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Sour Cherry Nutella Mousse

Sour Cherry Nutella Mousse

This is a quick and easy dessert! Sour Cherry Nutella Mousse can be mixed up and ready to eat in 10 minutes.

Sour Cherry Nutella Mousse

16 ounces whipped topping

1  small jar of Nutella (13 oz. jar)

14-15 ounces of unsweetened red tart cherries, drained

Mix the three ingredients in a large bowl and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes. Remove from the fridge and serve in dessert dishes or teacups if you wish.

Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

This recipe makes 8-10 very rich servings!

 

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Steak Fajitas

Steak Fajitas

1 ½ lb. of steak sliced thin against the grain or you may buy it already cut for fajitas

4 green bell peppers sliced and cut into chunks

2 onions sliced thin

8 ounces of pre-sliced baby Bella mushrooms

McCormick Montreal steak seasoning

soy sauce (gluten free)

olive oil

Preheat your broiler on high or you may pan fry. Place the steak in a bowl and sprinkle with the Montreal steak seasoning on both sides and pour on some soy sauce, turn the meat to coat. Let that marinate while you chop the vegetables. Coat your pan with olive oil and place the meat on it and broil for 7 minutes each side. Meanwhile, coat your iron skillet with a little olive oil and stir fry the veggies on the stove top. When both are done pour the veggies on top of the steak and stir. Serve. I served mine with a bit of homemade salsa, made by my wonderful husband, a slice of avocado and some chips. A quick and delicious dinner.

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Coconut Scones

Last night I came home in a baking mood. I looked at what I had on hand and I got excited thinking about creating a coconut scone recipe. I like scones and hot PG Tips tea with milk and a bit of sugar. So I mixed up the scones and got them in the oven. Then we sat down to family Bible reading time and soon the scones were done, right in the middle of a very interesting discussion of why Jesus looked up to heaven and blessed the food. Of course, we had to sample them and everyone approved! Here is the recipe I created!

Coconut Scones

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoons sugar

1-2 teaspoons of sugar crystals or granulated sugar to sprinkle on top

1 scant Tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

⅓ cup butter or margarine

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

4-6 Tablespoons coconut milk
*Additional 1 Tablespoon coconut milk to brush on top

1 cup shredded coconut
*Additional 1-2 Tablespoons of coconut to sprinkle lightly on top

Preheat the oven to 400°. Butter a baking sheet. In a large bowl, stir in the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. In a small bowl beat the egg and vanilla and the coconut milk. Lightly mix until it forms a soft dough. Place the dough on a floured surface and gently knead it 10 times. The dough will feel springy.
Place the dough on the prepared baking sheet. Roll or hand shape it into an 8-inch circle. With a pizza cutter dipped in flour cut your dough into 8 wedges, but do not separate them. Brush the tops with the additional coconut milk and sprinkle with sugar and coconut.
Bake 14-18 minutes until the scones are lightly browning. Remove from the baking sheet and cool a bit. Serve warm.

 

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Swedish Tea Ring

Our friend Janelle has been here visiting for about a week. Today was our last day with Janelle! I wanted to make a special brunch to have with her before her flight. I made cheesy grits, fried potatoes, bacon, oven scrambled eggs and my Swedish Tea Ring. I have made this recipe for more than 20 years. It is my favorite sweet yeast dough! It is light and tender. Here is my recipe made without my favorite rolling pin and baking sheet. I can improvise!

 

Swedish Tea Ring

1 cup milk

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons yeast or 2 small packages

1/4 cup lukewarm water

2 eggs

4 1/2 cups all-purpose sifted flour ( I use unbleached)

Melted butter

1/2 lb. brown sugar 

1 Tablespoon + Cinnamon ( I like a lot of cinnamon so I keep adding)

Chopped nuts optional

You may add frosting if you wish. (Recipe below)

Preheat the oven 375°. Scald milk and pour over butter, sugar, and salt, sprinkle yeast over the lukewarm water. Cool milk to lukewarm (less than 110°), add to the yeast mixture. Add well-beaten eggs. Beat in flour to make a soft dough. Turn out on a floured board and knead until smooth. Form into ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until double in bulk. Time can vary, it took mine an hour to rise.  When light shape into 2 rectangular sheets about 1/4 inch thick. I mix the cinnamon and brown sugar in a small bowl. I brush the rolled out dough with the melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon brown sugar mixture. Roll in jelly roll fashion and shape into rings. Place on greased cookie sheets and cut with scissors at 1” intervals almost through your ring.

You may want to turn your cut slices slightly to make a fancier ring. Cover and let rise until double in bulk. Bake at 375° F for 20-30 minutes. Enjoy. Variations: While warm, frost with powdered sugar frosting and sprinkle with chopped nuts.  This makes 2 rings. I think this is the most wonderful thing I bake!

This frosting is great to drizzle on the Swedish tea ring,  cinnamon rolls or other pastries.

Simple Frosting for Pastries

2 Tablespoons of melted butter

2 cups powdered sugar

the flavoring of your choice: vanilla, almond, etc.

1-3 Tablespoons of milk added one at a time until you reach the right consistency.

Melt the butter stir in the powdered sugar and flavoring and 1 Tablespoon of the milk. Stir until creamy. Add more milk a bit at a time until you reach drizzle consistency.  Yummy!

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Dark Chocolate No-Bake Cookies

Dark Chocolate is my favorite. And sometimes you just NEED chocolate you know? When you have no sweets made, you make some. This is my version of No-Bakes. This makes a small batch.

Dark Chocolate No-Bake Cookies

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup evaporated milk

1/4 cup butter

2 Tablespoons of Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa

1/4 cup natural crunchy peanut butter

1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Old Country Style Muesli  + 1/2 cup old fashioned oats (or for gluten-free use  1 ½ cups of oats)

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 ½ minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter, Muesli, oats, and vanilla. Drop by spoonfuls on waxed paper. Let cool if you can wait! These set up really fast.

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Leftovers

There are many ways to save time and money on groceries. One way is to cook the right amount! And throw away less. I hate throwing food away! But sometimes even with the best of intentions, you will end up with leftovers. Or maybe you save money by cooking ahead and having “planned overs”. I do both.

Today I looked into my refrigerator and realized I had leftover white beans. I knew I had to make something with these or freeze them. I decided to make my version of White Bean Chili. I did not measure anything. I heated the beans and I stirred a couple of spoonfuls of Better Than Bouillon into them as well as two cans of chiles. I had a couple of chicken breasts which I quickly boiled on top of the stove and chopped in my little Ninja. I stirred it all together and voila’ White Bean Chili!

I would like to encourage you to be creative with your cooking as well as with your use of leftovers! In all my years I only remember one creation from leftovers that we had to throw away! So as Miss Frizzle would say, “take chances, make mistakes, get messy!” You may discover something great!

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Italian Vegetable Casserole

What’s for dinner?

Tonight I decided to make a recipe I haven’t made in awhile. Italian Vegetable Casserole. Don’t let the ingredients scare you. This unseemly combination really has a surprising flavor much like lasagna without the gluten or noodles.

Italian Vegetable Casserole

Ingredients:

4 cups white beans, already cooked and drained or 2 cans of white beans (drained)

1 – 8 oz. bag of washed fresh spinach (3 cups) or 1 bag 20 oz.  frozen  spinach

1 clove garlic

1/2 onion chopped

3 carrots shredded

2 cups of spaghetti sauce (or 1 cup sauce and 1 cup paste plus 3/4 tsp. oregano, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. pepper )

3 cups shredded jack cheese or mozzarella cheese

2 cups cottage cheese

Parmesan Cheese (approximately 1/2 cup) and some additional to sprinkle on at the table.

Preheat your oven to 375°. Saute garlic, onion, in  2 tsp. oil. Add carrots, and spinach, and cook 3-4 minutes. Stir in sauce.  Spread 1/2 beans in  9 X 13 casserole. Layer 1/2 cottage cheese, 1 cup cheese, and 1/2 vegetable mixture. Repeat, and end with the last cup of cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. To make and freeze for later. Cover with heavy foil and freeze. To eat now bake uncovered at 375° for 1 hour or until done. Let set a few minutes when it comes from the oven to set. Serves 6-8.

I used dry beans I had cooked in my crock pot. I forgot to drain my beans so my casserole was a bit soupy. I did serve it over some leftover rice. The flavor was wonderful.

Hints: I used my Ninja food chopper to chop the onions and carrots.

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Easy Chicken Pot Pie

 

 

 

 

 

 

In honor of Pi day, March 14, I made our favorite chicken pot pie. It is quick and easy to make and wonderful to eat.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:
2-3 cups of chopped chicken (turkey, chicken breasts or even canned chicken)

20 oz. frozen mixed veggies

1-2 potatoes (optional)

1/2 onion (optional)

white sauce or two 10 oz. cans of cream soup

2 cups of self-rising flour

1 – 1 and 1/2 cups of milk

1 stick of butter or margarine

2 eggs

Filling:
2-3 cups chopped cooked chicken
20oz. frozen mixed veggies or fresh. I usually add a little onion and a potato or two to mine but you can omit if you wish
2 1/2 cups white sauce * or two 10 oz. cans cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup
Crust:
2 cups self-rising flour. (I prefer Gold Medal)
1 – 1 1/2 cups milk
1 stick butter or margarine melted. I prefer butter.
2 eggs

The crust mixture will resemble pancake batter.
To prepare I  mix and pour the filling into a 13 X 9 pan. Mix and pour crust mix on the top.  Bake 350 for 45 minutes – 1 hour or until crust is done. It will be golden brown and the filling hot and bubbly. You may eat!

* White sauce recipe
On medium heat, I melt 1 stick of butter, margarine, or oil in a saucepan or skillet. (I prefer butter.)
Sprinkle with maybe about 6 tablespoons of flour (I usually don’t measure the flour). I stir until it is mixed in and I add salt and pepper to taste. Then I slowly pour in 2.5 cups of milk and stir as I add the milk. If it is too thick add a bit more milk or water and stir until it is ready. It will resemble a cream soup or white gravy consistency. I then use it in my pot pie.

 

Let me know if you make it and how you change it up to make it your own! Happy Cooking!

Reda