Rhubarb Cream Cheese Hand Pies

This recipe was a risk for me for several reasons. I often do not do fancy desserts or snacks unless taking it to a family gathering so that more of it gets eaten (with just two people, it takes quadruple the number of meals to finish anything). I also am not a huge fan of making things with crust. I feel there is too much room for error, and would much rather leave the crusted desserts up to someone else who knows what they're doing. However, I decided to take a challenge! Get the original recipe here.

Rhubarb Cream Cheese Hand Pies

Like many newlyweds, I got my food processor from my registry. I almost didn't even register for a food processor, thinking I'd never use it. However, a friend found a blender with a smaller food processor attachment. I thought this would be perfect because it won't take up as much space, and I wouldn't ever need a big one anyways. 

I was wrong.

This recipe would have been much easier in a larger food processor! I did not realize that a food processor needs space, especially for dough, to mix properly. The flour, sugar and salt for the dough fit into the processor, but didn't move when I attempted to pulse it. 

If you only have a small processor as I do, no worries. That is why I'm here. To warn you before you dirty 2 more dishes and have flour everywhere as I did. I ended up splitting the flour mixture into thirds and split the butter and buttermilk which is added into the flour mixture in the same way. I still easily kneaded each portion together to make a super-dough. 

The size of half of the dough mixture

Tip about buttermilk: Did you know that you can freeze buttermilk? I almost always make my own using lemon juice and milk (1 cup of milk and 1 tbsp of lemon juice; let set for approx. 5 minutes or until it begins to curdle), but I was nervous to do that with dough which might be more sensitive to ingredients. So I bought a small container, and still only used half of it. Buttermilk is known to freeze well, so it is in my freezer awaiting its next use. 

For the rhubarb filling, I used 1 lb. of frozen chopped rhubarb and wish I used more as it ended up being quite a bit less as it thawed and I rang the water out. I then had less of the rhubarb filling than the cream cheese filling in the end. As you might notice, my rhubarb filling is not a beautiful red as is the recipe's picture. This only depends on the type of rhubarb you use.  I happen to have access to a green-colored rhubarb. 

As you might imagine, I do not have a round cookie or biscuit cutter. So I improvised using a mason jar. Many of the mugs I had were too large, but a wine glass or tumbler might also be the right size. Because the dough was thin, I just pressed the jar down hard enough to make the cut. 

A mason jar was a good size instead of buying a round cookie or biscuit cutter

I experimented with putting the cream cheese filling and the rhubarb down first. I found quickly that putting the cream cheese down first causes it to spread out and was more likely to leak towards the edges. I hypothesized that this is the case either because the egg wash underneath causes it to spread or because the rhubarb filling is heavy, causing it to flatten and spread. 

Rhubarb filling on the bottom-how I preferred to stack the fillings

Cream cheese filling on the bottom-the cream cheese filling seemed to spread

I feared that creating a clean slip on the top dough would guarantee that filling seeped out of it. So most of my slits did not cut through the whole way. I had multiple pies that expanded enough to break the seal, but my main goal was no mess, not appearance, which I achieved! 

Prior to putting them in the oven

I wonder if I baked them a bit longer than the suggested time if they would have become a bit more golden brown like the beautiful picture on the original website. However, the dough was cooked perfectly, so I didn't want to over-bake them. 

For the next time, I think I actually might like a bigger circle so that I can fill each one with more filling. It would also make less pies (this batch made a minimum of 36 pies with enough extra dough to do a medium sized pastry and filling at the end).
This was a fun learning experience and a delicious pastry! 

Rhubarb Cream Cheese Hand Pies 
Crust
3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
3/4-1 cup buttermilk
Rhubarb Filling
1 lb rhubarb stalks, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
Cream Cheese Filling
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp lemon juice
1 large egg yolk
For assembly
1 egg
1 Tbsp water
Coarse sugar

Instructions:
1. To make the pie dough, in the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter pieces to the bowl and pulse until the pies are pea-sized. Add in 3/4 cup of the buttermilk and pulse until the dough starts to come together. Turn out onto a clean surface and knead until it is fully combined, adding more buttermilk as needed.
2. Split the dough in half and pat into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight. Repeat with second half of dough.
3. For the rhubarb filling, put the rhubarb and sugar in a medium pot. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 15 minutes, no need to stir. Increase the heat to medium, remove the lid, and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until running a spoon across the bottom of the pot leaves a trail. Remove from heat and let cool.
4. For the cream cheese filling, whisk together the cream cheese, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and egg yolk. Chill until ready to use.
5. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat remaining egg and 1 tbsp water. Set aside.
6. On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough until it is about 1/8th-inch thick. Using a cookie or biscuit cutter, cut the dough into 2 or 3-inch circles.
7. Brush half of the dough circles very lightly with the egg wash. Top with 1 tsp rhubarb filling and 1 tsp cream cheese filling. Top each with a second circle that has been vented by making small cuts in it. Press the edges together so that they form a seal. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough. Brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar. 
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Allow to cool before serving. 

Steak Fajitas

My husband and I recently ate out and ordered steak fajitas. I'm a fan of most things that come in a tortilla, but I was blown away by the seasoning on the meat. I could have eaten the meat alone and been completely happy. When I realized how amazing a fajita could be with a great seasoned meat, I was determined to find a great fajita recipe. Luckily, it took me one look through Pinterest, and one try on the first recipe I found from Little Spice Jar to find a fantastic marinade. 

Now, as a relatively new newlywed, I don't have many spices. I don't have the space to store them, and for the first year and a half, all the spices I have were sitting loosely on our counter up against a wall. Finally I got a small wooden crate to contain them and make it look a bit nicer, but even that doesn't hold them all. So I hesitate to buy anymore spices than I already have because I just don't have the room. So when I made the recipe, I did not include the cumin, chili powder or cilantro, and I thought it was still amazing. 

Our favorites are orange and red peppers!

Tip about juices: The recipe did not state whether to use lime juice from concentrate (in the bottle) or fresh-squeezed juice. I used the juice in the bottle, but noticed that the lime taste was much stronger than the pineapple juice taste. I did add a bit more pineapple juice than it called for, but could still taste the lime. This was not a bad taste, as it added a tangy taste which was still delicious. However, when explaining this to my mother, she noted that any concentrate that you get in a bottle is going to be stronger than the fresh-squeezed juice. So next time I make this, I might use a bit less of the lime juice. Thanks for the knowledge mom!

One thing I struggle with when making meats is the time it takes to cook the meat. It always takes almost double the time to cook my meats than recipes state, and the only reason I can think of is that every stove is different. I also do not have a cast iron skillet that I hear is great for cooking any meat. But my meat took 10-15 minutes on each side, and it was still medium rare when done. I thought my meat was going to start moo-ing at me (something my family would say), so I stuck a few of the slices back in the pan for just a minute on each side, which was perfect. 

I added just a bit of the marinade in the pan so it didn't all go to waste

Cooking the veggies in the pan that the meat cooked in added a bit of that marinated flavor, and saved dishes. 

This is a simple and delicious recipe I will use again for fajitas! Enjoy!

Steak Fajitas
(My interpretation of directions. To find more explanation and detail, see Little Spice Jar's page.)
Marinade:
1/3 cup lime juice (less if concentrate)
1/4 cup pineapple juice
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp EACH cumin and chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Fajitas:
1 1/2-2 lbs shirt or flank steak (I used flat iron steak)
1 Tbsp oil
2 medium white onions, sliced
2-3 bell peppers

1. Steak marinade: Combine ingredients for marinade in a bowl. Taste and adjust if needed. Coat steak in marinate and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove from fridge 30 minutes before cooking.
2. Set pan on high heat to warm up oil. Add steak to pan (and a little liquid marinade if desired) and fry on each side for ~3 minutes on each side. Remove the steak and allow to rest before cutting, tented with foil. Slice the meat against the grain.
3. Add remaining oil to the pan and add veggies. Cook until desired doneness. 
4. Serve in tortillas with preferred condiments such as sour cream, shredded cheese, lettuce, etc. 

Pasta-Filled Peppers

I saw this recipe in my Taste of Home Guilt-free Cooking book and thought it looked fancy. The directions looked simple enough, so I thought I'd try it. The lesson I learned from this recipe: Things are not always as simple as they seem!

On the first step, I encountered a technique of cooking that I have not done yet. Broiling. I didn't even know what a broiler was except that there is a broil setting on my oven temp dial. So I had to do a bit of research before I could even begin. 

Tip about broiling: In my oven (and most typical ovens) the broiler is on the top of the oven. So to broil a vegetable, you should put a rack as close to the top as possible. One thing I learned immediately is that whole peppers can be big, and despite the ability to put them on the top racks close to the broiler as possible, it may not be the best idea if the peppers touch the broiler because they instantly burn. Each time I took them out to turn them, they hit the broiler element. I also had to make sure they were spaced on the cookie sheet so that they strattled the elements while in the oven.

The directions state next to place them in a covered bowl for 10 minutes. When researching ways to roast whole peppers, I found an explanation here of why it is important to cover and let them set. However, they were not cool enough to handle in 10 minutes, so I placed the bowl in the refrigerator and took out 1 at a time to take off the skin. As you can see, it was not easy. The skin did not easily come off, so I resorted to a knife and my fingers to peel only the burnt parts off. 

The insides were easier to cut out than I thought, but I think to another time, I might just lob off the whole top to make a bigger opening. 

The pasta filling could be a whole delicious meal just by itself. It's easy, cheesy, and fantastic! 

The peppers were a bit droopy, so I elected to have my helpful husband scoop the pasta into the peppers while I held them up in a casserole dish. Some help might be in order for this step. 

Overall, I was really happy with the results, and we thought they were delicious! They even tasted great as leftovers up to 2 days later! 

I was so proud of how a few of them looked, I wanted to show a comparison of the cookbook picture and my final plating. All that to say, you can make a fancy-looking dish in a small apartment kitchen! Have fun!

The picture from the book

My final product!

Pasta-Filled Peppers

6 medium green, sweet red and/or yellow peppers

6 ounces uncooked spaghetti

3/4 cup diced onion 

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp  canola oil

1 3/4 cup diced fresh tomatoes

1 Tbsp all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup vegetable broth

3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup minced fresh basil

3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

1. Place whole peppers on a broiler pan; broil 6 in. from the heat for 10-15 minutes or until skins are blistered and blackened, turning often. Immediately place peppers in a bowl; cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Peel off and discard charred skins. Carefully cut tops off peppers and discard; remove seeds. Set peppers aside.

2. Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, salute onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add tomatoes; cook for 1 minute. In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt and broth until smooth. Gradually stir into tomato mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute or until slightly thickened.

3. Drain spaghetti; add to the tomato mixture and toss to coat. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, basil and Parmesan; toss. Spoon into peppers. Place in a 3-qt. microwave-safe baking dish. Cover and microwave on high for 1-3 minutes or until heated through.

Rhubarb Strawberry Coffee Cake

With a large family that loves to do get-togethers and potluck-style meals, and a work place that does potluck meetings every so often, I sometimes feel pressure to make something that everyone loves and wants you to make again next time. So I'm always looking for wanna-be fan-favorite recipes that might make the cut. This recipe made that cut.

My husband's family is a big fan of fresh strawberries picked right from the field and my family grows rhubarb. Any recipe that combines these two is a winner in this household. 
A comment on the page of the online version stated simply "double the filling." As a fan of filling and not as much of the caky texture of coffee cakes, it didn't take much to convince me to double only the filling portion of this recipe.

Tip for using frozen fresh produce: (Not the kind you get in the frozen section in the store. Sorry, not fresh. I'm talking farmer's market or picked from a plant-fresh) When rhubarb and strawberries thaw, they become very watery, and the fruits/vegetables deflate. So when a recipe calls for cups, and I am measuring fruit before it is thawed, I always add a bit extra. 
For the filling, I used a tad less sugar than called for, and would suggest staying close and not trying to multi-task because the cornstarch will easily make the filling stick to the bottom. 

Filling mixture

I think the hardest part of this recipe was cutting in the cold butter using a fork. I don't know of a better way to do so, but let's just say my forearms got a great workout between the batter and topping mixtures!

Butter is cut into the batter mixture

The recipe states to use 2/3 of the batter for the bottom layer. Both times I've made this, I have carefully split the batter, and both times, I have ended up with not enough batter to cover the fruit layer. My solution-spread out the top batter layer as much as possible, then take a knife and swirl the top batter layer with the fruit layer. It doesn't look very appetizing and neat, but it gets covered with the topping, so no one will know the difference :) 

I swirled the top batter layer into the filling layer to spread it further

The topping covers all layers

The one downside with doubling the filling is that it will almost inevitably spill over the edge as it cooks in the oven. To help with this, place a piece of aluminum foil on the rack below the pan to catch the drips. 

Out of the oven

With double the filling, it took a bit longer to cook, but I gauged its doneness by the color of the topping. Both times, the center of the cake was done to perfection. 

You can see all the layers!

The filling is a liquid gooey mess when it comes out of the oven, so if you need to serve it shortly after baking, pop it in the freezer for approximately an hour to firm the filling so it will cut smoothly. 
I have used this recipe as a breakfast item and dessert, so it is multi-functional as well as absolutely delicious!

Rhubarb Strawberry Coffee Cake
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 cups chopped fresh rhubarb or frozen rhubarb, thawed
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen sweetened, sliced strawberries, thawed
2 Tbsp lemon juice
CAKE:
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup cold butter
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk1 tsp vanilla extract
TOPPING:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cold butter

1. In a saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch; stir in rhubarb and strawberries. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice. Cool.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. In another bowl, beat the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla; stir in crumb mixture just until moistened. Spoon two-thirds of the batter into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Spoon cooled filling over batter. Top with remaining batter. 
3. For topping, combine sugar and flour in a small bowl; cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean and cake is golden brown. Cool.

When you don't have an appetite...

An appetite is something that we take for granted.

When we don't have an appetite because of sickness, nervousness, busy-ness or other reasons, eating is often the last thing on our mind. As a person who loves food, when there is no appetite, it is a sad day. As a person who has a tendency to get low blood sugar, when there is no appetite, it is a major affliction. A situation that confuses me to my core is that when we are at our weakest, why are we not able to ingest the one thing that we need to re-fuel?

The past two weeks, I have experienced a lack of appetite like never before. I'm sure there are many people who experience this type of lack of food, but for me it was a first. So what do we do when we don't feel well, when we are so busy we don't have time, when we are so stressed we just don't feel like it? But yet, we don't have the energy, strength, time, money or tastebuds to continue?

I pray. 

Where else does strength come from? Food is supposed to provide our bodies with nutrients, help us rebuild our cells, and energize us from within. Even Jesus was hungry after 40 days and nights of fasting (Matthew 4:2). So when our stomaches are empty or our body is trying to heal, I think of Jesus' words when he was tempted with food in the desert: 

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’

And boy is that true. Although I believe we really do need nutrients to keep us alive, I also believe when we are unable to do what we need to, God's strength can step in. If it is God's plan to keep us alive or to use us as a testimony, then He will provide us with the strength we need. 

SO what does this post have to do with my purpose of this blog? Why am I not posting a recipe? I haven't been much of a motivated blogger lately and felt the need to post something. But I also haven't been much of a cook for two reasons. First, I haven't had the time. Second, to prep for the crazy month of March and all that it entails for me, I prepped several quick meals to put in the freezer and to make ahead of time to help my sanity and my husband who cannot cook (unless you want a fantastic grilled cheese sandwich every night). As the woman of the house who has the ability to cook, I want to make sure he is taken care of for meals so he can still eat as healthy as possible. I think part of the reason we are still living in a small apartment and don't have pets is due to the traveling and time we occasionally spend away. Sometimes, this is just how life goes. For many people, this is how every day of the year goes.

And it's okay. Because you do what is best for your family, your children, and for you. And when you just can't find the strength, the time, the motivation to cook or eat, there is always someone you can turn to for that strength. 

Heart Shaped Raspberry Rolls

So, coming up is the dreaded Valentines Day. Yes, I said dreaded. I have never been a fan, even when my husband and I were dating. I believe Valentines Day should be every day, and it can make young people act funny just to feel like they fit in on this day. Since being married, I have to say I've softened quite a bit, but still don't care about all the mushy stuff. 
However, now that I am cooking more, I wanted to surprise him and do something special. So when ideas started coming out on Pinterest and Facebook, I looked through them and realized most of them required food coloring or some type of heart-shaped cookie cutter. Living in a small apartment, I barely have room for Christmas cookie cutters, never mind heart-shaped ones that I will probably only use 1 time ever. I may also just be so stubborn that I refuse to buy something for this holiday. So I kept looking until I found this recipe that did not require anything special! In fact, almost every single ingredient is already in my kitchen. It was a bit difficult to follow, but I had a lot of fun doing it, so this blog will include lots of pictures! 

The recipe calls for use of a stand mixer and the dough attachment. Of course this is something I do not have, not only because of the price tag, but the lack of room to keep it really anywhere. But my handy little sunbeam hand mixer did come with the dough hook set as do most hand mixers now-a-days. So I used the dough hook, and attempted to mix the dough so that it made one lump (or as close to that as I could).

I then kneaded it together only enough to make it 1 lump and let it rest for 10 minutes. 

As I let the dough rest, I put together the raspberries (I used 12 oz. instead of the 10 oz. it calls for), sugar, cornstarch and orange zest (orange peel).

I then rolled out the dough and compared it to a 9x13 pan to get the 9x15 size the recipe calls for. I did make it a bit bigger than called for because the dough was still quite thick and, honestly, who cares if you make more than it calls for!

The berries did not spread out very evenly, but I just made sure it was approximate. I kept it away from the edges as the picture on the website shows that the ends curl inward a bit which I tried to mirror (whether or not it worked, you can decide for yourself haha!).

Roll up each edge halfway until they meet in the middle. Note: they did not stick together when I pressed them together lightly, but it's alright. As long as they end up close in the pan, they will cook and rise to end up together. 

I cut the ends and then cut the rest into 10 pieces (I could mark the dough to make sure they were all even!

Then I took each piece, laid it flat, and formed that heart shape with my hands! If you would like to put something down between the counter and rolls, try a small piece of parchment paper. 

I used two pans, partially because I refused to waste the ends that would make a beautiful cannoli-shaped pastry. 

When the pastries were almost done, I heated up some left-over chocolate chip morsels from my christmas baking to make a chocolate drizzle and dipping sauce. 

The final product looked a bit messy and required a spatula to remove it from the pan without all the filling falling out. I chocolate all the pastries right in the pan so that I could use up the chocolate before it hardened and make the mess in the pan.

These were very cute, delicious desserts! The only feedback I had from Derek was that the raspberries were a bit sour, so he might prefer strawberries, and I agree! With the raspberries, you also get lots of seeds to crunch. So I think it's really a matter of preference. I do believe raspberries go better with chocolate, but you also don't have to use the chocolate! 

Because it is just the two of us, I was a bit worried about re-heating these days later. I have to say, I was just as impressed as when they were fresh! Heating them for 30 seconds warms and softens the dough and heats the berries. It also melts the chocolate on top to make it glisten! So if you enjoy these, you can do so for several days.

I hope this is an idea if you want to do something special for your special someone, but don't have the tools or room to do so. 

Heart Shaped Raspberry Rolls

Dough

1 cup lukewarm whole milk

1/3 cup lukewarm water

1 package instant yeast

3 Tbsp sugar

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling

1 10-oz (or more) package frozen raspberries

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp fresh orange zest

Icing

1/3 cup hazelnut spread or any chocolate morsels

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. For dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add all the dough ingredients and stir until combined. Turn mixer on medium speed and knead for 5 minutes, or until smooth. Remove dough to a floured work surface, cover, and let rest for 10 minutes.

3. For the filling: In a medium bowl, toss frozen raspberries with sugar, cornstarch and orange zest.

4. After dough has rested, use a floured rolling pin to roll it out into a 9 by 15-inch rectangle. Spread evenly with raspberry mixture. Starting on the long side, tightly roll dough up, stopping at center. Roll the other side up, stopping when two sides meet at the middle. Gently press together.

5. Place in greased pie pan or 9x13 inch baking pan, with points towards the center. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes. 

6. For the icing: While rolls cool, place chocolate hazelnut spread into a zip top bag and cut a small hole in one corner. Drizzle spread over rolls just before serving. 

Philly Cheesesteak Cups

This recipe has gone around the internet quite a bit, and is something that Derek and I both like, so I thought I'd try it out! I had lots of websites to choose from, but here's where I got my recipe. And, yes, I know I'm just adding to that pile of websites, but that's what blogs are for, right? You can pick and choose! No hard feelings if you pick another website, either. I do the same thing all the time.

This is a rather easy recipe to put together and doesn't require a ton of prep.

The recipe said to slice the meat thin, but how thin is thin? I thought mine would have been thin and small enough, but when I was ready to combine the meat with the veggies, I realized these pieces might not fit nicely in the cups. So I cut them up in the pan after they were cooked. 

I also added some left-over chicken!

One mistake I made in prepping for this meal was forgetting the heavy cream. I make about 4 meals a year that require heavy cream so rarely do I have some in the fridge, and just passed over it for my grocery list. So I quickly googled substitutions and found a helpful substitution with things I already have. I am big about prepping as much before I need it as possible. So I got the heavy cream substitution ready while the meat and veggies were cooking, but discovered something I didn't read about online for this substitution.

I cut the pastry to approximately 3x3 squares and they fit perfectly in my muffin tin. I had quite a few extra squares left over, so I decided to add a bit of crust onto a few just for fun.

These were delicious cups that were also quite filling! 

*Update: Because it is just the two of us, we had leftovers for the next few nights. I will say I am not a big fan of deflated pastry puff. So this meal might be best when you will have guests and can show off your creativity, and not have leftovers!

I still had 3 squares left over, so I decided to get creative and made a small and easy dessert. I just took some candy and stuffed it in the squares and baked it for about 10 minutes, just enough to melt the chocolate and make the pastry golden. It was a delicious dessert!

I hope you can enjoy these Philly Cheesesteak cups just as much as we did! And treat yourself to a delicious dessert, too!

Philly Cheesecake Cups

• 1 lb rib eye steak, thinly sliced (if you want to save a little money, use flank steak EXTREMELY thinly sliced, or use ground beef)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ medium onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 cup mushroom, chopped
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ⅓ cup heavy cream
• ⅓ cup milk
• 1 package puff pastry, thawed
• ½ cup provolone cheese, grated

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Preheat skillet and oil. Add chopped onion and peppers and sauté for approximately 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté for another 5 minutes. Set aside.

3. Cook beef in the same skillet until no longer pink. Add the veggie mixture back to the pan.

4. Add seasonings, cream and milk. Bring to a boil and stir until thickened. Remove from heat.

5. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Cut pastry to 3-4 inch squares and place each one in muffin cup. Add about 1/4 cup cheesesteak mix to each cup. 

6. Bake for about 10 minutes. Place a small bunch of provolone cheese on each cheesesteak cup and continue to bake for another 3 minutes or so. 

Cookbooks of Meaning

I don't know about you, but the holidays did me in when it came to meal prep and cooking. With all the family meals between Christmas and New Years, I've been struggling to keep up and have food in the house since then! While I doubt that I'm still in a food coma, I am still struggling to get back into the swing of things. So I thought I'd share a special project that I did for the holiday that is near and dear to my heart.

Like many people, my grandmother was a huge influence in the kitchen to my mother, and also to me. She is the one that always made an incredible Christmas dinner. I will never forget the days of applesauce-making, corn-peeling, ice-cream making, pie-baking, and hours and hours in the kitchen. My mother inherited her skills, passion for cooking and the ability to feed an army when it's just our small family (literally!), and I'd like to think I inherited most of these qualities from my mom. My mom has made so many of her recipes over the years that we've loved and I brought with me and am now sharing with my husband and his family.

Now that my grandma is gone, my mom had her recipe boxes and access to the Mennonite Community Cookbook she often used. For Christmas, which my mom was hosting this year, she wanted to honor my grandma by compiling some of her best known recipes and distribute to the family for their keeping. 

It started out as a word document, just typing up all the recipe cards that my mom picked out. I also typed out the recipes from the Mennonite Community Cookbook and labeled the source. But I didn't want this to just be a binder of paper. I wanted it to be durable and special to last generations. So I took it upon myself to surprise my mom and get the recipes made into a cookbook.


I searched online for how to make your own cookbook and came across the website Heritage Cookbook. From the research I did, it had some of the cheapest prices per page, and the ones displayed on their website looked amazing! The only downside to deciding to do this so late was that I had to copy and paste all the recipes from the Word document into the website 1 by 1. If I knew I was doing this from the beginning, I would have avoided the copy-and-paste step completely. 

There were many covers to choose from, but none that caught my eye to represent my grandma. So a great aspect of this website is that you can make your own on this website. So I googled some cookbook covers and found a fun, but symbolic cover and was able to edit it in Word and on their website. I'd say the cover was the hardest part to do, but was worth it.

The last step I did to make it more personable was to scan some pictures of grandma, grandpa and the family to add throughout the cookbook. To me, this made it something to be passed down to my kids so they can see their grandparents (my mother) with the family.    

My mom didn't know I was doing this special cookbook until she opened them on Christmas. She only knew I'd have them ready to hand out to the family. This was not only a gift from my mom to the family, but from me to myself so that I will have a special book to continue the traditional family food for generations. And it's already got some grease stains on the cookie pages from my big cookie extravaganza! 

My prayer is that I can bless my family with the food God continues to provide just as my grandma showed her love by providing for her family. I hope if this is something you can do with recipes from a loved one, that you enjoy it and can honor a family or friend by doing this for them, too.