Julie's Food Love

Rhodes Blog- Pepperoni Bread

2012-02-08T08:28:00.002-07:00

Today I'm over at the Rhodes Bread Blog guest posting. I made some yummy pepperoni bread. It's soo easy to make and really good. We love it for lunch or dinner. But we really love it when we're watching a football or basketball game on tv. It's great alone or dipped in marinara sauce or ranch dressing. I've made it with different meats and lots of different cheeses too.

It is so versatile. Just keep a loaf of Rhodes frozen bread dough in your freezer and you can add whatever meats and cheeses you have on hand.

Now go thaw a loaf of Rhodes bread and start planning your dinner now.

2011 ReCap

2012-01-02T09:00:00.006-07:00

Looking back over the past year, I picked out a few of my favorites from 2011.
It was hard to choose but here's what I came up with.

Oatmeal Carmelitas

These are easy to make. A crowd-pleaser and I almost always have all the ingredients already in my pantry and fridge. Or maybe I like them so much, I keep the ingredients on hand.

Cherry Checkerboard Cookies

These were a fun "lady cookie" as I like to say. They take some time and not the kind of time your teenager would appreciate as they (and their friends) grab them by the handful. Therefore, a lady cookie. I made them for my book group the first time.

BLT Pasta Salad

One of our favorites salads when the tomatoes are fresh on the vine. It's a BLT and pasta salad in one!

Lemon Bars

These are definitely one of my favorite treats! The hubby doesn't care for them as much as I do (He'd rather have chocolate). So it's best I only make them when I can give most of them away.

Apple Cider Chicken Marinade

This makes The, Most, Moist chicken. Ever! The fresh herbs make it soo tasty too. After making it the first time, I now grill up twice as much chicken as we need because the leftovers get eaten just as fast.

Guest Posting at Rhodes

2011-11-09T09:53:00.000-07:00

Today I'm over at the Rhodes Bake-N-Serve blog. I made Cheesy Pesto Bread. I love it. Bread and Pesto, two of my favorites things. The Cheesy Pesto Bread is easy to make and it is very versatile. You can make it to eat as a pizza, serve it as an appetizer, but I also love it sliced up with soup. It's definitely soup weather around my neck of the woods. So bring on the soup and the Rhodes Cheesy Pesto bread.

Head over to the Rhodes Bake-n-Serve blog to see the step by step instructions. You can be enjoying this great bread for dinner tonight!

Winner!!!

2011-10-31T11:21:00.000-06:00

The winner of the Gold Medal White Whole Wheat giveaway is...

Sue

I'm sending you an email and your gif will be on it's way!

Gold Medal Giveaway

2011-10-26T10:42:00.001-06:00

Do you use whole wheat flour in your baking? Would you like to use whole wheat flour more than you already do? Well Gold Medal is making it easier. Gold Medal now has White Whole Wheat Flour in the stores and it's great!

Look what Gold Medal sent me to try out their new White Whole Wheat Flour. One ceramic cookie jar, a coupon for a FREE 5lb bag of White Whole Wheat Flour and a great set of recipe cards that call for whole wheat flour. All of the recipes look great. I'm still working my way through them all. But I'll be showing you the Pumpkin-Spice bars in the next few days. I've been baking with this flour and love it.

Now Gold Medal wants you to try it out th White Whole Wheat Flour for yourself. They are giving away this same kit to one JuliesfoodLove.com reader. You just need to enter by midnight on Sunday, October 30th to win. Winner picked by random.org. Then Gold Medal will be sending your gift on its way.

Pot Roast Sandwiches-Crockpot Style

2011-10-07T10:17:00.001-06:00

The weather is getting colder. It's time for me to pull out the crockpot. I usually cook in the crockpot once or twice a week when the weather starts to turn cold. I know it's a great alternative to heating up the house with the oven in the summer too. But we tend to do a lot of outdoor grilling in the summer. So it's slowcooker time around our house.

This is an easy way to cook a pot roast. We love pot roast sandwiches or add barbecue sauce and make it a bbq beef sandwich. But this meat is also great on salads or nachos or in burritos. The leftovers don't last long around my house. I always have the seasoning on hand and when the meat goes on sale I usually stock up. That makes this an easy meal. Just pull the meat out of the freezer one day and throw it in the crockpot the next morning.

Easy Pot Roast for Sandwiches

1 pot roast, my crockpot easily holds a 5-6 pound roast

McCormick's Montreal Seasoning

Oil the inside of your slowcooker. Place pot roast inside of slowcooker. Generously season the roast with Montreal Seasoning, usually a few Tablespoons. The seasoning can get peppery. If you're not a pepper fan, then go easy. Cover and cook on high for one hour. Reduce heat to low and cook an additional 6-8 hours. Try not to lift the lid during the cooking time.

Here's how it looks before shredding. See that yummy juice in the bottom? Don't pour it off. It will be absorbed into the meat after you shred it. Now shred the meat using 2 forks

Serve warm on rolls or bread.

*water is not needed, really

*if you don't have the time to cook on high first, that's ok. Just cook on low for 8-10 hours

*For bbq beef, just add the sauce to the meat after shredding. Can heat on low for another 30 minutes. But not necessary

Rhodes Guest Post-Almond Cream Cheese Squares

2011-09-07T10:00:00.001-06:00

Today I'm over at the Rhodes Bread Blog posting about Almond Cream Cheese Squares. It's another great recipe from the Rhodes Home Baked Family Favorites cookbook. I know you've heard it before, but I Love this cookbook. Every recipe has a picture, a must for me and cookbooks, and they are so easy to make. Rhodes makes it easy.

These Almond Cream Cheese Squares are so delicious. You might just want to take the leftovers to work or you will be tempted to eat the whole pan.

Click here to get the full recipe and step by step photos too.

Guest Posting at Whatever Dee-Dee Wants

2011-08-05T16:47:00.000-06:00

Today I'm over at Whatever Dee-Dee Wants with her recipe roundup. She's been having great guest post-ers all week. I'm honored to be among them. Actually I can't wait to try all of the recipes over there this week.

Pop over there and see the BLT Pasta Salad I've posted before. But now that the tomatoes are on the vine in my garden, we are loving this salad even more. For some reason I forget how good it is until we have fresh tomatoes.

Try this salad. You'll love it!

Grilled Chicken and Apple Cider Chicken Marinade

2011-08-04T09:00:00.000-06:00

You might be tired of me mentioning all the grilling we've doing doing around my house. But it's true. My husband has become very proficient at grilling. I think most men think they are...But most aren't. By brother-in-law is a butcher. He is full of great tips with meat. But the one tip my husband has taken to heart is the "Low and Slow" rule. If you really want your meat to be tender and moist. Then it needs to be cooked over low heat and for awhile.

With chicken (boneless-skinless) on our gas grill this means about 30 minutes. In 30 minutes most people would have that chicken breast dried out and crispy. Not my husband.

Here's what he does. Preheat the grill on Medium-High heat for 5-10 minutes. Then turn it down to low. Place the chicken on the grill and don't mess with it. After about 12-15 minutes turn the chicken. If the meat sticks it may need more time. Then cook on the other side for an additional 12-15 minutes. It helps to keep the lid down and to just let the heat work.

Now on to the marinade. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. It was perfect for me because I have all of these herbs growing in my garden.

It starts with chopping up fresh parsley, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, fresh basil and garlic. Add the apple cider vinegar, white wine, olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper.

Pour marinade into a heavy duty plastic bag. Add the chicken. Place bag in the refrigerator until ready to cook. Marinate at least 2 hours but can be left in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

Grill. Eat. Enjoy!

Apple Cider Chicken Marinade

2/3 cup white wine

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 T. fresh lemon juice

2 T. apple cider vinegar

3 T. chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary

1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl. Pour into a heavy duty plastic bag. Add chicken and refrigerate for 2-24 hours.

New York Trip-Magnolia Bakery

2011-07-27T09:00:00.000-06:00

Last month my husband and I took a quick trip to NYC. We left on a Friday morning and came home on Monday morning. Unfortunately we didn't have a direct flight on the way there. It was also unfortunate that there were crazy rain storms in NYC. We ended up spending 10 1/2 hours in the Detroit airport. So that made our quick trip even shorter (or longer-however you choose to look at it).

Anyway, we had no plans for the trip. Just go with the flow and see what happens. Actually I had a few ideas, but we would see how they turned out. Saturday night we happened by Magnolia Bakery. We couldn't believe how crowded it was for 8:00 on a Saturday night.

One of the workers talked us into sampling their banana pudding. It was delicious. So we bought the banana pudding, a chocolate chip blondie and a red velvet cupcake. Of course, I forgot to take pictures before all that was left was the blondie.

The banana pudding was our favorite. The cupcake and the blondie were good, just not great. But it was fun to stumble upon Magnolia Bakery and it was the perfect time for a treat.

Another Use for Rhodes Grilled Rolls

2011-07-25T09:00:00.002-06:00

Here's just one more way we've been using Rhodes Grilled Rolls. I wasn't kidding when I said that we LOVE them!

BBQ Pork Sandwich

Grilled Pizzas

2011-07-20T08:00:00.003-06:00

We have been grilling like crazy over at my house. We have adapted the Rhodes Grilled Rolls into nice little individual pizzas.

Start with Frozen Rhodes Rolls, texas size.
Place them on a greased tray and cover with sprayed plastic wrap. Let them thaw for about 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat your grill to a medium heat (about 350 degrees)
Roll out the dough to form a thin circle, around 6 inches. Brush with olive oil.

Place dough on grill, oiled side down. Cook for 1-3 minutes on med-low. When grill marks are starting to turn light brown, turn the dough.

Brush with pizza sauce. Add cheese and whatever toppings you want.

Close grill lid for about 3-5 minutes or until cheese melts.

We love these pizzas with pepperoni. Or with pesto or Alfredo sauce in stead of pizza sauce. They are also great with grilled veggies. Just grill up the veggies first. We also make large pizzas. They are just a little trickier to flip and cook evenly. Plus its fun to have everyone "make their own".

Winner of the Rhodes Cookbook Giveaway

2011-07-19T16:15:00.000-06:00

The winner of the Rhodes Cookbook is...

Alison!

Email me with your address and the cookbook will be on its way to you.

Rhodes Guest Blogger Post

2011-07-07T16:10:00.002-06:00

Today I'm over at the Rhodes Bread Blog. I'm showing how to make Rhodes Grilled Rolls. These rolls are soo delicious. We have been grilling a lot and these grilled rolls are the perfect way to have delicious rolls without heating up your oven or your kitchen.

In honor of me posting over at the Rhodes Blog today, Rhodes and I are giving away a copy of their new cookbook, Home Baked Family Favorites. It is an amazing cookbook. Each recipe has its own picture, which is huge to me. I love that in a cookbook.

To enter, all you need to do is head over to the Rhodes Blog, check out the step by step recipe for Grilled Rolls and leave a comment. Then head back over here and leave a comment letting me know you read the post.

If you want extra entries, follow Rhodes on facebook or twitter or you can subscribe to the Rhodes youtube channel. Just click the links below. Then come back here and leave a seperate comment for each one.

Giveaway ends at midnight on Sunday, July 17th.
Winner picked by random.org

Now go try some of these rolls for dinner. You'll be glad you did!

My Nephews Wedding

2011-06-20T10:00:00.000-06:00

Wow! I've been a pathetic blogger lately. Summer has hit me right in the face but I'm ready to pick myself up and move along. I started out June by helping with the food for my nephews wedding. Three days after that I was in charge of an open house and dedication for over 2000 people. Luckily that was just a punch and cookies type of event. But it was two evenings. Now I just need to get back in the swing of things. We've been grilling up like crazy around here. Recipes to come. But first a glimpse of my nephews wedding.

My sister in law was hosting the reception and had some fun ideas. The food was a build your own picnic box-lunch.

First you grab a box. Then pick a sandwich. There were chicken salad and BLT sandwiches.

Next pick a salad. There was a pasta salad or a green salad. (I made the salads-recipes to come soon) Then take a piece of watermelon.

Now take a cookie for dessert.

There were fun bottled sodas to drink.
It was such a fun outdoor reception. The food was delicious. The bride and groom beautiful. The weather perfect. It was a great evening!

Beyond Glaze Doughnuts

2011-05-30T09:00:00.015-06:00

Have you heard of Beyond Glaze Doughnuts? I had heard about them but wondered if a glazed doughnut really needed to be spruced up. But Beyond Glaze has it figured out.

How does key lime crumble sound? Or maybe peanutbuttter swirl? Or blueberry or raspberry torte? Or how about gourmet smores doughnut? That's just a few of the delicious flavors they offer. We cut the doughnuts up so everyone could try a piece of each.

My favorite was the Raspberry Mango. But there wasn't a one we didn't like. Give them a try.

Beyond Glaze

177 West 12300 South

Draper, UT 84020

(801) 571-2309

54 West 700 South

Salt Lake City

(801) 355-3495

Rhodes CookBook Winner

2011-05-26T10:24:00.001-06:00

The winner of the Rhodes Home Baked Family Favorites Cookbook is...

Meesh

Email me with your address and it will be on your way!

Rhodes Guest Blogger and a GIVEAWAY

2011-05-11T09:39:00.000-06:00

I am so excited that I have been asked to be a guest blogger on the new Rhodes Bake-N-Serv blog. I have always loved Rhodes Bread. What an honor to be able to guest post for them from time to time.

This morning I posted a delicious new favorite at my house, Cheddar Bread. It's from Rhodes newest cookbook, Home Baked Family Favorites. This bread is delicious. It's perfect with soup, salad and dinner. Actually it's so good by itself that's how it usually gets eaten at my house. But if there are leftovers, it makes a delicious sandwich as well.

Pop over to the Rhodes Bake-N-Serv blog and check out the step by step instructions. In the meantime, look at these pictures. Does it make you want to eat some of this bread? You could be eating it for dinner. Get over to the Rhodes Blog and get baking.

In honor of my first post, Rhodes is giving me a copy of their new cookbook, Home Baked Family Favorites for one of you readers. It is a fabulous cookbook. Every recipe has a picture (a must for me). It contains 174 recipes.

To enter leave a comment below

For a bonus entry, leave a comment on the Rhodes blog, then come back and leave me a comment letting me know

Giveaway ends at midnight June 22, 2011
Winner will be announced June 23, 2011

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

2011-04-22T08:00:00.001-06:00

My sister-in-law Emily passed this recipe along to me. It's delicious and easy to make. We love it on pulled pork salads, burritos, quesadillas and even just to dip chips into. This recipe makes a lot of dressing, so you shouldn't need to double it, even for a crowd.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup mayonnaise

3-4 tomatillo

1/2 bunch cilantro

1 glove garlic

1 package buttermilk ranch dressing mix

1 tsp fresh lime juice

1 jalapeno, chopped-no seeds, optional

Dump all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. The dressing will last up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

The possibilities are endless with this delicious dressing!

RubySnap Cookies

2011-04-11T15:11:00.000-06:00

Have you heard of RubySnap cookies? It's a great cookie company in Salt Lake City. I try not to think about them too much. But when I do, I start planning a trip downtown to pick up a few (or maybe a dozen).

The cookies from RubySnap are made with all natural ingredients. They sell the dough too. But for you out-of-towners, you can order them online.

The cookies have cute names, girl names to be exact. There's even a cookie of the month. This month it's Billie Ann. It's a coconut carrot curry cookie with coconut cream frosting. My favorite is the Lilly cookie. It's lemony goodness.

I know these pictures don't do the cookies justice. So go try some for yourself. You'll be happy you did!

RubySnap

770 South 300 West

Salt Lake City

Lemon Bars

2011-04-07T08:00:00.001-06:00

These lemon bars are a staple at my house. I'm not a huge chocolate lover (I know, I know) so I would have these over brownies any day of the week. I almost always have all of the ingredients on hand so they are easy to make. Just be sure to leave enough time for them to cool, at least a few hours.

If you have made Lemon Bars from a box and liked them, give these a try. There really is NO comparison!

Lemon Bars

2 cups flour

1 cup butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Cream together until mixture becomes fine crumbs. press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Crust should still be light in color.

Combine the following and pour over the hot crust:

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

4 T. flour

4 T. lemon juice

the rind of one lemon, grated

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 more minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Let cool completely before cutting and removing from pan.

Cole Slaw Salad

2011-04-04T08:00:00.002-06:00

This salad is a family favorite. My mom started making it over 25 years ago. It's a real easy salad to throw together. It's a great one to make the day before it's needed too. You can mix the salad ingredients together. Then mix the dressing together. Just be sure to toss the dressing right before serving.

Cole Slaw Salad
1 medium head cabbage, shredded
1 green pepper, chopped
1 package chicken ramen noodles, crunched up
1/2 cup slivered almonds

In a large bowl place cabbage, green pepper, almonds and crunched up ramen noodles. Reserve seasoning packet for the dressing.

dressing
seasoning packet from the chicken ramen noodles
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Mix all ingredients together except oil. Whisk together until sugar is dissolved. Then whisk in oil.

Pour dressing on cabbage mixture. Serve immediately.

Fat Tuesday Beignets

2011-03-31T09:00:00.001-06:00

A few weeks back, on Fat Tuesday to be exact. I was perusing a few of the blogs I check out regularly. I stopped by Living the Scream to see what Carly had been up to. She mentioned a food blog that somehow I hadn't heard of, Our Best Bites. I don't know how I'd missed that one. But when I flipped over, they were making Beignets for Fat Tuesday. I thought it was a sign.

I've never been to New Orleans. But I have had beignets. They are delicious. But who wouldn't love some fried dough heavily dusted with powdered sugar? So I decided to give them a try.

Beignets

Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 c. whole milk
1/4 c. + 1 Tbsp. sugar, divided
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp. table salt
3 1/2-4 c. all-purpose flour
1 scant tablespoon dry active yeast
1/2 c. warm (about 105 degrees) water
1 egg
Peanut oil for frying-I just used vegetable oil

In a small saucepan, combine the milk, 1/4 c. sugar, vegetable oil, and salt. Heat over medium heat until small bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Remove from heat.

While the milk is heating, combine the yeast and 1 Tbsp. of sugar with 1/2 c. water. Allow to stand for 10 minutes or until it’s very bubbly.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the heated milk and 2 c. flour. Mix, scraping the bowl occasionally, until smooth (about 2-3 minutes). Add the egg and mix until well-combined. Add the yeast mixture. Add enough flour to make a soft dough that slightly sticks to your finger.

At this point, you can either place the dough in a bowl sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and cover with a piece of sprayed plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough up to 1 day or you can roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. I have made these both ways and either way worked great. Either way, when you roll it out, roll it into a large rectangle about 1/4″ thick. Using a pizza wheel, cut the dough into about 3″x4″ rectangles. Slightly separate the dough pieces and cover with a clean cloth. Allow to rise for 30 minutes.

When the dough has about 15 minutes left to go, heat 2-3 inches of peanut oil in a large skillet or saucepan to 325 degrees (just use a candy thermometer). This actually broke my candy thermometer. After that I just tested the oil by dropping one in at a time. If it didn't raise immediately to the surface, the oil wasn't ready. If it started to smoke it was too hot. When the oil is heated, fry the dough pieces for about 90 seconds-2 minutes per side or until they are golden. Carefully remove from the oil and allow to drain on a paper towel-lined baking sheet.

Place some powdered sugar in a fine-mesh strainer and sprinkle the powdered sugar generously over the beignets. I put about 1 cup of powdered sugar into a lunch sack. Then I dropped them into the bag and gave them a good shake. It was less messy. Serve immediately. Makes about 24-30 beignets.

We loved these and I have added the recipe to my recipe box. Thanks Carly and thanks Our Best Bites!

Lemonhead cookies

2011-03-28T09:49:00.001-06:00

I made these cookies a few weeks ago and they were gone in a flash. Unfortunately I can't remember where I found the recipe. But I have already bought some more Lemonhead candies for the next batch.

Lemonhead Cookies
1 Cup of Butter
1 Cup of White Sugar
1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar
the zest from 1 lemon
2 tsp of Lemon Extract
2 Eggs
1/4 tsp of Salt
1 tsp of Baking Soda
3 Cups of Flour
6 oz Bag of Lemonheads-Crushed or chopped into smaller pieces

Cream together butter, white sugar and brown sugar. Add in lemon zest, lemon extract and eggs. Mix until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Add crushed lemonhead candies. Drop by tablespoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet. I like to use parchment paper on my cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Drizzle with lemon glaze.

Lemon glaze
Start with 2 cups of powdered sugar in a small mixing bowl. Add lemon juice 1 tablespoon at a time and mix until desired consistency. Drizzle on top of cookies.

I interupt this food blog...

2011-03-22T15:01:00.001-06:00

To bring you what we did ALL. LAST. WEEKEND.

MARCH MADNESS!!!

I have a 22 year old son who was serving a mission for our church for the past 2 years. He loves sports! Actually the whole family love sports. But he felt like he had really missed out on some serious viewing while he was gone. This year the NCAA changed a few things for their basketball tournament. Every game in the tournament would be played on live tv. That meant 4 channels would be covering every game. Live. It also just happened to be my sons spring break from school. Coincidence? He thinks not! So he and his good friend planned out what would be the "perfect weekend".

Here is what greeted any guests.

Here is how the converted family room looked.

Yes. That's 4 tv's. We normally only have one tv in there (although now my husband thinks this is a perfect setup).

And of course we needed to have our bracket nearby.

Yep, husband managed to print out a 3 foot by 4 foot bracket. That baby will be up until April 4th when the championship game is played.

There was plenty of excitement here last weekend. We had tons of guests. And plenty of food too. I'll be posting a few of the recipes I made in the next few days. But we also had some good old standbys too. Like...

PW Sheetcake
Shirley J Chicken Enchiladas
Peanut butter Cookies
Queso Dip and Chips
Panini's
Hot Wings
Corn Dogs
Banana Bread
Chips and salsa
Pot Roast Sandwiches
Lemon Squares
Caramel Popcorn

And of course, plenty of soda pop and candy.

We all had a great weekend. 48 games in 4 days. I was tired by Sunday night!

I hope your weekend was as good as ours!