Boar's Head Ham Glaze Appetizer

This recipe is Kroger's marketing working like a charm. 

I ran into the store one day for deli meat and

the Boar's Head lady was at the counter giving out samples of this: 

Next thing I know, I was scrambling for these 4 ingredients

because I needed to bring an appetizer to work the next day. 

And it was EASY and a hit!

Take a brick of cream cheese and put it on a plate.

Slice it up a bit.

Heat about 1/2 the jar of Boar's Head Brown Sugar and Spice Ham Glaze.

Yes, Ham Glaze.

Pour the warmed glaze over the cream cheese.

Top with chopped pecans.

Serve with crackers.

You are welcome!

The Sarasota

This was an easy summer drink to throw together.  I'd seen it posted on Pinterest numerous times and my sister-in-law made it one weekend for a family gathering.  So I thought it would be perfect for a summer party with my girlfriends.

The ingredients are super simple:

2 bottles of white Moscato (750 mL each)

1 12 oz. frozen pink or raspberry lemonade concentrate

3 cups Sprite

Raspberries

You will need a vessel large enough for all of the ingredients.  My go-to pitcher at home was too small.  So I actually mixed everything in a large stock pot and then transferred it into a pitcher and put leftovers in another container.

First, take a small container of raspberries, dump them into a bowl and crush the heck out of them.  I just smashed them with a fork for awhile.  Then put all of the liquid ingredients into your vessel.  Add your crushed raspberries.  Stir and chill.  Pour into a glass and garnish with more raspberries.

Yummy, yummy?  No thanks.  I actually am not a fan of white wine, so this drink isn't for me.  However, it received many compliments from the white wine drinkers!

Rainbow Jell-O

We decided to have a Rainbow-themed birthday party for Stella's 5th birthday and I found this Jell-O idea on Pinterest. There are many different versions of how to do this - some even have a beautiful Cool Whip layer between each color.  And this would also be fun on St. Patrick's Day.  Many thanks to Do Better and her instructions found HERE.

What I did...

Ingredients:
6 oz. boxes of Red, Yellow, Blue, Purple Jell-O
Box of Knox Gelatin (contains 4 envelopes, is right next to Jell-O)

In a bowl, mix box of purple Jell-O with one envelope of Knox Gelatin.  Add 2 cups of boiling water and dissolve Jell-O.  Add 1/2 cup of ice.  Stir until it thickens.  Pour into a 9x13 pan (I greased mine, but not sure you have to).  Put in the refrigerator and leave it alone until really firm.  I'd wait at least an hour.

Repeat steps with blue, yellow and red.  Pouring your cooled layer over top of the already firm layer.  After completely cooled, cut into squares to serve.

Orange and Green are NOT needed.  When stacked, the blue and yellow will create the green.  I did NOT use green and just look at the photos...it works!  I will admit I did use orange because I had room in the pan and I wasn't sure if it really would create the "missing" colors...but the GREEN proves it does!

This is an EASY process, but you have to take into account the time it will take each layer to become firm.  For our Saturday party I actually started the process on Thursday night with the purple layer.  The blue layer was Friday before work and Yellow and Red were Friday night.  I cut them Saturday morning. 

Enjoy!  These were gobbled up quickly and talked about most of the afternoon.



Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are oh. so. good.  I found the recipe because it had, of course, been pinned.  Then I realized it was originally posted on Tatertots & Jello which is one of my favorite blogs.  The original recipe is HERE. 

2 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 3.4 oz box of vanilla instant pudding
1 cup milk chocolate chips
25 mini Reese's peanut butter cups

Preheat oven to 375.

Peel the peanut butter cups and cut them into fourths...do not chop!  You don't want them to completely fall apart.  Then stick them in the freezer while you do the next steps of making the dough.  This will prevent them from completely melting into the dough by getting them nice and firm.

Beat the butter, sugars and vanilla in a large bowl (I used my mixer).  Add the eggs and beat until creamy.  Then add the rest of the dry ingredients including the instant pudding.

Add and stir in the chocolate chips.  Finally add the peanut butter cups and gently fold them in with a wooden spoon.

Drop teaspoons of the batter onto a cookie sheet.  I baked mine for 8 minutes and then let them sit another 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.  Do not overcook.  They will get harder as they cool.

Pour yourself a large glass of milk and savor each bite...

Mojitos

A special thank you to close friends of ours for sharing their recipe with us!

8 oz. of freshly squeezed lime juice (about 5-6 limes)

1 cup fresh mint leaves (2 plastic containers at Kroger)

16 oz. of white rum

20 oz. club soda

8 oz. of simple syrup*

*What is simple syrup?  Regular simple syrup is equal parts sugar and water, but 1.5 parts sugar to 1 part water is probably the happy medium for us.  We boiled 2 cups of water on the stove, added 3 cups of sugar.  Stirred and reduced heat a bit and continued stirring until sugar dissolved.  Mixture must completely cool and extra can be stored in fridge.  Our concoction made enough for 3 pitchers.

In pitcher, add lime juice and mint leaves and muddle.  A muddler is very handy for this.

Then add remaining ingredients and stir.

Pour into glass over ice. 

*This pitcher from Rubbermaid is awesome because it has an "ice guard" spout which for this keeps the mint leaves from tumbling out all over your glass. I found mine at Kroger for about $10.

Crock Pot Parmesan Pork Roast

No picture yet, Boo!

Ingredients:

4-pound boneless pork roast
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup honey
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 whole garlic clove, diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Cut pork roast in half.  Put on the bottom of a crock pot.  In a bowl, combine the Parmesan cheese, honey, soy sauce, basil, garlic, olive oil and salt.  Pour over the pork.  Cover and cook on low for about 5-6 hours. 

You want to be careful not to overcook this one from all the comments I read.  This is not an all-day crock pot recipe.  I actually premade the sauce mixture (minus the Parmesan cheese) before I left for work and then Andy put the whole thing together during his lunch.  By 6:00 it was perfect. 

The meat does not stay in tact to "slice" it.  It almost ends up like a pulled-pork.  We served it overtop couscous and my mom had leftovers overtop noodles and then rice.  The juices soak into the starch and YUM.  Add a green veggie and the meal is complete.

Notes on the ingredients (the variations I made):

Thanks to It's a Keeper for this recipe that my BFF added to Pinterest.  You can find the original recipe here:

http://www.everydaytastes.com/2011/05/31/slow-cooker-parmesan-pork-roast/

A couple of things to note. Many people use a plain (not flavored) pork tenderloin for this recipe. I chose to use an actual pork loin roast because it looked better at the store that day. When I purchased it, it was held together with strings in a netting formation. I removed all of that and after cutting it in half, the pork fell into 4 main pieces. The original recipe calls for 2 Tbsp of basil which I cut back to one. It also called for 2 Tbsp of minced garlic and I used a fresh whole clove instead. The original recipe also calls for cornstarch to make a gravy, but I found the juices were just fine without it.

Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies

Another online recipe I can thank both Pinterest and ModHousewife for recommending.  The original recipe is from Love Veggies and Yoga.  It is posted as half of what I made and also includes a cream cheese frosting.  I have to agree with ModHousewife that I prefer a buttercream frosting.  Charlotte and I made a batch to take to her classmates for her birthday. 

 
Ingredients:

1 stick butter (softened)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 Strawberry cake mix

Preheat oven to 350.  In a mixing bowl, cream the butter.  Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Add Strawberry cake mix until well blended.  For best results put the cookie dough into the freezer for 15-20 minutes.  This will help the dough from spreading so much while baking. 

When ready, form 1-inch balls onto a cookie sheet that is greased or use parchment paper.  Be sure to leave enough space for some spreading.  Do not overcrowd the cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes.  Cookies may seem undercooked (not completely firm) but take them out and let them finish on the cookie sheet a few minutes before transferring to cooling rack.  Do not overbake.  I made about 36 cookies using this recipe.

These are really tasty as is.  However, you can spruce them up by adding a frosting after they are cooled and some sprinkles.  I made the frosting I used on my Christmas cookies.  That recipe is HERE.  I added 2 more tablespoons of milk (5 total) to make it even creamier.  Then a few red sprinkles finished it off!

Brown Sugar Blondies

I got this recipe from Baked Perfection HERE which was adapted from allrecipes.com.  At a friend's suggestion, I doubled the recipe to fit a 13 x 9 pan.  And since I was making it for an event on the eve of Valentine's Day...I threw in the white, pink and red M&Ms.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter (I used salted sticks)
2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
One bag (12-13 oz.) of M&Ms of any color

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13 x 9 pan.

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set to the side.  Melt 2/3 cup butter.  Mix melted butter with the firmly packed brown sugar - I used a mixer for this.  Cool slightly (just let it sit a minute).  Add 2 beaten eggs and then the vanilla.  Blend well (again in mixer).  With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture a bit at a time until it is all well mixed.  Stir in 1 1/3 cup of the M&Ms.  

Spread into a 13 x 9 pan.  Sprinkle the remainder of the M&Ms on top. 

Bake for 40 minutes.  Cool before slicing.

Twice Baked Potatoes

We often bake too many potatoes in the hopes that my kids will actually eat them.  They hate potatoes of all forms except french fried.  So, alas, we always have leftover baked potatoes of all varieties.  I decided to try a twice-baked recipe and it turned out very nice.

1. Cut up any leftover (already baked) potatoes into small bite-sized pieces
2. Put half into a greased baking dish
3. Add any necessary salt and pepper
4. Add a few spoonfuls of sour cream on top 
5. Sprinkle with shredded cheese (I used extra sharp cheddar)
6. Add crumbled cooked bacon
7. Add remainder of potatoes
8. Top off with some more shredded cheese

Bake uncovered on 350 for 20-25 minutes.  YUM!

Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower

So this is another recipe snagged from Pinterest.  The original post was from Amateur Gourmet and you can find it HERE.  Or from the pin HERE.  I modified a bit, but really liked it.

What you need:

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Garlic

Lemon

Parmesan Cheese

1. Cut broccoli and cauliflower into large pieces.  Make sure it is dry (apparently this is important).

2. Place on cookie sheet covered with foil.  Toss broccoli and cauliflower with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Use oil generously.  (I eyeballed all of these, but original recipe said 5 tbsp oil, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper for 2 large bunches. )

3. Peel and slice garlic cloves and add on the cookie sheet as well.  I used 2-3 for my smaller portion. 

4.  Roast on 425 for 20-30 minutes.  (I was baking with something else that needed the oven at 350 so I split the difference at 375 for 30 minutes and it worked fine.)  You want it "crisp-tender and some of the florets starting to brown".

5. When it's finished, pull it out of the oven and squeeze fresh lemon juice over it.  (Also says to zest the lemon, but couldn't locate lemon zester so skipped.) 

6. Top with grated Parmesan cheese at the end.

You can also add fresh basil and pine nuts, but I skipped that as well.

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Yum, yum, yum!  And you can make the batter ahead of time...see below.  I originally found this recipe on Pinterest which led me HERE.  I followed the recipe pretty closely with a few minor changes.  I didn't have a lemon so I left that out and I also didn't have kosher salt so just used plain table salt.  And thank goodness she broke down 7/8 of a cup...because I would have guesstimated otherwise (it was late and I was tired)!

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Ingredients:
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter at room temperature
7/8 cup* + 1 tablespoon sugar (the 1 tablespoon is for sprinkling on top)
1 egg at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 cups fresh blueberries (you can also use fresh cranberries for a holiday spin...just increase the sugar a bit to offset tartness)
½ cup buttermilk

* 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons

1. Cream butter with 7/8 cup of the sugar until well blended.

2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour.  Mix together the remaining flour (1 and 3/4 cup), baking powder and salt.

3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.

4. Grease a baking pan (I used an 8 x 11) with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan.

At this point, I covered the pan with cling wrap and shoved it in the refrigerator until the next day (24 hours later!).  So you can make this ahead of time.  It turned out just fine for me.  If you are worried about your cold, refrigerated dish shattering...either let it get to room temp before shoving it in the oven or put it in while oven is cold and let them warm up together (that's what I did) or keep the batter in a tupperware container and transfer it to a baking dish the next day. 

5. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 minutes if baking immediately or about 45-60 minutes if it's still cold from the refrigerator.

6. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Also yummy served with Cheesy Ham Pie for dinner!

Chicken Lasagna Roll-ups

I took this recipe from Pinterest.  Original can be found HERE.

Ingredients:

8 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained

3 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 cup Ricotta cheese

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup milk

1/8 tsp white pepper

2 cups spaghetti sauce

I baked the chicken the night before and seasoned it with Italian seasoning.  I used kitchen shears to cut it into bite-size pieces. 

In a medium bowl combine chicken, cheese, milk and pepper.  Spread about 1/2 cup of mixture onto each noodle and roll up in jelly-roll fashion.

Spread 1 cup of the pasta sauce in a 13 x 9 greased baking dish.  Place lasagna rolls seam-side down.  Top with remaining pasta sauce.

Cover and bake for about 30-45 minutes at 375 degrees.  I uncovered for the last 10 minutes.

Top with more Parmesan if desired.

The recipe above made about 7 roll-ups for me.  I think I overstuffed them!  The three that are starred in the picture above had extra chicken and only an Italian blend of cheeses from Kraft.  My hubby doesn't like Ricotta!  He said they were still delicious.

Amaretto Slush

If you love a sweet, slushie cocktail, then this one is for you!

Ingredients:

2 cups brewed tea (2 cups water and 6 tea bags)
7 cups boiling water
1 cup sugar
2-12 oz. frozen lemonade (thawed enough to get it out of the can!)
1-12 oz. frozen orange juice (see above)
2 cups Amaretto

Mix all and freeze. Scoop into a glass, top with Sprite or 7 Up and garnish with a cherry and/or orange slice.

Now, truth be told, this is most likely not going to get you hammered.  I drank two of the above pictured in a short time frame and didn't feel a thing.  Which either means I drink too much regularly (not really) or that this is not really potent.  There's a LOT of water added to that Amaretto.   So if you are looking for a strong drink, this isn't it.  Search for a bourbon slush recipe instead.  However, this is VERY yummy and won't disappoint when it comes to taste.  Plus it just looks nice as well.  Very festive.

Original source: http://www.modhousewife.com/2011/09/mother-in-laws-amaretto-slush/