Cool Whip Candy

My child has made this post difficult but I will try to see if I can eek it out before he turns the computer off beneath my feet. This recipe is a very easy and yummy mint truffle (or omit the mint if you don't like it). I have had this recipe for a long time and I love it. I made them again for a shower the other day...

• 8 oz Cool Whip, thawed
  
• 3 Large Hershey's Milk Chocolate bars, around 12-13 oz.
• 3/4 tsp mint extract
  
• 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs

Break up the chocolate bars into squares, put in a microwave safe dish and melt on half power for 30 second intervals, stirring after each time, until you have a smooth and creamy bowl of melted chocolate, but don't overdo it.

Stir into cool whip in a larger bowl. Stir in mint extract to taste. Again, don't overdo it. :) Refrigerate of freezer shortly until the mixture is pretty firm and can be scooped into small balls. Drop about a tablespoonful at a time into graham crumbs and shape into balls. Place of waxed paper and chill until ready to serve.

Shrimp and Cheesy Grits

We love grits and southern food, and we also love seafood, so this dish was an instant classic. Tyler loved it, and so did I. Pretty easy too.

• 2 red and/or yellow sweet peppers
• 1/2 cup quick cooking hominy grits
• 1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend (2 oz.)
• 1-1/2 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails intact
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup cilantro sprigs
• 1 Tbsp. cider vinegar
• Lemon wedges and cilantro sprigs, optional

Directions

1. Halve, seed, and coarsely chop peppers. In medium saucepan heat 1-34 cups water to boiling. Stir in grits and peppers. Return to boiling. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 5 minutes, until most water is absorbed and grits are tender. Stir in cheese. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Cover; keep warm.

2. In bowl toss shrimp with chili powder. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp. Cook and stir 3 to 4 minutes or until shrimp are opaque.

3. In food processor combine remaining oil, cilantro, vinegar, and 2 tablespoons water. Drizzle over shrimp and grits. Serve with lemon and cilantro. Makes 4 servings.

Guest Chef - My Big Brother.

I just received one of the best emails ever. My big brother, actually really big brother (he is 6'7"), emailed me, sheepishly requesting to be a part of our fantastic blog. He sent the following awesome recipe and four great photos (of which I will only be posting one for the sake of space). So this is a really simple recipe (besides milking the cow part) for making your own butter. What a man, right? Making his own butter. I am impressed. I have been wanting to do this for a while now, but have been too intimidated by the process. So, ladies and any other men we have secretly reading this blog, I hope you enjoy this recipe from a gourmet construction worker. Feel free to comment in an effort to make our newcomer feel welcome.

Welcome Edward!

Homemade Butter

I have been following this blog for months now. Both secretly and publicly and I came up with a recipe finally that I don't usually mess up. So here it is.

There are a couple ways to make your own butter it is so easy a construction worker can do it. First if you have raw milk then you skim the cream off the top. If you don't have raw then you can buy 1-2 cups heavy whipping cream, or double cream (1/3 liter) (preferably without carrageenan or other stabilizers). I have seen this at the store, so it is available.

Next you put it into a blender and walk away or watch it spin if you like that too. it will go for about ten min and you will hear the change when the cream turns to butter. Turn off the blender and let the buttermilk separate from the butter. The butter will be a faint yellow color.

Slowly drain the buttermilk into another jar or Tupperware(you can save this for making buttermilk pancakes or bread, recipes online)

add one cup of ice cold water and blend again for 3-5 min. Drain-but don't save. Do this repeatedly until drained water is almost clear.
Then take a clean dry cloth towel place it over a mixing bowl. pour the contents of the blender into the the towel, lift up on the towel, the last of the moisture will drain through the towel into the bowl.

finally bring the towel around the almost solid butter and slowly squeeze the remaining moisture out your butter. take the butter out of the towel, add about a 1/2 a teaspoon of salt roll up your sleeves and knead that salt deep throughout the butter.

Now that you have this beautiful ball of butter you can form it into sticks and then put it in the fridge or put it on some fresh baked bread.
should make about one cup of butter and one cup of buttermilk! Home made with no waste!


2 cups cream
1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)


Enjoy!

Spaghetti With Sweet Potatoes and Ricotta

Real Simple magazine had a great article last month with dinners for a whole month with pictures and grocery lists. Because it was out of our budget to buy the ingredients for all of them (and Jared won't let me bring seafood within a mile of our kitchen) we have chosen two a week. I would never have thought to pair sweet potatoes and pasta, but this one was definitely a winner:

Serves 4Hands-On Time: 25mTotal Time: 25m

Ingredients

• 12 ounces spaghetti (3/4 box)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 small sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 2 shallots, sliced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce)
• 1/3 cup ricotta

Directions

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve 1⁄2 cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the potatoes, 3⁄4 teaspoon salt, and 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add the shallots and rosemary and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender, 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Toss the pasta with the potato mixture, Parmesan, and the reserved cooking water. Dollop with the ricotta before serving.

By Sara Quessenberry, October 2009

for more info and nutritional info go here

Tomato Soup(s)!

I have two Tomato Soup recipes, and they need to be shared.

This first one is wallet-friendly and probably kinder on the waistline than the second recipe I'll share. Thanks be to Hannah, who shared it with me and made Winter 2008 all that more bearable because of it.

2 28oz cans tomato(1 sliced, 1 crushed)
2 C. water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
3/4 C. diced onion
1 1/2 tsp. basil
1 clove garlic

Dice the onions and simmer in about 1 tbsp butter, add garlic at the end of simmering. Add the rest of the ingredients. and mix and simmer.

White sauce:
2 Tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
2c. milk

Melt butter in a small saucepan and add flour, salt, and pepper. Mix well and add milk (to mix in the milk, you may want to take it off the stove) mix well, getting out
most of the lumps. Simmer until the sauce thickens (about 5 min.) and to tomato mixture.

Dumplings:
2c. four
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/3 c. water
1 tsp oil

Mix well (doing this by hand works best)
and roll into quarter sized balls and add to soup. cook the soup 7-10 minutes more to cook the dough. Serve bowls of soup with a few dumplings in.


The second comes to your courtesy of my sister-in-law, Liz, who got the recipe from Hollywood Juice Cafe. Probably the last place you'd expect a delectable soup recipe to come from, but don't sell it short before you've had a sip. It's a heavy, creamy soup, so it's not exactly Weight Watchers material, but it's delicious. I get enough for at least 6 overly-healthy servings by cutting this recipe in half. With no further ado:

5 cups water

½ can marinara/spaghetti sauce (Costco can: 105 oz/6lb 9 oz) = 50 oz or 3-3½ lbs. total

5 cups half’n’half

5 cups heavy whipping cream

½ can pumpkin (the 29 oz can) or 1 small can (15 oz)

6 chicken bouillon cubes

A few shakes o’ garlic powder

A few shakes o’ paprika

Combine and stir all ingredients in large pot over med-high heat. I like to lower the heat and let it simmer for a while and thicken up…

I hope these recipes gear you up for a delicious Autumn and Winter.

delicious pumpkin dip

1 package of cream cheese

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup pumpkin pie filling

1 tsp vanilla

mix until creamy and smooth.

serve with apple slices. DELICIOUS.

everyone should check out my bff caitlin's vegan blog!

http://venividiveganed.blogspot.com/

she does a great job!