Stephanie's Slice Of Life

Author Archives: StephMo

• 

  Lemon Arugula Pasta

  Posted at 11:58 am by StephMo

  Oct 14th

  This pasta dish is absulutely delicious! Whenever I find a recipe that my somewhat picky son asks for I know it is a winner. It minics alfredo except for the fact that there isn’t any butter, so maybe it’s a little healthier? It’s not low fat but you know what they say, everything in moderation.

  As I have stated before, any recipe with cream in it is something I am going to love. I believe this recipe is originally from Ina Garten so you know it is going to be good. This recipe has such a wonderful flavor with the fresh lemon and arugula. I have tried it with spinach before when I was out of arugula and I will say although it was good, it is much better with arugula.

  Ingredients:

  1 lb. of pasta

  2 lemons, juiced

  1/2 cup – 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved

  4 oz. of fresh arugula

  1 cup broccoli florets

  2 cups heavy cream

  1 tsp. minced garlic

  1 tbsp. olive oil

  1/2 tsp pepper

  1/2 tsp. salt

  3/4 cup parmesan cheese, plus more

  I was out of fresh broccoli last night and had to use frozen which is not ideal, but my family didn’t notice. Shhhh, don’t tell. Fresh is preferable, but we do our best and make do with what we have right?

  Juice two lemons and put the juice aside. Halve the cherry tomatoes and cut the broccoli into bit size florets.

  

  With fresh broccoli, cook in boiling water for about 3 minutes. Drain in a colander and run under cold water stop the cooking. Set aside.

  When you start boiling the water for the pasta you can start making the sauce.

  Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over low/medium heat. Cook the minced garlic for 1 minute while stirring constantly. Garlic burns very easily so be careful.

  Add the cream, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil while whisking frequently. Reduce heat to a simmer and whisk in the parmesan cheese. Continue simmering and whisking frequently for about 15 minutes.

  

  Once the water is boiled cook your pasta as directed on the package.

  Drain the pasta when ready and return to the pan. Add the sauce and combine well until you see that it is thickening and absorbing into the pasta. You may choose to add more parmesan if you so desire. You can never have too much cheese!

  Add the arugula and stir until it is wilted.

  

  Add the tomatoes and broccoli and you are ready to serve.

  Enjoy!

  Posted in Dinners, Recipes | Tagged cream sauce recipe, food blog, food blogger, lemon arugula pasta, lemon arugula pasta recipe, lemon pasta, lemon pasta recipe, pasta recipe, pasta recipes
• 

  French Toast

  Posted at 3:04 pm by StephMo

  Oct 13th

  French toast is such a delicious breakfast treat that is quite easy to make. It can be made with just about any type of bread, but a thicker slice of bread is preferable. I like to use a thick Texas Toast or my favorite is Challah bread.

  This is one of those recipes that I have been doing for years and don’t measure the ingredients. While making it this morning I tried to pay attention as best I could to the amounts I was using but nothing was measured.

  Ingredients:

  Bread, thick sliced

  Eggs

  Milk

  Salt

  Sugar

  Vanilla

  Slice some nice bread into thick slices. The bread I used today was a Brioche I believe. My favorite bread for French Toast is Challah, but this was the closest I could find.

  For two slices of french toast you can use 1 egg, for four slices just double the recipe, etc. Today I was only making two slices so I used 1 egg.

  Lightly beat an egg in a shallow bowl. Add an equal amount of milk, which means you have to eyeball it and it won’t be exact.

  Add a splash of vanilla – maybe a 1/2 tsp, a dash of salt, and a little sugar. Mix well.

  

  Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Dip both sides of the bread into the egg mixture and place in the hot pan.

  

  Cook for approximately 4 minutes per side while checking after about 2 minutes to make sure it isn’t browning too quickly. The bread needs to cook through and if the heat is too high it will brown the outside before the inside egg is cooked. If it is browning too quickly just turn down the heat. You can also flip the bread if this is happening and cook longer on a lower heat.

  Also pat the bread lightly with a spatula occasionaly while cooking.

  

  That’s it! Just add a little butter, syrup, or powdered sugar. I had a very happy son this morning.

  

  Here is some French Toast I made a little while ago on Challah bread, so good!

  

  Posted in brunch, Recipes | Tagged breakfast ideas, breakfast recipes, brunch ideas, challah french toast, challah french toast recipe, easy french toast, easy french toast recipe, food blog, food blogger, french toast, french toast recipe, stephanie's slice of life
• 

  Apple Crisp

  Posted at 11:17 am by StephMo

  Oct 13th

  I honestly don’t think there is a better smell than fresh baked apple crisp or apple pie. What’s even better than the smell is the taste! It is such a delicious Fall treat, and perfect for those of us that don’t particularly care for making pie crust. While my family didn’t pick our own apples this year, we did buy apples from the orchard after we picked our own pumpkins. I like to use Cortland apples for baking, and I still have half of a bag left to bake more Fall goodies.

  This is another recipe that started from my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook, but I have changed it a little bit. I use about twice the amount of apples that it calls for and do things a little differently.

  Ingredients:

  8-9 apples

  2/3 cup brown sugar

  1/2 cup flour

  1/2 cup oats

  1/3 cup butter, softened

  3/4 tsp. nutmeg

  3/4 tsp. cinnamon

  Grease the bottom and sides of a square 8″ glass dish or casserole with shortening.

  I like to mix the dry ingredients before I cut the apples so that it is ready to go before the apples get too brown.

  

  Using an apple peeler or a knife, peel and core the apples.

  

  Sadly my apple peeler broke after I peeled a few apples so I had to resort to using a knife. I actually enjoy trying to peel the entire apple in one long piece, which I did but broke it when I moved it to take a picture.

  

  Slice the apples and stack in the glass dish. Make sure the slices aren’t too thin or the crisp will get too mushy. I sacrificed some of our topping to make an additional little casserole to bring to my daughter at school. I’m good like that 🥰

  Cut the softened butter into the dry mixture using two forks, a fork and a knife, or a pastry cutter. You want to incorporate the butter as best you can so that it is in little chunks and evenly distributed.

  

  Spread the topping evenly over the apples so that they are all covered.

  

  Once they are topped, bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly.

  

  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream! Yum. yum, yum. 🍎🍎🍎

  Posted in Pies, Recipes | Tagged apple crisp, apple crisp recipe, apple recipe, apple recipes, betty crocker apple crisp, food blog, food blogger, stephanie's slice of life
• 

  Easy Nachos

  Posted at 3:30 pm by StephMo

  Oct 6th

  Who doesn’t love nachos? They are the perfect food to eat while watching a football game right? Well that is what I gathered from my husband’s puppy dog eyes as he mentioned how one of his clients had said he was going to be having nachos for the Patriots game last night. Despite his insincere “oh no you don’t have to make nachos”, I made nachos. I am not complaining because they were a yummy treat!

  Let me start by saying I did not make gourmet nachos with all homemade ingredients. I made easy, no frills, but delicious nachos. I know making nachos may seem like a simple thing to do, which it is, but in case you have never made them I thought I would share how I make nachos.

  If I were making these for company I might make my own guacamole https://stephaniessliceoflife.com/?s=guacamole, maybe use homemade pulled pork https://stephaniessliceoflife.com/?s=pulled+pork, a combination of fancy cheeses, a better looking presentation, etc. The beauty of nachos is that you can make them however you like!

  Last night I decided to use the following ingredients:

  Tortilla chips

  Shredded cheddar cheese

  Queso

  Ground turkey (or beef)

  Taco seasoning

  Lettuce, chopped

  Tomatoes, chopped

  Black beans

  Sliced black olives

  Banana peppers, chopped

  Jalapenos

  Sour Cream

  Guacamole

  I cooked ground turkey until no longer pink in a frying pan, drained the grease, and added the taco seasoning and water (follow instructions on the package). Cook for about 5 minutes until the mixture thickens. You can also use shredded cooked chicken mixed with the taco seasoning if you’d like.

  

  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spread a layer of tortilla chips covering the sheet.

  Add shredded cheese on top of the chips. You can use as much or as little as you like.

  

  Spread half of the taco meat on top of the chips.

  

  Add another layer of chips and more shredded cheese. I don’t know about you but I like nachos stacked.

  

  Now add the rest of the meat, the olives and black beans. My son doesn’t like beans or olives so I had to leave a section without. I then added some queso on top as well. You can never have too much cheese!

  

  Bake at 375 degrees until the shredded cheese melts.

  Then top with the remaining ingredients and that’s it!

  

  Since not everyone in my family likes sour cream and guacamole, I served it on the side.

  

  Posted in Comfort Food, Recipes | Tagged easy nachos recipe, food blog, food blogger, game day foods, game day recipes, loaded nachos, nachos, nachos recipe, quick nachos recipe, stacked nachos, stephanies slice of life
• 

  Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins

  Posted at 10:07 am by StephMo

  Oct 6th

  Yesterday was not supposed to be a day where Blueberry Muffins would be baking in my kitchen, but low and behold they were. While I didn’t technically bake these muffins, I wanted to share the recipe anyway. As some of you may know I already have a favorite recipe for Blueberry Muffins (separate Blog post) and once I get a favorite, I don’t stray. However, after trying these muffins I may have to conduct my own “bake off” some day to see which I prefer because these were really good.

  So yesterday as I was polishing silver in my kitchen my son very casually walked in to the room carrying his open computer while in the midst of his Zoom cooking class and said, “I guess we’re cooking today and making Blueberry Muffins, I didn’t know”. If you have children you may also have some of these kinds of children that never know and it’s never their fault.

  Once I confirmed his computer was on mute, I made it clear how I felt about his not knowing while I ran around my kitchen avoiding his computer’s camera and softened butter, defrosted frozen blueberries, got the ingredients, bowls, measuring cups, etc. I probably should have let him suffer the consequences and have this being a learning moment, but instead he ended up being the most prepared student in the class with an avid baking mother sitting at the table coaching him.

  I have looked on-line and there seems to be many slight variations of the famous Jordan Marsh muffins and I am not sure if this recipe is “the recipe”. I am also writing the instructions from memory of what I observed and coached. I also have to say I have never tried a Jordan Marsh muffin, my mother and I were strictly Filene’s shoppers 😛

  Ingredients:

  1/2 cup butter, softened

  1 cup sugar

  2 eggs, lightly beaten

  2 cups flour

  2 tsp. baking powder

  1/2 tsp. salt

  1/2 cup milk

  1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

  1 1/2 cups blueberries

  In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in the eggs one at a time.

  In a separate bowl combine all of the dry ingredients.

  Combine the vanilla with the milk, and alternate adding the dry ingredients and milk mixture into the butter mixture.

  The recipe recommended mashing some of the blueberries before adding to the muffin mixture, but we just added them un-mashed.

  Fill either a greased or paper lined muffin tin 2/3 way full with batter. Sprinkle tops with sugar if desired.

  Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

  Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

  

  

  Posted in brunch, muffins, Recipes | Tagged blueberry muffin recipe, blueberry muffins, breakfast recipes, brunch, brunch recipes, food blog, food blogger, jordan marsh blueberry muffins, muffin recipe, muffins
• 

  Dill Pickles

  Posted at 3:36 pm by StephMo

  Sep 25th

  Canning is new to me as I mentioned in my recent Strawberry Jam blog, but I am honestly loving it and can’t wait to try more recipes. My father jokingly asked if I was going to be giving homemade jars out as Christmas gifts, which I was planning on doing 😬. Oh well, I think homemade goodies are better than store bought gifts. And so far the two things I have made are delicious!

  Ok, so Dill Pickles are my latest creation and they turned out better than I expected. They had a very different taste than any others I have tried, and my husband said they were the best pickles he has ever had. They have a strong vinegar taste at first but then the garlic dill flavor pops and is so good!

  I purchased 8 oz. jars for these but I feel like a larger jar might have been better because there really aren’t that many pickles in each jar. You can decide how you large you want your jars to be.

  To make pickles you need the following ingredients:

  Mason jars

  10-12 small pickling cucumbers

  2 garlic cloves

  2 tsp. mustard seed

  2 tsp. black peppercorn

  Fresh dill

  2 cups water

  2 cups distilled white vinegar

  1/4 cup cane sugar

  2 tbsp. sea salt

  I am not really sure if the cucumbers I purchased are technically pickling cucumbers, but they were the smallest I could find.

  

  Cut the cucumbers into small spears or into slices and fill the jars while leaving a little room for the other ingredients.

  

  Then put a sprig of dill and a 1/4 clove of garlic into each jar, and divide the mustard seeds and peppercorns evenly into the jars.

  

  

  Now you need to make the brine that pickles the cucumbers. This is done by combining the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a saucepan and cooking over low/medium heat until the sugar and salt are dissolved.

  Let the brine cool slightly and pour evenly into the jars covering the cucumbers.

  

  Let the jars cool to room temperature and then seal them. Refrigerate for at least 5 days to let the flavor absorb into the cucumbers.

  

  They are so good you will want to eat them all!

  Posted in pickles, Pickles, Recipes | Tagged canning, canning recipes, dill pickle recipe, dill pickles, food blog, food blogger, pickle recipe, pickles, stephanie's slice of life
• 

  Chocolate Waffles

  Posted at 10:55 am by StephMo

  Sep 16th

  What is better than a thick, warm, waffle? How about a thick, warm, chocolate waffle! So delicious and decadent. Chocolate waffles make a perfect dessert treat with some ice cream, but today they were a special breakfast treat for my son. I thought I had some strawberries in the house to top them with to make it seem somewhat healthy, but I’ll just have to get some fruit into him later.

  Waffles might seem like a difficult thing to make, but they are actually quite easy. The only reason I don’t make them more often is because I have to go get the waffle maker from “down cellah” as us Bostonians say.

  So let’s make waffles!

  Ingredients:

  1 1/2 cups flour

  3 tsp. baking powder

  1/2 tsp. salt

  1/2 cup sugar

  3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

  1 cup milk

  2 large eggs

  4 tbsp. butter, melted

  mini chocolate chips, optional

  Sift together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. As I always say, make sure to sift when using cocoa powder because it really makes a difference.

  

  Whisk in the milk, eggs, and melted butter until smooth.

  

  

  I added a few mini chocolate chips because that’s how I roll. Honestly, when are chocolate chips ever a bad thing? Right?

  Spray your waffle iron with cooking spray and heat per the manufacturer’s instructions.

  Once heated, ladle the batter into the iron and let cook for about 4 minutes. I used a fork to remove them.

  

  

  I spread the batter out a little more for my second batch.

  

  Serve warm with fruit, ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, or whatever you like. Yum, yum, yum!!

  

  Posted in brunch, Recipes | Tagged brunch recipes, chocolate waffle, chocolate waffle recipe, chocolate waffles, dessert waffles, food blog, stephanie's slice of life, waffle recipe, waffles
• 

  Strawberry Jam

  Posted at 3:36 pm by StephMo

  Sep 10th

  I recently made homemade Strawberry Jam and it was much easier than I thought it would be. Now I am excited to try making other flavors of jam as well. I had known that jam recipes usually have Pectin as an ingredient and since I have no idea what is, I decided to find a recipe without Pectin. I truly am a problem solver. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

  I ordered and washed some 8 oz. mason jars. Try not to touch the inside of the jars or the lids once they are clean so that bacteria doesn’t grow in the jars. This recipe made 4 1/2 – 8oz. jars.

  The jars need to be hot when you put the jam into them, and to do this I put them in a 225 degree oven while I was making the jam. I kept checking them to make sure they didn’t get too hot.

  Now let’s make the jam! You will need a heavy saucepan for this.

  Ingredients:

  2 lbs. of fresh strawberries

  4 cups of sugar

  1/4 cup lemon juice

  

  Clean the strawberries, cut off the tops, and slice them in half.

  Mash the strawberries in a mixing bowl in batches. Once a batch was complete I put it in the saucepan.

  

  Once all of the strawberries are mashed and in the saucepan add the sugar and lemon juice and bring to a rolling boil while stirring frequently.

  

  The jam needs to boil to 220 degrees which is above boiling point. You will notice that it plateaus for a little while because of this, but you need to be patient and wait until it hits that temperature.

  

  I was actually getting a little impatient myself, but you will see how the mixture changes once it hits that temperature.

  

  Once the jam reaches 220 degrees remove it from the heat and start ladling it into the hot jars with a funnel leaving about 1/2 inch of space in the jars.

  

  Once they are filled, seal the jars tightly while still trying not to touch the inside of the lids or jars. And that’s it!

  If you are planning on eating the jam soon all you need to do is refrigerate the jam.

  

  If you are planning on saving the jam you need to complete the next step of using a water bath.

  If you have never done this it is easy. Bring a large pot of water to a boil making sure that there is enough water for the jars to be submerged. Make sure the jars are sealed tightly and use tongs to lower the jars into the water.

  Let them sit in the boiling water for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep them in the water for another 5 minutes. Remove with tongs and set on a towel and leave undisturbed for 12-24 hours.

  Posted in jam, Recipes | Tagged easy strawberry jam, food blog, food blogger, homemade jam, jam, jam recipe, stephanie's slice of life, strawberry jam, strawberry jam recipe, strawberry jam without pectin
• 

  Blueberry Pie

  Posted at 8:36 am by StephMo

  Sep 1st

  When I think of Summer in Maine I think of sun, the ocean, friends, family, picturesque shorelines, and blueberries. When I think of blueberries, I think of pies and muffins. While I do have wild blueberries in my yard, they never yield enough for a pie. I can usually pick enough for muffins, which I also made this week, but for the pie I needed to purchase some at a local farm stand.

  It is about this time in the Summer when my husband starts making little comments about pie and wondering where that annual delicious blueberry treat might be. I was a little later than usual this year with my pie and I was starting to get a little nervous that the local blueberries may not be available anymore.

  The only thing I dread about making this pie is cleaning all of those little blueberries. If you aren’t familiar with Maine blueberries, they are the low bush small berries. It is very time consuming and not very fun. Some people might just give them a rinse but I like to go through them and make sure there aren’t any stems or rotten berries in the mix. My son would walk by every now and again and say “Still cleaning those blueberries huh?”.

  This pie is well worth the effort, and your family seeing you at the sink sorting through berries makes them appreciate the pie (and you) even more.

  You can use any pie crust recipe or a store bought crust if you prefer. If you don’t have a recipe for crust I have included the recipe I use at the bottom of the blog.

  Ingredients:

  3/4 cup sugar

  3 tbsp. corn starch

  1/4 tsp. salt

  1/2 tsp. cinnamon

  4 cups blueberries

  Mix together sugar, corn starch, salt, and cinnamon.

  

  Fold the blueberries gently into the sugar mixture.

  

  

  Pour the blueberry mixture into the pie crust.

  

  Top with another layer of crust or you can make a lattice top like I did. To make the lattice top roll out the dough into a circle and cut the dough into strips.

  Interweave the strips and pinch the edges. My daughter did this lattice work, great job Sara!

  

  

  

  Bake for about 50 minutes or until bubbly and the crust is slightly brown.

  

  Pie, pie, me oh my, I love pie!

  Pie Crust Ingredients:

  2 1/2 cups flour

  1 tsp. salt

  3/4 cup butter, cold and cut into small cubes

  1/2 cup chilled shortening, cut into small cubes

  1/4 cup chilled vodka

  1/4 cup cold water

  Whisk together the flour and salt.

  Cut the butter and shortening into the flour mixture with a fork and knife, or a pastry blender until the mixture looks like course crumbs.

  Sprinkle in the water and vodka and mix well until the dough is formed, it will be sticky.

  Divide the dough into two and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

  Posted in Pies, Recipes | Tagged blog, blueberry pie, blueberry pie recipe, food blog, food blogger, maine blueberries, maine blueberry pie, pie, pie crust, pie crust recipe, pie recipe, vodka pie crust recipe
• 

  Cinnamon Rolls

  Posted at 6:10 pm by StephMo

  Aug 31st

  Homemade cinnamon rolls were something that I wanted to make for years but for some reason was apprehensive to do so. They always seemed a little intimidating and time consuming. In actuality they are very easy to make. And oh so delicious!

  Whoever you make these scrumptious, warm rolls for will surely be impressed not only by the taste (so good) but by the appearance as well. They will think you are quite the baker. I found this recipe on the internet and the only part I have changed is the icing. We weren’t crazy about the taste so we tweaked it a little and we love it!

  Roll Ingredients:

  2 3/4 cups flour

  1/4 cup sugar

  1 tsp. salt

  2 1/4 tsp. yeast

  1/2 cup milk

  1/4 cup water

  3 tbsp. butter

  1 egg

  Filling Ingredients:

  3 tbsp. butter, softened

  1 tbsp. cinnamon

  1/4 cup sugar

  Icing Ingredients:

  1 cup confectioners sugar

  1 tsp. vanilla

  2 tbsp. milk

  1 tbsp. butter, melted

  To make the dough whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large mixing bowl. If you have instant yeast the rolls will rise quicker than if you use active dry yeast, which is what I used for this recipe. Once combined set aside.

  

  In a small mixing bowl microwave milk, water, and butter until butter is melted. You can also do this in a saucepan if you wish.

  Add this mixture to the dry mixture and combine well. Add the egg and combine. Dough will be soft and sticky.

  

  Turn out the dough onto a floured board and knead for about 3 minutes. I needed to add a little more flour here and there while kneading to make it less sticky, but you want the dough to be soft.

  

  Coat another mixing bowl with oil or oil spray and let the dough sit for 10 minutes lightly covered in the bowl.

  Roll out the dough onto a floured surface and shape into a rectangle about 8″ by 14″. Mine looks more like an oval, but really try to get it to be a rectangle.

  

  Spread the 3 tbsp. of softened butter over the entire rectangle.

  

  Now combine the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle over the butter. Then begin rolling the dough tightly.

  

  

  Once the dough is rolled, cut it into about 12 slices. Then arrange the slices in a round greased pie dish. You can see the smaller ones in my batch are from the oval shape, hence why you should really work towards a rectangle.

  

  Cover with plastic wrap and let them rise until they about double in size. It took about 2 hours using the active dry yeast.

  

  Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes or until slightly brown. Oh my goodness the smell that will fill your kitchen is amazing!

  

  Let the rolls cool slightly and then top them with the icing. For the icing whisk all the ingredients together and then drizzle over the top of the warm rolls. Yum!

  

  These are best eaten warm, too good actually!

  Cover any leftovers with aluminum foil.

  Posted in Breads, Recipes | Tagged breakfast, brunch foods, brunch recipes, cinnamon roll icing, cinnamon rolls, cinnamon rolls recipe, food blog, food blogger, rolls, rolls recipe

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