I made this today for home fellowship. I love lemon flavored things and I have a Pampered Chef trifle dish that I barely ever get to use, so when I saw this recipe I definitely wanted to make it. It's from the Taste of Home magazine April/May 2010. My sister gave this one to me, too. She gets TOH in the mail and I get Simple & Delicious. My mom pays for both of them for Christmas every year. I like mine better because there are usually fewer ingredients and less steps, but the TOH are still good to look through. And I have found a few things there too, so it's all good.
Lemon Delight Trifle
3 1/2 cups cold milk
2 pkg (3.4 oz each) instant lemon pudding mix
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
12 oz Cool Whip, thawed, divided
1 pkg (12 to 14 oz) lemon cream-filled sandwich cookies, crushed (we couldn't find these at 3 different grocery stores, so we used Golden Oreos)
In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. In another bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gradually stir in pudding until blended. Set aside 1/4 cup each of cool whip and crushed cookies for garnish. Fold remaining cool whip into pudding mixture. Place half the remaining cookies in a 3 qt trifle dish; top with half the pudding mixture. Repeat layers. Garnish with reserved cool whip and crushed cookies. Refrigerate until serving.
So all of the adults liked this, most of the kids did. None of my own children liked this, not even Emma who had helped me make the whole thing. It was very good. Tom had the helpful suggestion to add sausage next time, because everything tastes better with meat. I told him I would take it under advisement, but obviously I'm totally never putting meat in a trifle dish, a la Jennifer Aniston (anyone else remember that episode??). Another keeper. I am on a roll lately.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Potato and Pepper Frittata
Sounds fancy, huh? It's basically scrambled eggs and stuff. This came from the Kraft Food and Family magazine, spring 2010. It was in the stack of magazines my sister gave me to look through, since once Kraft started charging for this previously free publication, I decided not to buy. I have made things similar to this before but I thought this looked good and would be a hit with our family. We love breakfast-for-supper type things.
Potato and Pepper Frittata
6 slices bacon, chopped
1 cup shredded potatoes
1/4 cup chopped onions
6 eggs, beaten
1 cup cheese (they tell you to use Mexican shredded, but you could just use whatever you have)
6 green pepper rings
Heat oven to 350. Cook bacon in medium ovenproof nonstick skillet 4 minutes; drain, reserving bacon in skillet. Add potatoes and onions; cook 7 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in eggs; top with cheese and peppers. Cover. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until center is set.
If you don't have an ovenproof skillet (I don't), you can do what I did. Follow the recipe as it says until the point where it says to stir in the eggs. I got a 2 quart casserole dish, sprayed it with cooking spray, then put the beaten eggs in that, then dumped the skillet mixture into the casserole dish. I stirred everything all up, then topped it with the cheese and peppers, covered it, and baked it. Mine took like 35 minutes for the eggs to be done to my liking (I do not like runny eggs AT ALL).
So this was good, even Emma ate it, and she doesn't think she likes bacon. Also I did not tell her it contained bacon. My little secret. Definitely a keeper. We had it with "fresh fruit" which sounds really nice too, but basically the kids could choose grapes or bananas. Also they could choose strawberries but nobody likes those here except me. So a very good meal overall.
Potato and Pepper Frittata
6 slices bacon, chopped
1 cup shredded potatoes
1/4 cup chopped onions
6 eggs, beaten
1 cup cheese (they tell you to use Mexican shredded, but you could just use whatever you have)
6 green pepper rings
Heat oven to 350. Cook bacon in medium ovenproof nonstick skillet 4 minutes; drain, reserving bacon in skillet. Add potatoes and onions; cook 7 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in eggs; top with cheese and peppers. Cover. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until center is set.
If you don't have an ovenproof skillet (I don't), you can do what I did. Follow the recipe as it says until the point where it says to stir in the eggs. I got a 2 quart casserole dish, sprayed it with cooking spray, then put the beaten eggs in that, then dumped the skillet mixture into the casserole dish. I stirred everything all up, then topped it with the cheese and peppers, covered it, and baked it. Mine took like 35 minutes for the eggs to be done to my liking (I do not like runny eggs AT ALL).
So this was good, even Emma ate it, and she doesn't think she likes bacon. Also I did not tell her it contained bacon. My little secret. Definitely a keeper. We had it with "fresh fruit" which sounds really nice too, but basically the kids could choose grapes or bananas. Also they could choose strawberries but nobody likes those here except me. So a very good meal overall.
Creole Recipes
So my good friend Amanda printed off some Creole recipes for me. Not sure where she got them from. Also, after making them, I think they are more the Louisiana type Creole than Haitian Creole. But that's okay, the goal here is to normalize rice-containing dishes for our children. When we ate the first dish, we even taught them to say "I love rice" in Creole. Mwen renmen diri (or it might just be m'renmen diri--we are still not that clear on Haitian grammar). They are totally lying when they say it, but that's okay. I think there's a verse about speaking about the things that are not as if they were. So that's what we're doing here.
So there are two spice mixes, one is a dry mix and one is a liquid. Both of them make more than you will need for these two recipes, but you could probably use them for other things if you are creative. The dry mix I put in a sweet Tupperware spice container, obtained through my awesome Tupperware lady, Becky Coffin. The liquid one I put in a clean empty pickle jar, and told Steve "these are not pickles gone bad, please do not dump this." Then two recipes follow.
Creole Seasoning
2 1/2 tbsp sweet or Spanish paprika (I just used what I already had)
1 tbsp sea salt
2 tbsp granulated garlic (I used garlic powder)
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp cayenne pepper (I only used half this much because I don't like heat)
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tbsp chili powder
Blend in food processor or spice grinder. Store in sealed container.
Since I made a couple of substitutions, this may taste better if you follow it to the letter. But I already had regular paprika and garlic powder, so I figured saving the money was worth it. I think I was right. And since I used already powdered spices, I didn't have to use a spice grinder, which was a plus since I do not own one. Also even with only using 1 1/2 tsp cayenne, it was still just a touch more spicy than I liked. But I will keep using it because now it's made...
Creole Herbs & Spice
9 tbsp steak sauce (I used A-1)
6 tbsp worcestershire sauce
6 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp molasses
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne (again I only used 1/2 the amount)
Place in jar, mixing well. Store in refrigerator.
So this recipe is what tipped me off to this being more Louisiana type Creole, since I don't think they have steak sauce or worcestershire sauce in Haiti. At least not in wide use. This smelled good, but mostly like the A-1.
Red Beans and Rice
1 lb smoked sausage
1 lg onion, chopped
5 ribs celery, chopped
2 cans red beans, rinsed and drained
1 tbsp creole seasoning
1/4 cup oil
3 tbsp herbs and spice
2 1/2 cups instant rice (I used instant brown rice {which actually is healthier even though it's still instant} and decreased the amount to 2 cups since it usually needs more liquid than white)
3 cups chicken broth (I used my own homemade broth as outlined in a previous post--woot--tasty and cheaper and no MSG and stuff like that)
Place oil in large pot with sausage cut into pieces. After sausage browns, add onion and celery. Cook 5 minutes. Add creole seasoning and herbs and spice, mixing well. Then add beans and broth. Cook covered for 15-20 minutes or until beans are soft (this is way too long...the beans are canned so come out of the can soft...probably 5 minutes is enough). Check seasoning-you want it strong (so they say, maybe if you are like me, you don't want it strong)-rice will cut the taste back. Add rice cooking for 5 minutes on low. Mix well, cover, and let stand for 15 minutes (I think you are supposed to remove it from the burner at this point although it doesn't say that specifically). If too dry add more broth.
Steve really liked this. He said it is definitely a "make again." I thought it was a bit too spicy. The kids ate it and didn't complain about the heat at all, so I think that's a good sign. This kind of reminded me of Zatarain's, you know those mixes you can buy. But this was better, because again, no preservatives or whatever else they put in there. And you could make this with any meat, I bet, not just smoked sausage. I know a lot of people don't like that, even though our fam really really does.
Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
1 lb smoked sausage, sliced (again with the smoked sausage but we LOVE it!)
1 1/2 lb chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 lg onion, chopped
5 ribs celery, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 tbsp creole seasoning
1/4 cup oil
4 tbsp herbs and spice
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 12 oz can V8
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups instant rice (I again used less rice since I used brown...I only used 2 cups...it cooked faster but the dish was a bit too watery, so I will use 2 1/2 cups next time)
Brown sausage and chicken in oil in large pot. Add seasonings and mix well. Add onions, green pepper, and celery. Mix well. Add V8 and tomatoes and cook 15-20 minutes or until veggies are softened. Add chicken broth, check seasoning, and bring to a boil. Add rice, mix, cover and let stand 15 minutes (again I think you remove from the heat). Add more broth if needed.
So even though this has very similar ingredients to the beans and rice, it has quite a different flavor, due to the tomatoes. Oh and no beans. So this was very very good. It made a lot, all 5 of us ate it, and there were 4 servings of leftovers. Yet another keeper!!
So there are two spice mixes, one is a dry mix and one is a liquid. Both of them make more than you will need for these two recipes, but you could probably use them for other things if you are creative. The dry mix I put in a sweet Tupperware spice container, obtained through my awesome Tupperware lady, Becky Coffin. The liquid one I put in a clean empty pickle jar, and told Steve "these are not pickles gone bad, please do not dump this." Then two recipes follow.
Creole Seasoning
2 1/2 tbsp sweet or Spanish paprika (I just used what I already had)
1 tbsp sea salt
2 tbsp granulated garlic (I used garlic powder)
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp cayenne pepper (I only used half this much because I don't like heat)
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tbsp chili powder
Blend in food processor or spice grinder. Store in sealed container.
Since I made a couple of substitutions, this may taste better if you follow it to the letter. But I already had regular paprika and garlic powder, so I figured saving the money was worth it. I think I was right. And since I used already powdered spices, I didn't have to use a spice grinder, which was a plus since I do not own one. Also even with only using 1 1/2 tsp cayenne, it was still just a touch more spicy than I liked. But I will keep using it because now it's made...
Creole Herbs & Spice
9 tbsp steak sauce (I used A-1)
6 tbsp worcestershire sauce
6 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp molasses
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne (again I only used 1/2 the amount)
Place in jar, mixing well. Store in refrigerator.
So this recipe is what tipped me off to this being more Louisiana type Creole, since I don't think they have steak sauce or worcestershire sauce in Haiti. At least not in wide use. This smelled good, but mostly like the A-1.
Red Beans and Rice
1 lb smoked sausage
1 lg onion, chopped
5 ribs celery, chopped
2 cans red beans, rinsed and drained
1 tbsp creole seasoning
1/4 cup oil
3 tbsp herbs and spice
2 1/2 cups instant rice (I used instant brown rice {which actually is healthier even though it's still instant} and decreased the amount to 2 cups since it usually needs more liquid than white)
3 cups chicken broth (I used my own homemade broth as outlined in a previous post--woot--tasty and cheaper and no MSG and stuff like that)
Place oil in large pot with sausage cut into pieces. After sausage browns, add onion and celery. Cook 5 minutes. Add creole seasoning and herbs and spice, mixing well. Then add beans and broth. Cook covered for 15-20 minutes or until beans are soft (this is way too long...the beans are canned so come out of the can soft...probably 5 minutes is enough). Check seasoning-you want it strong (so they say, maybe if you are like me, you don't want it strong)-rice will cut the taste back. Add rice cooking for 5 minutes on low. Mix well, cover, and let stand for 15 minutes (I think you are supposed to remove it from the burner at this point although it doesn't say that specifically). If too dry add more broth.
Steve really liked this. He said it is definitely a "make again." I thought it was a bit too spicy. The kids ate it and didn't complain about the heat at all, so I think that's a good sign. This kind of reminded me of Zatarain's, you know those mixes you can buy. But this was better, because again, no preservatives or whatever else they put in there. And you could make this with any meat, I bet, not just smoked sausage. I know a lot of people don't like that, even though our fam really really does.
Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
1 lb smoked sausage, sliced (again with the smoked sausage but we LOVE it!)
1 1/2 lb chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 lg onion, chopped
5 ribs celery, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 tbsp creole seasoning
1/4 cup oil
4 tbsp herbs and spice
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 12 oz can V8
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups instant rice (I again used less rice since I used brown...I only used 2 cups...it cooked faster but the dish was a bit too watery, so I will use 2 1/2 cups next time)
Brown sausage and chicken in oil in large pot. Add seasonings and mix well. Add onions, green pepper, and celery. Mix well. Add V8 and tomatoes and cook 15-20 minutes or until veggies are softened. Add chicken broth, check seasoning, and bring to a boil. Add rice, mix, cover and let stand 15 minutes (again I think you remove from the heat). Add more broth if needed.
So even though this has very similar ingredients to the beans and rice, it has quite a different flavor, due to the tomatoes. Oh and no beans. So this was very very good. It made a lot, all 5 of us ate it, and there were 4 servings of leftovers. Yet another keeper!!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Seared Pork Chops
So in that stack of magazines my sister gave me to read during my recovery, there were a bunch of People magazines. I will confess right now that I still enjoy reading People. I don't even know half of the people in there anymore, but I still like to read them. But I do not spend money on them. Sometimes they are in the break room at work and I read them on my supper break. Sometimes I get the head of my femur hacked off and replaced with metal, and my sister gives me a stack of them to read. However I get them, I still like to read them. In each issue there is a celebrity recipe, and this is People magazine's debut on New Recipe Night. I know that they are very excited about this. So this recipe is Joe Jonas's (of the Jonas Brothers, which is a band, but I have never heard any of their songs) favorite pork chops, from the April 26, 2010 issue of People. I have never made a recipe with this method. I am sure that food safety experts would think this wasn't the best way to prepare food. But I will tell you that it tasted yummy and moist. Just use a meat thermometer and make sure the pork chops get to 170 and it should be fine (you can't go by color on pork like you can with beef and chicken. That's a free tip hee hee).
Seared Pork Chops
4 pork chops, bone-in or boneless (we used boneless)
1 gallon warm water
1/4 cup chili flakes (according to Yahoo answers, you can use dried red pepper flakes as a substitute, which is what I did, but I only used half of what it called for in case it would be too spicy)
1/2 cup salt (that sounds like a lot, but salt isn't very expensive, so...it's fine)
6 cloves garlic, smashed
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste (I didn't add any, mostly because I forgot. They still tasted great)
In a large mixing bowl, mix water, chili flakes, salt, and garlic. Add pork chops and let sit for 1 hour in refrigerator. Remove chops from mixture and pat dry thoroughly. In a heavy cast-iron pan (which I do not have, I just used a skillet), heat olive oil. Season chops with salt and pepper. Place chops in pan and cook 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove from pan and let rest 2 minutes before serving.
Mine took a bit longer than 3-4 minutes per side, I ended up turning them back over for 3 more minutes, so a total of like 9-12 minutes. These smelled fabulous cooking, and tasted really really good. The kids all liked them too. They ended up much moister than the pork recipes I've made in recent months. So another keeper. Thank you, Joe Jonas.
Seared Pork Chops
4 pork chops, bone-in or boneless (we used boneless)
1 gallon warm water
1/4 cup chili flakes (according to Yahoo answers, you can use dried red pepper flakes as a substitute, which is what I did, but I only used half of what it called for in case it would be too spicy)
1/2 cup salt (that sounds like a lot, but salt isn't very expensive, so...it's fine)
6 cloves garlic, smashed
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste (I didn't add any, mostly because I forgot. They still tasted great)
In a large mixing bowl, mix water, chili flakes, salt, and garlic. Add pork chops and let sit for 1 hour in refrigerator. Remove chops from mixture and pat dry thoroughly. In a heavy cast-iron pan (which I do not have, I just used a skillet), heat olive oil. Season chops with salt and pepper. Place chops in pan and cook 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove from pan and let rest 2 minutes before serving.
Mine took a bit longer than 3-4 minutes per side, I ended up turning them back over for 3 more minutes, so a total of like 9-12 minutes. These smelled fabulous cooking, and tasted really really good. The kids all liked them too. They ended up much moister than the pork recipes I've made in recent months. So another keeper. Thank you, Joe Jonas.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Chocolate Peanut Butter Candy
It has been so long since I've been on here, I feel like there is so much to say!! I am SO thankful for the 2 weeks of meals my church family provided for us in my immediate post-op period. I am still getting some meals here and there from work friends and such and it has been a huge help. Yesterday I actually managed to make something! I am still using crutches, so this took me probably 3 times longer to make than it would take any of you, but that's okay. Other things I have made this week in the kitchen: a DiGiorno frozen pizza, scrambled eggs, and a mac and cheese type dish. Not exactly gourmet, but I feel like things are slowly approaching normal (very slowly). I made this recipe for the home fellowship we go to at our friends' house in Levant. I love the home fellowship for many reasons, but the cooking reason I love it is because I can make desserts that Steve and I will not be consuming entirely ourselves. Becky tries to be healthy; last night she had mini muffins and cheese and crackers. And here comes me, with this. She said I didn't have to make anything, which I knew. But I really like making stuff and being in the kitchen, so it wasn't a "have to" thing, it was a "want to" thing. The kids there all loved this. It did come out really good. This recipe came out of a Taste of Home magazine, April/May '10. I usually do not get TOH, but my sister saved a bunch of magazines for me to read while I was laid up, including about 8 cooking mags, so I have a bunch of new things to try. I think this one was misnamed, really. It doesn't have that much chocolate or peanut butter in it, also it does not have the consistency of candy. But it was really good.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Candy
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, cubed (that's 1 1/2 sticks)
1/3 cup milk
2 sleeves Town House crackers (I ended up using like 2 1/2 sleeves or so...but I ate some while I was making it so maybe 2 would be enough)
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
In a saucepan, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugars, butter, and milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly (this is a thick gloopy mess and hard to stir, and it stays really thick even once it boils); cook and stir 5 minutes longer. Place a single layer of crackers in a greased 13x9 baking dish; top with half of crumb mixture (this will pour like hot caramel and it's hard to spread once it's on the crackers). Repeat layers. Top with remaining crackers. In a small saucepan, combine the butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, and peanut butter. Cook and stir until smooth. Pour over crackers and let stand until set.
So you cut these like brownies, but way smaller, like 1 or 1 1/2 inches or so. They came out really really good. This would be an expensive recipe if you didn't already have the ingredients, but I happened to have everything except enough graham cracker crumbs. So, a keeper.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Candy
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, cubed (that's 1 1/2 sticks)
1/3 cup milk
2 sleeves Town House crackers (I ended up using like 2 1/2 sleeves or so...but I ate some while I was making it so maybe 2 would be enough)
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
In a saucepan, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugars, butter, and milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly (this is a thick gloopy mess and hard to stir, and it stays really thick even once it boils); cook and stir 5 minutes longer. Place a single layer of crackers in a greased 13x9 baking dish; top with half of crumb mixture (this will pour like hot caramel and it's hard to spread once it's on the crackers). Repeat layers. Top with remaining crackers. In a small saucepan, combine the butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, and peanut butter. Cook and stir until smooth. Pour over crackers and let stand until set.
So you cut these like brownies, but way smaller, like 1 or 1 1/2 inches or so. They came out really really good. This would be an expensive recipe if you didn't already have the ingredients, but I happened to have everything except enough graham cracker crumbs. So, a keeper.
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