large stock pot, over medium-high heat. Toss in the carrots, celery, and onion. Cook until softened, approximately 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 1 minute.

Add 8 cups of water to the pot and the ham bone. You may need more water to cover up the ham bone. Add the bay lead and Italian seasoning and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium-low and add the beans. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes. Add the cabbage and diced tomatoes and allow to simmer for an additional 30 minutes. Stir in the kale and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes, until the kale is soft but still vibrant.

Remove the ham bone from the soup and cut off the pick into bite sized pieces. Put the ham back into the pot and season with salt and pepper to taste. (I found that it didn’t need any additional seasoning since the ham provided so much!) Before serving, if you can spot the bay leaf, remove it.

Yields 64 oz.

Source: Seen on Christine’s Kitchen Chronicles, modified from Cook This Now

I’ve been nominated for Circle of Moms Top 25 Foodie Moms. Please take a second and vote for me, I’d greatly appreciate it. You can vote once a day! Thank you!

I received free product coupons from Heluva Good! to create a new recipe and partake in their blogger recipe contest. As always, all of the opinions expressed here are my own.

We’ve all been in a rush before to whip a quick appetizer up. Last minute get together at someone’s house or your own. Maybe not so last minute, but you procrastinated and now you need something quick! You don’t want to be the one that brings the veggie platter or chips and dips, although those are my favorite, they look like you didn’t try. I’ve got a solution for you! Grab that container of dip anyways and turn it into something tasty, cute, and will be sure to impress!

The good folks at Heluva Good! Dip have asked me to come up with a recipe that uses one of their great sour cream dips and only contains five ingredients. My mind started racing. I came up with some good ideas, think scones, chicken dishes, etc. but I wanted something super easy and fun to make and I just love appetizers. Why not combine my love of appetizers, wonton wrappers, and sour cream dips? The end result were these Jalapeno Cheddar Chicken Wonton Cups and I think you’ll enjoy them. They take minutes to assemble and you can pop them in the oven and they are ready in minutes. If you don’t have time to cook and shred chicken, I always make a big batch and keep some handy in my refrigerator, you can grab a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store or they even sell shredded chicken in the sandwich meat area! Add a little cilantro for garnish and they will look like the perfect little bite for any party!

Please vote for these on Heluva Good!’s Facebook page! Thank you!! You must first “like” the page and then you can enter.

Jalapeno Cheddar Chicken Wonton

Ingredients

• 2 cups shredded chicken
• 12 oz Heluva Good! Jalapeno Cheddar Dip
• 48 wonton wrappers
• Cooking spray
• 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• cilantro for garnish

Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Lightly spray muffin tin cups with cooking spray.

Place two wonton wrappers in each muffin tin, one slightly overlapping the other.

In a small bowl, mix the chicken and dip until combined. Evenly distribute the chicken mixture in
to the assembled wonton wrapper cups.

Next, sprinkle a little bit of cheddar cheese over each cup.

Bake for 6 to 7 minutes, or until the wonton wrappers are lightly browned and the cheese has melted.

Yields 24

Source: The Way to His Heart