Chicken Pillows

by // // No Comments

     This is one of our all-time favorite go-to recipes. My hubby loves it, my kids love it, and anything with ‘pillow’ in the name is delightful. It is very easy to put together and freezes well. It is very warm and comfort-foody. When I ask my kids what they want for dinner, this is one that always comes up.

Chicken Pillows

Ingredients:

About 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 Tbsp butter, softened
3-4 green onions, finely chopped
3 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
1 box chicken or turkey stuffing
Melted butter, for dipping

Gravy:

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can evaporated milk

Directions:
     Heat oven to 325 degrees. For filling: cream together cream cheese and butter. Add in chicken and green onions. I use a hand mixer to mix it all together, which shreds the chicken nicely.
     Open roll dough. Separate each roll. You will have triangle shapes. With a rolling pin, slightly widen and flatten the wide end of the triangle to make more room to put your filling in. Put about 1 Tbsp of filling in center of wide end. Roll toward point as you would a regular crescent roll. Take open side ends and fold toward center and pinch down so you have a nice little pillow.
     Crush stuffing mix a little bit until it is as fine as you would like, I leave mine a little coarse. (Make sure the seasoning and bread crumbs are mixed together) and put in a bowl. Dip chicken pillows in melted butter, then stuffing mix. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
     Meanwhile, for gravy, heat soup thinned with milk to desired consistency over medium heat in a saucepan.  Serve over hot rolls.

Source: College Roomate 🙂
    

Cowboy Caviar

by // // 2 Comments
I love my summer garden, and Cowboy Caviar is one of my favorite recipes that I make from the delicious goodies I get from it. I make huge bowls of this at a time. I’ve even lost a few pounds while eating this all week. Delicious and healthy!



Cowboy Caviar


Here is the original recipe I had:

1 15 oz can of black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion
1/4 cup diced red or orange sweet pepper
2 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP cider vinegar
1 or 2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
dash of salt
2 cloves garlic, minced

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, cover and chill for several hours or overnight. Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.

Here’s how I really make it:

1. Go out to the garden and pick a bunch of vegetables – cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers (green, red, yellow, orange), banana peppers, jalapenos, vidalia onions, fresh garlic, etc.

2. Bring them in the house and wash them, then start chopping them up and put them in a bowl. 

3. Add some olive oil, black pepper, a little salt, plenty of apple cider vinegar, and a can or two of drained black-eyed peas. You can throw in chopped avocado, fresh cut corn, fresh parsley, or anything else that makes you happy.

4. If you can, let it sit for at least 30 minutes (or overnight) before devouring it. The longer it sits, the stronger the vinegar flavor becomes, which I love. Enjoy with tortilla chips or your favorite crackers.

Source: Someone made this at a church activity many years ago, and I have been making my own version ever since.


Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Cake

by // // 2 Comments

Here’s a twist on traditional strawberry shortcake that is super easy and one of those great make-ahead recipes that saves you time in the kitchen.  I made it for my daughter’s birthday since she loves strawberry shortcake.  Try it, you’ll like it!

Ingredients:

2 packages of Hostess Shortcake Cups (8 cakes)*
1/2 gallon vanilla bean ice cream
15-20 ripe, fresh strawberries**
1/4 cup plus 3 T. vanilla sugar
whipped cream and chocolate syrup for adornment

Directions:

1.  Grease an 8 (or 9 inch) springform baking pan.

2.  Tear shortcakes into 1 inch pieces and lightly press into the bottom of your baking pan.

3.  Press slightly room temperature ice cream evenly over shortcake, smooth.

4.  Freeze for 4 hours before removing the springform pan.

5.  Top each slice of ice cream cake with strawberry sauce and whipped cream.

Strawberry Topping Instructions:

1.  Clean and cut stems from the strawberries.

2.  Cut into 1/2 inch chunks and place into flat bottom dish.

3.  Coat with 1/4 cup vanilla sugar and stir.

4.  Wait 30 minutes, then crush strawberries with a potato masher.

5.  Sprinkle remaining vanilla sugar over strawberries and stir.

*I used 3 packages (18 cakes) of the dessert spongecakes that you find in the produce section by the strawberries.

**I used regular sugar.

Source:  foodfamilyfinds.com

2 Ingredient Cookies

by // // No Comments

I love cookies. And chocolate. And pretty much all things sweet. Since I’ve been doing Weight Watchers, I’ve had to really temper my sweet tooth. I saw these lovely little cookies floating around the internet. I knew that I had to try them. Really, 2 ingredients? No butter or sugar? I’m in!

Ingredients:
2 (Old) Bananas
1 Cup Quick Cook Oats

If you want… add a mix in of your choice.
Want some ideas?
– mini chocolate chips (what I used)
– coconut flakes
– nuts
– raisins
– craisins

Directions
1. Mix your ingredients together. Make sure that the mixture isn’t too wet, if it is – add some oats. Don’t add too many mix ins – you need to make sure that your cookies stick together.
2. Divide into 16 cookies, (i used my cookie scoop, worked perfectly)
3. Bake on a greased pan at 350 for 15 minutes.

**Depending on your mix ins, for the whole batch – it would be 7 points. Not too shabby, eh?

Source

Andes Layered Frozen Mousse Pie

by // // No Comments
I LOVE Andes Chocolates. A few years ago I discovered their Creme de Menthe baking chips and I was so excited. On the back of the package was this recipe (you can also find it on their website http://www.tootsie.com/rec_moussepie.php) 
 I have made it multiple times for family gatherings around the holidays. I added the whipped cream and extra chips on top, but this pie is so delicious and rich. Definitely a family favorite.

Ingredients: 2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
1 ready-to-use chocolate wafer crumb crust (6 oz. or 9-inch)
1-1/2 cups whipping cream, divided
2 cups Andes Crème de Menthe Chips or 2 packages 4.67 oz Andes Crème de Menthe Thins, chopped. (28 candies)
2 egg yolks

Directions:

Stir 1/2 cup of Andes Crème de Menthe chips into ice cream. Spread onto bottom of crust; freeze.

Melt remaining Andes chips with 1/2 cup whipping cream in saucepan over low heat stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in egg yolks. Continue heating over medium-low heat 3 to 5 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken. Do not allow to boil. Cool to room temperature.

Whip remaining 1 cup whipping cream until stiff peaks form; fold into Crème de Menthe mixture. Spoon over ice cream in crust. Freeze 4 hours or overnight.

Note: Allow pie to stand at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting.

Strawberry Muffins

by // // No Comments

Two recipes herald the onset of strawberry season at our house:  strawberry freezer jam and strawberry muffins.  The muffin recipe came from a recipe pamphlet I got years ago at a local you-pick berry farm.  It’s been a family favorite ever since.

Ingredients:
3 3/4 cup flour
2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup pecans, chopped
2 cups sweetened strawberries, sliced*
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, beaten

1.  Heat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nuts.  In another bowl, combine strawberries (with their juice), oil, and eggs.
2.  Stir strawberry mixture into dry ingredients and stir just until moistened; do NOT over mix because it will affect the texture of the muffins.
3.  Fill greased muffin pan or muffin liners 3/4 full and bake for 15-18 minutes or until done.  Makes about 2 dozen.  These freeze well.

*To sweeten strawberries:  Clean, hull, and slice into a bowl.  Sprinkle with sugar (a couple of tablespoons for the amount in this recipe) and gently stir.  Set aside.  The sugar will bring out the juices in the berries.

Happy Mother’s Day

by // // No Comments
image made with Microsoft Office Clipart and Picmonkey

After a day with breakfast in bed, homemade paper flowers, a nap, NOT having to cook dinner and NOT having to clean up, I am going to bed with a smile on my face!!  

Hope your day was amazing, fellow moms!

Penzey’s Chicken Pot Pie

by // // No Comments



Makes enough to fill a large glass pan

Preheat oven to 450 degrees


Single Crust Pastry:
2 sticks butter​2 pinches of salt​6 Tbls milk (at the end of mixing)
2 cups flour​2 pinches of sugar
To prepare the crust, cut each stick into fourths; it doesn’t have to be cold, but it should not be warm to the point of melting.  Add the flour, salt, and sugar to the butter—use the multi-bladed pastry knife with the handle to mix and break up the butter into small pieces (push down and twist at the same time to create a lot of floured chunks of butter.)  Put the milk in at this stage and continue mixing until it doesn’t seem like you are making any more progress.  Then use your hand(s) to squeeze everything together into a ball of dough.  Form into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and chill until it can be easily handled—at least half an hour.  While it is chilling, prepare the filling.
Filling:  In a Medium Sauce pan, add:
2 cups diced raw carrots (very thinly sliced carrots also work well)
1 stock of diced celery (optional)
3 Tbls dried white onion flakes
2 4-oz cans of mushrooms; pour everything into the pan including the approximately
½  cup of water in each can or 1 cup thinly sliced fresh mushrooms
Pour the water from the quart of cooked chicken into the pan (it will be about 1 cup’s worth) then add another 3 cups of water, bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes.
Using a strainer and bowl, pour what has been cooking into the strainer inside the bowl, return the vegetables to the pot, put 4 cups of the drained liquid back into the pot.  If you need more, just add water from the tap to make up the 4 cups of liquid. Put the pot on medium heat and Add:
2 cups frozen baby peas
3 tsp Chicken (or turkey) soup base (Penzey’s paste)
In a small cup combine 6 Tbls of cornstarch with 6 Tbls of cold water and slowly add the white liquid mixture to the pot while stirring.  Stir pot constantly over medium heat until it starts to boil.  Let boil for 1 minute before adding:
4 cups cooked diced chicken (or turkey) (we use the drained quart of bottled chicken)
1 tsp Pensey’s poultry seasoning or rubbed sage(optional)
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground pepper
Stir just enough to break up the chunks of meat and equally distribute everything before pouring into the oil-sprayed pan.
Roll out the pastry on a flour-covered table into the shape and size of the pan.  Place the pastry on top of the filled dish and cut slits to vent.  Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes.  Check after 20 minutes.  If the crust is getting really brown, place a piece of aluminum foil loosely over the top.  Or, if it is not browning quickly enough, turn on the broiler from above to hasten the browning process.   Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.  Because of the temperature, it will stay hot in the bowls for quite some time while eating.

Source: Penzey’s Spices Catalog http://www.penzeys.com/

Berry Cherry On A Cloud

by // // 1 Comment

 
    The name of this dessert describes it perfectly. Smooth berry sauce on a cloud of meringue and cream cheesiness. My Mother-In-Law is the source for this (and many more) of my recipes. It is a crowd-pleaser and it feels rich and highbrow. Of course, if you have someone who doesn’t like meringue, cheesecake, or berries, they may not go for it, but that is probably not the type of person you would be inviting over for dessert in the first place, is it?

Berry Cherry On A Cloud

Meringue:
6 egg whites
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbs. cream of tartar
pinch salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Filling:
2 C. heavy cream
6 oz. cream cheese
1 C. sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 C. miniature marshmallows (for extra cloudiness!)

Topping:
1 Large Can Wilderness pie cherries
1 pkg frozen strawberries or raspberries, thawed (I prefer raspberries, or mixed berries)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Meringue: Beat egg whites until fluffy. Very slowly add sugar, cream of tartar, and salt. Fold in vanilla and spread on the bottom and sides of a greased 9×13 pan. Bake at 275 degrees for 60 minutes.
Filling: Beat together cream cheese, cream, sugar and vanilla. Fold in marshmallows. Spread on cooled meringue and chill at least 12 hours.
Mix all topping ingredients together and serve over slices of dessert.

Source: LuAnne Brown

« Older posts
Newer posts »