Ham & Veggie Skillet Dinner

I am forever throwing stuff together into a skillet and seeing how it cooks up.  Seriously.  Do you do this, too?  I had some produce I needed to use up and some Thrive Ham Dices that I needed to use, so I just kind of cut it all up and came up with today's post.  It was really good!  And filling!  And healthy!  The meal trifecta.

Ingredients:

Fresh Zucchini, cut up 

Fresh Red Bell Pepper, cut up

Fresh Cherry Tomatoes, halved

Thrive Ham Dices or any diced ham

Olive Oil

All Purpose Seasoning

Sea Salt

Feta Cheese

Heat up olive oil in a medium to large skillet.  Add all ingredients except cheese.  Saute until veggies are cooked, but not mushy.  Add in Feta Cheese and stir to combine.  Serve.

Chocolate Raspberry Shortcakes

If you like a light, not too sweet dessert, this one is for you.  Be forewarned: this is not a sweet, fudgy cookie.  Super easy to put together, this recipe uses Thrive Foods right from your home store.  I made the whipped topping earlier in the day and put the rest of it together after work, along with making the rest of the meal, and in time for supper with friends.

Ingredients:

For the shortcakes:

  1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

  1 cup Thrive White Flour *

  1 cup Thrive White Sugar * ( Next time I will add a little more)

  1 1/2 t. baking powder 

  1/2 t. Thrive Baking Soda *

  1/4 t.Thrive Salt *

  4 T. cold butter, cubed (original recipe calls for unsalted.  I will do that next time.)

  1/2 cup heavy cream

For the raspberry filling:

  3 cups Thrive Raspberries (freeze dried)

  2 T. Thrive White Sugar, or to taste

  2 t. vanilla extract

      Vanilla Whipped Topping (future post) or whipped topping of choice

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2.  To make the shortcakes:  In a large mixing bowl, sift together the  cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Cut in the cold butter with a fork or pastry cutter.  Blend the mixture until it resembles a coarse meal.  Add the heavy cream and stir the mixture with a fork until it forms a dough.

3.  Roll out the dough on a floured surface (should be 1/4 inch thick).  Using a biscuit cutter, cut out 4 shortcakes (depending on the size of biscuit cutter you use, you will end up with more shortcakes than what you need for this recipe).  Place shortcakes on a lightly greased baking sheet (I used a reusable parchment sheet), and bake for 12 minutes (a toothpick placed in center should come out clean).  Put the shortcakes on a wire rack to cool.

4.  In a small bowl, cover the raspberries with warm water.  Let sit for about 5-10 minutes until softened and rehydrated.  Drain.  In another bowl mash 3/4 cup of the raspberries with a fork, stirring in the white sugar and vanilla.  Blend in the remaining raspberries.

5.  Carefully cut the shortcakes in half horizontally with a serrated knife--this was surprisingly easy to do.  Transfer the bottom half of each cake to an individual plate.  Place a spoonful of the raspberry sauce and a spoonful of vanilla topping on each bottom piece.  Place the top parts on each dessert and dust with powdered sugar, if desired.  Or maybe use clear sugar sprinkles!  Yes, next time I am trying that idea.

*  I am finding ways to "Thrive-alize" recipes in order to use Thrive items from my home store.  You can still use your regular store-bought items for this recipe.

SOURCE:  Thrive Cookbook. 

Mom's Potato Salad

This recipe originally posted on May 8, 2014.  In memory of our Mom who passed away on June 5 of this year, and because today is our parents' anniversary, I am reposting this family favorite recipe.  Enjoy!

Hey, you know Julie posted a potato salad recipe back here and explained that we grew up in a different potato salad culture.  I, too, am a potato salad snob.  Mom's recipe trumps all others in my world.  I realize your world may include eggs, or you might like to smash up the spuds.  Whatever floats your boat.  I was feeling nostalgic this Easter and decided to pull out Mom's recipe, much to the delight of my family.  I had no idea they liked it so much!  Guess I will have to make it more often.  So, Moms' recipe in Grandma's retro Pyrex bowl.  Sweet memories.

Ingredients:

5 lbs. potatoes, boiled in salted water & peeled & cubed (love the cubes--it's a texture thing)

1 lg. green bell pepper, chopped

1 small onion chopped

1 tsp. celery seed

3 small jars diced pimiento, drained

1 1/4 cup Miracle Whip (no, not mayo, please.  not for this.)

4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 T. apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. prepared mustard

1.  Peel the potatoes, place in large pot and cover with water.  Bring water to boiling and cook until just tender.  No mushy spuds here!  Let cool, then cut into bite-size cubes.  Place in a large serving bowl.

2.  Add the green pepper and pimientos to the cooled spuds (I say spuds a lot.  My first two years in college were spent in Idaho.)

3.  Combine the rest of the ingredients.  Mix well.  This is your dressing.  Add to the...wait for it....spuds and friends.  Toss together gently with rubber spatula to make sure the dressing is evenly distributed.

Source: Pat Brew Recipes.

Quick Po' Boy Sandwich

Have you ever eaten a Po' Boy sandwich?  I have had one in my entire life.  This past week we spent a few days at the beach and of course had to hit a local seafood joint to get me some shrimp!  I brought the leftovers back to the beach house.  Mostly I just ate the cold shrimp right out of the take-out carton, but one day I was thinking I should be a little more creative.  And here you have another tasty concoction from leftovers...

Ingredients:

Hamburger Bun (or a baguette or other kind of roll of choice)

Leftover shrimp

Lettuce, shredded

Mayo or mustard

Assemble your sandwich and enjoy.  Po' Boys can be made of different kinds of items, so be creative!

Tomato & Corn Salad

Isn't it fun to be creative with your leftovers?  Recently I served Slow Cooker Roast Beef, garden peas, sweet corn, and mashed potatoes for dinner when two of our missionaries from church joined us for supper.  Comfort food.  Real food.  Surprisingly, there were some leftovers of the vegetables so I used them for sides with my next meal which was a Thrive Express Meal of Fettuccine Alfredo.  (future post, so stay tuned).  I put the peas in with the Fettuccine.  That was yummy.  For the corn, I decided to combine that with some grape tomatoes that I needed to use up and added a few more things to dress it up.  So that is how we get this recipe.

Ingredients:

grape tomatoes, as many as you want

Thrive Sweet Corn

Thrive Green Peas

Mozarella cheese, shredded

Red Wine Vinegar

Thrive Chef's Choice All-Purpose Seasoning

Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients except the salt, and toss.  Taste and then add salt as needed and toss again.

Serve cold.

Removing Burnt-on Food from Ceramic Cook Top

You will have to trust me on this one.  I had a yucky, stubborn black, burnt blob--well, in the shape of a blob but by now it just looked like a stain-- on my ceramic cook top.  I have been trying everything to remove that.  Needless to say, the "Ceramic Cook Top Cleaner" didn't do the trick.  Where do you turn to find everything you need to know about everything?  I mean besides Pinterest.  GOOGLE!!  I found a list of possibilities so clicked on one and watched the YouTube video. Yeah, not too crazy about that one.  Clicked on the next one and BINGO. Tried it out. NAILED IT!!!  For real, with stuff I already had at home.  Sure wish I could have thought to take a BEFORE shot, but who knew this would work so well that I would want to share it with the world?

You will need:
Small Dish
Baking soda
Lemon juice

Microfiber cloth

Directions:
1.  Mix a paste of baking soda and water in a small dish.  It should be the consistency of toothpaste.
2.  Spread the paste over the burnt area and allow it to set for about 12 minutes.  Do not allow to sit too long or it will dry out.  Really it will.
3.  Pour a little lemon juice (bottled worked for me!) over the paste and let it fizz to help release tougher stains.
4.  After 12 minutes, gently scrub the area with a soft cloth or plastic scrubber.  Do not use anything abrasive or it will scratch the surface.  Found that out the hard way one time.
5.  Repeat as necessary until food is gone.  GONE I tell you!  So happy right now.

6.  Clean off surface with a wet cloth or paper towel.



Source:  How to Clean Stuff

Lemon-Guava Pound Cake

My mother-in-law made some yummy cakes, but this one is my favorite because it is so different from other pound cakes.  Her original recipe (a special shout-out to my sister-in-law Gayle for providing the recipe since Verna Mae kept recipes in her head!) is Lemon-Apricot Pound Cake, but one time I had some guava nectar at the house that I needed to use and I thought I would try it with this recipe.  Oh goodness.  So moist and delicious.  I. Can't. Even.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1 Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme Cake Mix

3/4 cup coconut oil (or Crisco oil)

1 cup guava nectar (or apricot)

4 eggs

Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

juice from 2 lemons*

1.  Mix cake, sugar, oil and nectar together.  Add eggs one at a time.  

2.  Bake in a greased tube or bundt pan at 325 degrees F. for approximately 1 hour.

3.  Mix glaze ingredients and pour over warm cake.

NOTE:  I had no lemons when I made this today, so I substituted a few drops of lemon essential oil, about a tablespoon of leftover guava nectar and enough milk to get the glaze consistency that I needed.  Goodness, that was some tasty stuff!

Source: Verna Smith Jenkins.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Sometimes I like to share recipes that help me use my Thrive foods from my Home Store.  It is always a good idea to "store what you eat and eat what you store."  I threw together this meal in record time thanks to the cooked ground beef and some other Thrive ingredients that I had on hand.  This recipe was a huge hit.  I had one serving left, only because I had taken some out to get a picture for the blog.  I didn't use that one and used my filled plate instead.

Ingredients:

2 cups THRIVE Cooked Beef, Ground

1/2 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs

1/4 cup THRIVE Instant Milk, re-hydrated (3/4 T. powder + 1/4 cup water)

2 T. THRIVE Chopped Onions (FD--freeze-dried)

1 t. THRIVE Iodized Salt

1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce

1 THRIVE Whole Egg, re-hydrated (1 T. powder + 2 T. water)

1/2 cup THRIVE Brown Sugar, packed (I just used brown sugar from the store)

1 T. cornstarch

1 20-oz. can pineapple tidbits with juice

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 T. soy sauce

1/8 cup THRIVE Mixed Bell Peppers

5 cups THRIVE White Rice, prepared (I used rice from the store)

1.  Re-hydrate freeze-dried meat by bringing 4 cups water to a boil.  Add beef and boil for 5 minutes. Drain excess water.

2.  Mix meat, dry bread crumbs, milk, onions, salt, Worcestershire sauce, and egg together; shape into twenty 1 1/2 inch sized balls.*

3.  Place in skillet and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally until brown (about 20 minutes) OR (and this is what I did, so I could be working on something else like setting the table) Bake in an ungreased 9 X 13 pan at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, until light brown.

4.  Mix brown sugar and cornstarch in a skillet.  stir in pineapple with juice, vinegar, and soy sauce.

Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat to medium, then add meatballs and peppers.

5.  Cover and let simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes.  Serve over cooked rice.

* I made my meatballs ahead of time, put them in the fridge, and then baked them when I got home from work.  They are quick to come together anyway, because the ground beef comes precooked, but any little thing I can do ahead of time is good when you work until 5:00 and your guests are coming at 6:00, you know?

Source:  Thrive Cookbook, Food that Fits Your Lifestyle

Oriental Chicken Salad with Crunchy Noodles

Ramen!  I don't think they had this when I was a poor college student, but it sure has become popular over the years.  My first experience with it was in a delicious salad a friend shared at a church dinner.  I was mesmerized and asked for the recipe.  Which I could not find this week, so I googled and found this recipe.  It's a little different than my friend's but it's a variation on the same theme.  I made some changes to this recipe and it proved to be delish!

Ingredients for Salad:

2-3 cups chopped cooked chicken breasts (I used Thrive chicken, rehydrated)

1 head of cabbage, shredded or chopped (I opted for Broccoli slaw, 2 12-oz. pkgs.)

1 bunch green onion, finely chopped (Thrive chopped green onion, rehydrated)

2 2.5-oz. pkgs. slivered almonds

3 T. sunflower seeds, shelled of course

1 can Mandarin oranges, drained well

2 pkgs. Ramen noodles

3 T. vegetable oil

Dressing:

3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

4 1/2 T. seasoned rice vinegar

4 1/2 T. sugar

2 t. salt

1 t. pepper

1.  Prepare dressing and set aside.

2.  Smash Ramen noodles, removing seasoning packets (save to flavor something else sometime) and brown over medium heat in 3 T. oil--I used olive oil here because I used all of my canola oil in the dressing.

3.  Once noodles are slightly browned, add the almonds. Brown until noodles are a medium golden brown.  Remove from heat and set aside.

4.  Combine cabbage, green onions, chicken and sunflower seeds in a large bowl.

5.  Add Ramen/almond mixture and stir well.

6.  Add dressing and stir to coat.

Source:  Tulip at Food.com

Pesto Chicken Pizza

Originally posted on 4/24/14.

Hey, this is my contribution to throw-back Thursday!  As I was reading through the recipe again I got really hungry.  Might have to get the grandsons over to help me make this again really soon.

Not an original recipe (see source below) but we all get to tweak away at someone else's in this recipe blog world, don't we?  This is a great quickie dinner that you can throw together in about 30 minutes or so if you have the ingredients on hand.  Or you can just send your daughter and her fiance out to the grocery store to get the stuff for you while you clean off the kitchen island so that there is room to actually EAT there.

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough (home- or ready-made)

Basil Pesto

Cooked Chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken from my local grocery store)

Shredded mozzarella cheese

1.  Preheat oven to temperature for your pizza dough.

2.  Spread dough onto pan or pizza stone; sprinkle corn meal on pan first so your pizza doesn't stick.

3.  An extra step if you are using the refrigerated dough, is to pre-bake it for 6-8 minutes before adding your toppings.

4.  Spread pesto, chicken and cheese over the crust.

5.  Bake for suggested time for dough, about 8-10 minutes.

Adding a salad would be a great idea.

Source:  Shawni Pothier, 71 Toes Blog.

Fish Tacos with Lime Sauce

Who doesn't love a good fish taco?  They can be hard to find--can't stand when they are too fishy.  The tilapia in this recipe is so mild you will swear you are eating chicken.  I kept snatching nuggets and snacking on them while I was frying up the other batches.  A nice healthy alternative to fast food tacos.  Now, authentic Mexican tacos...that's another thing all together.

Ingredients:

1 lb. fresh tilapia fillets

3 limes (I used Thrive Limeade powder instead--a tsp. or so should be enough.)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 t. chili powder

2 T. olive oil

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 t. salt

8 6-inch flour tortillas

1 cup shredded angel hair cabbage (I prefer it thin)

1/4 cup shredded carrots

1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, thinly sliced

1.  Rinse fish and pat dry.  Cut into 1-inch pieces.

2.  For lime sauce, juice two of the limes into a bowl (cut your 3rd lime into wedges for serving).  Stir mayonnaise and chili powder into juice.  Transfer 1/3 cup of the sauce to another bowl; toss fish in this.  Set remaining sauce aside.

3.  In a medium to large skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Combine flour and salt in a shallow dish.  Work with about 1/3 of the fish chunks at a time, toss them in the flour and add to hot oil.  Cook for 2-4 minutes or until fish flakes easily, turning to brown evenly.  Add more oil as needed.  Drain fish on paper towels.

4.  Wrap tortillas in paper towels (loved this.  worked great!); heat in microwave oven for 30 seconds.  Top tortillas with fish, cabbage, carrots and jalapeno.  Drizzle with Lime Sauce.  Serve with lime wedges.

NOTES:  Add lime juice to mayo gradually and to taste.  Thrive Limeade powder is available seasonally, so may not be listed on my consultant site.

Brownie Cookies

There is this bakery in town that has some of the most delicious goodies out there.  And their sandwiches and salads are pretty darn good, too.  Anyway, one of my favorites things there is their brownie cookie.  Oh my crispy, chewy goodness.  Yes, very good.  I don't have a recipe to make them at home, but I do have a box of brownie mix--with a brownie cookie recipe right on the box, baby!  Just thought I would try those out and they did not disappoint.  Try some for yourself with your own brownie mix or recipe.  The only difference is to cut down on the oil.  And of course, you don't bake the cookies as long as the brownies. That would not be a good thing, at all.

Ingredients:
1 pkg. brownie mix
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used coconut oil)
1 T. water
chopped nuts pecans (we always add these to brownies)

1.  Make mix according to directions on the box.
2.  Drop by tablespoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheet.  Definitely use this measurement.  The first time I made these I used a small cookie scoop and they were too big and ran together.
3.  Bake at 325 degrees for 12-14 minutes, until the edges have crisped.  Don't over bake.
4.  Cool on wire rack.
5.  Enjoy!

Here's a tip!  Melt peanut butter in the microwave and drizzle over your cookie.  My son-in-law was at the house when I baked this batch, and he requested the peanut butter.

Source:  Betty Crocker Ultimate Brownie Mix

Salsa

This recipe first posted on July 28, 2011.

Since we are getting ready to launch our new blog, I thought it would be fun to share the very first recipe I ever posted.  Haha.  The photo quality isn't all that, and I did have a date stamp on the photo.  Didn't know about PicMonkey back then or I would have cropped that out and done a little more editing!  But still, this is one of my favorite recipes.  Hope you enjoy it again!

(Sorry about the date stamp! I'm a newbie.)

When I left El Paso, TX  9 years ago, one thing I brought back to North Carolina was a good salsa recipe.  I learned how to make it in a Relief Society Homemaking  mini-class (the Relief Society is the women's auxiliary of our church).  I loved our Hispanic members and learned so much from them, including how to make homemade tortillas.  This recipe started there, but I have tweaked it along the way.

Ingredients:
6-8 roma tomatoes
1-2 fresh jalapenos
1 clove garlic, minced
Fresh cilantro (I use a handful)
Lime juice, to taste
Salt, to taste

1.  Roast the tomatoes and jalapenos in the oven until skins are nice and crispy.  I put mine in a toaster oven.  Remove from oven and let cool enough to handle them.

2.  Peel the tomatoes and "gut" and de-stem the jalapenos.  If you leave the seeds in the peppers you will have a spicier salsa--muy picosa!

3.  Place tomatoes and jalapenos in a food processor along with the rest of the ingredients and process to desired consistency.  I prefer slightly chunky. You can add water to thin it.

4.  Serve with tortilla chips.

A few tips--a squeeze or two of lime juice is all you need.  Salt to taste, but take into consideration the saltiness of your chips.  I buy a dozen or so jalapenos at a time and roast them and then keep them in the freezer so I can have them on hand when I need a salsa fix or when my sister Amy comes to visit.

"Cool" Tip--I used to waste so much fresh cilantro until I saw a neat thing on an Emeril Legasse show.  Loosely chop the cilantro bunch and distribute into the sections of an ice cube tray.  Lightly fill with water and freeze.  Once frozen, pop cilantro cubes out of tray and store in a Ziplock bag in the freezer.  Easy to pop into soups, pasta sauce, chili, etc. I thaw several cubes out when I am thawing the jalapenos and then they are both ready for the salsa.

Salud!

Spaghetti Pie

You get home from work at 5:15 pm.  Guests are coming for dinner at 6:00 and you are trying yet another new recipe, hoping it's a hit and your guests will come back.  Score!  Back in the 80's my good friend Jill used to make spaghetti pie and I used to have the recipe.  Well, do you think I could find it these many years later?  Google is my best friend and this entry isn't exactly like Jill's, but it is a yummy second.  

Ingredients:

6 oz. spaghetti, cooked (I used thin)
2 T. olive oil
2 eggs, well-beaten
3/4 c. shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
1 c. whole milk Ricotta cheese (yes you can use skim, but why?)
1 c. pasta sauce
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

1. Drain spaghetti well, then put in a large bowl and toss with the olive oil.  Stir in eggs and 1/2 cup Parmesan.
2. Pour mixture into greased 10-inch pie plate; form into a "crust" by pushing spaghetti up the sides of the plate and forming an indentation in the center.
3. Spoon Ricotta cheese over the crust.  Top with pasta sauce.  Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 25 minutes.
4. Top with Mozzarella and remaining Parmesan and bake another 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Cool 10 minutes before cutting.

NOTE:  You can also add veggies to this dish.  I used shredded zucchini that I sauteed with a little onion and put it on top of the Ricotta cheese layer.  Spinach would also be good.

SOURCE:  Sargento

Old Settler's Beans

 Make a double batch--there were no leftovers at my house!  Loved by young and old alike, this will be a hit at your next covered dish supper or BBQ.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. bacon, cut in small pieces
1 large onion, diced
1 can green butter beans (I think it's probably Lima beans, so that is what I used)
1 can kidney beans
1 can pork & beans, undrained
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup catsup
1/2 T. dry mustard
2 T. molasses
Dash of Worcestershire sauce

1.  In a dutch oven, brown the hamburger, bacon , and onion together.  Do not drain.
2.  Add all the beans and stir together.
3.  Mix the remaining ingredients together and then add to the bean/meat mixture.  Stir to combine.
4.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.


NOTE:  This can be cooked over hot coals for about an hour and would be great on a camping trip.


Source:  My friends Tim & Casey Van Buskirk of Tucson, AZ.

Yummy Healthy Spinach Salad

This recipe was shared on Facebook with no title, so I gave it one.  Oh goodness.  Here is a quote from the original post: "This SPINACH-based salad will boost the thyroid gland's output of metabolism-reviving hormones!"

Ingredients:

5 oz. fresh spinach (half a 10-oz. bag)

3/4 cup chopped celery

3/4 cup dried cranberries

1 15-oz. can mandarin oranges (or fresh Cuties/Halos, or 1 cup pomegranate seeds.  I used the mandarins.)

1 large Granny Smith apple, cut in bite-size pieces

1 t. lemon juice

1/3 cup pecans--I toasted mine in butter and a little sea salt

Optional: Feta cheese & orecchiette pasta (did you know that means little ears?)

Dressing: (I made this separately, in case I needed to adjust the amount I poured on the salad):

4 T. olive oil or vegetable oil

2 T. apple cider vinegar

2 T. white wine vinegar

2-4 t. white sugar (or honey or Stevia to taste)--I used 3 t. sugar

1/8 t. each of paprika, onion powder

1 T. poppy seeds

Just throw it all together and enjoy!

I also added grilled chicken to this.  Makes a great main dish salad that way.

Source:  Tammy Elmore, Facebook, 1/5/16.

Fried Corn Cakes

I made these corny, crispy critters to go with some Sausage Okra Gumbo--a perfect pairing with the snow and brisk temperatures provided to us by Winter Storm Jonas.  I am sure you experienced some of the same weather if you are on the East Coast.  So, next time you are snowed in, hunker down with some of these and a nice hot stew or soup.  Or not.  They are good all by themselves.

Ingredients:

1 cup fine cornmeal
1 cup water
oil for frying--I used coconut oil
salt to taste
Add-ins (use your imagination) : chopped bacon,  minced onion, chopped green chilies, shredded cheese, etc.

1.  Add water to cornmeal and whatever you decide to throw in there, and stir to combine. You don't even need to add anything.  These are yummy on their own.

2.  Heat about 1/4 inch of oil in a skillet to medium-high.

3. Drop corn mixture by tablespoonfuls into hot oil.  Fry until golden brown and flip to brown other side.

4.  Remove from skillet and place on paper towels to drain excess oil.  Lightly salt each side.  You can also add the salt to the mixture before frying, if desired.

These will be crispy on the outer edge and chewy in the middle.  What?!
             

Jezebel Sauce

This recipe was originally posted on October 10, 2013.  We get quite a bit of Pinterest traffic on this one, so just thought we would share it again for the holidays.  It's a tasty, easy dish to throw together when you have to take a treat to share at a party.

Here's a quick and easy appetizer or snack for a party. It's a spicier take on the traditional cranberry based sauce--you know that's why it's named after Jezebel...

Ingredients:
 1 ( 18-oz.) Jar pineapple preserves (couldn't find these at Food Lion, so I substituted crushed
 pineapple and a little sugar)
1 (18-oz.) Jar apricot preserves
 1/2 cup orange marmalade
1 (5.25-oz.) Jar prepared horseradish (I actually used the 3.5-oz. size which was plenty!)
1 tablespoon dry mustard

1. In a large bowl, combine preserves, marmalade,horseradish, and dry mustard. Cover and store in refrigerator for up to two weeks. Makes about 3 cups.

     2.  Serve over a brick of cream cheese.



Source:  Paula Deen

Kristen's Lime Punch

This recipe was originally published on December 4, 2014.


It's party planning time and you know what that means--scrambling for the fave recipes that will wow your crowds. If you need a super easy, incredibly tasty punch, this is your lucky day. It goes well with any venue you can throw at it. Do you wonder about the name?  I first tried this at a Pampered Chef party given by my friend, Kristen, in Horizon City, Texas back in the late 90s.  Kristen, if you are out there in the blogosphere and happen to see this recipe, say hello!  Last time I got a Christmas card you guys were still in the midwest and your husband was working at...hmmm...Indiana University?

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
6-oz. can of frozen  limeade concentrate
Juice of 2 limes
2 liter bottle of lemon-lime soda

Boil sugar and water together until sugar dissolves.  Chill.  Squeeze juice of 2 limes and add to chilled sugar water.  Make the limeade according to directions on can.  Add to sugar-lime water.  Add lemon-lime soda to taste--don't use the whole 2 liter bottle.  Just taste as you go.

Toast to America! (my family will totally get this.)

TIPs: 

• I like to add crushed ice (Sonic ice is the best, if you can get it!) or make a decorative ice ring ahead of time from the punch before adding the soda.
• Just googled this great tip from Chowhound.com for rimming glasses with sugar (or salt)--get a section of a tangerine or clementine, cut a small slit in it and then run it around the rim of your glass.  Dip glass in sugar and viola!

Butternut Squash Soup

This is such a delicious recipe and truly a healthy comfort food. Perfect for this time of year. I have always wanted to try this kind of recipe, since I have never cooked with a butternut squash before. Easy peasy. And when I tasted it for the first time I was transported back in time and space to an appetizer soup that I was served at Alejandro's in El Paso, Texas. I have wanted that recipe FOR.EV.ERRRR. Now I have one!

Ingredients:

6 Tablespoons chopped onion

4 Tablespoons butter

6 cups cooked butternut squash - cooking instructions below (about 2 squashes)

3 cups of water

4 cubes (or 4 Tablespoons) chicken bouillon (I used 4 t. bouillon powder)

½ teaspoon dried marjoram

Black pepper to taste

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 8-oz package cream cheese

Oregano to taste (about 1 teaspoon)

Directions:

1. Cut the butternut squash in half. Scoop out all the gunk in the middle, if you have any. Some of mine did not. Here's a tip: I had a hard time cutting the squash lengthwise so I cut across the middle and then vertically on each half. Place cut-side down on a cooking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Add 1-2 cups of water to the pan to help it soften faster. Roast in the oven at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until soft and collapses to the touch.

2. While your squash is cooking, cook your onion in butter until soft.

3. Scoop out the cooked squash and put it in a blender along with the cooked onion and all other ingredients. Blend until smooth and well mixed. You can also use an immersion blender if you have mad immersion skills. I am still learning. You should see the printed recipe I had to go from--splatter city!

4. Return to saucepan and heat through, but don’t allow it to boil. Add more seasonings to taste if desired.

5. I served this with brown, wholegrain rolls from Walmart. Yummy! But crusty bread would be good or even a bread bowl.....must try that myself.

SOURCE: Jordan Page