Secrets of a Southern Kitchen

Pumpkin Cake Squares

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sun, 19 May 2013 23:50:00 +0000

Pumpkin Cake Squares

Besides church suppers, I think the next best place we southern gals get our quick and easy recipes is from our families--mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, cousins, you name it. You know how some people won't share their "special" recipe? Not my family. If one of us finds something yummy to make or eats something delicious, we share! This recipe came about that way! My aunt found it in her newspaper and tried it, then passed it along to my mom, who passed it along to me.

They both have "quick and easy" as their middle name in the kitchen, too! A good, Southern tradition!

When I first heard of this, I thought it was like the pumpkin pie cake that I've posted on here several times before, but this one is totally different, but just as easy and just as good, if not better.

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 c + 2 T melted butter (separated)
3 eggs
1 15-oz can pumpkin
2/3 c evaporated milk
1/2 c + 2 T sugar (separated)
2 t + 1 t cinnamon
whipped topping (optional)

Measure 1 cup cake mix, and set aside to use for the topping.

Combine remaining cake mix with 1/2 c melted butter and 1 egg until crumbly. Press into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 350.

Meanwhile, mix pumpkin, 2 remaining eggs, 1/2 c sugar and 2 t cinnamon. Spoon mixture over the baked layer.

For topping: combine reserved 1 c of cake mix, 2 T melted butter, 2 T sugar, and remaining 1 t cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle the topping mix over the pumpkin mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes

Allow to cool (yeah, right!), cut into squares, and serve with whipped topping. (I think vanilla or cinnamon ice cream would be really good, too!

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating...

This post is linked to:

Meatless Monday at My Sweet and Savory
Church Supper at Everyday Mom's Meals
Sweet and Savory Sunday at Cookin' for the Seven Dwarfs
See Ya in the Gumbo at Ms enPlace

Quick and Easy Ice Cream Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sat, 18 May 2013 23:10:00 +0000

Here in the south, church dinners are a tried and true source of new recipes, and that's where I was first introduced to a version of this cold, creamy, and delicious semi-homemade ice cream cake. This is one of those dishes that's made of such common-place ingredients, and is so easy to put together, it almost seems too good to be true.

But trust me, the result is so much greater than the sum of it's parts!

Ingredients:

2 boxes vanilla ice cream sandwiches (the ones with chocolate cookie outsides, vanilla insides)
2 large or 3 small containers whipped topping
1 small package instant chocolate pudding
1 bottle chocolate fudge magic shell
chopped nuts

Step 1--Remove papers from 10-11 ice cream sandwiches, and place in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan (or slightly larger--I usually have to squish the sides a little to make it fit.

Step 2--Mix together chocolate pudding powder and 1 large or 1 1/2 small container of thawed whipped topping. (This works easier if you put it in a larger bowl instead of just mixing it in the whipped topping container.)

The whipped topping will "deflate" just a bit, and the mixture will thicken to the texture of a sort of whipped chocolate mousse.

Step 3--Spread "chocolate mousse" mixture over the layer of ice cream sandwiches

Step 4--Add another layer of ice cream sandwiches

Step 5--Add a layer of plain whipped topping.

Step 6--Drizzle liberally with magic shell, and sprinkle with chopped nuts.

And here is the hard part--cover and put in the freezer until frozen firm--I'd say at least 4 hours, but I usually make this the night before and freeze overnight to be sure.

This is a "sliceable" or "scoopable" dessert but I usually cut it into squares and serve it that way so that you can see the layers.

When I first tasted of one of these at a church supper, and told my mother about it, she didn't think it sounded that good, because she doesn't really care for ice cream sandwiches that much. Once she tasted it though, she became as big a fan as I am, and she's already put her request in for one of these for her birthday in August. That's why I surprised her with one early, for Mother's Day. (Hence the "fine china" in the pictures above--who wants to wash dishes on Mother's Day?)

Variations and tips:

I haven't tried it yet, but I think this would be delicious using butterscotch pudding and caramel magic shell.
You can use chocolate or caramel ice cream syrup if you don't have magic shell.
Once it's frozen hard, I have packed these in an ice chest and transported them to a family pot-luck.

What summer goodies have you been gearing up to make this year?

Until next time, good (un)cooking, and good eating...

This post is linked to:
Sweet and Savory Saturdays at Dessert Now, Dinner Later
Saturday Night Special at Funky Junk Interiors
Saturday Show and Tell and Cheerios and Lattes
The Weekend Re-Treat at The Best Blog Recipes
Meatless Monday at My Sweet and Savory
Church Supper at Everyday Mom's Meals
Sweet and Savory Sunday at Cookin' for the Seven Dwarfs
See Ya in the Gumbo at Ms enPlace

No Cook Strawberry Freezer Jam

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sat, 11 May 2013 23:30:00 +0000

When I had the chance not long ago to buy a whole flat of these beautiful Louisiana strawberries, I had several things in mind, but the main two that I knew I wanted to make was the fresh strawberry pie that I shared last week, and as much strawberry freezer jam as I had berries to make.

I'm especially partial to freezer jam, in part I think because it's so easy to make, but also, since it isn't heat processed, when you thaw it and use it, it tastes just as fresh as the day you put it up. When we were in Georgia, my husband picked buckets at a time of ripe blackberries that grew wild around his job site, and I made backberry freezer jam every year, as well as a couple of different kinds of blackberry pie.

My pectin product of choice is the Ball brand, for two reasons--one, it requires no cooking at all, and two, it uses more fruit and less sugar than some brands do for freezer jam. You can buy it in envelopes or pouches, like I did when I made the blackberry jam, or in a little jar, like I used this time.

I had an especially hectic day the day I made this jam, and I had mixed results--~~mostly~~ completely my fault, I'm convinced. Here is the basic recipe, and I'll tell you what I did right, and what I did wrong.

Ingredients:

1 2/3 c mashed strawberries (not completely crushed, you want more fruit than juice so that the jam will have some body)
2/3 c sugar or Splenda
4 T Ball fruit pectin (or one small envelope)

Mix the sugar (or Splenda) and the pectin together in a bowl. Add the fruit, and stir for about 3 minutes, or until the sugar and pectin are well dissolved. Pour into jars or containers, and allow to set for 30 minutes. Because this is not heat processed, you can use regular glass canning jars, specially made freezer jam jars, or even repurposed plastic or glass containers of your choice. Once it's set, store in the fridge for immediate use, or freeze for use later.

I made one small low-sugar batch, using Splenda, which set with no problem.

Then I made a larger, slightly-more-than-doubled batch, which didn't set. When I realized that this batch wasn't working, I went back over my math to be sure I figured everything right. Then I dumped the jars all back into my bowl and added a little more sugar and pectin and stirred it all up.

Still nothing.

The directions do say not to try to make more than 6 jars at a time, or it may not "set", but I don't think that was the issue. I think the problem was, instead of mashing the berries in small batches, say a cup at a time, I put the last batch in my big bowl and just went to town with a potato masher. By this time I had made pies, jam, cleaned the kitchen several times, put away my freezer beef delivery, etc, and I was tired, and trying to hurry the process. So I mashed and mashed, and I think I mashed too much, so that I had too much juice and not enough actual fruit in the last batch.

So, my final tally, is 2 2/3 jars of low sugar strawberry jam, and 6 1/2 jars of sweetened mashed strawberries, that when, thawed, make a delicious strawberry syrup to pour over ice cream, or maybe even mix with pound cake and cool whip for a really juicy strawberry shortcake. Or mix into cake and frosting to make a delcious strawberry cake.

At any rate, it will be eaten in some form or the other, and I have to say, it's not bad as peanut butter and jam, as long as you mix it into the peanut butter and not try to just spread it on the bread.

I've had too much success with freezer jam to let this be a discouragement (although, I have to admit, I was pretty discouraged the day I made this!)

What success and failure have you had in the kitchen lately?

Until next time, good (no-cook) cooking, and good eating...

This post linked to:
Meatless Monday at My Sweet and Savory
Church Supper at Everyday Mom's Meals
Sweet and Savory Sunday at Cookin' for the Seven Dwarfs
Make, Bake, Create at Hope in Every Season
Back for Seconds

Fresh and Easy Strawberry Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sat, 04 May 2013 05:49:00 +0000

When I first moved back home to Louisiana a few years ago, I really missed not having more noticiablly different seasons. In Louisiana, we have a short fall, 5 minutes of winter, and 9 months of summer. And in between winter and summer, we have spring. Strawberry weather.

Yes, while most of you are still struggling with frost and cold and even snow this late spring, we have folks sitting on the side of the road selling beautiful flats of Louisiana strawberries. Sometimes from Hammond, sometimes from Ponchitoula, sometimes one of the other little towns in the top of the toe; what's commonly known as the northlake area, that little stretch of strawberry heaven along Interstate 12 north of Lake Pontchartrain. I don't know what it is about that area of the state, whether it's the soil or the weather, or something completely different, but they grow the best strawberries.

I like strawberries almost every way you can eat them. I like them so much I'll even slice some up and eat them with milk and sugar, like a bowl of cereal. Or cream instead of milk, if I have it. Even what we in the south euphemistically call "canned cream", which is nothing more than evaporated milk, poured straight over a warm cobbler or a cool bowl or fruit. Yum.

But by far my favorite thing to do when I have really good strawberries is make a fresh strawberry pie.

Years ago when I worked at one of our local banks, one of our customers always brought a truckload of strawberries back from southeast Louisiana and sold them to his friends and neighbors, and he generously gave every employee of our bank a whole flat of strawberries. (There are definite advantages to living in a small southern town.) The first time I got strawberries-by-the-flat after I was married, my husband said "Oh, good, strawberry pie!" I had an immediate vision of a cooked, two-crust pie, like apple pie or cherry pie, and turned up my nose, but he had something else in mind. "My favorite!" he said, and tried to describe it, so as a dutiful wife, I started looking for recipes in my cookbooks.(Remember those? Where we used to find recipes before the internet!).

I found several versions, and narrowed them down by practical, everyday ingredients and ease of application, and this is my tried-and-true version that I've used for years. It uses a combination of a cooked glaze and strawberry gelatin, but it uses less gelatin than many recipes, making a softer setting, fresher tasting glaze than some versions of this pie that I've eaten.

Ingredients:

1 c sugar
1 c water
4 T flour
4 T strawberry gelatin (that's half of a small box--this is easily doubled, I usually make these two at a time, using 2 c sugar, 2 c water, 1/2 c flour and the whole box of gelatin
1 pint (approximately) strawberries
single pie crust (or two crusts if making two)

Step 1: pre-bake your pie crust, and allow to cool

You can make your own if you have time, or use a frozen pie crust. If I don't make my own (which, honestly, I hardly ever do, I prefer the refrigerated roll out crusts.) Be sure to pinch the edges and prick the bottom and sides. I baked this one at 375 for about 10-12 minutes.

Step 2: While your crust is baking and/or cooling,wash and hull your strawberries

Step 3: Stir together sugar, flour, and water and cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly while the sugar and flour dissolve, then regularly until the mixture comes to a boil and begins to thicken. Allow to cook for another minute or so, stirring constantly again.

Step 4: Remove from heat and stir in gelatin, stirring to dissolve

Step 5: Allow glaze to cool

Step 6: Spread a small amount of cooled glaze on the bottom of the pie

Step 7: Slice strawberries and layer in the pie shell. Be generous, but don't overfill, or the glaze won't cover all of the berries, and the pie, while it'll still taste good, will be ugly. Don't ask me how I know this.

Step 8: Pour the remaining glaze over the top of the berries. Refrigerate and allow to "set", at least 30 minutes. If it's a little soft, oh well, that's the price you pay for cutting it too soon. Don't ask me how I know this, either.

Step 9: Add whipped topping, either the real thing or the fake stuff that most of us still use, although we feel really really guilty about that.

If I'm serving this at home to family, I usually leave the topping off and add a big dollop to the top of each piece of pie as it's served. If I'm making this for an occasion, I add a big dollop to the middle, so that when I bring it out everyone will ohh and ahh over it, or I spread it out all over.

I love this pie. Really.

Tip: You can use 3 T of cornstarch instead of 4 T flour if you want a clearer glaze. Flour makes it a bit more cloudy, but I first started making it with flour because in my newly-wed kitchen it was what I had.

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

This post is linked to:

Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm

Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home

Foodtastic Friday at Not Your Ordinary Recipes

Saturday Night Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Weekend Wrap-up Party at Tater Tots and Jello

Church Supper at Everyday Mom's Meals

Share Your Creativity at It's Overflowing

Sweet and Savory Sunday at Cooking for the Seven Dwarfs

Meatless Monday at My Sweet and Savory

Cooking From the Pantry--Roasted Root Vegetables

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 01:23:00 +0000

As a Southern girl, born and bred, and a bit of a country girl, to boot, I grew up with home grown vegetables. Purple hull peas, sweet corn, summer squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, just to name a few. But a parsnip was not among them. Up until recently I had never even seen a parsnip to my knowledge, and if I ever did, I probably thought it was some kind weird albino carrot.

But I've been trying really hard lately to broaden our vegetable horizons--so much so, that my son has even taken to trying a vegetarian diet for a while. We've been eating kale, brussels sprouts, and baby carrots and sweet potatoes, too.

So as I was browsing the produce section, I came upon a bag of parsnips, and since we've had so much luck trying other new-to-us veggies, I decided to try these as well. And yes, they do look like albino carrots!

I decided to try them a part of a pan of roasted root vegetables. I had four small yukon gold potatoes, and this ginormous carrot that the husband of a friend brought back from his rounds of truck farms in West Texas and New Mexico. I ended up with two of them, one of which I used in a pot roast a while back, and then this last lone one.

It's that time of year, when the winter root vegetables are playing out, and the early spring greens haven't started producing yet. So what do you do when you have a little bit of this and little bit of that in your fridge and/or pantry? You but them all together with the simplest of seasonings, and you make the most amazing vegetable medley ever!

Ingredients:

potatoes
carrots
parsnips
olive oil
kosher salt or sea salt

Peel or scrape the carrots and parsnips, and cut into chunks, splitting the larger sections into half or quarters lengthwise. Cut the potatoes into halves and then quarter the halves. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with coarse salt.

Bake 30-40 minutes at 350-375, until fork tender and they start to brown. (I baked these 20 minutes at 350, then bumped the oven temperature up to 375 and cooked them another 15 minutes)

I love the mixture of these three together--the parsnips get really sweet, the carrots not quite as sweet, and then the potatoes balance it all out.

Now that I've made the acquaintance of parsnips, I hope to maintain the relationship--I'm looking forward to fall planting time so I can see if I can grow my own in our garden next winter. Maybe this time next year it'll be my own home-grown version that I'm using up from the pantry!

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

This post is linked to:

Frugal Food Thursday at Frugal Follies

Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm

Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home

Foodtastic Fridays at Not Your Ordinary Recipes

Meatless Monday at My Sweet and Savory

See Ya in the Gumbo from Ms enPlace

Cooking From the Pantry--Quick and Easy Taco Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:42:00 +0000

Yesterday I worked on cleaning out my fridge and pantry as part of the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge at Money Saving Mom. The fridge wasn't so bad, but the pantry, oh my! I found things I had forgotten I had, as well as realized some deficiencies I need to correct. Since I was working on the pantry anyway, I decided to see if I could come up with all of the ingredients I needed to make a good a dinner, and I decided on one of my favorite go-to meals, taco soup.

I love taco soup, because everything in it is something that I buy regularly anyway, I don't have to make a point to buy any exotic ingredients, it's usually all on hand in the pantry and freezer. There are a variety of different ways you can make this, and trust me, I've made this dozens of times with all different combos of beans, tomatoes, etc. This is the version I made yesterday

Ingredients:

1 lb ground meat (I used the very lean home raised beef I get from my parents)
1 29-oz can of tomato sauce
1 15-oz can of black beans
1 1-oz can of red beans
1 12-oz pkg frozen corn
2 packets of taco seasoning
about a tablespoon of dried onion flakes

Ordinarily I cook the meat first, draining it if I use commercial ground meat--luckily our homegrown meat is so lean we don't have to do that. But our son is eating vegetarian right now, so I cooked the ground meat in a skillet separately. Once I got the meat cooking, I put the corn in the microwave for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, I opened the tomato sauce and beans, and dumped them in my soup pot, adding the taco seasoning and onion flakes, bringing it to a simmer. When the corn was ready, I opened it and added it to the soup pot. At this point, all it needs is some time. Cover and simmer for at least 20 minutes to give everything time to meld together. At this point, I scooped some out in a smaller saucepan for my son, and added the cooked ground meat to the rest.

Taking out some of it made the meat version a little thicker than I usually make it, and I normally would have added some additional tomato sauce, maybe even just a little water, and some additional seasoning, but I used up all of the taco seasoning I had (and I had borrowed one of those packets from my mother!)

I ate mine with a little grated "Fiesta blend" grated cheese and a little dollop of sour cream.

This is good a regular soup, with crackers, or with corn chips. It's very hearty, no matter how you eat it.

My son pronounced the vegetarian version good, as well. "Almost like real taco soup".

Last night turned out to be good night for it, although we've had very warm weather lately, we had a thunderstorm move through and cool things back down quite a bit.

What's your "go-to" meal for cooking from your pantry?

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating...

This post is linked to:

Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm

Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home

Foodtastic Friday and Friends at Not Your Ordinary Recipes

Clever Chicks Blog Hop at The Chicken Chick

Mealtime Monday at Couponing and Cooking

Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar & Gluten Free

Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Kale "Chips"

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:02:00 +0000

For a southern girl, I have never been much of a vegetable eater. I love purple hull peas and sweet corn, but honestly, a lot of other vegetables were in the eat-this-because-it's-good-for-you category. Even salads are usually just so-so in my book. (In a restaurant, given a choice between soup or salad for a starter, I always go for the soup.) I've tried to make up for it by eating a lot of fruit, but even natural sugar can get to be too much if you over-do it.

This year I've been really trying to cook (and eat) more vegetables, and to introduce some variety into our steady diet of purple hull peas/corn/mixed vegetables. I found out a couple of years ago that I love fresh asparagus, but it's a quite pricey around these parts. Although I've read that asparagus is difficult to grow in the deep south, I'm still hoping to find a variety that will work here and put in an asparagus bed.

Meanwhile, I tried brussels sprouts for the first time in my adult life, they've become a regular part of our veggie rotation. That success has inspired me to try another new-to-me vegetable, kale, one I never thought I'd ever try, much less buy, and it's become another roaring success.

This is not so much a recipe as it is a technique, because nothing is really measured, but this is our favorite version so far.

Ingredients:

Kale
Kosher salt or sea salt
olive oil
crushed red pepper flakes

Spread a generous amount of washed, dried, and chopped kale on a baking sheet.

I use pre-washed and chopped bags of kale from the produce section at Wal-mart. I try to pick through it and pull out the thick stem pieces as I go. I'm hoping to raise some kale in my garden this year, if you have whole kale, cut the thick center rib out and chop the rest coarsely. You need a lot, because this wilts down dramatically.

Drizzle with olive oil, probably a couple of tablespoons for this size pan (around 10 x 15, I think)

Sprinkle with coarse grained salt (not table salt--use Kosher salt or sea salt) and crushed red pepper flakes

Next-and I couldn't figure out how to take the picture while I did this--toss the kale until the olive oil and seasonings seem pretty well distributed throughout. I take a handful of swirl and flip and toss for a minute or so, until it seems to be pretty well mixed up.

And now the tricky part--put in a 375 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

The tricky part is making sure the kale gets crispy and a little browned on the edges, but not not burnt. If you take it out too soon, it's wilted and slightly chewy, but not really crispy and not very tasty, either.

I set my timer on 10 minutes and go about my business. When the time goes off, I pull out the tray and give it a shake, maybe touch a piece or two and even taste one. Then I usually put it back in for another couple of minutes, but I stand beside the stove and watch it very carefully.

The trays in the pictures above are actually just a little browner than I usually go, I had raised my oven rack for something else I was cooking and I forgot to lower to back to the middle, so it cooked just a little bit faster than usual, but even if you think you've over done it, once they get crispy, the brown doesn't seem to affect the taste--burnt to black, now, that might!

We have eaten these yummy bits of green as a crispy accompaniment to a sandwich...

...and as a traditional vegetable side dish with a meal.

(In this picture they look "wet", but this is from a batch where I was particularly generous with the olive oil--they're just "shiny".)

Last night's batch was on the stove as I was making dinner, my son was standing there talking to me about his day at work, and between the two of us, we finished off the whole tray in a matter of a few minutes. I never thought I'd see the day that I'd need to slap back fingers from pinching the kale!

Until next time--good cooking, and good eating!

This post is linked to:

Meatless Monday at My Sweet and Savory

Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family

Meatless Monday at Littlest Sweet Pea

Wonderful Food Wednesday at Mom's Test Kitchen

Frugal Food Thursday at Frugal Follies

Quick and Easy Lentil Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 23:41:00 +0000

Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of soup? I'm definitely not a food stylist, nor a professional photographer, but I have to admit, this soup isn't exactly photogenic to start with. This is such an easy and delicious recipe, though, I had to try, regardless of the poor result.

I've never cooked lentils before, and the first time I made it, I made a half batch, just in case we didn't like it. I thought I might have to cajole my family into eating it, but all if took was one try and it received thumbs up from each of us.

Ingredients:

1 pound dry lentils
2 bags of broccoli slaw
chicken or vegetable stock (about 8 cups) fresh, packaged, or from bouillon or base.
1-2 T dried onion flakes

Cook the lentils according to package directions in about 6 cups of stock, for 15-20 minutes, or until tender. I just bring it to a boil, then simmer with the lid slightly askew to let the steam escape. I usually use chicken stock, but if you wanted to make this truly vegetarian you could use vegetable stock. Once the lentils are tender, bring it back to a boil and add the bags of broccoli slaw and the dried onion. At this point, I usually add a couple more cups of stock, and stir the vegetables down into the liquid. Bring to a slow boil, then cover and simmer for awhile longer--probably 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. Season to taste. Because the stock is usually salty, I don't add any additional seasoning until right at the end, and then I add a few shake of Tony Chachere's or pepper.

And that's it! Every time I make this, I tell myself that the next time I'm going to add something to make it little prettier, like a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste. So far, though, we just over look the dish-waterish appearance and enjoy the flavor!

This recipe is easy, inexpensive, makes a big batch so there's enough for freezing or leftovers, and is one of those dishes that's actually better the next day.

This post is linked to:

Mealtime Monday at Couponing and Cooking
Creating My Way to Success
Martha Mondays at Watch Out, Martha
Make It Pretty Mondays at the Dedicated House
Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

Matzah "Crack"

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 21:26:00 +0000

I've made several new things lately that I've been wanting to share, but I haven't posted much lately due to lack of decent photos. Lately my camera has been M.I.A. a lot--it's always where I'm not, or it needs batteries, or I don't have time to download and edit, etc. I took these with my phone (and it's of the "un-smart" variety), so I apologize up front for the poor quality of the pictures, but this recipe is so good, I just had to share.

I heard last year about making toffee using a matzah base, but I tried one recipe and I wasn't really impressed. Then this year I decided to try again for our Passover Seder that my church was hosting. (Yes, we are an equal-opportunity celebraters, we celebrate most of the Christian holidays, and also many of the Jewish feasts and festivals.)

This time it was a real winner!

Ingredients:

4 sheets of Matzah (matzos)
1 c (2 sticks) butter or margarine
1 c packed brown sugar
1 to 1 1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
chopped nuts (optional)

Step 1--- line a baking sheet (one with a raised edge, not a flat cookie sheet) with foil, and put a layer of matzah edge to edge in the lined pan.

Step 2-- pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat (I use set my burner between 7 & 8 on a 9-pt knob) melt the butter or margarine, then stir in the brown sugar. Continue to cook, stirring regularly, until the mixture comes to a boil, then cook for about 3 minutes more. At first is seems as though the butter and sugar are not not really combining, but as it cooks it becomes somewhat foamy, and when it starts to pull away from the side of the saucepan as you stir, remove from heat and pour immediately over the matzah, spreading over all of the surface.

Warning: This is HOT. Be very careful. And do not under any circumstances try to lick the spoon, however tempting it may be. It will burn the taste buds right off your tongue. Set the spoon aside and test ti periodically with your finger. When you can touch it without is sticking to your finger and raising a blister, then and only then can you scrape the spoon and eat the caramel sauce you just made.

Bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes, until it's brown and looks sort of "set" with little cracks all over it.

Step 3-- allow to sit for just a minute or two, then sprinkle all over with chocolate chips. After two or three minutes the chocolate chips will start to get shiny, which means they've melted and softened enough to start spreading. Sprinkle with chopped nuts of your choice--I used finely chopped pecans, but I've seem other versions on line that used chopped pistachios, walnuts, even a sprinkle of sea-salt.

And now for the hard part--you have to let this cool completely or it won't "set" enough to cut or break into pieces. I stuck the first batch in the fridge to cool, the second I tried to leave out on the counter, but I finally had to put it in the fridge to firm up as well.

I made two pans, one with nuts, one without. I even tried a version with nuts and toffee/caramel sauce but no chocolate, but it was a different recipe, and I didn't like the flavor. I want to try that again later this week with this recipe for the sugar/butter mixture.

All I can say about this recipe is--now I know why they call this "crack"--it's crispy and crackly on the bottom, you can crack or cut it apart--and it's perfectly addicting!

Until next time--good cooking, and good eating!

This post linked to:

Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family

Lean Cuisine Chef's Pick--Product Review

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:20:00 +0000

Many years ago--more years ago than I'd care to tell you, but it was in the days that microwaves were mainly for industrial use and no one that I knew had one in their personal kitchen, I started my very first "real" job. I was excited to find that the kitchen/break room at my brand-new "big-girl" job was equipped with a microwave. It was a whole new way of cooking, but I took to it like a duck to water. (Must be where I first got my "quick and easy in the kitchen" middle name!)

One of my favorite "quick and easy" lunches to bring to work to microwave were Lean Cuisine dinners. They were just the right size for lunch, easy to make with that "magic" microwave, and low-cal, to boot. That was back in my single days, when I was supremely conscious of weight, always, and health--well, that was just lagniappe.

So when I had an opportunity recently to try a couple of the new Lean Cuisine Culinary Collection Chef's Pick varieties of frozen dinners, it took me immediately back to those early working years when I ate Lean Cuisine at least 2-3 days a week, if not more.

The first one that I tried was Chicken with Basil Cream Sauce. It contains only 230 calories, 5 grams of fat, and has 2 grams of fiber.

It had cheese tortellini, grilled chicken, Italian green beens, red bell peppers, and yellow carrots. I thought the carrots were yellow bell pepper at first, but they were so sweet I had to look at the box to see what they were. I thought this tasted really good. The green beans could have been a little more cooked, but that could have been my ancient microwave (almost as old as those memories I was telling you about). The sauce was delicious, I could have literally ~~licked~~ scraped the plate. Or sopped it with a piece of Italian bread.

The next one I tried was Glazed Chicken--240 Calories, 5 grams of fat, and 2 grams of fiber--roasted white meat chicken in lemon tarragon sauce with rice, french-style green beans, and cashews. Now this one really brought memories, as the earlier version of glazed chicken was one my very favorites, back in the day.

The new version is equally as good as my memories, if not more so. I was especially impressed that it came in a little black microwavable container, all I had to do was peel the plastic cover at one point and stir. (Gone are the days of boil-in-bag plastic bags--I used to bring my own plate to cook and eat mine from at work, along with a real fork. Really.)

When I first took a bite of the rice mixture, I thought it needed just a little touch of salt, but when I mixed the extra glaze into the rice mixture, it was fine. I liked that this one had more meat in it--actual bigger-than-bite-sized pieces. I don't remember the cashews in the back-in-the-day version, they added a nice touch of texture as well as another layer of flavor.

All in all, I was nicely impressed with flavors, the colors, the textures of these meals. And although I had coupons that covered the cost of these, they were inexpensive enough, even in these days of rising food prices, that I would definitely buy these and eat them again. I think they'd be perfect to grab-and-go for the work place, and even for those of us who are home alone during the day and don't want to cook for ourselves.

I have partnered with Lean Cuisine through DailyBuzz Food to help promote their new line of Chef's Pick
products. I have been compensated for my time commitment to work with this product. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments. Thank you Lean Cuisine!

Until next time, good (microwave) cooking, and good eating!

Sugar-Free Sunday--Sugar-Free Sweet Potato Casserole

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 21:20:00 +0000

I've been really working on getting my family (and myself) to eat more vegetables lately. I've been trying some new things, like oven-roasted brussels sprouts, and revamping some old favorites.

We had baked sweet potatoes not long ago, and I got the bright idea to do a healthier version of a holiday favorite, sweet potato casserole with pecan praline topping. The regular version is loaded with sugar, from the canned sweet potatoes/yams at the start, to additional sugar added, to the sugar in the topping. In my original post of this recipe, I called it "Sweet Potatoes You Can Eat for Dessert"--it's just that sweet and gooey, and I have family members who actually do it eat it for dessert.

Sugar-Free Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

3 large sweet potatoes
cooking oil of your choice
1/2 c Splenda, or equivalent non-sugar sweetener
1/2-3/4 stick of butter
1/2-1 t cinnamon
chopped pecans

Rub the outside of the sweet potatoes with oil, place on a baking sheet, and bake at 350 for around an hour, or until they're fork tender. Allow to cool enough to handle, and pull the skins off. You may want to slice through the ends, but the rest of the skin should just slide right off. Mash the baked sweet potatoes, and add Splenda, butter, and cinnamon. If your potatoes are cold, melt the butter--mine were still warm, so I just chunked up the butter and threw it in the bowl, and it melted as I mashed and mixed. Put into a 8x8 pan, slightly greased on the sides or sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle with slightly chopped pecans. Bake at 350 for around 20 minutes, or until the pecans are beginning to brown.

I thought I had over cooked these, the nuts were getting very browned. Without the familiar brown sugar and butter mix, I wasn't really sure what to look for, but they tasted fine. (I actually forgot the cinnamon in these, so we just added a dash of cinnamon to our serving on our plate, then just stirred it in slightly. Still tasty).

My family decided they liked the sugar-free version better than the regular one for everyday eating. My son said it tasted like it should be eaten with the meal, and not afterwards.

I liked the healthier version in several ways. I usually use canned sweet potatoes/yams during the holidays. Because they're already cooked with a sugar syrup, although I drain it off, it can be hard to regulate the sweetness. And while I never thought that you'd hear me say it, you can have too much sugar in a recipe. It also seems to me that the last several times I've made my regular version, the sweet potatoes have been mushier, and there's definitely a higher proportion of sugary juice to potatoes in the cans--as a result, sometimes I have trouble getting the middle to set without over browning the top--I usually have to cover it with foil at some point to keep the topping from burning.

Conclusion: As long as my son and I are working on reducing sugar in our diets, I'll be making this version for our everyday meals--and when it's holiday time, although I'll probably go back to my regular version on special occasions, I'll bake my own sweet potatoes and go from there instead of using the canned.

Do you have a sugar free recipe to share? Be sure to link up with the linky tools below!

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:15:00 +0000

I've never been a big vegetable eater, especially the healthier ones that everyone says we need to eat a lot of, like dark leafy greens. I tend to cycle between peas, corn, and mixed vegetables, with maybe a carrot or potato thrown in every now and then to break things up a bit. But I've been trying really hard lately to add some variety to our diet, both to be healthier, and also for the sake of our poor taste buds.

I made something absolutely, completely new for me last night that was so very quick and easy, and so surprisingly delicious (approved by the whole family) that I had to share with everyone immediately.

Brussels sprouts.

The last time I ate brussels sprouts was when I was a kid, and I did not like them. Not at all. They came out of a box and were cooked in boiling water, tasted kind of like cabbage, which I didn't like, either.

These brussels sprouts should be in a whole different category by themselves, though.

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh brussels sprouts
2 T olive oil
Kosher salt
garlic powder

Heat your oven to 375-400. Cut off the stem ends of the brussels sprouts, and remove any yellowed or discolored outer leaves. Cut small sprouts in half lengthwise, larger ones in thirds or quarters, to make the pieces fairly uniform. Put in a bowl, add olive oil and sprinkle liberally with Kosher salt (it's coarser and adds something to the texture) and garlic powder, and toss until well coated. Put on a baking sheet (with sides in case the oil runs) cut sides down and bake in in a hot oven for 30-45 minutes, or until the tops start to get from golden brown to the color of chocolate. I had my oven at 400, then turned it down to about 350-375 after 25 minutes or so. Your time will vary according to the size of the sprouts and temperature of your oven.

Watch closely toward the end so they don't burn, but you want the yummy carmelization of the dark chocolate brown parts.

There were some loose leaves that were browned to crisp that I ate right off the baking tray as soon and they came out of the oven, along with a couple of the larger pieces. We had dinner fairly quickly after these were done, and they were still delicious, but I have to say, next time I'll try to time these so that we're ready to eat immediately.

The whole family gave these the thumbs up, so I'll definitely be adding these to our vegetable repertoire.

What new things have you been cooking up lately?

This post is linked to:

Foodie Friday at Rattelbridge Farm
Food on Friday at Ann Kroeker
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

Sugar-Free Sunday--Another Old Favorite, Butterscotch Yum-Yum

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:25:00 +0000

Sugar-Free Butterscotch Yum-Yum

I know this post is late this week--I started it on Sunday, but didn't have a chance to finish, and "Sugar-Free Wednesday" just doesn't have the same ring to it, so I'm leaving the title the same!

The recipe I want to share with ya'll today has to be one of my very favorite sugar-free desserts. It's based on the familiar Chocolate Layered Dessert, aka Mississippi Mud Pie, aka Chocolate Yum-Yum, that we all know and love. But for the sugar free version, I chose Butterscotch, and can I just say, it's the best Yum-Yum Layered Dessert, ever. I made this recently right before the holidays, when my son & I were trying to "good" as much as possible, knowing that we were about to indulge in a non-stop barrage of food and especially goodies. I brought it to the table to be served, and I have to confess, my husband (who is not a sugar-free-er), my son, and myself, finished the entire dessert. All of it. We just kept sitting around the table, talking and eating, and eating and talking. It's really just that good.

Ingredients:

Layer 1: The first layer is a basic "press in" crust:

1/4 c (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1/2 c flour
1/3 c chopped nuts
1 T sugar or Splenda (optional)

Toss together the flour and sugar or Splenda; cut in the butter, then add the chopped nuts. (I used walnuts because they're about half the price of pecans in the grocery store.) Press the mixture into the bottom of an 8 x 8 pan. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes, or until set and just slightly brown around the edges. Set aside to cool.
Layer 2: While the crust is cooling, mix together in a medium bowl

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c sugar or Splenda
1 t vanilla
1 c whipped topping (I used sugar free)

Mix everything together until well blended. Spread on cooled crust.
Layer 3: This is where you can get creative with the flavor

1 small pkg instant pudding (I used sugar free butterscotch)
1 1/2 c milk

Whisk together until blended and the mixture starts to thicken. Pour over the cream cheese layer and smooth the edges.
Layer 4: Add a layer of whipped topping (again, I used the sugar-free)

Cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve. I usually cut this into squares, but I didn't let this one set up long enough, so I just sort of scooped it out onto the plate (see the top picture) then I had to eat along the edge to straighten it out. Sometimes we all have to make sacrifices for the sake our art. Cough.

If you have a sugar-free recipe, please feel free to post your link.

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

Sugar-Free Sunday--Sugar Free, Flour Free Peanut Butter Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 21:25:00 +0000

I don't know about you, but my body has been begging me to get back on the straight-and-narrow of healthier eating. So much so, that my son and I actually started off the new year with a fast, just to get ourselves back to a better place just a bit more quickly!

Now we're transitioning to low- or at least lower-carb eating for a while, which included drastically reducing our sugar intake. One thing I discovered when we did this a couple of years ago, no sugar doesn't have to mean no goodies, at least not all the time, so I'm bringing back my Sugar Free Sunday feature. I'll be highlighting some no sugar, low-sugar, and sugar-free recipes and products, as well as searching out some recipes on the internet to link to.

For now, I want to reprise the sugar free version of my favorite Believe-it-or-Not Peanut Butter Cookies. These are not just sugar free, they're flour free, and were a big hit with everyone who tried them.

Do you have a sugar free, or reduced sugar recipe to share? Please feel free to link up!

1. Sugar Free Hot Cocoa Mix

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This post is linked to:
Meatless Mondays at My Sweet and Savory

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

Quick and Easy Pull Apart Monkey Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 20:57:00 +0000

Pull Apart Cinnamon Sugar Monkey Bread

I woke up this morning knowing that as of tomorrow, the whole family is back on the straight-and-narrow of healthier eating. We have one day left of (over)-indulging in too much sugar, fat, too much anything that doesn't eat us first. So of course we needed an ooey, gooey breakfast to set the tone for the rest of the day.

A couple of years ago, I did a regular and sugar-free version of a personal sized (or maybe for two) cinnamon sugar pull apart bread, better known as monkey bread. Today I wanted a full-sized version, so I looked at a couple of recipes on the internet and warped them together into this:

Ingredients:

4 tubes of refrigerated biscuit dough (these are the small, inexpensive tubes, 10 biscuits each)
1/2 c sugar
1-2 t cinnamon
3/4 c butter, melted
brown sugar
pecan pieces

Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Grease or cooking spray a bundt or tube pan. Sprinkle a few chopped pecans in the bottom of the pan (when inverted, this will be the top of the bread. Roll each biscuit in the cinnamon sugar mixture, and place in the pan. Every couple of rows, or layers, I sprinkled a handful of brown sugar and a few nuts, then drizzled some melted butter over it. When I had placed all of the biscuits, I poured the remaining cinnamon sugar and then the rest of melted butter all over the top layer, then baked for about 30 minutes. I started off with the oven around 375, but the top started to get too brown, so I reduced the oven temp to around 300-325. Let cool for about 10 minutes, then invert onto a plate. Mine stuck in one place, but we just dug it out and stuck it on top for the picture! This was good, but I would do one thing different next time--some of the middle biscuits were dry-ish, so next time I'll roll every biscuit in melted butter, then cinnamon sugar. That's what I did when I made the mini monkey breads, but I was afraid on a big one that it might be too much or too soggy. But face it--this isn't something you're going to have every day, so when you do make it--make it good!

This recipe is linked to:

Recipe Box at Bizzy Bakes
Meatless Monday at My Sweet and Savory
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

Sweet'N Low

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 21:59:00 +0000

As part of the DailyBuzz Food Tastemaker program, I've had an opportunity to try out Sweet'N Low zero calorie sweetener to make some of their signature drinks and beverages, or to come up with some of my own. This is perfect timing for the ending of this season of overindulgence, to help us get back on track with lower sugar and calorie intake.

As part of the program I received this cute cocktail shaker, some recipe cards, and some packets of Sweet'N Low to try. As a teetotaler, I wasn't so much interested in the cocktail recipes, but I figured I could have some fun with the shaker on some iced drinks.(I found out I loved the aluminum shaker, it makes things really cold, really fast. But I digress...)

The first thing I tried to make was hot chocolate. And "tried" was the operative word! I love hot chocolate, but my favorite versions are full of sugar, and some of the commercial "diet" or "sugar-free" versions taste bland and uninteresting. So, using a recipe from the cocoa tin and substituting equivalent Sweet'N Low for the sugar, I made my first cup. Yuck. Way too bitter. That amount of unsweetened cocoa was just too much. But I tried again, several times. One time too bitter, one time too bland--until I think I have it just about right.

Ingredients

8 oz milk
2 t unsweetened cocoa
dash of salt
1/4 t vanilla
2 packets of Sweet'N Low (sweeteners equivalent of 4 t sugar)
dollop of half & half

Microwave the milk for about two minutes. (I have an ancient microwave, so it may take less time in a newer model.) Meanwhile, mix the cocoa, Sweet'N Low, and salt in the bottom of your cup or mug. Add the hot milk, and stir until the cocoa dissolves. Add the vanilla and a dash or dollop of half & half.

I wanted to float some mini marshmallows on top, but I refrained. You may want your hot chocolate slightly stronger, but the secrets seems to be, twice as much equivalence of sweetener as you have cocoa. Does that make sense? Each packet of sweetener is the equivalent of 2 teaspoons of sugar, so 2 packets = 4 t sugar, use with only 2 t cocoa.

Here in the south, we may have highs in the 30's or 40's today, and temperatures in the 70's the next, so one afternoon I decided to try something cool. I have a friend who has a lemon tree in her yard, and I have an abundance of lemons, so lemonade seemed like the perfect choice. I squeezed a couple of lemons, and again, experimented with quantities of lemon juice and sweetener. This time I used the cocktail shaker to mix everything over ice, and that's when I discovered the cooling qualities of the aluminum shaker! The basic recipe I started with was a tablespoon of lemon juice and a tablespoon of sweetener to 8 ozs of water, but I found this tasteless. When I want lemonade, I want some pucker power--and a balance of sweetness, too! I found a recipe on the Sweet'N Low site for a lemonade that uses a combination of liquid Sweet'N Low and sugar, but all I had to work with was the packets. What I finally came up with was:

1/4 c lemon juice (4T)
3 packets Sweet'N Low (= 2T)
about 10-12 oz water

Put everything into a cocktail shaker, including ice, and shake until blended. This one I liked--it was sweet enough, and strong enough of lemon, too. I'm sure every lemon has a differing amount of "pucker", so this is one thing that you definitely need to taste test.

If you'd like to see more drinks, including some "real" cocktails, along with other items, made with Sweet'N Low zero calorie sweetener, see www.sweetnlow.com/recipes the recipe section of their website. You can also access a coupon to sweeten the deal.

I remember these "little pink packets" from the days when they were just about the only low- or no-calorie sweetener around. And while I hadn't used it in a long time, I've already gone out a bought a box of packets, and will definitely be using Sweet'N Low again.

This is a sponsored post, but the review and opinions are those of my own.

Until next time, good (un) cooking, and good eating (and drinking)...

Last Minute--Gifts From the Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 20:28:00 +0000

It wouldn't be December without me doing a quick recap of some of my favorite goodies to "gift" for the holidays.

There are lots of delicious goodies out there, but not all of them are suitable for "gifting". You need to have something that's not too gooey or sticky, is easily packaged, and has a decent "shelf-life" without refrigeration or specialty care. The items I'm linking to below fit all of these criteria, with the added benefit of being quick and easy (my middle name in the kitchen) to make and take.

First up are these cute jar mixes. These are easy to make, easy to take, and easy to dress up with a little Christmas fabric or even wrapping paper, and ribbon. You can give these individually, or add them to a cute gift basket of kitchen-y items, from dishtowels to gadgets.

Next up on my list are one of my favorites--coconut macaroons. These are easy to make, smell divine both raw and while baking, and fit that "gift-y" criteria of being easy to package and to keep. You can leave these plain, or dress them up by adding mini-chocolate chips, or dunk them in what I call "dipping chocolate" and rolling in holiday sprinkles.

A quintessential goodie for Christmas is luscious, creamy fudge, and this microwave version is super easy to make. The main ingredient is this one is semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you could make variations by changing the flavor of chips--try milk chocolate, white chocolate, or even peanut butter chips for a variety of tastes.

And last but certainly not least in this installment of gifts from the kitchen, is my absolute very favorite fudge--made in the microwave, it's less creamy, with a firmer, slightly grainy texture that reminds me of the old-fashioned stove-top cooked fudge of my childhood. You know the kind--sometimes it seemed like it was never going to set up. As a matter of fact, I remember my sister getting tired of stirring and pouring some into a buttered pan, and I remember my mom and I finally scraping it back into the pot and cooking it a little more when it never got beyond the "chocolate soup" stage. This one is fairly fool-proof, I think, at least I've never had it not set up for me!

What goodies are you making and taking this holiday season?

This post is linked to:

Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family
Delicious Dishes at It's a Blog Party
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace

Until next time, good cooking, good eating--and good gifting!

Fall Favorites--2012

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 22:33:00 +0000

I know I haven't been blogging lately about what I've been cooking, partly because I've been in a rut about my cooking for a while now, and I not only haven't made anything new in a while, what I have been making has been a little, ahem, sub-par at times. I'm trying to get back on the band wagon though! And so I thought I'd share just a bit of what I have been making:

My original post on this pie was titled, You'll Never Guess What's in This Pie, and rightly so. But fall is not complete with the smell of this yummy pie, made with--wait for it--navy beans! It's a light, delicious sweet pie with all of the smells of fall spices, and while you'd never guess what's in it, you'll be glad you tried it.

Lately I've made Stove-Top Barbecue Chicken at least once a week--what can I say, I've been in a rut--but I still don't think I'll cross this off my list, it's too easy to make, and statisfyingly good.

And last but not least, since my son & I are both trying to watch our sugar intake, I made our favorite version of this crustless Sugar Free Cheesecake.

What good things have you been cooking lately?

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating...

Review--Progresso Recipe Starters Cooking Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 19:35:00 +0000

Have any of you had a chance to try any of the new Progesso Recipe Starters Cooing Sauces? I had an opportunity through MyBlogSpark to try all five of their new sauces. They even sent me a gift card to buy additional ingredients, the cute wooden spoon pictured above, and a little recipe booklet with a fairly quick and easy recipe using each of the sauces.

Since "quick and easy" is my middle name in the kitchen, the concept of having a sauce pre-made and seasoned and ready-to-go really appealed to me. The results, for us, were a little bit mixed.

The first recipe I tried was the creamy lemon chicken, made with the Creamy Roasted Garlic cooking sauce. I wanted to like this so much that I actually went out and bought another can of this sauce and tried it again. Maybe I seasoned my chicken too much, or added too much lemon juice, but we found this a little salty and just okay tasting.

The second one, I wanted to try was the pulled chicken made with the Fire Roasted Tomato cooking sauce. For this recipe, you basically add sugar, worchestershire sauce and seasonings to this canned sauce to turn it into a barbecue sauce to add to pre-cooked chicken. I honestly couldn't see the point in this one, because it would be quicker and easier to just use a bottle of good quality barbecue sauce. I make a killer oven or stove-topped barbecue chicken with bottled sauce and few extra dashes of this and that, so I probably wouldn't bother with this one. I would use the sauce, but would be more likely to use it in a pot of chili or taco soup, or spaghetti sauce.--maybe even in lasagna.

The recipe that was recommended with the Creamy Three Cheese cooking sauce was more of the same--use their sauce as a base, add milk and seasonings and cheese--if I'm going to be heating milk and adding cheese, I'm making a cheese sauce--what do I need theirs for? What did work for us for this one was ignoring the suggested recipe and using it "straight" on some pasta to make a basic mac & cheese. My son voted a thumbs up on the simple version.

But I'm saving the good news for last--the Creamy Parmesan Basil--this was by far our favorite. It's a truly stand-alone sauce, good over almost any kind of pasta by itself, and also as recipe base for chicken alfredo, pasta bake, or white chicken pizza, just to name a few. I bought this one to try again, too, and I'll definitely be adding it to my grocery list again.

Final result--I can heartily recommend the Creamy Parmesan Basil, as well as the Creamy Three Cheese. The others I would try again, but probably with a different recipe--speaking of which, you can find all of the recipes I got in my little booklet, as well as many alternative ones to try, at the Progresso website. There are also come coupons available right now, both for Recipe Starters sauce, and for the Progresso Light soups.

Disclosure: The information, products and ProgressoTM Recipe StartersTM gift pack was provided by Progresso through MyBlogSpark.

Coupon Alert--Pillsbury Baguette Chips

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 19:14:00 +0000

Hey everybody! As part a member of MyBlogspark, I've received a link for myself and for my readers for a coupon from Pillsbury for $.75 off Pillsbury Baguette Chips. These are slices of toasted, flavored baked bread, that can be eaten alone or topped with other goodies--even crumbled up to add some crunch to a salad. Just click the highlighted link above, print, and shop!

Thanks to Pillsbury and MyBlogSpark for the information and coupon offer!

eFoodsDirect Product Review

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 21:00:00 +0000

I was recently contacted by a company called "efoods Direct" and asked to review some of their products, as well as offer my readers a chance to try meals at a reduced price.

eFoods Direct is a company that sells packaged dried foods and meals suitable for long-term storage, as well as for use while hiking and camping. There are a lot of reasons to store food, including disaster preparedness--one that hits close to home for me, since I live in a hurricane prone area, and have personally gone through a hurricane, and what's worse, in many cases, the aftermath. Having some of these easy-to-prepare (in most cases, stir into boiling water, cook the recommended time, season, if necessary, and serve) would have been a real blessing while we had gas and food lines for weeks. There were some things that were just not available afterwards, and some of our stores didn't re-open for weeks and even months later.

I was given and opportunity to try three different products, the cheesy chicken and rice, tortilla soup and creamy potato soup.

The first meal that I tried was the "Cheesy Chicken & Rice" which I was hesitant to try at first, after looking at the list of ingredients and not finding 'chicken' anywhere on the list. There is no 'chicken' in the "Cheesy Chicken & Rice"; there is, however, texturized vegetable protein that looks and tastes remarkable like chicken. This was actually very good. It was creamy, it was cheesy, and it tasted chicken-y. It got two thumbs up, from my son and from me. All it needed was a little black pepper.

The tortilla soup was the next product I tried. I have to admit, it looked awful in the pot, sort of gray and unappetizing. When it was ready, though, you could see the seasoning and bits of vegetables in it. This was not our favorite, but it was quick and easy and tasted. It wasn't a thumbs up, but it wasn't a thumbs down either. It was okay, I could eat it again, but I probably wouldn't order it in a restaurant. I have to admit, though, that I'm not really wild about most things that have a "southwest" seasoning flair--some kind of seasoning is just not to my taste.

It was better with just a little cheese added to the bowl.

And last, but not least, was the Creamy Potato Soup. I loved this--so easy, and delicious.

I added salt & pepper to taste, as the directions on the package tell you to do, and then a little cheese, just for good measure--this one was good without the cheese, too, though it added just a little something extra. I could easily see adding some corn and chicken to this to make a quick-and-easy chicken corn chowder. This one is definitely thumbs up.

All three of these meals were easy to make--boil water, stir in, cook the required time. The creamy chicken & rice mentioned adding a couple of tablespoons of butter, which I did. I think all of them say to add salt & pepper to taste, which I did to the potato soup, but the rice needed only a little black pepper. All three of these meals were kosher, all had an extremely long shelf-life (like 25 years long--I have to admit, I've thrown away my share of bargain stock-pile items that I "lost" in the back of the pantry and found only after they were well-expired--something I wouldn't have to worry about with these products!) efoodsDirect prides themselves on using only the best of ingredients, so that the end product is the very best it could be.

I would definitely try the two I really liked again. They would make excellent additions to your long-term food storage, whether for disaster or economic downturn preparedness, and I think they'd be wonderful on a camping trip--light to carry, easy to prepare.

Right now, efoodsDirect is offering a couple of special discount deals, which you can see at efoodsDirect offer. They include special coupon codes giving you 40-50% off of specified packages, as well as a free trial offer where all you pay is shipping and handling to receive the same three meals to try that I did. (If you choose the percent-off deals, be sure to use the coupon codes to receive the discount at check-out!)

(Disclosure: I received free products, but no other compensation for doing this review. The opinions expressed are my own.)

Bread Machine Challah

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 01:57:00 +0000

I know that it's been awhile since I did anything new and different in the kitchen when I stop what I'm doing and run around the house trying to find my camera and making sure the batteries in it are good!

Challah is one of those breads that just seems mysterious and difficult to make--but after I made three different batches with the help of my bread machine this week, I found out that it's really not that hard--at least not once I made up my mind to to get a little messy with the flour! That was the fun part!

The first part is no different from making any bread machine bread--but in this case I used the "dough" feature which mixes and kneads and rises, but doesn't cook the bread.

I made a 1 1/2 pound loaf size--the first time I made one big loaf, but the other two times I divided the dough and made two smaller loaves per recipe.

Here are the basics of Bread Machine Challah:

Ingredients:

3/4 c warm (not hot)water
3 c bread flour
2 T sugar
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 c butter, diced
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 t fast rise bread machine yeast

Load the ingredients in the order listed, making sure to push the flour into the corners of the breach machine pan to keep the water from seeping up. Place the other ingredients in the corners and around the edges, then make a little well in the middle for the yeast. (This is especially important if you're using the delay feature, which really isn't a good move for this bread, since it uses fresh raw eggs--not one you'd want to use your "time" feature the be ready in the evening when you come home from work!)

Seat your pan in your machine, select the "dough feature". You may want to check it after a few minutes and be sure that the knead bar is attached correctly and everything is starting to mix. After that--leave it alone until it's finished--mine takes an hour and half.

This is what it looks like when it comes out of the machine at the end of the "dough" cycle-- a little bit puffy, and smooth on top. Turn it out onto a well-floured surface, because...

...it may be sticky underneath!

Punch it down and work just enough flour around the outside so that it isn't sticky any more.

Divide the dough in half to make two loaves. (The first time I made this, I did only one big loaf, but the tradition for Shabbat and holidays is to have two, so the next two times I made two smaller loaves).

Divide each portion into fourths, and shape into four long ropes of dough. I think these were maybe 8-9 inches long. And now the fun part--braiding them together!

This was my first effort at a 4-rope braid. Be sure to tuck the ends in well, if not, they may come undone during the rise or baking.

This was my second loaf--I still need to practice those ends!

Place on a well greased or cooking sprayed baking pan...

...then cover with greased or cooking-sprayed cling wrap. Put it in a warm place, away from drafts, to rise...

...I use my oven, with just the oven light turned on. If it's really cold, you might want to turn you oven on at the lowest setting for just a couple of minutes. Then turn it off and put your bread dough to rise, until doubled in size, or about an hour.

Remove from the oven, take the cling wrap off, and it should like the one in front. I made the mistake of trying the shift the position of the back one on the baking it sheet, and it sort of deflated.

Bake at 350-375 for 20-25 minutes...and you'll have a beautiful, crusty loaf of Challah!

These were the next two I made---I didn't make the mistake of touching them again, but somehow I just can't seem to get two "pretty" ones out of the same batch.

They looked good enough to eat, though! (and photograph!)

Remove to a rack and allow to cool--if you can stand it--or tear right into one of them--after all, the gal who cooks the bread gets to taste first--at least in my book!

This made a delicious bread with a firm, crusty outside--I'm determined to perfect that braiding technique so they'll look a bit more uniformly "pretty" but "good enough to eat" suits me just fine, too!

This recipe is linked to:

Meatless Monday at My Sweet and Savory
Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed by Grace
Delicious Dishes at It's a Blog Party
Bring it with Bizzy at Bizzy Bakes
What new recipe have you tried lately?

New Look

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 20:25:00 +0000

How do you like my new look?

I've been wanting a new look for a long time, and recently started playing around with some different blogger templates, but I'm such a scaredy-cat, plus I waffle back-and-forth so much that always just went back to my original look---until this time.

Something about this one I like. So here it is--my new look--at least for now.

Coming this week, I have:

some pictures and a recipe for a beautiful loaf of Challah (bread), made simple by using a bread machine to make the dough.
also a review of some freeze-dried soups and an entree from eFoodsDirect, a line of freeze dried products available for use for long-term storage, camping, disaster planning, etc.

So, what's been cooking in your kitchen?

Coupon Alert--Ocean Spray® Fruit Flavored Snacks

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:33:00 +0000

MyBlogSpark and Ocean Spray have sent me coupon offer for $1.10 off two boxes of Ocean Spray Fruit Flavored Snacks, which I'm allowed to share with my readers. These fruit snacks are made with fruit juice, and although they aren't designed to replace fruit in your diet, they make a good snack alternative to candy for you or for your kids.

Click on the link highlight above and print your coupon-courtesy of MyBlogSpark and Ocean Spray.

Disclosure--I have received no compensation for sharing this link.

My Ode to Butter

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000

"Is there anything better than butter?"

That's my favorite line from one of my favorite movies--Julie & Julia--about the food blogger(Julie) who cooked and blogged her way through her foodie idol's (Julia Child) cookbook, blogging all the while.

I have to say, one the best discoveries I've made in recent years is how delicious (and actually healthy) "real" butter is. You see, I was a margarine gal my whole life. I mean, we used to say "butter"--as in "put the butter on the table" or "get stick of butter out the fridge", but what we actually used was margarine--whether in stick or tub, hard or soft, it was margarine.

But in recent years, whether as a result of the back to nature/green/whole foods/real food movement, or the discovery that real food without all of the chemicals and preservatives was healthier for us, or just the acknowledgement, as I tried to learn to cook more from scratch, that butter and things made with butter just taste better than those made with margarine, my husband and I use a lot more butter these days than we used to.

The only drawback, if you could call it that, to using butter instead of tub margarine or spread, whatever that is, is that you have to remember to put the butter out to soften before you can use it on toast, or rolls, or even just good bread-and-butter at dinner. And I never remember. I've tried some of the "spreadable butter" products, whipped butter, and even just popping it into the microwave, but it either doesn't spread right, or it ends up melted instead of softened. Years ago when I visited my mother-in-law in the mountains of northern California for the first time, she just kept a stick of regular "hard" margarine or butter on a saucer in one of her kitchen cabinets--soft, room-temperature butter or margarine at all times. Unfortunately, here is the heat and humidity of the Deep South, if I did that, I would open my cabinet door to a puddle of melted butter, full of ants or worse, and probably with a coating of green, purple, and black fuzz, to boot.

So I very interested to read about The Original Butterbell Crock by L.Tremain . It promises to "Keep Your Butter Fresh Delicious and Spreadable for up to 30 days...without refrigeration!"

As a family run business, they're looking to increase familiarilty and awareness of their products. If you're on facebook, visit their facebook page...

And if this looks like a product you'd like to try, for the next two days they have a special buy-2-get-1-free deal going on.

I'm thinking I'd like to try one of these myself!

So how about it? Are you a butter convert like me, or is margarine still your spread of choice?

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

This is a sponsored post, brought to you by The Butter Bell Crock, who has partnered with
FoodieBlogroll.