Pie Time

Every Sunday I take a dessert to the in-law's house. This past Sunday I thought. Hmmm.... I've got apples that need to be eaten and some blackberries. How about an Apple Blackberry pie. So I went to my Pinterest folder because I remembered pinning the Pioneer Woman's Dreamy Apple Pie recipe awhile back and wanted to give it a try. I don't usually like apple pie but this one looked real tasty and yep it sure was.

Also, the pie crust was so good. Nice and flaky. Just the way I pie should be.  

So, i'm passing on the recipes to you.

Dreamy Apple Pie (don't you just love the Pioneer Woman... I know I do... she makes some yummy yummy dishes indeed)

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/11/dreamy-apple-pie/

And remember I threw in a carton of blackberries to the apple pie filling and we all enjoyed it!

The flaky pie crust:  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/12/p-p-p-pie_crust_and_its_p-p-p-perfect/

Zucchini Beef Casserole

What to do with all that zucchini?  

I had a bunch of zucchini's from my co-worker. So I did some online hunting and found this recipe on the Taste of Home website. It is delicious. My husband loved it too! I've made it twice now in the past month. Go ahead... Give it a try. Start shredding that zucchini and polling out the beef from the freezer. I think it's more of a casserole than a pizza which Taste of Home called it.  I did put my two sense into the recipe below as well.

Zucchini Beef Casserole

Ingredients:

4 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 pound ground beef (or ground turkey)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 can (15 ounces) Italian tomato sauce

1 medium green pepper, chopped

Directions:

Place zucchini in strainer; sprinkle with salt. Let stand for 10

minutes. Squeeze out moisture.

Combine zucchini with the eggs, Parmesan and half of the mozzarella

and cheddar cheeses. Press into greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish.

Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20 minutes. And additional 5 minutes on broil.

Meanwhile, cook beef and

onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add

tomato sauce; spoon over zucchini mixture.(remember to turn oven back to 400)

Sprinkle with remaining cheeses; add green pepper. Bake 20 minutes

longer or until heated through. Yield: 6-8 servings.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Zucchini-Pizza-Casserole

Baby shower cupcakes

Oh Pinterest. You have saved my yet again. 

My friend and I were throwing my other friend a baby shower. 

And I said I would make cookies and cupcakes. Well, I turned to pinterest and here's how it went.

These cupcakes were delicious. Loved them.

I would make again for sure!

Thank you normal activities. Link: http://normalactivities.blogspot.com/2012/03/limoncello-cupcakes.html

I also tried a new sugar cookie recipe, Jello Sugar Cookies.  They were good but didn't work well to cut out. Rolled they were yum. And they were bright pink which made it fun because I used raspberry jello. So when I make again (which I probably will because they were nice and chewy, just the way the hubby likes them) i'll roll them in sugar and bake them. Here's the link for the Jello Sugar cookies:

http://www.eat2gather.net/2012/02/food/recipes/i-heart-jell-o-sugar-cookies/

In the end I went with a tried and true sugar cookie recipe. It's my mom's recipe and they were great to cut out and frost.

Sun-Dried Tomato Soup

This recipe I discovered last week and I have to say it's the best homemade tomato soup I have made yet.  I loved the fact that it didn't have bread in it which a lot of tomato soup recipes have making it a carbo load.

Sun-Dried Tomato Soup
serves 4

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (I used the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes)
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, sliced
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped (use kitchen shears)
10 oz can mild Ro-Tel tomatoes, drained but juices reserved
20 oz chicken broth
2 thyme sprigs (or 1/4 teaspoon dried)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoons concentrated sun-dried tomato paste (or canned tomato paste)
1/4 cup heavy cream

Saute onions and garlic in butter and olive oil, over med-high heat, for 4 minutes.  Add sun-dried tomatoes, drained tomatoes, tomato paste, and thyme; cook for several minutes stirring frequently.  Add reserved tomato juice and chicken broth.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat to simmer.  Simmer until vegetables are SUPER soft, about 20 minutes. 
 
Transfer small batches of soup to a blender and puree. Return to pot and warm over low heat. Stir in heavy cream and check seasoning.  Add more chicken stock if you like your soup thinner.

Link: http://oneperfectbite.blogspot.com/2011/01/sun-dried-tomato-soup.html

It's Jiffy alright

Making homemade pizza is a staple in our home.

Try this recipe out and I think you will for sure be surprised at how easy and good your own pizza can be!

First start off with a Jiffy pizza crust mix. Seeing that i'm a working cook I don't have time to wait for pizza dough to rise.  So jiffy is a great solution.

Make up the dough just as jiffy says. I admit I add a couple of teaspoons of sugar to the dough because I like a sweeter dough.

Then cook the crust for a bit... just as directions say.

As the pizza crust is cooking make up your homemade pizza sauce and prepare your toppings.

When the crust is just barely cooked dress it with your tomato sauce and necessary toppings. Like, mushrooms, peppers, onions, garlic, olives, etc.

Bake pizza and enjoy your homemade pizza!

TOMATO SAUCE FOR PIZZA

1 to 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 can tomato sauce (8 to 10 oz)
1/2. tsp salt
1 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. oregano
Add pepper
Bake pizza and enjoy a homemade slice!

Costa Vida Chicken/Pork

I've tried MANY MANY recipes to find the best mock Costa Vida or Cafe Rio kind of  pork.  I love the sweet and savory of the meat.  Well here it is folks my favorite kind of way to spice up chicken or pork to Cafe Rio or Costa Vida it.  This is a simple meal that you can set and forget by using the crockpot.  Just put the ingredients in before you head off to work and when you get home you'll smell the yumminess!



Costa Vida Chicken or Pork
4 chicken breasts or 1 pork loin
1 can green chilies
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cumin
sprinkle of pepper
sprinkle of garlic salt


Combine all ingredients in crock-pot and cook for 6-8 hours. When done shred and use on salads, tacos, burritos, ect.  This meat also freezes great so I will usually take the meat that I froze and defrost it and use it to make burritos sometime later in the month.