Month: August 2010

Categories
Food

Chilly Cherry Pomegranate Pie

I’ve never made a pie before & I was a little nervous. But I found this recipe on Kraft Foods & thought it sounded good & easy. I decided to change it up a little bit. I’ll post it the way I did it, but also the way on the original recipe. I was thinking of trying to incorporate Elissa’s blueberry pie in this also, but I decided that was too much on my first try. I meant to take a photo of the whole pie, but we ate it too quick. Here’s the last bit of the last piece!


Chilly Cherry Pomegranate Pie (originally Kraft Foods)
Ingredients
1/2 c boiling water
1 pkg (3 oz) Cherry flavored Jello
1 c Pomegranate juice (I used Minute Maid Blueberry Pomegranate juice)
1 c Cool Whip, thawed
1 pie crust (I used graham cracker crust. Kraft suggests Oreo crust)

Directions
Add boiling water to Jello mix & stir two minutes or until dissolved. Stir in pomegranate juice. Refrigerate 25-30 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
Whisk in 1 c Cool Whip until well blended. Pour into pie crust. Place in freezer.
Freeze 4 hours or until firm. Can top with more Cool Whip (& Oreo cookies if use Oreo crust). I served with blueberries. Enjoy!
Categories
Food

Sunny Morning Muffins

I was first introduced to these fruity muffins from Alena on twitter aka Mrs Charmingly Chandler. I copied the food network recipe down that day. Then while on Waking up Williams, I realized Lindsay had also made these muffins with rave reviews! I was sold. I think they’ll be perfect for this weekend when my parents are coming into town. I thought I’d make them tonight so we could have them for breakfast & snacks starting tomorrow! I plan to make a mixture of mini muffins & regular sized ones. I also plan to use 1/2 oil & half applesauce to make them a little healthier.

Sunny Morning Muffins (originally from Food Network)
Ingredients
1 cup strawberries, chopped
1 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 ripe banana, mashed
2 large eggs
1/4 cup canola oil (I used 1/8 c oil & 1/8 c applesauce)
1 lemon, zested (omitted because I didn’t have one)
I added 1/4 tsp vanilla because I love it in all baked goods
1/2 pint blueberries
1 cup chopped walnuts (We not like a lot of nuts in muffins, so I used 1/2 cup)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a small bowl, mix together strawberries and 2 tablespoons sugar. Let sit 15 minutes until strawberries give off juices.
In another small bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, eggs, oil, 1 cup sugar, strawberries, and lemon zest.
Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Do not over mix.
Fold in blueberries and walnuts. Scoop batter evenly into muffin cups.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out with a few crumbs but not wet, about 30 minutes. Cool on a rack to room temperature.


I cooked the mini muffins for around 13 minutes and they were perfect. I was busy cleaning and overcooked the regular-sized muffins. So I’d recommend setting the timer for 20 instead of 30 minutes.

Categories
Family/Travel

Weekend Wrapup

As for my weekend… I spent some quality time with the husband Friday night! After a week of him working 2 am shifts, it was nice to spend more than 1 hour with him! I left early Saturday morning to head to Charlotte to spend some time with my mom’s parents. My grandmother is still in the nursing home & getting thinner. I thought she was having a pretty good weekend though. She ate more & chatted more than I was expecting. She took a 2 hour nap in the afternoon, so I got really hooked by The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. We looked though magazines, played solitaire & then it was her dinner time.

I left after her dinner and met up with Sara aka The Mrs. I had enjoyed meeting here during the PW Book GTG but it was so busy & there was so many of us we didn’t really chat. She’s one of my favorite Twitter ladies so I was so glad she was free Saturday evening! She suggested the Dean & Deluca Wine Bar & I’m so glad she did! We both were a little adventurous & tried a wine flight (She tried the sparkling & I went with Interesting Whites). I loved two out of the three of mine. I wish I’d written them down because the menu isn’t online! We also had a glass of their house Pino Grigo along with splitting the hummus & an amazing crabcake salad.

Afterward as I was leaving Phillips Place, I passed Pinkberry & couldn’t resist! I tried the mango & pomegranate frozen yogurts with fresh mango, blueberries, pineapple & strawberries! To say it was fabulous would be an understatement! It’s really close to where my grandparents live so I will be back there soon!

Sunday I went to church with Papa. The sermon was about Faith and featured a reading of Hebrews which just happened to have been on my daily calendar one day last week. We both thought the guest minister spoke a little too long, but liked the overall message. After church, we went to Ma’s nursing home & pushed her up to the clubhouse for brunch. We met up with two of my grandparents friends who are so sweet. The petite almost 90 year old lady asked how I got there b/c she wasn’t sure I was old enough to drive!!!! I laughed when she was shocked when Papa said I was 28! I as usual ate too much at brunch, but how can you resist made to order omlettes, waffles, grits, Crelo Halibut, & don’t even think for a second I skipped out on the dessert bar! I did pass on the Bananas Foster, but instead had Peach Cobbler & a small piece of Strawberry Shortcake. Yeah, I didn’t each for the rest of the day!!

Categories
Food

It’s Monday!

That means its time for Waking Up Williams‘ weekly Mommas Munchies post. This week’s theme is Crockpot meals. I think by now yall know I love a good crockpot recipe; they’re usually easy & don’t require much effort! Yay! I actually have a label just for crockpot recipes which include good go to recipes like Crockpot Salsa Chicken, Mom’s Crockpot Meatballs, Rotel Spinach Dip (but this recipe is bland so spice it up!), & Crockpot Chicken Stuffing.

A friend a couple of years ago gave me a crockpot cookbook for my birthday. I usually combine the artichoke dip & spinach dip in it when I make that dip (which I wrote about here~ j/k I haven’t but I will soon!). So instead of my usual chicken recipes or crockpot dips, I went through what I’d flagged in the book (but not yet made) and thought I’d share the recipe. Hopefully this will motivate me to try making it soon!

Cheesy Broccoli Casserole
Ingredients
2 (10 oz) packages of frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1 can condensed cream of celery soup
1 1/4 c shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 minced onions
1/2 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp hot pepper sauce
1 c crushed potato chips or saltine crackers

Directions
Spray Crockpot with non-stick spray. Add broccoli, soup, 1 c cheese, onions, celery seed, paprika & hot sauce to the crockpot & stir together. Cover with lid & cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2 1/2-3 hours.
Uncover, top with chips & rest of cheese. Cook uncovered for an additional 30-60 minutes on low or 15-30 minutes on high, or until cheese melts.

Book also says can substitute spinach for broccoli and top with crackers or spicy crutons instead of the chips.
Sourse: Best Loved Slow Cooker Recipes by Rival CrockPot.

Categories
Food

Mexican Momma’s Munchies


Its Monday which means Momma’s Munchies day over at Waking Up Williams. This week is a Mexican theme.

I was going to post this Chicken Enchilada Casserole recipe, then remembered I already had. I plan on making it one night this week. Our other favorite Mexican recipes: Creamy Chicken Enchiladas & Crockpot Salsa Chicken.

So instead I’m posting this very simple dip that my coworker brought to work today for snack day.

Cheesy Rotel Dip
Ingredients
Velveeta cheese
Can of Rotel (she used the spicy Mexican variety)
Tortilla chips

Directions
Cut up cheese into cubes. Add to small crockpot. Top with Rotel. Heat on low until melted & combined. Serve with tortilla chips. Watch out~ it’ll disappear quickly!