ANGEL LUSH

Wow, this stuff is from heaven for sure!!

1 (large) box vanilla pudding
1 (large) can crushed pineapple (WITH JUICE DO NOT DRAIN)
1 (large) tub Cool Whip

Mix the vanilla pudding powder with the crushed pineapple (and juice). Fold in the Cool Whip. HEAVENLY! Serve with Strawberries, and or angel food cake.

***this makes a HUGE batch, so you can certainly use the 'small' box of pudding, 'small' can of pineapple and 'small' tub of Cool whip. :)

WOWOWOWOW

Well, tomorrow my sister is (finally) throwing a party to celebrate her new house! And she has asked me to help he cook for it. There will be 50+ people coming! EEEK! So we have decided on the following items:

Meatballs - my island meatballs

Bacon wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese

Prosciutto and melon bites

Mini caprese bites

Mini potato pancakes with chive sour cream

Mini empanadas

Stuffed mushrooms

Cheese and breads/crackers

Nuts and olives

Some sort of dip and veggies

Fresh fruit and chocolate

Coconut Macaroons

Angel Lush


OK! Whew! I have already made macaroons, and the angel lush (will post recipe, its DIVINE!) Today I am making the meatball mixture and getting them into balls, ready to fry tomorrow..... I am also going to my sister's house later to help stuff dates, and put together the mini-caprese bites (cherry tomato sliced in half with mozzarella, and basil in the middle on a toothpick). My mother is making stuffed mushrooms (my recipe).I think my sis is making the empanadas and procciutto and melon bites.. . and tomorrow I will conquer the potato pancakes before the party. WHEW! I am tired just writing all this! Wish me luck!

Lefse

One of my favorite treats as a child was when my aunt Marcia would make homemade Lefse. If you don't know what Lefse is, its Norwegian potato bread. Sort of like a crepe, or a tortilla.. its made with potatoes, and rolled out very thin and cooked on a hot skillet.then eaten warm, with butter and sugar and rolled up.. I haven't had it since I was a child, but recently have been thinking of trying to make it.. So, I have searched online for recipes that seemed authentic, and easy enough for me to make for my first attempt.. My biggest fear is rolling out the dough.. I hear if the dough isnt perfect, that they'll fall apart. EEK! I found TWO recipes that seem perfect. One uses real potatoes, and the other uses potato flakes...

I will keep you updated if and When I take on the task of creating Norwegian LEFSE!

Onion rings and Chicken Fingers

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Ok, so we had a very unhealthy, fried feast last night! But, I just had to try the batter recipe with onions! And had a thought of cutting chicken breast into thin strips also, and just frying everything up! SOOOOOOO, we did it and -- OMG, yummmm what a treat!!

Ok, so I basically used the batter recipe from my sweet n sour chicken post.. But, I changed it up a little as I went.. and I doubled it, and also had to add about 1/2 cup more flour and about 1 Tsp of baking powder and maybe 1/4 more corn starch.. So, the totals are here:

Frying Batter:
2 cup cup water
1-1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup corn starch
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
salt, pepper and season salt. *(you can add any seasonings you like)

Next, slice a sweet yellow onion, and 4 chicken breasts into thin strips. Coat the chicken and the rings with flour. Salt and pepper them before adding to batter. Dip in batter and fry. Careful not to crowd the pan.. Salt immediately after removing from oil. I did all the chicken first, then all the onions based on different cooking times...

Enjoy!
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YUMM!

Spaghetti Sauce

(this is not my picture)

So, the other night.. I made eggplant parmesan... It was kind of impromptu, so I had to throw some sauce together real fast.. And, amazingly it turned out delicious!! This is just for a small batch, you can certianly add more.. but the ingredients are the important part!

I used:
2 small cans tomato sauce
1 TBLS sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Mrs. Dash garlic and herb
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper

MMMMM MMMMM!! I may never buy jar sauce again!!

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BBQ ranch chicken wraps

This recipe is inspired from Red Robin...



2 grilled chicken breasts, sliced
Sweet honey barbecue sauce (your favorite brand)
Ranch dressing
shredded cheddar
lettuce
crispy tortilla strips (I imagine broken up tortilla chips would work!)
spinach tortillas

lay tortilla on plate. spread a small amount of ranch dressing on the tortilla. sprinkle some shredded cheese and tortilla strips evenly around tortilla. Arrange a few chicken strips in the center of the tortilla and drizzle with barbecue sauce. Last, layer on some shredded lettuce and roll tortilla carefully into a wrap. Enjoy!

T O N I G H T

I am making Mac n Cheese.. per request of my hunny.. he loved it.. and wants it all the time !! Will post pics later.. :)



ohhhhhhh yaaahhhhhh

Crepes, Crepes, Crepes!

I love crepes, and they are SO EASY! The hardest part, is having the patience to stand there and cook them all! teehee!

Crepes

1 cup flour
3/4 cup milk
½ cup water
2 large eggs (or 3 small)
Pinch of salt
¼ cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
3 TBLS melted butter

Mix everything with a whisk in a bowl. Heat skillet with a tiny bit of oil. Use ½ cup measure for each crepe. Once you get it in the pan, swirl pan around to spread the batter as thin as possible. Cook for a couple minutes, until you can flip it easily. Loosen sides with a heat proof rubber spatula, and then carefully flip the crepe and cook one or two minutes on other side..


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Sweet 'N Sour Chicken

I DID IT!! ! !!! I conquered making homemade Sweet and Sour chicken! And you know what, ?? It turned out very scrumptious!! YUM YUM! This recipe will EASILY feel 4-5 people, so you may want to cut it in half-- or invite friend over!! lol. Can I just add, this batter is THE BOMB!! Its very light, like tempura. Would make Excellent onion rings!!


Sweet 'N Sour Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Oil for frying
2 green peppers - cut into 1" pieces
1 onion cut into 1" pieces
1 can pineapple chunks - drained, save juice
salt & pepper

Frying Batter:
1 cup water
4 oz. flour
2 oz. corn starch
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
salt
1 TBLS cooking oil


Sauce:
1 cup pineapple juice 1/3 cup water
2 TBLS vinegar
2 TBLS soy sauce
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 TBLS corn starch
1/2 cup ketchup
**combine all ingredients with whisk in saucepan. stir and heat until thick. Set aside.

Prepare batter. Drop all chicken into batter (I salted and peppered my chicken before adding to batter).


Heat oil in large pan, drop battered chicken into hot oil, and cook until golden brown. You may need to separate the pieces after you drop them into the oil so they don't clump. Also, you may need to do them in batches like I did.





Once all chicken is cooked, set aside. Add onions and peppers to pan, and stir fry them until just tender. Add chicken back to pan. Add sauce, and pineapple and stir fry a few minutes until thick and Serve!!

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Brutzel Bars (English Toffee)

ohhhhh YAH! These babies turned out SO DAMN GOOD! The recipe is SUPER EASY, and quick! I actually had to bake it 13 minutes, the recipe says 10, but your oven may vary. YOU GOTTA TRY THESE!!



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Brutzel Bars

1 sleeve Keebler butter crackers CLUB Crackers)
1 cup butter (no margarine)
1 cup granulated sugar
12 ounces milk chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 10-by-15-inch pan with foil and
spray with Pam. Arrange crackers in single layer over foil. In
medium saucepan, combine butter and sugar and bring to a boil. Boil
1 minute and gently pour over crackers. Spread out with rubber spatula until all crackers are evenly covered.

Bake 10 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately
sprinkle morsels over top. Wait 2 to 3 minutes, until morsels begin
to melt, and carefully spread melted chocolate over top. (I thought this would be hard to do, and maybe it would mix with the sugar mixture..., but they spread really easy, and the sugar mix hardens pretty fast. )

Cool and refrigerate for few hours. Remove from fridge and break
into bars following cracker lines as a guide. YUMMMMMMM