Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips
Source: Shirley (my husband's cousin)

2 cups of fresh strawberries
2 granny smith apples
2 kiwi
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp apple jelly
Juice from an orange (I also put the orange pieces in)

Clean and cut all fruit into small (really small) pieces.  Mix brown sugar, apple jelly, and orange juice together.  Pour over fruit and mix.

Cinnamon chips:
10 flour tortillas (8 inches)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Brush chips with butter and sprinkle on cinnamon-sugar.  Cut each tortilla in eight wedges.  Place on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for 5-12 minutes or until just crisp.  (my oven took 12 but watch because they are easy to burn.)  Serve with the fruit salsa.

Angel’s Version of Lasagna Cupcakes

Last night I tried one of the recipes from my new 300 under 300 cookbook, the Lasagna Cupcakes.  First let me say that this recipe was a little more time consuming that what I normally make during the week so I suggest that you make it on the weekend or sometime when you are not pressed for time.  Of course, if you don’t have a 4 year old helping you this might not take as long and be fine for a weeknight meal.

They were good but they could be better. I found the lean ground turkey a little bland and the fat free ricotta cheese even more bland.  So I’m going to re-vamp the recipe to inject more flavors but hopefully not add too many more calories. I am going to add more spices, garlic, some roasted red peppers, and exchange the fat free ricotta for the low fat cottage cheese.  (If you like the fat free ricotta, feel free to use it but I didn’t care for the taste/texture of the fat free version.)  I also added just a little parmesan cheese and some panko crumbs to add some flavor to the cheese mixture.  And I thought a whole package of spinach was overwhelming; I will make it with less next time. Below is the recipe, after I’ve done some tweaking.

The original recipe said that each cupcake had 165 calories; I’m not sure how many calories my recipe contains.  I’m sure it’s more than this but not drastically more.

Angel’s Version of Lasagna Cupcakes

Olive Oil

Worcestershire Sauce
2 cloves garlic-diced
1 onion, diced
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
12 oz lean ground turkey
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
¼- ½ package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (the amount of spinach depends on how much you like spinach)
1 ½ cups low fat cottage cheese or the fat free ricotta cheese
1-2 tbsp of panko bread crumbs, Italian Style
1 -2 tbsp Grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup egg beaters
2-3 pieces of jarred roasted red pepper (packed in water), diced
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
Salt, pepper, garlic powder
24 small square wonton wrappers
1 ½ cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

·         In a large skillet, put 1 tbsp. olive oil and bring to med-hi heat.  Add onions, garlic, and mushrooms.  Sprinkle with some salt and pepper and add a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce. And sauté for 4-5 minutes until they begin to get tender.  Transfer to a bowl and set aside. 

·         Add the ground turkey to the skillet and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning.   Cook and crumble until no longer pink

·         Reduce heat to low & add crushed tomatoes and the onion/mushroom mixture.  Simmer for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.  Taste and season as needed.

·         While that is simmering, in a  large bowl combine the spinach, cottage cheese, 1/8 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. pepper, ½ tsp. garlic powder, 1/8 tsp. nutmeg, egg beaters, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and roasted red peppers. Stir to mix well.

·         Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick spray and press a wonton wrapper into each cup.  Put a blob of the spinach mixture in each cup.  Then a blob of the turkey mixture on top of that.  Smoothing the surfaces with the back of a spoon.   Top each turkey mixture with a tbsp. of mozzarella cheese.  Place another wonton wrapper into each cup, lightly pressing it down on the cheese layers and along the sides of the cup.  Repeat the layers and top with 1 tbsp. mozzarella cheese.

·         Bake in the oven until cheese has melted and edges are browned.  About 10 minutes

·         Allow to cool just a bit, and then transfer to a plate and serve. 

Cherry Coke Chocolate Cake

For the Dotson Thanksgiving, I made a new recipe from the Tasty Kitchen website. And it was REALLY good!  I have plans to make it again, but this time doubling the amount of cherries to the cake.  Here's the recipe below if you'd like to try it.  Also, when I made the frosting, I added a little cherry juice to add flavor and color to the frosting.   Here is the link to Tasty Kitchen, go on over there and check out their yummy recipes!  http://tastykitchen.com/

Cherry Coke Chocolate Cake

1 jar (10 Oz) Maraschino Cherries, Drained, Reserve 1/4 Cup Juice

1 box (about 18-20 Oz. Box) Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 cup Cherry Coke
½ cups Vegetable Oil
3 whole Eggs
1 container (12 Oz) Whipped Vanilla Frosting
1 cup Marshmallow Creme
24 whole Maraschino Cherries With Stems, Drained Well, For Topping

Chop the jar of cherries, set aside. In a large bowl, mix cake mix, Cherry Coke, oil, eggs and reserved 1/4 cup cherry juice. Stir in chopped cherries. Pour batter into a 9×13 cake pan which has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes. Cool cake completely for about 1 hour. Mix together frosting and marshmallow creme to frost cake. Top cake with whole maraschino cherries.  Or dip cherries with stems in chocolate. Refrigerate cherries to set chocolate before putting them on the cake.

Baked Chicken with Cola Barbecue Sauce

Sunday is my day to experiment with new recipes.  I nearly always cook dinner for my family - sometimes it's just my Mom that comes over.  Sometimes the whole crew shows up.  This Sunday it was my Mom, my niece Tabby, and my great niece Makayla. 

Makayla had requested Butter Noodles for dinner.  (it's really complicated to make....boil some egg noodles when done drain, add butter, salt, and pepper.  That's it.  Pretty simple.  Sometimes I go wild and add Parmesan cheese!)

I decided to try a recipe from the Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade magazine.  http://www.sandralee.com/  It was quite easy and the results were great.  Very moist and tasty!  It's very similar to a recipe that my Mom used to make, but she cooked her chicken in an electric skillet and just mixed Pepsi and BBQ sauce.

Below is the recipe as written in the magazine.  I pretty much followed the recipe, I did leave the skin on so that the chicken would be extra moist and I cooked the chicken in my large cast iron skillet.   Oh...and I cooked the chicken on the stove top a bit longer than what the recipe called for.  I made sure it was good and brown on both sides.  I used a package of drum sticks and a package of thighs.

Baked Chicken with Cola Barbecue Sauce
recipe from Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade magazine

1 1/4 cups Coca-Cola
1 cup ketchup
2 tbsp prepared mustard
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp hot sauce (I just used a few dashes)
1 tsp garlic salt (I was out of this so I used garlic powder and just added a sprinkle of salt)
8 bone-in chicken pieces (skinned, but I didn't do this, I left the skin on)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp canola oil

In a medium saucepan, combine the cola, ketchup, mustard, vinegar, hot sauce, and garlic salt.  Bring to a boil over med-high heat.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from  heat, reserve 1 cup sauce in a small bowl for serving.

Preheat oven to 350.  Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.  In a large ovenproof skillet, heat oil over med-high heat.  Add chicken and cook 8 minutes or until lightly browned, turning occasionally.

Place pan in oven and bake chicken for 20 minutes.  Discard excess fat from pan.  Brush chicken with 1 cup of sauce.  Bake 15-30 minutes longer  (I baked for another 20) or until done.  Serve with remaining reserved 1 cup of BBQ sauce. 

Ham and Beans

Ham and Beans


1 lb brown beans
Wash beans. Dissolve 3 tbsp of salt in water and pour over beans. (enough water to cover beans) Let sit overnight.

Next morning, chop up an onion and a few stalks of celery and add to the beans. Add some salt and pepper. Then throw in a pkg of smoked ham pieces (I bought a small package from the SuperCenter) Bring beans to a boil, stirring often, then reduce heat to a low simmer. Cook, stirring often until beans are tender. Add more salt and pepper to your taste.

Mom's Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes

Call me crazy, call me OCD but yes...I'm already planning my Thanksgiving menu and shopping list.  Our family has certain things that are traditions.  I mean, if we don't have these sweet potatoes IT IS NOT Thanksgiving.  It's just a given that Mom will make them.  And a given that my brother Donnie will be walking by scooping off some of the melted, marshmallows.  It's a TRADITION.  And really, isn't that what makes the holidays so great?  I love thinking back to Thanksgivings 20 years ago and guess what -- Mom was making this and my brother was stealing the marshmallows!

 Mom’s Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes

2 large tall cans of sweet potatoes, drained

2-3 handfuls of brown sugar
8 oz whipping cream
¼ stick butter
2 bags mini-marshmallows

Put butter in 9x13 pan and melt.  Swirl to coat pan.   Pour sweet potatoes in pan, then cream, then cover with brown sugar.  Bake 350 for about an hour.  Then add 1 bag mini-marshmallows and cook  until melted and toasted, about 15 minutes.

 

Ma's Cranberry Relish

Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away and I'm thinking about the menu and remembering the relish Ma made every year for Thanksgiving.  I didn't like it as a kid but I do like it now. 

Try it this year, I think you'll like it too.  (make 2-3 days ahead)


1 bag cranberries washed

1 orange, peeled

3 red apples, peeled and cored

1 can crushed pineapple

2 cups sugar

Dash of salt

Put all in food processor and chop/mix. Refrigerate.