Fruit Salad with Coconut!!

I love coconut so I was excited to try this new fruit salad that looked pretty easy. I was wary of the sour cream because I didn't know if it was going to be sweet.  It turned out to be sweet though with the fruit so everything was great. 

 http://www.melskitchencafe.com/creamy-5-cup-fruit-salad/

Creamy 5-Cup Fruit Salad

Yield: Serves 4-6 as a side dish

Ingredients

• 1 (10-ounce) can pineapple chunks (about 1 cup), drained
• 1 (11-ounce) can mandarin oranges (about 1 cup), drained
• 1 medium apple, cored and chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 cup grapes, halved
• 1/2 cup sour cream, light or regular
• 1/2 cup sweetened, shredded coconut

Directions

1. Combine the fruit in a large bowl, tossing well so the apple (and other fruit that likes to brown) can get coated in the pineapple and orange juice to prevent browning. Stir in the sour cream and coconut, gently tossing to coat.
2. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours prior to serving to allow the flavors to meld together. Serve chilled. You might notice that after a day or so of sitting in the fridge, quite a bit of liquid from the fruit pools at the bottom. If eating the leftovers, I like to gently pour some of this off before eating.

Recipe Source: adapted from my sweet and wonderful mother-in-law, Diane G.

Roasted Asparagus

I needed a veggie for our Easter dinner so I gave these a whirl.  This is my new favorite way to cook asparagus.  Just go easy on the olive oil because if you add too much (like I found out the second time) they don't roast and stay soggy. 


http://www.melskitchencafe.com/perfect-roasted-asparagus/

 

Perfect Roasted Asparagus

Yield: Serves about 4

Ingredients

• 1 pound asparagus spears (the thicker the better for roasting)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Kosher/Coarse salt
• Black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. While the oven is preheating, gently break off the lower ends of the asparagus. This is the tough part that isn’t so great for eating. The asparagus should break naturally when you bend the asparagus about 1-2 inches up the stalk. Discard the lower, tough portion.
2. Lay the asparagus in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil. Using your fingers, gently roll the asparagus to evenly coat with the oil. Sprinkle the asparagus with salt and pepper. Again, lightly roll the asparagus so the salt and pepper gets evenly distributed.
3. Bake for 10-12 minutes, checking often the last one to two minutes of baking, until the asparagus is tender when pierced with a fork. Serve immediately.

Five Star Corn Bread

This is very good, quick and simple. I whipped up some bisquick substitute in my blendtec cuz I never have that on hand. The cornbread was not too sweet but very similar to a yummy one I used to make that used a yellow cake mix (thanks for that yummy one, Julie!) I echo what the blogger said where I got the recipe : "Honestly, this is the best recipe for cornbread I’ve ever had. If you have tried that one recipe you make using a cake mix, give this one a try. Then you’ll see what you’ve been missing. I mean how could you lose with a recipe that calls for 2 sticks of butter? This recipe is also really simple. Just make sure to follow the directions to mix it with a fork. That is key with this recipe. And don’t forget to slather this when you eat it with some good old honey butter."

(pic and recipe from REal MOM Kitchen)
Five Star Corn Bread
3 eggs
1 ½ cups milk
3 cups bisquick
3 heaping tablespoons corn meal-(I wish i even put more in...)
2 cubes (or sticks) melted butter (you need the real stuff)
¾ tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
Mix with fork (not a mixer or it will fall). Mixture will have small lumps. Put in a 9×13 ungreased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Serve while warm with honey butter.

Bisquick Substitute

• 1 cup (125 g) flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon (pinch) salt
• 1 tablespoon (15 g) shortening, oil, or melted butter
  Pulse in blendtec, or I imagine you could pastry blend.

Thick and chewy chocolate chip bars

This recipe is very good. It beats putting lots of cookies on a tray and having to wait for each batch.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Bars

Yield: Makes a 9X13-inch pan of bars

Ingredients

• 2 1/8 cups (10 1/2 ounces) all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 12 tablespoons butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled slightly
• 1 cup (7 ounces) light brown sugar
• 1/2 (3 1/2 ounces) cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups chocolate chips (use your preference of semisweet, bittersweet, milk, white, peanut butter…the options are endless!)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position. Line a 9X13-inch baking pan with foil, letting the excess hang over the edges of the pan by about 1 inch so you can grab those edges and pull the brownies from the pan after they have baked. Spray the foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside. Whisk the melted butter and sugars in a large bowl until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips and turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula.
3. Bake until the top of the bars is light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start pulling away from sides of pan, 24-28 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Remove the bars from the pan by lifting the foil overhang and transfer them to a cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

2.5

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/thick-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-bars/

Printed from Mel\'s Kitchen Cafe (www.melskitchencafe.com)

Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Cook’s Illustrated

Wendy's-Like Chocolate Frosty in the Blendtec or Oreo Shake

I couldn't find just chocolate ice cream recipe for the Blendtec, but tried combining a few different recipes to formulate what I think tastes like a Wendy's frosty! We loved this!

Chocolate Frosty
12 oz. whole milk-or any kind you have works-just less creamy
3-6+ oz sweetened condensed milk-depending on how sweet you want it-I usually use half a can
2/3 cup mel's hot chocolate mix-I haven't tried any other cocoa mix yet
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp lemon juice
3-4 cups ice cubes

 Combine all in Blendec in that order and set to ice cream setting.
--I'm sure if your blender crushes ice cubes, you could do it in that, too!

Oreo variety-
Last night I altered the above and instead of adding vanilla and hot chocolate mix, I put in 1 cup+ of skim milk, about 2 cups of vanilla ice cream(that's all I had), about 7 oreos(that's all I had-and I added about three and pulsed 3 times for bigger chunks at the end), the lemon juice,  4 cups of ice and just a 1/4 of a can of sweetened condensed milk. (was just guessing that it didn't really need much because of the ice cream, but could have maybe done a bit more because of all the ice. more like 1/3 of a can)

Simple Baked Chicken Drumsticks

 http://www.food.com/recipe/simple-baked-chicken-drumsticks-443758

The preface here is, I don't like to eat drumsticks. Never have, and probably never will-unless the world is ending. But my kids and husband really liked them, they are so simple and fast, and I will probably resort to making them again. I cut off some "breast" as I called it and had a couple bites and I can see why they like them. But on the same note, didn't want to dive into any tendons or ligaments, and was satisfied with two bites.

Ingredients:
Servings: 2-3

5 -6 chicken drumsticks
garlic powder
pepper
salt
olive oil

Directions:
1 Put some olive oil in the bottom of a 9X13 pan (just enough to put the drumsticks on ).
2 Add drumsticks (space enough apart so they aren't touching each other).
3 Sprinkle generously with pepper and garlic powder. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
4 Bake at 375 for half an hour. Turn drumsticks over and add more garlic powder, pepper and salt (same as before).
5 Bake another half an hour (or until cooked til 160 degrees)).