recipe blog | Stephanie's Slice Of Life

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- Amazing Chocolate Chip Muffins
  
  Posted at 6:47 pm by StephMo
  
  Feb 6th
  
  This morning my son was home sick from school and said he was craving a chocolate chip muffin. I offered to make him some, and I was thinking out loud that I don’t think I had ever made chocolate chip muffins. He asked if I could just use chocolate chips instead of blueberries in the muffin recipe we love. That is what I decided to do, except I decided to add a little vanilla to see how it would taste. And they tasted amazing!
  
  This recipe has never let me down, and always comes out perfect. It is so easy to make, the only downfall is that it doesn’t make many. I am always a little hesitant to double recipes and have yet to try that with this one. I usually just make two batches.
  
  So here is what you need to make these amazing muffins:
  
  1 1/2 cups flour
  
  3/4 cup sugar
  
  2 tsp. baking powder
  
  1/2 tsp. salt
  
  1/3 cup vegetable oil
  
  1 egg
  
  2/3 cup (less) milk
  
  1 tsp. vanilla
  
  3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
  
  Coarse sugar
  
  Grease a muffin tin. I prefer to use shortening, I’m old school like that I guess but you can use spray as well. Or you can use muffin liners.
  
  Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a medium size mixing bowl. Sift all ingredients together.
  
  Add 1/3 cup oil to a 1 cup measuring cup. Add 1 egg, then add enough milk until it measures 1 cup.
  
  Mix oil mixture and vanilla into dry ingredients.
  
  Mix in chocolate chips, and scoop into muffin tin. I like to use a large cookie scoop just because I make quite a mess when I use a spoon. It works really well this way.
  
  Fill to the top, and as you can see it only made seven muffins.
  
  Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until done. Once muffins have cooked for a few minutes I like to sprinkle coarse sugar on to each muffin and continue baking.
  
  They look so good don’t they? Yum! Let them cool in the pan before trying to remove. I use a knife to just try to loosen the muffin tops at this point.
  
  My son was very happy to have these homemade chocolate chip muffins to satisfy his craving! And so was I 😋
  
  Posted in Chocolate Chip Muffins, Muffins, Recipes | Tagged chocolate chip muffin recipe, chocolate chip muffins, food blog, food blogger, lifestyle blogger, muffin recipe, muffins, recipe blog, Recipes
- Turkey Zucchini Rice
  
  Posted at 10:07 am by StephMo
  
  Jan 9th
  
  If all meals could be this easy, I would definitely order a lot less take out. I can already see my husband rolling his eyes when he reads this, and yes I would. I am pretty sure I have never grumbled about making dinner while making this meal, so that says something right? Easy, easy, easy, and yummy.
  
  I started making this meal about 20 years ago from a recipe I saw in a magazine. For such a simple recipe it is funny how many times my family requests it when I am asking for meal ideas. Fine with me!
  
  When I originally started making this recipe I used ground beef, but now I use ground turkey. You can use whichever you prefer.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  1 lb. ground turkey or ground beef
  
  1 14 oz. can tomato sauce
  
  1 large zucchini (or two small) chopped
  
  1 tsp. minced garlic
  
  1 tbsp. Italian Seasoning
  
  1/2 tsp. pepper
  
  1/2 cup – 1 cup of shredded cheddar
  
  2 – 3 cups cooked rice
  
  Start white or brown rice cooking. Once rice is started, cook ground turkey in skillet until no longer pink. Drain grease, transfer to a plate, and put aside.
  
  Wipe out the pan and spray with cooking spray. Cook zucchini and garlic until zucchini softens.
  
  Add cooked ground turkey back to pan along with all other ingredients except cheese, stir well, and simmer for 10 minutes.
  
  Once the rice is cooked and you are ready to serve, add cheese to turkey zucchini mixture and cook until cheese melts.
  
  Serve over rice and enjoy!
  
  Posted in Dinners, Recipes, Turkey Zucchini Rice | Tagged dinner, dinner recipe, easy dinner, easy dinner recipe, easy meals, food blog, food blogger, recipe blog, Recipes, turkey zucchini rice recipe, weeknight meals
- Mac And Cheese, Yes Please!
  
  Posted at 9:26 am by StephMo
  
  Dec 17th
  
  If you are anything like me, seeing that picture of melty cheesy goodness over pasta just made your mouth water. Mac and cheese is honestly the most wonderful creation that has ever been created. It is hands down my favorite food group. Yes, I consider it its own food group. It is the true definition of comfort food.
  
  I am such a lover of mac and cheese than when my daughter was first introduced to it as a baby and she didn’t like it, I actually thought she may have been switched in the hospital. It was not genetically possible for me to have a mac and cheese hating child. Thankfully she came to her senses quickly, and I am happy to say that mac and cheese is now her favorite food as well. Phew!
  
  Over the years I have played around with how I make it. I have tried different cheeses, different amounts of cheese, different amounts of milk, etc., until I settled on the recipe below.
  
  I like to use a combination of extra sharp cheddar and gruyere cheeses. I use the entire 8 oz. block of cheddar, and a little more than half of the block of gruyere. It is best to use block cheese, not pre-shredded. I did not shred the cheese for this batch, I just cut the cheese up into small chunks and it melted just as well.
  
  I start the sauce a few minutes before I put the pasta in to cook. The sauce usually takes about 8-10 minutes. Use a pound of pasta, and any pasta will do. For this classic mac and cheese recipe, I tend to use elbow pasta.
  
  The first step in making the cheese sauce is to create a roux. A roux is a mixture of flour and fat (butter) to use as a thickener for a sauce. Some recipes I have seen only call for a small amount of flour, but I always use enough to make a very thick roux. I actually added a little more flour after I took the picture below. I have never measured how much flour I use, I just keeping adding small amounts until it gets to the proper consistency.
  
  Melt 4 tbsp. of butter in a sauce pan over low to medium heat. Add salt and pepper to taste, and about 1/4 tsp. ground mustard. You can use actual mustard as well, which I have done many times. Whisk in flour constantly until you get a thick roux and cook while whisking for about a minute.
  
  The important thing to remember is not to stop whisking. The sauce will burn on the bottom very quickly.
  
  While whisking, add 3 cups of milk until it starts to thicken. It will take about 3-5 minutes. Don’t forget, keep whisking!
  
  Once your sauce has started to thicken and bubble a little, add the cheese. Keep whisking and cooking until all of the cheese has melted. By now your pasta should be cooked.
  
  Drain the pasta and pour into a greased casserole dish. Pour that heavenly cheese sauce over the pasta and mix well.
  
  If you don’t have time to make a baked mac and cheese, you can just add the sauce to the pasta and serve as is. Sometimes I prefer to make an unbaked version, or as we call it “a big bowl of cheesy yummy”. When I am not going to bake it I usually use medium shells pasta, it’s just my personal preference.
  
  For the crumb topping, melt about 2-3 tbsps. of butter in a bowl, add about a cup of panko bread crumbs, and about 1 tbsp. of grated parmesan cheese. Sprinkle evenly over the top to cover all of the pasta. Bake at 350 degrees covered with aluminum foil for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 5-10 more minutes until bubbly and the crumbs start to brown.
  
  Then dig in! Nom, nom nom!
  
  Posted in Comfort Food, Dinners, Macaroni and Cheese, Recipes | Tagged blog, cheese, food blog, food blogger, mac and cheese, mac and cheese recipe, mac n cheese, mac n cheese recipe, my slice of life blog, recipe blog
- Spinach Sausage Strata
  
  Posted at 10:45 am by StephMo
  
  Dec 14th
  
  Who doesn’t love a meal that you can put together whenever you want, and then just pop in the oven at dinner time. I don’t know about you, but for me dinner time is always when I have the least time, or I’m just the most tired. Life has slowed down somewhat now that my children are getting older, but this recipe was great during the crazy car pooling or sports days. Even though a strata is a perfect brunch dish, I make this for dinner along with a salad. It makes a ton, and freezes well for another night’s dinner.
  
  The nice thing about a strata is that you can pretty much put whatever you want in it. You can add mushrooms, or use different vegetables instead of the spinach. This is the recipe that I enjoy making (and eating) and I hope you will enjoy it as well.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  Loaf of French bread (cut into cubes)
  
  Package of Jones or Jimmy Dean sausage
  
  Fresh spinach
  
  1 cup shredded cheese
  
  A dozen eggs
  
  2 1/2 cups milk or half and half
  
  Salt, pepper, and dried oregano
  
  Cook sausage in a frying pan until it is no longer pink. I like to drain the grease on paper towels while I am preparing the other ingredients.
  
  In the same pan I saute a bunch of fresh spinach. I’m not exactly sure how much I use, I guess as much as I can fit in the pan because it cooks down so much. I probably should have used a larger pan because it didn’t yield much cooked spinach.
  
  Once the sausage and spinach are both cooked, you can start putting the strata together. Grease a 9″ x 13″ glass baking dish with cooking spray and use half of the bread, sausage, spinach, and cheese for the first layer, then repeat the ingredients for a second layer ending with the cheese. I used 2% Mexican cheese in this strata, but you can use whatever cheese you prefer.
  
  Once the layers are complete, beat a dozen eggs with 2 1/2 cups of milk, salt, pepper, and dried oregano. I use about 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of each spice, it all depends on how much seasoning you prefer. Sometimes I might use some half and half in place of the milk. This time I used 2 cups of 1% milk, and 1/2 cup of half and half. If you would rather it fattened up a bit, use all half and half.
  
  Once your egg mixture is beaten, slowly pour it into the glass dish making sure to cover every bit. Since I tend to make a mess, I use a ladle.
  
  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Overnight is best, but at least a few hours. When you are ready to put it in the oven, remove the plastic wrap and cover with aluminum foil for about the first 35-40 minutes of baking at 350 degrees. Remove the foil and cook about another 10 minutes or until it starts to brown.
  
  Posted in Brunch, Dinners, Recipes, Spinach Sausage Strata | Tagged brunch recipe, food blog, food blogger, make ahead dinners, recipe blog, sausage strata, spinach sausage strata, spinach strata, strata, strata recipe
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