Cream Cheese Mints

Recipe adapted from: Reeves Danter

Ingredients:

• 4oz Cream Cheese
• 2 1/4 cups Confectioner's Sugar
• 1 tsp. Peppermint Extract
• Food Coloring
• Granulated Sugar

Preparation:

Mix cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, peppermint extract and food coloring until VERY smooth. Put into piping bag. Pipe thumb nail size drops into bowl full of granulated sugar (I did 4 drops at a time). Roll them in granulated sugar. If using molds, coat the molds in sugar then press balls into them to shape. Drop the molded pieces out onto wax paper that has a coating of granulated sugar on it. If making them into free form "pillow" shapes, after rolling them in the sugar, place them on wax paper that has granulated sugar on it. Allow to dry for at least 24 hours. Store in air tight container once completely dry.

Notes:

It may seem like you're using a lot of granulated sugar, but really it acts like flour so the mints don't stick. The mixture is really really sticky so you have to be careful to really coat the droplets in sugar. Make sure when you're rolling them to get your hands really dry. After about 8 hour of drying you can carefully flip them over to dry a little more on the other side. Serve them in a pretty dish. Can be made in any color. I made pink and blue for a baby shower.

Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Slaw

Recipe adapted from: E-meals 

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced 
• 1/2 tablespoon Creole seasoning 
• 1/2 tablespoon Cilantro Mojo Seasoning (Tupperware)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 
• 10 oz bag rainbow slaw mix
• ¼ cup minced fresh cilantro 
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and minced 
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 
• 1 teaspoon honey 
• ¼ teaspoon salt 
• 10-count package taco size flour tortillas 
• Pico de gallo
• Sour Cream

Preparation

Sprinkle chicken with Creole & Cilantro Mojo seasonings. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and cook, stirring frequently, for 6 minutes, or until cooked through. Combine coleslaw mix, cilantro, jalapenos, lime juice, honey, and salt in a bowl. Serve chicken, pico, sour cream and slaw on tortillas.

Notes:

The original recipe calls for 1 Tablespoon of Creole seasoning, but I just love the Mojo seasoning so much I had to use it. I was also surprised how much I liked the slaw. I didn't think it was going to have enough liquid but it really was very good and was not too spicy. I made the slaw in advance to let the ingredients marry before serving. I served this with Spanish rice.

Shrimp with Tomatoes & Feta

Recipe adapted from: Taste of Home August/September 2013

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 plum tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/4 water
• 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/8 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
• Hot cooked rice

Directions

• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic; cook and stir until tender. Add tomatoes, wine, oregano, salt, pepper flakes and paprika; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes.
• Stir in shrimp and cheese; cook 5-6 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Serve with rice. Serves 4
  

  Notes:

  YUM YUM YUM! How delish. I served this over hot rice. Daven even loved it, after I chopped up the shrimp. He ate two servings. I did use an Italian Seasoning blend that had red pepper flakes in it, so I omitted the red pepper flakes. 

  Nutrition:

  1 cup (calculated without rice) equals 261 calories, 11 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 191 mg cholesterol, 502 mg sodium, 8 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 28 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 4 lean meat, 1 vegetable, 1 fat.

   

   

Squash, Potatoes & Onions

Recipe Adapted From:

food.com

Ingredients:

1/4 cup margarine (or a little bacon grease)
3 medium size yellow squash (cut in slices)
2 medium potatoes (cut in slices)
1 small onion (halved and sliced)

Preparation:

1 Wash and Cut up squash, potatoes and onions.
2 Melt butter in lg. fry pan.
3 Add squash.
4 Add potatoes on top of squash.
5 Add onions on top of potatoes.
6 Cover and simmer till potatoes are done stirring occasionally (about 1/2 hour).
7 Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Add small amount of water if it starts sticking (usually not necessary due to water content in vegetables).

Notes & Tips:
I used butter in my dish instead of the bacon grease to cut down on the fat a bit. I also only used about 1/8 of a cup butter mixed with a little olive oil. Mat told me he didn't like squash, so I made it a mission to change his mind. And by golly I think I did it!

Nutrition Facts: 

Servings Per Recipe: 4 Calories 164.7 Total Fat 6.2 g Total Carbohydrate 24.8 g Protein 4.1 g

Hot Bacon Dressing

Recipes Adapted From:
Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
3/4 pound sliced bacon, diced
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 cup cider vinegar
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 (2 ounce) jar diced pimientos, drained (I used 2 oz of jarred, roasted red
peppers)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, (I only had regular yellow mustard)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water

Preparation:

In a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp; remove bacon and set aside. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons drippings in the skillet. Add onion and saute until tender; remove from the heat. Add the vinegar, water, sugar, pimientos, mustard, salt, pepper and bacon; mix well. Combine cornstarch and cold water; stir into skillet. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Serve warm over fresh spinach or mixed greens. Refrigerate leftovers and reheat before serving.

Notes & Tips:

Beware!! This recipe makes 32 servings of this dressing. Make sure you have a big enough jar to store it in before you make it. I think this dressing tastes just like the dressing on the Applebee's Grilled Shrimp & Spinach Salad.

Crockpot BBQ Beer Chicken

Recipe Adapted From:
How Sweet It Is: Pinterest

Ingredients:

3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
8 ounces of beer
32 ounces of barbecue sauce

Preparation:

Season chicken with onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Add to crockpot, then add beer and 24 ounces of barbecue sauce. Cook on low for 8 hours, tossing once or twice if desired. After 8 hours, shred and add remaining barbecue sauce. Toss chicken to coat and let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving to absorb everything. Serve as desired.

Notes & Tips:
A great recipe for the crockpot. Very yummy and easy. I used Killian's Irish Red for the beer. I also didn't have enough BBQ sauce in the fridge so I had to make 2 cups of my own blend to add to the dredges of random BBQ sauce that I had (Famous Dave's Devils Spit & Kraft Think/Tangy). I made my own blend with ketchup and lots of random spices/vinegar. The original recipe says that using a thinner sauce is easier, but I disagree. I would use a thicker one and let the beer do the thinning.

Stuffed Cabbage

Recipe Adapted From:
Pennies On A Platter - Pinterest

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 medium head (about 2 pounds) green cabbage
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup cooked rice (white or brown)
1/4 cup raisins (I use golden)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 can (16 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 teaspoon paprika
sour cream, for serving (optional)

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13- by 9-inch pan with cooking spray or oil.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Using a small, sharp knife, cut in a circle all around the stem of the cabbage and remove the core. Place the cabbage in the boiling water. After about 2 minutes an outside leaf will come loose--pull it off and out of the water using tongs. After another minute the next leaf will come loose. Remove and repeat until you have 8 to 10 leaves. Pat the leaves dry with paper towels. Cut out the thick part of the rib from the bottom of each leaf, but don't cut more than a third of the way into the leaf.

In a mixing bowl, combine the beef, cooled onion, rice, raisins, and salt. With the stem side of the cabbage leaf facing you, place a scant 1/3 cup of the beef mixture in the center of each cabbage leaf. Fold the bottom edge over the mixture and then fold the sides over and roll into a tidy packet. Place the cabbage rolls, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish.

In a bowl, mix together the tomato sauce, broth, and paprika. Pour evenly over the cabbage rolls. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Optional: Serve the cabbage rolls with a big dollop of sour cream.

Notes & Tips:
So I was a little intimidated to make these since they look kind of difficult, but seriously they were so easy to make and really really good. I used crushed tomatoes instead of tomato sauce so there was some texture to the sauce. Mat told me this one was a keeper!