This Blog Has A New Home

Chloe's Toes blog will now have a new name and a new location!

The new name is Chloe's Tray

Please bookmark my new blog web address:

http://www.ChloesTray.com

I changed the name to Chloe's Tray because it sounds more 'foody' than toes ;)  My web designer (Robbie) is still working on the layout and design of the new blog, so bear with me as changes are made.  Don't worry though, you will still see lots of great recipes on ChloesTray.com!!

See you there and don't forget to post comments!! 

Pineapple Banana Muffins

We have a serious pineapple overload in our house right now.  Last week there were two pineapples in our bountiful basket, and this week we got another one.  We hadn't eaten much of the first two, so I really needed to make something with pineapple.  I couldn't find a recipe for what I wanted to make, so I just adjusted my banana bread recipe a bit.

Ingredients:
Muffins-

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Butter or Margerine
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs, Lightly Beaten
2 1/3 Cup Mashed Overripe Bananas (5-6 bananas)

1 Cup Chopped fresh pineapple

Topping-

2 Tbsp flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the flour, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.  In another bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer.  Add the bananas and eggs to the butter mixture and mix until combined.  Pour this over the flour mixture and stir until thoroughly combined.  Stir in the pineapple.

Prepare topping by combining the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon.  With your fingers or a fork, mix in the butter.  

Pour muffin batter in greased muffin tins and sprinkle the topping on the muffin batter.

 

Bake 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

This made 17 muffins.

Butternut Bowties

Butternut squash is my favorite type of squash and it's really easy to cook with.  This recipe, which comes from Rachael Ray, is a take on mac and cheese.  The creamy sauce is made with pureed butternut squash instead of a ton of cheese, like a traditional macaroni and cheese sauce is.  When I made this I only had about 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, but it still turned out great.

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash, halved and seeds removed
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 lb bowtie pasta
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
A pinch of cinnamon
1 tsp dried sage
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Drizzle squash with olive oil and place cut side down on a baking sheet.  Roast for 30-45 minutes, until tender.  Puree squash in a food processor until smooth.


Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt the water and cook pasta until al dente.


While the pasta is cooking, melt butter over medium-high heat in a saucepan.  Whisk in flour and cook for about 2 minutes.  Whisk in milk and let thicken for about 3 minutes.  Stir in pureed squash, nutmeg, cinnamon, sage and season with salt and pepper.


In a casserole dish, combine the pasta with the sauce.  Sprinkle with cheeses and bake for 15-20 minutes to brown the cheese.

Chloe really liked this!

Cocoa Brownies

These brownies come from an Alton Brown recipe.  I made them for a play group potluck and everyone loved them.  They seemed to be a different texture than other brownies I've made, but it is certainly a very good type of different.  They were super chocolaty and amazingly delicious.


Ingredients:

Non-stick spray
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

8 ounces melted butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract
11/4 cups cocoa, sifted
1/2 cup flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Line an 8X8 pan with foil or parchment paper and spray with non-stick spray.

Beat eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes.  Add sugar, brown sugar, butter and vanilla to the eggs and mix at low speed until combined.  Add cocoa powder, flour and salt.  Mix until thoroughly combined.  Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Croutons

I haven't made croutons in quite a while.  I made them differently than I normally do and it ended up being easier and they turned out better.  No longer will croutons be made in the oven in my house!  This is a good use for stale bread or the ends of a loaf.  These are best to be eaten the day they are made.

Ingredients:

Bread

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Spices: Salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, etc.

Heat  2-3 Tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  While the oil is heating, cut up the bread into crouton sized pieces.  Add bread and seasons to the pan.  Toss to coat, adding more olive oil if needed.  Brown the bread for about 5 minutes, stirring often.

Baked Potato

This post is more for my own reference than anything else.  Every time I go to make a baked potato I have to look up what temperature to set the oven to and for how long to cook it.  No longer will that be the case because it will be right here.

Ingredients:

1 Potato

Canola Oil

Kosher Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Wash potato and poke 10-15 holes in the potato with a fork.  Rub with canola oil and sprinkle with Kosher salt.  Place potato on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour.  Additional time will be needed if baking more than 4 potatoes at once.  Potato is done when the skin it crispy and the inside is soft.

Forgotten Chicken

I got this recipe from a friend of mine a few months ago.  Her description of this recipe is "Easiest.Recipe.Ever."  Dinner is always easy when you can just throw it in the oven and forget about it.  I like to serve this with a roasted vegetable which I add to the oven during the last 30 minutes of cooking.  Tonight we made yellow squash.

Ingredients:
2-3 Tbsp butter

1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice
1 (13.25oz) can of mushrooms, undrained 

3/4 cup of milk
1 (10.75oz) can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 (10.75oz) can Cream of Chicken soup
1 envelope dried onion soup mix
4-6 frozen chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Rub butter in a casserole dish.  In a large bowl, mix rice, milk, mushrooms, cream of chicken soup and cream of mushroom soup together. Pour into cassarole dish. Place chicken on top and sprinkle with the onion soup mix. Cover with foil and bake 2 hours at 350 degrees.