Archive | April, 2012

Berry-Good Coffee Cake

Berry-Good Coffee Cake

Berry-Good Coffee Cake

Ingredients

  • 4 tbspns butter (1/2 stick)
  • 1 cup sugar mixed with 1/4 cup cinnamon
  • refrigerated buttermilk biscuits- 2 canisters
  • frozen berries, like blueberries and/or strawberries- 16 oz.
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice, or juice squeezed from 2 lemons

Instructions

  1. heat oven to 350 degrees
  2. grease a bundt-cake pan with butter
  3. pour frozen berries into bundt-cake pan
  4. slice biscuits in half
  5. dip each biscuit piece into lemon juice then roll in cinnamon-sugar before placing in pan on top of the berries
  6. once pan is full of biscuit pieces, press down to firm
  7. bake until cooked thoroughly, approximately 45-50 minutes
https://tonispilsbury.com/berry-good-coffee-cake/

 

We made this recipe last Father’s Day- check out this fun cooking video for Berry-Good Coffee Cake.

 

For more great breakfast ideas, check out:

Sunrise Breakfast Bowls from The Organized Cook

Sunrise Breakfast Bowls

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Snack Organizing

Home Reorganizing

I’m tackling organizing projects in my home one at a time in my Reorganizing 2012 Campaign.  So why was organizing my snacks near the top of my list?

There are many reasons.

First, it’s the beginning step to reorganizing my pantry.  By removing all of my snack items and storing them in easy-to-reach containers, I’m creating more breathing space to organize pantry items.

And, the most motivating reason for me is to save time.  How can organizing my snacks save time, you wonder?  It’s simple.  With all our family activities: dance, gymnastics, day-trips and vacations, my kids can pack snacks on their own by making it easy for them to choose from.  It’s like having our own home snack store… the Spilsbury Snack Shop!

Organize Snacks Step-By-Step

Step 1:  Remove all snack items from the pantry

The first step in reorganizing any space is to start with a clean slate and see what you need to work with.  By removing all of the snacks from my pantry and seeing them in one place, it was easy for me to decide how I was going to categorize and store them and what size containers I would need.

Snack Organizing

remove all snacks from the pantry

Step 2:  Find Your Tools

Find the perfect containers to fit your style, your space… and your snacks.  I decided on glass mason jars- 4 large and 4 medium to fit my long countertop.

home organizing snacks

Glass Mason Jars- on sale here for $22

 

Because I love to label everything, I decided to use chalkboard paint on my jars.  Here is a quick tutorial for creating your own Chalkboard Paint Mason Jars:

DIY Chalkboard Paint jars

Tutorial DIY Chalkboard Paint Jars

Step 3:  Cold Storage

I found both of these bins at Target to store cold snacks in the refrigerator.  Using insulated bags, the kids know where to go to choose snacks to pack.

cold snacks for on-the-go

 

snack organizing

this snack tote came from the $1 bin at Target

 

The Economics of Organizing

Staying organized saves time and money.  Period.

By keeping snacks “at-a-glance”, I won’t overbuy at the grocery store because of not knowing how many cookies or fruit snacks we have at home.

While we’re out running around all day, here is a breakdown of what on-the-go snacking costs if you eat out or tote your snacks:

 

 Notice the difference in snack nutrition?  I also estimate that we save about $650 a year by having the kids pack their snacks.  How’s that for some “food for thought”.

 

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Tasty Veggies

 

This post is sponsored by Country Crock. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

 

Healthy Choices

Nutrition is always a key factor in my meal planning and recipe creations, which is why my grocery shopping lists are produce-heavy with lots of fresh vegetables and fruit.  Vegetables are on our table for every family dinner, either cooked or fresh.

Getting kids to eat vegetables is not always easy, especially if you have a “picky eater”- which I do.  I have one daughter who loves vegetables more than any other food, and will choose a fresh salad alongside baked salmon over pizza any day.

And my other daughter- not so much.  I’m always looking for fun, creative and delicious ways to get her to eat more vegetables.

Picky Eaters Meal Planning from The Organized Cook Weekly Meal Plan System

Meal Planning for Picky Eaters

I find that having my kids involved in shopping and cooking is a great way to expose them to all the vegetable options out there.  One time, Brooke (my picky eater), grabbed a bundle of radishes in the grocery store and said, “Look how beautiful these radishes are!  Mommy, you need to get these and make a salad.”  “Great,” I said.  “Will you eat them?”  She replied, “no.”  I

still have a ways to go with her, but I’m happy with the progress we’ve made.  She enjoys making salads on her own, and loves it when I saute vegetables.

Today, I came across this inventive recipe for Flag Pizza from Clare Crespo’s Cookbook for Country Crock.

Flag Pizza Recipe

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe for Flag Pizza, click here.  Otherwise, enjoy my photo tutorial below for this fun meal that kids can help prepare.

Flag Pizza Ingredients:

Flag Pizza recipe

Flag Pizza Ingredients

  1. 6 ounces part skim mozzarella cheese slices
  2. 1 Tbsp. Country Crock® Spread
  3. 2 cups fresh spinach leaves, rinsed and patted dry
  4. 1 frozen pizza dough, thawed
  5. 1 cup Ragu® Pizza Quick Sauce
  6. 2 plum tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise and cut into slices or 1 sliced red bell pepper or a mixture of the two
  7. Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Flag Pizza Directions:

  1. Take two slices of mozzarella cheese and stack together.
  2. Use kitchen scissors or small knife to cut a few star shapes out of the cheese. Slice remaining cheese slices into 1-inch strips.
  3. Preheat oven to 450°.
  4. Melt Country Crock® Spread in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add spinach and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
  5. Stretch pizza dough to fit a rectangular pan. Spread Ragu® Pizza Quick Sauce evenly over dough.
  6. Sprinkle spinach over top left corner of dough. Place stars on the spinach. Lay tomatoes (or peppers) and cheese strips in alternating strips on rest of the pizza.
  7. Bake 10 to 20 minutes until cheese is melted and starting to turn golden and crust is starting to brown. Remove from oven and serve with crushed red pepper flakes (if using).

star cookie-cutters from Pampered Chef

 

melt Country Crock in large non-stick skillet

 

place fresh spinach in pan to saute

 

spinach is ready when it is completely reduced and tender

 

arrange spinach, tomatoes and cheese over sauce

 

Flag Pizza Recipe

the kids are going to love this... even my picky eater!

 

Simple and Delicious Vegetable Recipes

I find that there’s no need to hide vegetables from my family.  In fact, vegetables can be delicious and fun with a little imagination.  For more healthy and tasty vegetable recipes from The Organized Cook using Country Crock, check out:

carrot recipe

Escalloped Carrots

 

Are you looking for quick and simple tips and recipes to make serving veggies more fun? Download the free Clare Crespo Cookbook here for fun and whimsical recipes your family is sure to love!

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The Godfather Meal

Italian Family Traditions

My neighbor, Kelli, and I grew up worlds apart- both geographically and culturally.  I  grew up in Southern California while eating dinners made from modern conveniences such as Minute Rice and Betty Crocker with my new-age Mom.  While at the same time, Kelli was peeling and canning tomatoes for pasta sauce in the kitchens of Italian aunts and nonnas in New York.  Despite being exactly one-quarter Italian myself, my Sicilian-born grandmother died decades before I was born.

Sadly, after 10 years of being a neighbor and dear friend, Kelli moved back to New York.  But she did leave something behind (besides her husband)- her family recipe for Italian Sunday Gravy.

Now, for me the word “gravy” is something you pour over turkey and mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving.  But, if you’re from the “old country”, gravy is a traditional Sunday dish that women could put in a pot early Sunday morning and let it simmer while attending Mass.  Italian Sunday gravy is a rich, heavy meal of meats that simmer in tomato sauce so long, it’s hard to tell where the meat ends and the sauce begins.

Making Sunday Gravy isn’t as difficult as I thought; and, if your kids love to cook as much as mine do, rolling meatballs is the perfect task for little hands.  After selecting a variety of meats like pork chops, Italian sausage links, veal cutlets and/or ground sirloin for meatballs, the meat is browned in olive oil and garlic then added to crushed tomatoes in a large Dutch oven.  After simmering in the tomatoes for hours, the meat is then removed to a platter and served separately from the sauce alongside pasta, bread and salad.

Italian Sunday dinner recipe

To further illuminate the differences in our culinary traditions, I typically eat salad first with bread then an entrée… and all within the time span of about 20 minutes.  While the tradition of eating Italian Sunday Gravy is an all-afternoon event lasting about 2-3 hours, from pasta aglio e olio (pasta with garlic, olive oil and crushed peppers) and red table wine, the salad is actually eaten after the pasta.  The big finale, or course, is cannoli and coffee.  Get that… hours of uninterrupted time just relaxing and enjoying food and family- a la familia!

Italian Sunday dinner

And, while I’m used to meat being in the pasta sauce, Sunday gravy is served with the meat removed from the sauce onto a separate platter.  It’s also typically eaten early enough in the day to allow for proper digestion of its heavy ingredients, thus making it the perfect Sunday after-church meal.  Combining my favorite herbs such as basil and parsley, check out my version of this traditional Italian dinner recipe:

italian red sauce recipe

Italian Sunday Gravy Recipe

So while this West Coast girl and her family sat down to enjoy Italian Gravy this Sunday, I could swear I heard the theme song from The Godfather playing in the background.

 

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